* This series follows a standardized lineup format where most features are shared across kits, so I'll break the review down into common points and individual highlights. ^^
--- SD Sangoku Soketsuden Common Notes -----------------
In 2019, the SD Sangoku Soketsuden project kicked off to celebrate Gundam's 40th anniversary. The plastic models in this series are produced at Bandai's Chinese factory rather than the Shizuoka plant, so the molded colors are a touch duller and the plastic feels a bit harder compared to Shizuoka-made kits. That said, the color separation is excellent, keeping seal usage to a minimum while still delivering a really striking look. The detail is a little soft, but the sense of volume and overall sculpt are impressive, and small gates are used throughout, making assembly a breeze. The head is also smaller than traditional SD proportions, giving the figure a slimmer silhouette — it seems like SD-grade proportions are steadily trending in this direction. The hollowing you'd expect from any SD kit shows up mainly on the inner sides of the arms and legs, but it's positioned fairly discreetly so it doesn't stand out too much.
In terms of construction, a shared frame runner is included, though it only covers the torso and thighs. It almost feels like they were trying to follow the SD Cross Frame concept but deliberately simplified it. Even so, this frame is a step up from older SD kits in terms of articulation. Knee joints have been added where there were none before, the shoulders can swing slightly forward and back, and the waist can rotate on all of them as standard. The frame structure also allows the upper body to tilt slightly forward, which gives you more expressive poses than previous SD kits.
Accessories are kept to a minimum — most kits come with just one unique weapon. So while the contents are simple, the visual impact is anything but, and being made in China probably helps keep the value-for-money feeling pretty solid relative to what you get. It's also worth noting that the character names are written in Chinese pronunciation rather than Japanese when spelled out in English — a nice little touch. Overall, I'd call it "better quality than expected," and if the style clicks with you, it's a seriously addictive lineup.
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The 14th kit in the SD Sangoku Soketsuden lineup is Zhang He Altron Gundam. Altron's signature green color scheme and the shoulder dragon hangs are faithfully recreated, and the multi-jointed dragon hangs can be extended to quite an impressive length. The joints hold their position firmly too, so you can stretch them out freely without any worries. The included weapon is the Yangmei Yechuang, which can store a Spear Memory inside it. The tip of the Yangmei Yechuang can also be attached under the dragon head, and the dragon head itself can be used separately in a collab with the Trinity Bike.
Either way, this looks like a solid kit where the highlight is definitely Altron's signature flashy dragon hang action.
AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.
