Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack — the universal standard for scale reference.

1/100 Buster Gundam - Articulation is about average. 90 degrees.. (1/4)

1/100 Buster Gundam - Articulation is about average. 90 degrees.. (2/4)

Articulation is about average. 90 degrees..

Upper body close-up

The shoulder 6-tube missile pod can open and close. The missiles themselves aren't color separated..

1/100 Buster Gundam - Like the Strike, the shoulders fold forward, but the shoulder armor is so large that they don't swing a

Like the Strike, the shoulders fold forward, but the shoulder armor is so large that they don't swing as far as the Strike's do.

The weapon support arms plug into pins on the backpack to lock in place.

1/100 Buster Gundam - The weapons carried on the back are connected via multi-jointed folding support arms. (They can of cour

The weapons carried on the back are connected via multi-jointed folding support arms. (They can of course be detached as well.)
The arms rotate in multiple directions and move via double joints and ball joints, giving them an incredibly wide range of motion.
What I especially like is that they rotate smoothly up, down, and side to side, yet are stiff enough that nothing feels loose.

By folding the arms through several joints, you can lock the weapons horizontally at waist level.

1/100 Buster Gundam - Double shot action~ The weapon on the left is the 350mm Gun Launcher, and on the right is the 94mm Ener

Double shot action~
The weapon on the left is the 350mm Gun Launcher, and on the right is the 94mm Energi Flame Rifle.

1/100 Buster Gundam - That said, in this pose.. the grip angle on each weapon is a bit awkward, so it's kind of tricky to get

That said, in this pose.. the grip angle on each weapon is a bit awkward, so it's kind of tricky to get the hands to hold on securely.

1/100 Buster Gundam - Plug the Flame Rifle from the left hip into the front of the right Gun Launcher and you get the long-ra

Plug the Flame Rifle from the left hip into the front of the right Gun Launcher and you get the long-range high-impulse sniper rifle.
At about 25cm long, the sheer size of this thing is pretty intimidating -

Since both support arms lock it in place, there's absolutely~ no wobbling whatsoever. Nice..

Come at me!

1/100 Buster Gundam - This time, plug the right Gun Launcher into the front of the left Flame Rifle and you get the anti-armo

This time, plug the right Gun Launcher into the front of the left Flame Rifle and you get the anti-armor shotgun.

Buster action~

Together with the Aegis and Aile Strike

The included Dearka figure

Straight build photo before panel lining

I've been a die-hard Gundam fan since it first came out in the late '70s and early '80s, so I've always had a strong preference for Universal Century Gundam stuff. I'd been keeping a casual eye on the SEED kits mainly because of how high-quality they are as modern releases, but the one that finally got me to actually pick up a SEED kit was this very 1/100 Buster Gundam. I spotted it on display at a hobby shop, snap-fit and holding that big bazooka, and it hit me — "Oh wow.. that feeling..!" — and that's when I started getting into the SEED side of things.

The Buster Gundam is a long-range attack/sniper-type Gundam, equipped on its back with a 350mm Gun Launcher and a 94mm Energi Flame Rifle. You can swap and combine these two weapons in different configurations to pull off some really impressive poses.

The plastic colors stay faithful to the original color scheme, so the green and orange molded colors aren't exactly the most striking on their own. It can feel a little dull, but overall I still think it looks pretty good. Articulation is average at 90 degrees of bend, and the joints are neither too loose nor too stiff — just about right.

What really makes the Buster Gundam interesting is, of course, the Gun Launcher and Flame Rifle — and the support arms that hold these two weapons are really well done. They can extend long or fold up short, and with double joints plus 360-degree rotation points, they can support the weapons at a wide variety of angles and directions. The arms are also nice and stiff, so they hold firmly in whatever direction, height, or angle you set them without going loose. The connection points where the arms meet the weapons are ball joints, which allows for even more directional flexibility — though the ball joints themselves are a little on the loose side. That said, if you push them in a bit deeper (you can adjust how far the ball joint is inserted), they hold well enough.

Thanks to this excellent support arm system, no matter what pose you put it in, those big weapons stay put without drooping. The Buster Gundam's signature pose — both weapons locked horizontally at the waist on either side — is a famous one, and while the weapons themselves hold in place just fine, getting the hands to actually grip the weapon handles is quite a challenge. You can manage it with some fiddling, but it's a bit of a letdown.

What really makes the Buster Gundam shine is the weapon combination mode. Put the Gun Launcher in front and plug the Flame Rifle in behind to form the long anti-armor shotgun, or flip them around and you've got the long-range high-impulse sniper rifle. Combined, it stretches to about 25cm — quite a length. The articulation is decent enough, so if you get a good pose going and throw it into combination mode for an action shot, it looks absolutely incredible~!

Either way, the long-range heavy weapon action poses — something you rarely see in other Gundam kits — give the Buster Gundam a really unique character, and since everything holds together well, it makes for a great display piece too. I do wish the ball joints where the weapons connect were a bit stiffer, and better arm articulation would've made this a truly perfect kit — but personally, this is one of my favorite SEED kits. ^^

1/100 Buster Gundam | 2003.3 | ¥2,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.