Bandai Spirits saved their best reveal, I guess, for last as they close the almost week-long Hobby Next Phase 2021 Autumn event which featured a whole bunch of announcements. Obviously, these aren’t for everybody, but I certainly believe one of the kits revealed today got a lot of fans in the hobby quite excited. Especially since a new Real Grade Gunpla kit was in the horizon.
Yes, we are getting the freaking God Gundam as the next Real Grade! But first, I would like to set some context. I know the last Real Grade releases were quite the banger, from the Force Impulse Gundam to the Hi-Nu Gundam, not really counting the Wing Gundam but you get the idea. But personally, as great as these kits are, they are more-or-less the same. They have all the crazy details and color separation and gimmicks, but that’s expected from a Real Grade kit. Outside of probably the Crossbone Gundam or the fact that they’re slowly but surely removing the full Advanced MS Joint in later releases, there’s not much innovation in the line.
Enter the RG God Gundam and why this is a game changer for the line. Back in 2001, the MG God Gundam was released and set the standard for Master Grade kits moving forward. It introduced a fully articulated internal frame which wasn’t seen in any Master Grade kit previously. Despite the great articulation of recent releases, Real Grade kits aren’t exactly known to be the most poseable, thanks to their complicated assembly. So, let’s see how the RG God Gundam would change this.
For starters, let’s check out how it looks and for this, I immediately looked up the Hi-Resolution Model to see if one is a scaled down version of the other. Fortunately, it isn’t as the Real Grade doesn’t look like a jacked-up muscle man like the Hi-Resolution Model. We also see the return of more discernable two-tone colors, at least for the whites. While other Real Grades also have this, the difference between the shades isn’t that much pronounced that the effect is lost. For the God Gundam, those grays are much darker than the whites around them which is also much appreciated. Now you can also see above how this kit can do a better crossed arms pose than its previous incarnations. So, let’s check out what they did to achieve this.
The mobile fighters in G Gundam are supposed to be skilled and agile fighters, typically representing the martial arts of their respective countries. So, for the God Gundam kit over here, the main goal is to replicate the human body movement as realistic as possible through a combination of varying joint assemblies. We can see above how the shoulder joint provides multiple axes of movement and isn’t hindered by the large shoulder armor. The forearms and wrists are also dexterous enough to bend and do the pose Master Asia did in the opening sequence.
The same goes for the head unit, which can tilt down, up, and even shift forward that allows for a wide range of expressive movement. You’ll also notice above how the rear wing binders can fold slightly backwards. This is a feature exclusive to this Real Grade and gives a more dynamic look to the kit, especially for thrusting forward poses. Which is also in contrast with another Real Grade-exclusive feature that just looked weird — I’m looking at you RG Wing Gundam.
There’s also a lot of going on with the leg units. The kit can do a 180-degree knee bend through panels that shift and collapse, just like human muscles would. The same is true with the knees for those who want to do a three-point landing pose, or the “superhero landing” pose as most know it. The front section of the feet and toes can also bend forward, again for that natural look and further allows for a much stable base when balancing. This feature is especially useful when doing the splits, as this kit can do a very side split while keeping both feet parallel and planted to the ground.
Here the other joint assembly engineering they made that you’d normally overlook in other kits. As much as this kit can do the full splits, it can also move the legs inward for those tight leg poses, especially the one seen in the opening where the God Gundam has its arms crossed and is standing on a “beam turn buckle”. That might sound simple but there are a lot of kits that can’t do this. Also shown are the wrist joints that can curl further inward and the shoulder joints that can almost hyper extend and thus, provide a very wide range of arm movement.
So yes, there’s no denying that this kit can pose as heck. For accessories, it comes with effect parts for both the beam sabers and the God Finger attack. It also comes with its signature energy rings that appear on its back when doing attacks. These would not attach on the binders themselves but rather, though a clear piece that then attaches to the rear of the Core Lander.
To be honest, I’m more excited with the RG God Gundam over here than the previously released RG Hi-Nu Gundam. Primarily because the first ever Gunpla I bought way back when was the old 1/144 God Gundam released in 1994, so this design really has a sentimental value for me. That’s why I’m glad to finally be able to build the God Gundam with the best engineering Bandai Spirits could do in 1/144 scale.
RG 1/144 God Gundam
June 2022 / ¥3,500
Oh, and they also announced a new HG Gundam frame for Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS: Urdr Hunt. Personally, I would’ve much preferred the HG Shenlong Gundam. Oh Wufei, always getting the short stick.
