MG RX-78-2 Gundam 2.0

Hi there, Baby TheEnd here with the first review in quite a while ^__^;;. It's gonna be a good one today though, I promise. Today we've got the MG RX-78-2 Gundam ver. 2.0, which should look familiar to any Gundam or Gunpla fan. This is, after all, the Gundam. Loads of accessories, loads of posability, and some awesome gimmicks as well, so let's get right on to the review!!

By itself, it's kinda plain, which is understandable since this is the first Gundam ever, before all of those fancy GN drives and satellite cannons and whatnot. But even so, it looks pretty cool by itself [and the awesome matte coat job makes it look even better!]. I also found the stark lack of panel lines to be an interesting touch, as it really adds to the simplicity of the Gundam.

It's posability time! The head is on a double neck joint thing, and can move around pretty well. The front cockpit hatch can swing open, and there's also a little panel that can slide open as well. The torso can wiggle to allow for some leaning of the upper body. The beam saber attachment points [chargers?] can close when the beam saber isn't plugged into it, which is pretty cool. As for the arms, I really can't begin to describe the insane range of motion you get, so I'll let the pictures talk for me~

Now for the waist. This is one of the more frustrating parts of the kit, because the skirt armor is all attached in a strange fashion that makes them prone to popping off [especially the front skirts]. The piece that the skirt armor parts attach to can lean back and forth, allowing for even more upper body posing. The hip joints are plugged into holes in the waist section, as per usual with Gunpla. The legs can rotate at those hip joints, and the knees are double jointed, allowing for a 180˚ bend. The ankle armor is attached directly onto the feet, and it feels like it gets kind of loose sometimes =\. The feet can bend at three points, which is just crazy. I never would have thought that simple feet like that could be so posable. One other issue I have with the feet is the armor plate that "clings" to the ankle armor attachment points. It doesn't directly attach, so it feels prone to falling off all the time, which is quite annoying...

Overall, it's really posable, but those front skirts are incredibly limiting, which really sucks Scratch that, turns out I just had them positioned wrong all along! Oh, the simple blunders of Gunpla~...
Quite honestly, though, this MG is about as close to perfect as you can get. There really aren't any issues with it other than some minor stuff.

While I don't think it deserves its own section, the core fighter is crucial to the operation of Gundam; without it, it's not going to move D:  The core fighter can transform from fighter mode to core block mode, at which point it gets inserted into Gundam's chest cavity, like so:

~*~ACCESSORIES~*~

So many @_____@. First up, let's go with the beam sabers.

Like previously mentioned, the charger mounts can fold in when there's no hilt in it. I also quite like that Gundam can actually reach and grab them!

And using the beam saber hilt, you can also make the beam javelin!! [I haven't had the chance or materials to paint it pink yet >__>;;]

Next up is the hyper bazooka. Nothing too special about this, just a huge bazooka ^__^;;

Following that is the gundam hammer. Aside from the fact that it's a Gundam-sized flail, you can get some really awesome dynamic shots at the right angle with this weapon~

And to finish up, I'm going to do the beam rifle and shield together.

The beam rifle doesn't do anything fancy, but you can attach the Super Napalm to the barrel, though it does require some removal of parts to get it on.

As for the shield, the grip can slide up and down, as can the sight protector thing. There are also two little pegs on the inside of the shield that allow you to attach the beam rifle/bazooka to the shield [for storage or something].

~*~FINAL VERDICT~*~

I originally bought this kit because I felt it was time to own some version of the original Gundam [this was before I got the RG]. A little pricey, perhaps, but absolutely worth it. It's really one of the most intricate Gunpla I've ever built before, and at the same time everything makes sense and it's relatively simple. It's got wonderful posability, comes with 6 accessories, and it really looks awesome amongst my collection. The MG RX-78-2 Gundam 2.0 retails for anywhere from $35-50, depending on where you look. If you can find it for a low price, then by all means grab one!!

And that's all I have to say about the Gundam that started it all. See you later, readers~!