Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA)
Title: RX-93 n Gundam
Release Date: 01/2002 (US), 05/2002 (Japan)
Suggested Price: ¥ 1500
No. of Parts: 1 Nu Gundam figure + 8 parts
Plastic colors: white, yellow, black, red, gray
Gimmicks: beam rifle, beam saber hilt (2), bazooka, shield, fin funnels

Introduction

Contributor: Chris Guanche
Photography: Edward Jackson
Date: October 31, 2003

Without a doubt, one of my favorite Gundam designs is Yutaka Izubuchi's Nu Gundam from the 1988 feature film Char's Counterattack. Piloted by Amuro Ray, it's basically an update to the original design of the RX-78 with a lot of fancy gimmicks.

Head

The head has pretty nice detail and some good articulation. Unfortunately, the head can't really look upwards. Also, the V-fins are made of kid-friendly material. We wouldn't want junior to poke his eyes out and sue Bandai, would we?

Torso

The torso also has good detail, but it can't really move much. Most of the Nu Gundam's weapons are stored on the backpack. The bazooka is stored on the backpack between two sets of thrusters, and a beam saber hilt can be stored on the right side of the backpack. The left side of the backpack features a peg to connect the fin funnels. The four thrusters on the backpack can be positioned individually.

Arms

The arms are where we start to run into some problems. The hands have pegs which plug into holes in the arms, which means their movement is pretty limited. The left arm features a hidden beam saber slot, and it's also the same area where the shield is mounted. I've found that after a certain amount of time the beam saber socket will begin to pull away from the body because of the weight of the shield.

Legs

The legs have some nice details in this package. On the back of each leg you'll find some thrusters, as well as on the soles of the feet. There's also some warning stickers near the feet, but since they're so small you can't make out anything other than WARNING. As far as poseability is concerned, you can actually do quite a bit with the legs thanks to the flexibility of the skirt armor.

Weapons and Accessories

Aside from the fin funnels, the armament of the Nu Gundam is the same as the original RX-78 Gundam. Only the right hand can hold the beam rifle, and it tends to fall off pretty easily if you mess with it too much. The fin funnels are mounted on the backpack, and unfortunately only one funnel can be separated from the rest and used in the same manner as the movie. However, the later Japanese version features six foldable funnels instead of just one. As mentioned before, there are two slots on the main body to hold beam saber hilts. The most frustrating piece of all is the bazooka. It takes some creative posing to get the arm to even hold this sucker, and even then you can't do much with it. By the way, only the right arm can hold the bazooka.

Conclusion

Aside from the annoyances of the shield arm and the bazooka, this is a great figure. Izubuchi's design is a beauty to look at and harkens back to the days of simple Gundams that weren't loaded with armor, wings, cannons, etc. It would have been nice if Bandai used a ball and socket system for the hands, but as it stands now they're serviceable. The Nu Gundam is definitely a suit that belongs in any Gundam fan's MSiA collection.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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