HG Beginning Gundam

Hello everyone! Another Baby TheEnd gunpla review comin' at ya!! Today is the first of the Gunpla Builders Beginning G line, the Beginning Gundam. "Piloted" by Haru Irei, this interesting Gundam looks kind of like a cross of Turn A and V2 Gundam with a whole bunch of triangles on it xD

As you might already be able to see, Bandai decided to pull a fast one on us and require a heck of a lot of painting to make it look accurate to the box art, despite being a HG. It's a wonderful kit though, as you'll see throughout the review :D

Posability time!! Beginning Gundam's head is on a double jointed neck, but the bottom part is buried in the top of the body, so the head really just has one point of articulation. The waist-to-hip connection is a ball joint, and if you lift the body up a little it can rotate freely without problems. The shoulder joints on the body can swing back and forth a little bit, but they were initially INCREDIBLY loose [which was promptly fixed with some krazy glue]. The shoulder joint goes through a little hole in the shoulder armor and plugs into the top of the arm via a polycap joint. The arms can rotate 360˚ at the shoulders, and they can rotate below the shoulders. The elbows are single jointed, bending to about 90˚. The hands ball joint in, but it's a bit difficult to move 'em around because of the wrist armor. The little grey panels on Beginning Gundam's back [which are apparently magnetic thrusters] can also move around a little bit on their ball joint.

The skirt armor can all be separated, and it's all ball jointed into the waist and small enough/easy enough to move that it never gets in the way. Ever :D. The legs peg into a T-joint thing similar to HG 00 Gundam. The legs can rotate right below the hip connection, and the knees are double jointed. The ankle armor is actually on Beginning Gundam's foot, but it doesn't move all that much. Bandai, for some reason, gave Beginning Gundam the most bizarre ankle joints ever. Pictures to follow~

Beginning Gundam needs to be in action though! His many triangles will stand for nothing less than super exciting!

~*~ACCESSORIES~*~

Beginning Gundam has some pretty basic accessories. Let's start with the shield!

It's an interesting looking shield that kind of reminds me of Hi-Nu Gundam's shield~. Three beam sabers [molded as one piece] can be stored on the inside of the shield, and the shield itself just pegs right into the arm!

On to the next accessory, the beam saber! Beginning Gundam has six beam sabers on its back, but only includes one clear yellow beam effect :(. The beam sabers also require a surprising amount of work to make them accurate [I think this is the first time I've had to paint a beam saber hilt...].

Next up is my personal favorite...

THE BEAM CLAW! Beginning Gundam pulls this ace out of his sleeve at the end of Part A of the OVA. Why another Gundam pilot didn't come up with this before is beyond me...

Last but not least, Beginning Gundam's beam rifle. I understand that this rifle works like the F91's VSBR [Variable Speed Beam Rifle]; that is, the output can be altered so you can have a shot as powerful as a standard solid bullet to something that could shoot a hole through the moon [with enough power, of course].

~*~FINAL VERDICT~*~

The HG Beginning Gundam is definitely an awesome build, despite only being a HG. If you don't like foil stickers, though, prepare for a lot of work to make it look nice, especially the beam claw. I like it, though; it's a very different looking mobile suit and although it does sport the stereotypical Gundam colors, it still looks quite cool among other kits :D. This guy retails for around $20, and it's totally worth it!

See you later, my wonderful readers!!