Series: 1/100
Title: GX-9900 Gundam X
Release Date: 04/1996
Suggested Price: ¥ 1500
No. of Parts: 122 + polycaps + foil stickers
Plastic colors: white, red, dark blue, yellow, dark gray, silver, green
Gimmicks: satellite cannon, shield buster rifle, optional vulcan pod, large beam sword

Introduction

Contributor: Sabersonic
Photography: Chris 'KokopelliChindi' Knudtson
Date: May 6, 2004

The Gundam X is the first (assembly) model of the Gundam X 1/100 model kits to display the first mobile suit for our hero Garrod Ran to pilot during his first exploits before arriving at Fort Severn and having the unit damaged. I have purchased the model mainly because of the anime series and I have previously purchased the Double X Gundam with G-Falcon kit. I have plans to get the X-Divider and either the Airmaster, Airmaster Burst, or both if I feel like it. I had always wanted to get the Gundam X line of models ever since I had acquired the fansubs of the anime series (with encounters with any of the model kits few and far between).

Head

It is my personal opinion that the model kit head is highly accurate of its anime counterpart, using about eight pieces to complete. Little or no paint is required to make the head much more in tune to the series, but I would recommend it to enhance the intensity. Side-to-side motion is rather acceptable with a slight problem with the goatee that can be fixed with either sanding it off or just tilting the head when turning. However, the vertical motion when wanting the model to look upwards due to the shoulder ridge, but it may not be too much of a problem and looking downwards is not too much of a problem either.

Torso

The main build of the torso, minus the part that give it detail, mainly consists of two parts and feels rather strong. The chest vulcans would have to be painted though so they can stand out much better. The green sensor on the chest is rather difficult to insert and I have yet to insert the part all the way into the slot by the time of this writing. It would take very strong thumb power to install the part correctly, though it may have limitations due to the structural strength of plastic. The attachments to the shoulders are simple rods to insert the shoulder polycap into so the range of the shoulder rotation would be limited due to the time in which the model is designed. The design of the skirt armor severely limits free range motion of the legs, though the sideway arc of the leg joint at the lower torso does not go as far as the maximum arc of the side skirt armor. The rear skirt armor is a solid plastic part, so movement of the legs rearward would also be limited. The backpack is where the satellite cannon is housed, not to mention the large beam sword and the shield buster rifle. Even though it has only a single polygon and nub connection, I doubt that it was meant to be the rotation point for the satellite cannon. It appears that the backpack will be reused again in the X Divider with only three accessories connected to the four polycaps. Talk about cutting corners on design.

Arms

The arms seemed to be rather simply built despite the number of parts needed. The shoulder would need to be painted to have the shoulder vernier stand out like in the anime, but it would not be required. Unfortunately, due to the design of the shoulder, the arm cannot move upward in a 90 degree motion. The elbow polycaps are split in two parts so that the arm may rotate, though it may only move slightly more than 90 degrees without the polycaps slipping away from each other. This is much preferred over the elbow construction of the Gundam SEED models (UGH! Who’s idea was that anyway?!). The hands are also simply constructed and only the fingers move while the thumb is molded into the hand.

Legs

The legs have a solid construction to them, though the upper polycap joint could only bend rearwards so far, but can bend at a greater arc forward for some odd reason. The leg-torso joint also limits the sideway arc, but it is acceptable IMO. The ankle joint has acceptable side-to-side motion, but the forward and back motion may be limited due to the design of the ankle armor, so some action poses may not be possible.

Weapons and Accessories

Now what kind of Gundam would be complete without weapons and accessories? None that I know of, that’s for sure.

Satellite cannon- It appears that the satellite cannon is mainly connected to the back pack by some moving arm with a peg at each end for the polycaps. The satellite cannon can be rotated around its polycap and positioned to have the flight pose and the full satellite cannon deployment, though the configuration of the deployed version would require some delicate positioning of the arm, hand, and satellite cannon to have it horizontally level. The microwave panels also rotate around a peg so that they can face forward to simulate the GX absorbing the microwave for the cannon discharge.

Shield buster rifle- Like its anime counterpart, the shield buster rifle of the GX can transform from a rifle mode to a shield mode and fits reasonably well into the hand. However, the design may prevent any secure holdings to the rifle and may sag slightly due to the location of the trigger handle. Before purchasing the kit, I had presumed that the buster rifle in shield mode would have connected to the left arm via a hard point, clip, or a handle. But according to the kit, the shield mode can only be held at the trigger handle. Fortunately one can have the handle slightly folded into the rifle so that the shield does not look awkward with the handle fully extended.

Large beam sword- The beam sword can attach to the rear portion of the satellite cannon for storage and is constructed of two halves placed together and can be held rather well. But the odd thing about this beam sword was that though most beam saber edges are primarily single pieces, the beam sword has TWO pieces. I must assume that this is an attempt of Bandai to give the beam sword a semi-three-dimensional feel to it. An interesting idea, but to me it just makes the beam sword a little ridiculous.

Vulcan gun- The optional shoulder mounted vulcan pod appears to be pain enough and doesn’t really have that much of a significant value other than giving the GX the option of having vulcans that can be seen without painting. Still a nifty idea to give the GX more menace.

Conclusion

This model kit is moderately average, with pluses and minuses in several areas. One of which would be movement limitations due to design and another being the need of painting for certain designs may stand out. However, I feel that this model represents the anime counterpart very well in terms of design. Functionality and movement, however, is up to one who purchases the kit. Overall, I would not recommend this kit to general fans of Gundam, but recommend it to fans of the Gundam X series, especially fans of the GX.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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