MG ReZEL

Friday means review day, woo! Today's review is on the MG ReZEL, a transforming mobile suit from Gundam Unicorn. I was taken pretty quickly by its awesome design, and simply by the fact that it's turquoise! While the mobile armor mode does look a bit goofy, it's got an impressive transformation and it's incredibly sturdy [more sturdy, I'm told, than the MG Zeta's transformation]. So, let's get this started~

Let's do a quick 360˚ view of this awesome transforming mobile suit~! Because of how huge the backpack is, it's a bit tricky to get the ReZEL to stand up straight. Mine also suffers from slightly weak lower knee joints, but it's not too big of a deal.

Moving on to some posability now, starting with the head! It's on a ball joint and had a good range of rotation and movement, but since it's also on an "elevator joint" [the head pushes down when transformed], there are no additional moving parts for the neck. Next is are the arms, which have quite a range of motion. The elbow is double jointed, and while it can't do a full 180˚ bend, what merit does that give to a giant transforming robot? xD  The arms are on a huge peg and can rotate below the shoulder, and the hands are your standard MG hands: individual thumb and index finger with the other three attached as one piece. The shoulder-to-torso attachment is a peg on a swivel joint [a key part of the transformation], so unfortunately the shoulders cannot be brought forward all that far. The shoulder armor is built right onto the shoulder itself and needs to be repositioned whenever you move the arms, which really isn't the worst thing ever, right? The ReZEL's backpack has the nosecone and main thrusters on a small joint arm which can move back and forth depending on the mode that the ReZEL is in.

Moving along, the front skirt armor is on a ball joint and can move around very easily. The side skirts are on a little swivel joint system that's pegged right into the hips, so those armor parts move with the rest of the leg. The hips ball-joint right into the waist, and the legs can rotate a little bit right below the hip joint. The knees are double jointed, and as you can see the ReZEL has no issues sitting Japanese-style or kneeling. Finally, the feet are built around the ankle joints, which are on a sliding mechanism for the transformation. The front part of the feet can bend down, but once again, this is simply for the transformation ^__^;;

Because the MG ReZEL can't take too wide of a stance, though, its ground poses are somewhat limited. However, the ReZEL can even just stand in a boring pose and still look awesome, and that's only enhanced when the decals and a flat top coat are applied [not to the clear parts though!]~

~*~ACCESSORIES~*~

The MG ReZEL doesn't come with all that many extras, but that makes perfect sense since a transforming spaceplane thing could only carry so much. First up is the shield, which simply pegs into either forearm. I've seen it equipped either way, and while it does seem to sit on the arm better, I like that the spare ammo packs are easily accessible when the shield is equipped like so:

Next up are the beam sabers, which are stored in an awesome little wrist rack. You need to use the shield to slide the rack forward [there's a sliding mechanism inside the arms], and then both beam sabers are easily accessible!

The other arm mount houses two grenades, but these are way less exciting than beam weapons xD

After that, the awesome beam rifle! Despite the size, the ReZEL has no problems holding it unassisted, though sometimes the back section with the ammo pack gets in the way.

And just like its predecessor, Zeta Gundam, the rifle can also be used as a beam saber! [I'll take better pictures of this, I promise >_>;; ]

A few shots of the fully equipped ReZEL...

~*~TRANSFORMATION AND MOBILE ARMOR MODE~*~

The transformation for this guy is kinda tricky, and although it's quite sturdy in both modes I don't think I can do many mid-transformation shots like I could with Unicorn Gundam. That being said, the mobile armor mode definitely looks blocky for something meant for streamlined space combat, but I guess since there's no drag in space the designers were more worried about how to get all of the thrusters to the back of the transformed suit xD  I also like that despite lowering the head and covering most of it with the nosecone, the red visor is still visible at the right angle.

~*~FINAL VERDICT~*~

Despite being a transforming MG kit, the ReZEL did not strike me as a difficult build at all [the backpack assembly was probably the most frustrating part]. Straight-building it will net you an awesome turquoise transforming mobile suit developed from the Zeta Gundam itself, and adding the decals and a flat top coat of paint will only increase that awesome look. I decided to go a step further, though, and paint some of the detailing under the clear red parts silver so they'd stand out and add more mechanical detail to an otherwise clean-looking mobile suit. The MG ReZEL retails for anywhere between $45-55, and I think you definitely get what you pay for, especially if you do a good job detailing it and whatnot. Need to break up the flood of kits with the standard Gundam colors? Want an awesome transforming mobile suit that really has a unique feel to it? Collecting Gundam Unicorn kits? Then the MG ReZEL is definitely something worth picking up~!

And just as quickly as it started, that's the end of this review! See you next week, readers~! :D