PG 00 Raiser

Here it is, everyone, my first Perfect Grade :D. I'd like to give a little bit of backstory on this guy, though, since the PG 00 Raiser really has a special place in my heart. I got it in August, after about 8 months of telling my friends how much I wanted it xD. Assembled and planned by my awesome girlfriend, everyone threw me a surprise party because, as my birthday is in the armpit of summer, it's usually pretty dull. But this party was the most amazing thing anyone had ever done for me, and I got to celebrate it with all of my closest friends :3. And then when present opening time came around, I was presented with a massive box. Its contents? I think you can guess that~. Now, let's get this review going! :D


~*~00 Gundam~*~

This is my first Perfect Grade ever [both interacting with one and owning one], and I've gotta say, I'm quite pleased with 00 Gundam's PG version design. The only thing about it that kind of bugged me was the color of the inner frame. It was originally molded in a very dark grey, almost black. Two cans of Tamiya AS-27 Gunship Grey later, it looked infinitely better, and has a pseudo-Designer's Colors look to it now :D

Right, articulation time. From the top down, the head is on a double neck joint type thing and can move around very nicely. The white part of the chest can slide forward and a little hatch is openable to reveal the cockpit with a 1/60 scale Setsuna figure inside. The two chest vents can swing out for some bizarre reason, and the yellow fins can move up and down. The torso can bend forward and backward and move side to side as well. As for the waist, the front skirt's two plates can move a little bit, but they're generally out of the way and don't need to move. The side skirts are polycapped onto little arms on the sides of the waist, which can move up and down, and the skirts themselves can move around as well. The middle plates can slide down so the GN Sword IIs can attach. The back skirt is capable of splitting into three sections but can't move otherwise, similar to the HG version. On the PG, though, the beam sabers can swing upward!

Moving back up, the shoulders can swing forward and lift up and are connected via a peg to socket connection. The shoulder armor can lift up to allow access to the joint lock inside the shoulder. Obviously, once the joint lock is disengaged [by pressing down on it], the shoulder can move around very well and the armor is good about not hindering movement ^__^. The arms can rotate below the shoulder and are attached on by a peg. The elbows are double jointed, having another joint lock hidden behind the GN Condenser and a ratchet-like joint on the lower part of the elbow. The wrists can move up and down a little bit and are held in place by a third joint lock hidden behind the GN Condenser. The hands can rotate and bend at the wrist, and as a standard for PG kits, each finger is individually articulated :O

00 Gundam's backpack even has some articulation [though it's not much more complex than the HG ^__^;; ]. The arms that hold the GN Drives can swing backward and forward and lift up and down and can rotate about their attachment point as well! The GN Drives can rotate on the arms of the backpack, and can pull out a little to extend the amount of rotation. And obviously, the GN Drives can spin and light up and be awesome >:D

Down to the legs now! The legs are attached to the waist on a peg and can rotate and spread out with no problems at all. The knees are double jointed. The top joint is another ratchet-like joint that makes an unnerving clicking noise when moving it ^__^;;. The second part of the knee is a joint lock behind the GN Condenser. The leg can bend as well as the HG version's, but it can't spread as far as its 1/144 counterpart can. The front ankle armor can move forward to allow the foot to come forward more. The ankle joint is shaped like the HG one, but doesn't offer nearly as much articulation; the foot can only move forward and backward [and side to side] a little bit =\. The feet can bend at two points, though, and bending them causes the white armor to slide forward, which is pretty cool :D

Wow, that's quite a bit of articulation! Before I continue on about colors and awesome poses, though, I'd like to give my say on the joint lock system that Bandai decided to implement in the PG 00 Gundam. It can definitely be a bit troublesome, but the only locks that tend to give me any trouble are the ones concealed by the shoulder armor, and that's just because the armor is in the way ^__^;;. Other than that, though, I think it's a smart decision, as 00 Gundam is deceptively heavy, and if you didn't get the First Edition version that came with the stand [or shell out $30 for the stand like I did :P ] it really needs the locks to hold its ground poses, ESPECIALLY if the 0 Raiser is attached. I kind of wish Bandai had put one into the torso somehow because the upper body tends to list backward a bit with the 0 Raiser attached [more on this later though].

