Series: New Material Model (NMM)
Title: SYSTEM ∀-99 (WD-M01) ∀ Gundam ("Turn A Gundam")
Release Date: 1999
Suggested Price: ¥ 7800
No. of Parts: 1 Turn A Gundam figure + 22 parts
Plastic colors: white, red, blue, orange, black, gray, green, clear yellow, clear pink
Gimmicks: beam rifle, shield, Gundam hammer, opening missile bays, missiles (6), beam sabers w/removable blades (2), Core Fighter

Introduction

Contributor: Chris 'KokopelliChindi' Knudtson
Date: February 3, 2004

This is the title mobile suit from Turn A Gundam. This figure is 1/100 and made from plastic, die-cast metal, and titanium.

Head

In a word, excellent. Made out of plastic. Construction is nice and detailed. All the colors are dead on. The moustache seems to be a little wide and is made out very flexible plastic so it doesn't break. It can look up and down slightly, and has full left-to-right motion.

Torso

This is made out of plastic and metal and is mostly hollow. The missile bays are separate and slide into the cavities. The doors to the bays are held in by little tabs that stay securely in place. The back also opens so the missiles can be loaded in the back or the front. Brackets plug into the back to hold the beam rifle and shield. The torso is fixed in an upright pose and can only move left and right. The top of the torso is painted light orange instead of the correct yellow. The core fighter attaches very firmly to the hips and required a bit of force to get it all the way on. For some reason, one of the side skirt armors on my figure is securely attached while the other snapped off the moment I touched it. No matter, I glued it into place and doesn't get in the way of leg movement.

Arms

The massive shoulders are the things I like least about this figure. They are also attached to the arm by a very small piece of plastic that I'm very afraid of breaking. There's a little hinged flap on the side that allows for more arm movement. The back flaps have the rotating brackets for the beam sabers. One of the best and worst things about this figure is that the joints are extremely tight. The saber brackets, shoulders, elbows, as well as the leg joints require force to move and always hold their pose. While this may seem to be a good thing it also means its very easy to push too much and damage the figure. Arms have an excellent range of movement and very detailed panel lines. The elbow is a spherical structure that rotates as well as bends. Hands have a socket that attach to the ball joint on the arms. There are two sets of open and gripping hands that are slightly bendable so it can hold weapons. I suggest widening the holes in the hands a little cause it takes too much force to push them onto the arms.

Legs

The legs are mostly made out of metal. The hips again are very tight. There is also limited movement because of this. The Turn A is restricted to stiff standing or running poses. Due to its weight, stability can be issue if both feet aren't flat on the ground. The panel lines and sharp detailing really stand out on the legs. The knees are only single-jointed, which adds to the stiff appearance of the figure. The louvers are made out of well-crafted titanium! They pop out when pressure is applied to the legs and be pushed back inside. The feet have the same impressive coloring and construction as the rest of the figure and their shape supports its weight well.

Weapons and Accessories

One of the reasons I bought it was for the gundam hammer with a metal chain. It looks excellent and the figure looks awesome holding it. The beam rifle is made out of very light plastic. The handle can fold down and the back slides out just like in the animation. That part of the rifle is molded in white instead of the proper gray. It is held tightly in the brackets on the Turn A's back. The shield attaches to the arm and has a bunch of stabilizing brackets on the inside. There is a very noticeable screw on the inside that you only see when the shield is attached to the back. The beam sabers are beautifully sculpted and painted and the blades are nice and thin. They slide into the holding brackets easily and don't fall out. The missile silo has nice details on the inside, but is better left closed with the missiles inside it or else you'll lose the little things. The doors are also hard to open since they fit so tightly together. There is also the strange cannon in the lower chest that pops open through the use of a camouflaged button in the back. Finally, the core fighter transforms by popping off the crotch, rotating the cockpit and wings, and pushing the wings forward. There is no figure inside the cockpit, which doesn't have room for one anyway.

Conclusion

The weight alone is impressive due to all the metal it's made out of. The only big problem I have is the limited movement of the legs, but with the Turn A's size it always looks impressive standing up. The painting is superb with every panel line inked and every color bright. The manual also deserves mentioning since it has concept sketches and some of the history of the Turn A, all in Japanese. This figure is not for playing due to the small parts, tight joints, and some fragile parts. Defiantly a well-constructed, well-painted figure and an excellent display piece.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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