HG Unicorn Gundam [Destroy Mode]

Hello everyone, and welcome to another Baby TheEnd review! Today's review is on the HG Unicorn Gundam [Destroy Mode] that also included the 1/48 scale Unicorn Head Display Base! You'll see some of the display base at the end of the review ^__^. For now, UNICORN GUNDAM TIME!!

This is one of those kits that really looks wonderful just standing there, in my opinion. Since it's permanently in Destroy Mode, you don't have to worry about the more fiddly bits falling off, which is quite nice :D

Time for some articulation~. Unicorn's head is on a ball joint and can rotate and move nicely [only being impeded by the beam sabers on the backpack]. The neck is on two pegs and can swing upward, allowing for some cool mid-flight posing. The shoulders are hinged and, as you can see in the first picture below, can kind of fold in to allow for better shoulder movement ^__^. The torso itself has a ball joint inside it, but it doesn't offer movement so much as to keep the body together. The arms though, are probably my one gripe with this kit's design. The shoulders are nice, can rotate 360˚ at the shoulder connection point and just below the shoulder. The elbow joints are just poorly designed. They're basically two halves of the joint sandwiching a polycap, making it quite easy for the arm to split apart at the elbow =\. In addition, there's no sort of limiter to keep the arms from bending ways they're not supposed to... so they can D:  The beam saber racks can be removed and repositioned [as you'll see later] in a similar manner to the MG Unicorn Gundam. Also, the hands are your standard ball joint connection ^__^

Unicorn's side and front skirts are pegged in and ball jointed, respectively, allowing for some movement. The back skirts, like with most HG kits, are totally immobile =\. The legs ball joint into the waist on a little hip piece, and the skirt armor allows for some nice movement [until you try to bend it back too far =\]. The knees are double jointed, but suffer from the same problem as the MG Unicorn Gundam: they can still only bend about 90˚. The ankle armor doesn't really move much [and it's only that little flap on the front anyway]. The ankles are double jointed, and the feet can't move around all that much because of the extra armor bits sticking out everywhere D:

Honestly, I found Unicorn Gundam to be a very underwhelming build. I always try to point out the positives, but frankly the whole build and general functionality of the kit sums up to a resounding "meh." It does, however, luck out in that it has the very dynamic look that Unicorn has when posing, and the design of Destroy Mode is gorgeous :D

~*~ACCESSORIES~*~

Let's start with the accessories Unicorn has at all times: the beam sabers!!

Quite an awesome photo ^__^. The arm sabers can be a bit fiddly and fall off easily, but something tells me they weren't designed to do this >___>. What really bugs me, though, is that Unicorn's hands are actually too open to hold the beam sabers...

Next up, the shield!! It's pretty, without a doubt, but it doesn't do much ^__^;;. Fun fact: that grey circle in the middle is a I-Field Generator, a device that offers complete protection from beam-based attacks!

The shield comes with two pegs: one that can clip onto the arm, and one so it can be stored on Unicorn's backpack.

Finally, Unicorn's beam magnum! I had to glue the hand on there because it wouldn't hold the beam magnum properly otherwise D:

The design stays faithful to the MG [thankfully], though it does require some painting to make it look totally accurate.

Unicorn also brings a spare e-pac clip for the beam magnum, which also requires some painting [and puttying to fill in the back] to make it look nice~. Like on the MG, the e-pac clips onto the back skirt.

~*~UNICORN HEAD DISPLAY BASE~*~

Like I said earlier, I managed to snag the bundle of Unicorn Gundam [Destroy Mode] and the 1/48 Unicorn Head Display Base ^__^. It's a very quick assembly, but painting it is not an option: it needs it. Being just a head, it can't really move much at all, but I'll show you both forms :D

~*~FINAL VERDICT~*~

HG Unicorn Gundam [Destroy Mode] is not all that difficult of a build, and it doesn't seem to use some of the more advanced HG technology that Bandai has been cranking out lately. That being said, it's still a phenomenal kit that looks awesome just standing there, and looks even better in an action-y pose. Another plus is that you don't have to worry about the nub marks, as they're either white or covered by the other armor parts [except for the backpack D: ]. By itself, Unicorn Gundam [Destroy Mode] retails for about $18, but with the Unicorn Head Display Base expect to pay close to $30 for it. It's a very clean looking kit that will add a much-needed white and pink mobile suit to any gunpla enthusiast's collection! :D

And that's all for this week! I'll have another review for you next Friday, like always :D