Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA)
Title: RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis"
Release Date: 10/2003
Suggested Price: ¥ 1800
No. of Parts: 1 Gundam "Physalis" figure + 9 parts
Plastic colors: white, red, blue, yellow, green, black, gray
Gimmicks: bazooka nozzle, bazooka back piece, shield, beam saber (2), hand (3)

Introduction

Contributor: Jones Kingsu
Date: January 3, 2006

The mecha from Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory are by far the most loved Gundams in the Universal Century timeline. They’re fast. They’re powerful. They can be classified as super robots. They come from one of the best written Gundam spinoffs ever.

Head

The GP02’s head is very similar to its anime form. The large vents found on top of the head are very well done and the same thing can be said for the V-fins. Movement is sacrificed with the large head though. The chin hits the “neck protectors” so it only give it less than 45° to look left and right. Looking down only at 10° and looking up at 15°. Why the limitations? Blame it on the head. It still looks cool though. I almost forgot. It’s standard ball-and-socket connection.  

Torso

Physalis has this magnificent torso. It is superbly detailed with colored vents about. The torso twists about 90° which is still better than Zephyranthes’. The lower torso has huge skirts armors about it. It also houses the beam sabers on the sides. The beam sabers are held securely… not really that securely since they fall off easily when played… via the hose at the back. The backpack’s pretty plain and it doesn’t move or anything. Although… The details are done nicely with the panel lines and others. And if you think that the rear part of the nuclear launcher (bazooka) is attached to the backpack, you’re wrong. Heck! I was wrong too and surprised that it was attached to the rear of the right shoulder armor. (We’ll go to that later.) 

Arms

GP02’s arms are ginormous! It’s that big because of the thruster/armor attached to it. They’re huge and they move! Expanding the shoulder armors outward automatically situates the thrusters downwards except for the one located at the back of it. That one should be twisted down manually. The nozzles can be adjusted a bit but only a bit. At first I wondered why the figure came with an instruction manual. This MSiA doesn’t transform anyways and what’s so complicated about the gimmicks? Apparently the attachment of the rear part of the bazooka is a complicated sort. Adjusting it to firing mode takes a couple of twists which people would most probably overlook. It also sports the cool 02 markings on the left side shoulder.  

Legs

Physalis has the best deal of them all. Faithful design along with a mold far greater than that of Zephyranthes’. The large legs provide the figure excellent stability. The knees may not be double-jointed but the coolness of it compensates. 

Weapons and Accessories

GP02 has only its big-ass shield (with the cooling system, fans of the show may want to explain to me why the cooling system’s located in the shield but no cables can be seen traveling from the shield to the Suit or vice versa.) storing the front end of the nuclear launcher. The shield’s pretty heavy that it won’t be able to hold it up. Taking off the front end of the nuclear launcher from the shield’s requires to pull off the handle of the shield and take the launcher off. Plug it to the back end of the launcher and you’ll hear Anavel Gato say: “Solomon! I have returned!” 

Conclusion

Funny thing is that I loved GP01 more than GP02 in the anime but it went the other way around with the MSiAs. GP01’s MSiA suffered a lot from accessory problems and the accessories count as 50% of the figure. GP02 may not have a lot of those accessories but the figure alone makes up for it.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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