Series: Mobile Suit in Action!! (MSiA)
Title: RX-78-2 Gundam (Battle Scarred)
Release Date: 12/2002 (US)
Suggested Price: $7.99
No. of Parts: 1 Gundam figure + 1 Core Fighter + 16 parts
Plastic colors: gray, yellow, blue, red, white, pink
Gimmicks: beam rifle, beam saber (2), beam javelin, Gundam hammer, damaged shield, shield, damaged Core Fighter, spare hands (4), bazooka, damaged arm fragments (2), damaged shoulder, damaged leg

Introduction

Contributor: Chris Guanche
Date: November 28, 2003

It's pretty common for fans of plamo and MSiA to weather their figures and produce custom battle damaged versions. Well, now Bandai is doing the same, except that they charge you for it. What better way to start the Battle Scarred line than with the original RX-78-2 Gundam? Now you too can recreate the Gundam's famous 'last shot' as seen in the final episode of the TV series and the third movie.

Head

Unlike most other MSiA, the head is mounted on a stick that slides into the neck. I imagine this was done so that when you create the 'last shot' pose, you don't have an unsightly ball socket where the head should be. Despite this strange plug, the poseability is about the same as with any other MSiA.

Torso

The torso is where we have some problems. This release is based on the Gundam Ver. 1.5, which was previously included in the deluxe package with the G-Fighter. The chest can separate from the legs to simulate Amuro's ejection of the top part and his escape in the Core Fighter. The problem with this is that if you put too much pressure on it while trying to make a pose, the top half can come off. This is especially true if you try to mount the bazooka in its slot on the back of the torso.

Arms

The arms are mounted onto the torso via ball sockets. The forearms both have slots to plug the shield into. I don't care for these arms much because the forearm portion tends to break off easily at the elbow joint. Their articulation also isn't as good as with most other MSiA figures.

Legs

The legs don't have much articulation due to the restrictive skirt armor. Again, if you try to move them around too much, you're liable to disconnect the Gundam in two at the chest thanks to that wonderful ability it has.

Weapons and Accessories

The Battle Scarred Gundam comes with all sorts of weapons. There's the standard beam rifle, along with a back-mounted bazooka. There's two lit beam sabers, but what looks stupid here is you can't remove the beam saber hilts stored on the backpack. There's also the dorky beam javelin and Gundam hammer that thankfully only appear in the TV series. You get two flavors of shield here: a regular one, and one sliced in half. To use the shield, you have to plug the handle onto the hand and connect it to the arm plug. Now, I don't care much for this because in the anime there's no handle on the shield. Also, it tends to fall out of the arm plug rather easily. Four spare hands are also included here, of which two are closed fist. As for the damaged parts, you get a damaged Core Fighter, a damaged right leg, and damaged shoulder and arm fragments. This way you can not only re-create the Gundam's famous 'last shot', but you can also re-create the damage caused to it by the Zeong's last shot. Afterwards you can eject the chest and fly away with your Core Fighter and Lalah (well, maybe not Lalah).

Conclusion

Now, it's quite obvious that the weathering and scarring on this figure was never depicted in the animation. However, after all the abuse Amuro put the Gundam through, this is probably how it would look had the weathering been animated. The Battle Scarred series is an interesting concept, but unfortunately this figure is flawed. The Core Fighter thing makes it separate easily, and the poseability sucks. If you really want the original Gundam in MSiA form, get the Ver. 2.0 instead.

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

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