Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA)
Title: RGM-79N GM Custom
Release Date: 08/2001 (US)
Suggested Price: $5.99
No. of Parts: 1 GM Custom figure + 4 parts
Plastic colors: light green w/painted gray, red, yellow, orange
Gimmicks: 90mm GM rifle, 90mm GM machine gun, Large-type EFSF shield, beam saber w/detachable translucent blade

Introduction

Contributor: Ryukami
Date: February 4, 2004

The GM Custom has long been one of my favorite designs, and so it's only logical that I should try to own in in every physical form. First, the Master Grade and now the MSiA. Ostensibly the mass production version of the NT1 Alex, assigned to special forces and ace pilots in the post One Year War period, the GM Custom may be 'remarkable for being totally unremarkable', but it should not be ignored as fodder, as it is a high performance combat unit.

Head

The GM Custom's head is nicely detailed, and the antenna on the back is removable, but this is more of a problem than a feature. At first the antenna was thigh and was not easily removable, but later it loosened and tended to fall out on all of the examples I have. A bit of glue fixes things right up, however. The Visor is painted a gloss orange, and both examples are reasonably sharp. The head is also far enough away from the torso to allow a great range of neck movement, which is indeed more than many other MSiAs.

Torso

The torso is strongly reminiscent of the NT1 Alex, with some minor changes. The backpack is identical to the NT1's backpack save the single beam saber hilt, which is detachable, but takes some force to remove. The torso does have the ability to twist, but it is limited in it's range of motion by the skirt assembly. The maximum range of movement seems to be about ninety degrees or so. The backpack is also detachable, but is not interchangeable with the NT1s backpack due to the size of the studs that attach it to the back of the torso being of different size.

Arms

The arms are definitely second generation MSiA arms, meaning that they manage to maintain a good range of motion without falling out of the sockets easily. The shoulder armor pieces are nicely detailed and include printed EFSF identification markings. The forearms are also reminiscent of the NT1's forearms, and have holes for the attachment of the shield on either forearm. The hands are not removable on the MSiA version, and only the right hand has an extended trigger finger, but there is full range of radial motion in the wrists. As mentioned, the right hand is the only one with the trigger finger, and so really the only one that can effectively hold the rifles, but with a little bit of force, the left hand can also hold a rifle, but it won't look very convincing. The Saber also only effectively fits in the right hand. but it can be forced into the left as well.

Legs

The legs have a decent range of movement forward and back, but the skirts must be slightly bent by them in order to achieve an effective pose, which concerns me that the skirts will start to break at some point. No problems yet, however. Moving the legs left/right at the hip is not as easy, as the side skirts limit the range of movement severely. The lower legs are well details but one important point about them is that the early released of the GM Custom had the lower legs on backwards. The small thruster about mid-calf should be on the INSIDE of the legs, not the outside, but this is easily remedied by detaching the legs at the knee and switching them. The feet, unlike the Master Grade version, are the actual GM Custom feet, as opposed to the Alex feet that the Master Grade has. The feet themselves have independently moving ankle armor and have an excellent range of movement both laterally and dorsally. The sole detail is excellent and the thrusters are even ribbed on the inner circumference, which is an extra detail that even most Master Grade kits lack.

Weapons and Accessories

The 90mm GM machine gun is nicely detailed and is a slightly sharper casting of the original MSiA GM's machine gun, in darker, harder plastic. It remains, however, grossly over scaled, and is actually closer to 1/144 scale than the rough 1/160 scale of the MSiAs. The GM rifle however, is a new item for the MSiA and is excellently detailed, and seems to be more closely in scale with the MSiA. The shield has two modes of attachment to the forearm, via a detachable carrying handle and a peg that attaches to the holes in the forearms. The peg is undoubtedly the superior mode of attachment, as it also allows motion radially when attached to the forearm, and also is much more stable than the handle, which is also difficult to fit into the hands. The beam saber, of which the GM Custom essentially has two hilts (one provided with the saber blade, and another in the backpack), but only one translucent pink blade, which can be fixed to either hilt.

Conclusion

The colors actually seem a tad bit bright on this one, as opposed to the more subdued colors of the Master Grade's plastic, which seems to have a greater concentration of blue, as opposed to the decidedly green MSiA plastic. under some lighting conditions it's almost fluorescent, but a black wash can help greatly with this. In another sense, it's very similar to the Master Grade in that it has no major gimmicks: no add-on armor, no bazooka, not gigantic cannons or wings, which make it a very plain design, but one that manages to look powerful nonetheless.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

<<back to Gundam