Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Other than the elbow articulation, there's not really much else that moves.. ^^;

A clear plastic stand for SD kits is included.

Aerial action pose

SD Xi Gundam - Beam saber action poses (1/3)

Beam saber action pose

Flip up the chest cover, front and rear shoulder covers, and the back wings to switch to flight mode.

SD Xi Gundam - Flying in flight mode (1/4)

SD Xi Gundam - Flying in flight mode (2/4)

Flying in flight mode

Effect parts for the funnel missile launch scene are included.

Funnel missile launch action

Like recent SD kits, you can disassemble the head and swap the eyes by rotating them front/back.

Action poses after swapping to the cartoon-style eyes.

This kit comes with a bonus, by the way.

The Me02R Messer and the sub-flight system Galsezon are included.

The Galsezon itself is made up of just a single part.

The underside of the Galsezon features storage for weapons.

SD Xi Gundam - The Messer is built simply with a minimal number of parts. The back of the arms is just hollow all the way thr

The Messer is built simply with a minimal number of parts.
The back of the arms is just hollow all the way through...

Some action poses with the Messer.
Both arms are connected, so they move together at the same time..

The Galsezon can also be placed on top of the stand.

You can also plug the stand post into the Galsezon and use it that way.

Display using the Galsezon as a stand.

Together with the previous release, BB Senshi Hi-Nu Gundam.

The SD Gundam BB Senshi series has a surprise new entry — the Xi Gundam. It's the mobile suit from Hathaway's Flash, one of the Gundam side stories, and it uses the Greek letter Ξ, which looks a bit like the Chinese character for "three." It's pronounced "Xi" (like "Ksi"), and written as "Xi" in English.

First off, the kit's overall package is not in the same league as the high-quality SD style of recent releases like Hi-Nu or Sazabi — it feels more like a run-of-the-mill SD kit from about ten years ago. The molded colors, color separation, parts breakdown, and detail all give you a strong sense of having suddenly stepped back a few years. It seems like Bandai's approach isn't to make every BB Senshi a premium release, but rather to put out some kits with a basic setup and others with a high-quality one.

So just to be clear — if you're expecting the same quality as recent releases like Delta Plus, Banshee, Sazabi, or Hi-Nu, you'll definitely be disappointed, so keep that in mind. Think of it as roughly on par with the SD Strike from about ten years ago, and set your expectations accordingly.

That said, since this is a mobile suit that's never been made into an injection-molded kit before, it's still pretty exciting to see it get the SD treatment. Maybe that's why, despite the somewhat bare-bones package, the kit still has a certain freshness to it. You can transform it into flight mode by opening up the front and rear shoulder armor, chest armor, and wings, a clear plastic SD stand is included, and there are even effect parts to recreate the funnel missile launch scene.

The bonus mechs — the Messer and the Galsezon — are a particularly nice touch. The Messer is put together in a toy-like fashion with a minimal parts count, but the detail is actually not bad, and the Galsezon can double as a stand, which is a fun little extra. The Galsezon, by the way, is a sub-flight mech — written as "Galsezon" in English and rendered in Japanese as ギャルセゾン (Gyarusezon). (The pronunciation can vary depending on how you look at it.)

The sudden and rather jarring drop in quality is a bit of a bummer, but the real significance here is that this marks the first time Bandai has ever released the Xi Gundam as an injection-molded kit. If you're a fan of Hathaway's Flash, this is definitely a welcome addition. And I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping that this SD release is just the beginning, and that we'll eventually see it in other scales too. :-)

SD Xi Gundam | 2013.12 | ¥1,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.