HG 00 Gundam ~Double Feature~

Hello everyone, and welcome to another Baby TheEnd gunpla review!

Today we've got a special double-feature deal for y'all: I'll be reviewing the HG 00 Raiser [Designer's Colors] graciously given to me by my wonderful girlfriend as a holiday gift AND the HG 00 Gundam I custom colored myself with the XN unit from Hobby Japan's October 2009 magazine. I'm going to start this double-feature off by showing you HG 00 Gundam and the HG 0 Raiser separate, then COMBINE them [woah] and finish part one with the full 00 Raiser. Part 2 will be all about XN 00 Gundam. So grab something to eat and get comfy, this is gonna be a long review~

~*~HG 00 GUNDAM~*~

This is the HG 00 Gundam [Designer's Colors], and let me tell you that this is the most fantastic HG kit I've ever interacted with. Ever. Honestly, this thing is on par with MG posability, but more on that later. Since this is the Designer's Colors version, the color scheme has been lightened a little bit. And yes, I understand that some people think that Bandai is just using that as an excuse to make more money off of the HG 00 Gundams [of which there are 5, I believe], but the Designer's Colors look very nice. It's still appropriate for a Gundam, but it switches things up a little :)

Onto detail, I'd have to say that 00 Gundam's level of detail is right where it should be for a HG. Not too little, but not too much - the right balance. That being said, if you're like me and want everything to be accurately colored, a dab of paint here and there can really transform and amplify its awesomeness :D

Now for articulation: this HG kit has nigh-godly articulation, and I'm not exaggerating. From the top down, 00's neck is on a double ball thing so he can pretty much look anywhere. The GN Drives can spin on the X and Y-axis, the plates the Drives rest on can lift up to look like wings of some sort, and the arms that attach them to 00's backpack are posable as well. For the arms, the elbow has two points of articulation, as does the wrist. That's right; the wrist bends in two spots.  AWESOME! 00 Gundam is also the first I've ever seen to have torso articulation [in two spots], which, while minimal, is still pretty nifty. The front skirt armor doesn't get in the way of leg movement at all, the side skirts can move with ease, and unfortunately the rear skirt is stuck in place [but still out of the way]. Because the skirt armor is seriously awesome and is next to non-existent, the hip-to-leg connection's range of movement is that of an Olympic gymnast, if not better. The knees bend in two places, and the ankles pretty much replicate a human's ankle.

Now let's add an action base and see how awesome 00 Gundam can be :D

~*~ACCESSORIES~*~

00 Gundam comes with a few cool accessories, so we're gonna start off with...

00's GN Shields! These two things attach right below the GN Drives to give a wing-type effect. They can also be attached to the back of 00's arms and used as GN Katars [creative, right?] if you pull the blades out. And with a little parts forming, you can combine the two smaller shields into one larger shield. It looks pretty sweet, right? It's a shame they're nigh-impossible to keep on 00 Gundam's arms :(

Next up are 00 Gundam's signature weapons, the GN Sword IIs. 00 Gundam gets two of these solid sword weapons, following in Exia's footsteps. Flip the sword blades 90˚ and split the handle, though, and you have the solution to 00's ranged combat predicament: GN Sword II Rifle Mode. Like the sword mode, rifle mode looks pretty awesome and now that the star Gundam of Gundam 00 has two ranged weapons, you can get some cool Matrix-like poses :D.

Also included is a joined-handles part. Remove part of the handles on both swords and attach 'em on to this part, and you have a double sided GN Sword II! Sweet!

The final and most important accessory of 00 Gundam is the 0 Raiser. I consider the 0 Raiser an accessory because it was specifically designed to boost 00's overall performance, and it does just that. By itself, the 0 Raiser [pronounced "oh riser"] is quite a good looking space fighter ship thing. The way its fins are bent is somewhat reminiscent of a TIE-fighter from Star Wars, but they can be repositioned to your liking~

COMMENCE REALLY LAME DOCKING SEQUENCE

~*~00 RAISER~*~

The piece de resistance, 00 Raiser! This glorious machine steals the show many times in season 2 of Gundam 00. Even in HG form, the docking of 0 Raiser onto 00's back and GN Drives is flawless, and the posability is completely unhindered, so you can get some fantastic poses with an action base. And he can even stand up without an action base, despite looking back-heavy! The GN Shield parts can attach on to the outside wing parts of 00 Raiser, but it looks kinda goofy and just tacked on so I usually keep them in the parts box :D. I can't quite describe the beauty that is the 00 Raiser, so I'll let the pictures talk for me~

~*~XN 00 GUNDAM TYPE Z~*~

On to part 2 of the double-feature, we have a special version of 00 Gundam with a custom paint job by yours truly. The "Type Z" thing is something I made up myself, the Z standing for Zephyr [I think it sounds cool :D]. You'll notice it has a different backpack attachment than the 00 Raiser, and this attachment is the XN unit which is from the Gundam 00V side story. Technically, the XN [pronounced "zonn"] unit only exists in simulations, but I guess Bandai decided it'd be fun to make a XN add-on kit. It comes molded in all white, so you're free to customize it however you want.

Posability-wise, the GN Drive plates are hindered by the wings of the XN unit, but other than that minor detail mobility is not lessened at all :D. In fact, XN 00 Gundam is probably more mobile, thanks to two arms on the XN unit that can hold 00's GN Sword IIs. These arms are a pretty good length, and can unfold and deliver the swords to 00 or use them as guns.

~*~ACCESSORIES~*~

XN 00 Gundam Type Z has one of the most awesome accessories in the history of ever: two GN Buster Sword IIIs.

Each sword attaches to the top of the XN unit, and how they get from back there to 00's hands is beyond me...

BUT WAIT JUST ONE SECOND. THESE SWORDS COMBINE TOO!

~*~FINAL VERDICT~*~

By itself, HG 00 Gundam is a true work of art. It's incredibly posable, color-accurate without having to do much touching up, and for an attractive price of just $10. If you feel that your 00 needs an attachment, the 0 Raiser is one possibility. For another $8-10, you get an awesome space fighter jet plane thingy that can combine with 00 Gundam to create the most powerful Gundam in the Gundam 00 universe. If the 0 Raiser isn't your thing and you want some big swords, then the XN unit is for you. This, however, might be a little more difficult to find as it was a special Hobby Japan magazine release, but if you can find one for cheap online then kudos to you! It'll require some painting if you don't want it to be all white. And if you want both... well, you can actually combine them to create the XN 00 Raiser. You can Google that for pictures :). I didn't want to create that because it just looked too busy, and I'd rather have two 00 Gundams, each with their own special add-on.

00 Gundam, in any case, is one of my favorite Gundams ever, but even overlooking that fact I highly recommend it.

And, with that my friends, I will see you later~ :D