Series: High Grade Universal Century (HGUC) 1/144
Title: RGM-79GS GM Command Space Type
Release Date: 11/2004
Suggested Price: ¥ 800
No. of Parts: 88 parts + polycaps + stickers
Plastic colors: white, gray, red, green
Gimmicks: beam gun, shield, hands (4), great poseability

Introduction

Contributor: Chris Guanche
Date: August 28, 2005

Of all the thousands of Gundam designs that are out there, there's a special place in my heart for grunts, particularly for the GM and GM-like suits. For 1989's Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket OVA, Yutaka Izubuchi whipped up several nice, updated versions of the old GM. These new GMs were more detailed, more realistic and definitely inspired by his designs for the Ingram from Mobile Police Patlabor. Today we'll be looking at the GM Command Space Type, a poor grunt that never had a chance.

Head

The head is comprised of six pieces and features a lot of color. The central green piece provides color for the visor and main camera, and the "Gundam beard" and sides are molded in red. The head doesn't need much detailing, except for the vulcans and two pieces on the chin. The head has a free range of motion and is quite poseable, but be mindful of the backpack an an antenna mounted on the right shoulder.

Torso

Colored in red, white and gray, the torso very faithfully recreates Izubuchi's design. The chest vents are nicely detailed, and a snap on piece in the front serves as the cockpit hatch (which cannot be opened). An antenna is mounted on the right shoulder, so be careful when posing as it is a fragile piece. You may wish to glue it in place. The backpack is fairly detailed, featuring six thrusters. It snaps firmly in place in the backpack. The rear skirt armor features a storage slot for two beam saber handles. Unfortunately, you only get one beam saber blade, which is built into a spare right hand.

Arms

Very nice work here. The arms have a wide range of motion for various action poses with the beam gun or shield. The hands have great mobility, thanks to the fact that they plug in with a ball and hole design. Both forearms feature holes that you can snap the shield mount into.

Legs

The legs are perhaps the shining feature of this kit. I mainly collect MSiA action figures, and some of them have great poseability in their legs. However, the GM Command Space outshines nearly every MSiA leg I've ever seen. The knees are double-jointed, providing great freedom of movement. The feet, particularly the soles, are highly detailed. They snap onto the leg with a peg and hole system, and they can move in almost any way you wish.

Weapons and Accessories

Beam gun- The beam gun is the GM Command Space Type's main weapon. It's comprised of two pieces, both molded in gray. It's fairly well detailed as is, but to match the anime version you'll have to paint the ammo pack red and white. The only downside to this weapon is that since it doesn't really have a trigger, it tends to fall out of the hand. There is actually a trigger on the gun, but it's not hollowed out so that you can place a finger in there. A trigger would've made this work much better.


Shield- Simple, yet very appealing. It consists of a main white piece along with a snap on red piece. Another piece on the inside features a forearm mount and hand grip.

Beam saber- Nothing special here. The beam saber is one solid white piece built into a hand. Of course, you'll have to paint both the hand and the saber's blade portion.

Hands- Four hands are included with this set: one to hold the beam gun, one to hold the shield, an open hand to grip the bottom of the beam gun and finally a beam saber hand. Three of the hands are molded in gray, but the beam saber hand and beam saber are molded entirely in white.

Conclusion

This addition to the HGUC line is a definite winner. It faithfully recreates the elegant simplicity of Izubuchi's design. Great poseability is the selling point of this kit, particularly in the legs. The kit features decent armaments, but they are a bit light. It wouldn't have hurt to thrown in some extras, such as a bazooka or a beam rifle. That's a minor gripe, and this kit is highly recommended.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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