That's probably enough information on 00 Gundam's articulation to write a whole paper with xD. Anyway, action pose time!! I feel that the clear + matte coat really helps bring out the colors, but gives it that awesome dulled finish at the same time~

~*~0 Raiser~*~

Now we come to the 00 Gundam's most important support on the battlefield! When Saji comes to aid Setsuna in the 0 Raiser, season two of Gundam 00 really picks up. I haven't really got much to say about the PG 0 Raiser because, well, it's a space plane thingy ^__^;;. It looks pretty awesome by itself, but it doesn't really do much. The fin parts can move up and down, and the blue parts of the fin can swing out [for when it attaches to 00 Gundam]. The grey part on the inside of the wing binders can be pulled out to reveal an awesome cannon, and as you do that the blue part on the opposite side moves out to reveal missile pods! Another cool gimmick is that if you pull on the tail part, it fans out into five separate pieces. I'm not sure why this gimmick was included, but it's awesome nonetheless xD

Some other features of the 0 Raiser are that the landing gear can come down, which allows you to actually rest it on a flat surface as if it's landed there. Also, on the top of the 0 Raiser, the cockpit hatch can open to reveal a 1/60 scale Saji figure inside. There's also another hatch that opens up to show what looks like either a docking beam thingy or a little cockpit for a Haro :O

~*~ACCESSORIES~*~

Hoo boy, PG 00 Raiser comes with quite a few accessories! Let's start with the GN Shield~

The shield comes in two halves, and each half can be mounted on the back of 00's arms [which, when equipped like this, can double as katars]. The white parts on the shields can extend out, and to combine the two halves you simply flip the connector bits out, slide the grey part on the inside of both halves up, and connect them! It's as simple as that! The shields can also attach to the GN Drives for some cool lookin' wing things, and can attach to the 0 Raiser's wing binders as well~

Next up are the beam sabers. While they are stored on 00 Gundam, they're still an accessory xD. Like previously mentioned, the beam saber hilts can swing to the side so 00 can reach it easier. The beam parts are HUGE :O. The photos tell all~

Now for the GN Sword IIs. At first I was kind of against having the chromed blade parts, but they're really grown on me. Like the beam sabers, the GN Sword IIs tab into 00 Gundam's hands and can be held without a problem!

To change the swords to rifle mode, you turn the blade part 90˚, swing the blue part forward, and swing the front half of the handle down. For added stability, you can also pull the little connector bit out and plug that into 00's forearm.

To combine the swords, all you need to do is swing one of the little connector bits out from the end of the handle and slide it into the back of the other handle, and voila! As you can tell, the combined GN Sword II is HUGE. It's almost 3 feet long with the beam effects!!

And the final and most important accessory, the GN Sword III. This behemoth of a sword pegs into 00's hand and then firmly attaches onto the forearm. The GN Sword III doesn't do all that much other than look absolutely awesome, either in rifle or in sword form >:D

And, using a special attachment part, the GN Sword III can attach to the bottom of the 0 Raiser. And it's even got its own landing gear!

~*~00 Raiser~*~

サジ　クロッスロード、　オーライザー、行きます！

ダブルオーガンダム、刹那　F　セイエイ、出る！

サジ！　GNソードIII　はいぶ、ドッキング　する！

了解！

/whoooosh~

/docking noises

/FLASH

ダブルオー　ライザー！

I hope you enjoyed that little bit ^__^;;. As you might have guessed, the 00 Raiser is INCREDIBLY back heavy, and the upper body ends up leaning back because of the weight of the 0 Raiser. The binders are also a bit fiddly sometimes, and trying to rotate them will often set off the GN Drives. I think that after this review, I might take the batteries out so the energy isn't wasted by accident D:  Other than those little things, though, the PG 00 Raiser is GLORIOUS. Picture time~!

~*~FINAL VERDICT~*~

I'm just going to say this right now: the only other PG kit I've interacted with is the PG Strike [which will inevitably show up here xD], but the 00 Raiser is a fantastic behemoth of a Gundam kit. The details are amazing, having a huge 00 Gundam is fantastic [as I'm a fan of Gundam 00 ^__^ ] and the display base for it is wonderful. I can't quite make a recommendation like I can for a MG or HG and be all, "You should definitely pick this kit up when you have the chance" because I doubt many people have $270 to shell out for the PG 00 Raiser D:  However, if you do get the chance to get one, then take it. It's a sturdily built gunpla that looks awesome just standing there, almost having a GFF effect to it. If the frame being molded in too dark of a grey bothered you like it did me, though, then be prepared to put a lot of work into re-coloring the frame. The end result is definitely worth it though. To sum up, I really can't recommend the PG 00 Raiser enough. It's an awesome kit that really deserves a spot on any fan's shelf.

And that, my friends, is the end of my first Perfect Grade Gunpla review. See you next Friday~ :D


[Cripes, some of these pictures are a bit blurry. I'll re-take 'em ASAP]