Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Seals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

RG Shining Gundam - Various angles (1/6)

RG Shining Gundam - Various angles (2/6)

RG Shining Gundam - Various angles (3/6)

RG Shining Gundam - Various angles (4/6)

Various angles

RG Shining Gundam - Close-up detail shots. Note that the face is so small it's hard to do panel lining accurately, and the ma

Close-up detail shots.
Note that the face is so small it's hard to do panel lining accurately,
and the mask cover doesn't fit well, so the face came out looking a bit rough... T_T

Outer armor removed

RG Shining Gundam - Inner frame shots (1/2)

RG Shining Gundam - Inner frame shots (2/2)

Internal frame

RG Shining Gundam - Frame detail shots (1/4)

RG Shining Gundam - Frame detail shots (2/4)

Frame detail shots

Frame articulation

Skirt interior detail

Some armor pieces have molded detail on the inside as well.

Weapons are limited to just two beam sabers.

RG Shining Gundam - When storing the beam sabers in the side skirts, they slide in from the back, so they hold really securel

When storing the beam sabers in the side skirts,
they slide in from the back, so they hold really securely.

There are 11 hands included in total.

Core Lander

Underside

Cockpit hatch open

When attaching it to the body as a backpack, the cockpit section needs to be folded up as shown.

Cockpit hatch open

There's a cover over the stand mounting hole, so you need to open it before putting it on the stand.

RG Shining Gundam - Super Mode open gimmicks (1/5)

RG Shining Gundam - Super Mode open gimmicks (2/5)

RG Shining Gundam - Super Mode open gimmicks (3/5)

Super Mode open gimmicks

Super Mode activated

Leftover parts

Excellent limb articulation

There's also a hip joint sliding gimmick.

Forward/backward shoulder articulation

RG Shining Gundam - You can easily raise the shoulders out to the side, though due to the joint structure the arms end up lon

You can easily raise the shoulders out to the side,
though due to the joint structure the arms end up longer, which makes the proportions look a little off.

The waist is quite flexible.

The neck moves in two stages with a wide range of motion.

The ankle tilt angle is good too.

Backpack movement

Getting into a kneeling pose is very easy.

Various poses

RG Shining Gundam - Front kick/side kick poses look natural too. (1/5)

RG Shining Gundam - Front kick/side kick poses look natural too. (2/5)

RG Shining Gundam - Front kick/side kick poses look natural too. (3/5)

Front kick/side kick poses look natural too.

RG Shining Gundam - Beam saber pose (1/3)

Beam saber pose

RG Shining Gundam - Super Mode activated (1/3)

Super Mode activated

Super Mode + beam saber poses

RG Shining Gundam - Super Mode poses using the green hands (1/5)

RG Shining Gundam - Super Mode poses using the green hands (2/5)

RG Shining Gundam - Super Mode poses using the green hands (3/5)

Super Mode poses using the green hands

Together with the RG God Gundam.

RG Shining Gundam - Together with the HGFC Shining Gundam released in 2011. The detail difference between HG and RG is quite

Together with the HGFC Shining Gundam released in 2011.
The detail difference between HG and RG is quite significant, as you'd expect.

RG Shining Gundam - Together with the MG Shining Gundam released in 2002. Since the MG Shining is an early MG release, the qu

Together with the MG Shining Gundam released in 2002.
Since the MG Shining is an early MG release, the quality gap compared to the RG is pretty noticeable.

Straight build

Following the God Gundam, the Shining Gundam from Mobile Fighter G Gundam has now been released as an RG as well. RG God GundamOne runner is reused from it, but aside from a few frame parts, everything else is brand-new tooling. True to the RG line, the Shining Gundam's various gimmicks have been faithfully and thoroughly recreated.

RG's signature system insert runner is only applied to some of the arm joints, while the basic frame comes as an assembly type, keeping the structure nice and solid. Thanks to the two-tone color separation and the meticulous RG-level detail, it shows a noticeably different visual quality compared to the MG released in 2002 and the HGFC released in 2011. And it's not just looks — the Super Mode deployment, cockpit hatch opening, and Core Lander attachment/detachment gimmicks are all well reproduced. Given the nature of the suit, you'd expect a variety of effect parts, but aside from the green hands, there are none at all. (Maybe a separate accessory kit will come out later)

True to its nature as a mobile fighter built for hand-to-hand combat, the articulation is quite flexible — on par with the RG God Gundam. The joints are a bit stiff, and I wish they moved a little more smoothly, but on the flip side, you don't have to worry at all about poses holding. The one issue is that the foot contact with the ground feels a bit iffy, so getting ground poses to work takes quite a bit of fiddling. That said, the ankles are fairly flexible, so if you take the time to adjust the foot positioning carefully, you can find a stable stance.

And unlike the God Gundam, where the larger parts made assembly relatively easy for an RG, this one feels like the parts are a bit smaller, making it a noticeably trickier build. The head in particular, with all its various deployment gimmicks, is quite fiddly to assemble. You really need to follow the manual carefully and fit each tiny part into exactly the right position and orientation — and even for me, with plenty of builds under my belt, it was a little challenging. It's honestly up there among the most demanding RG kits in terms of small parts, so I think anyone with large hands or aging eyesight is going to find it pretty stressful.

So overall, it's a solid kit that comes out well in the latest RG format. Compared to the RG God Gundam, which was nearly perfect, there are a few points that leave something to be desired. Still, it's fundamentally an A-tier RG kit, so if you're a G Gundam fan or an RG enthusiast, this seems like one you can grab without hesitation :-)

RG Shining Gundam | 2025. 6 | ¥3,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.