With the release of the HGUC Phantom Gundam last year, it was only a matter of time before they eventually released the HGUC Ghost Gundam. And they did as the Premium Bandai exclusive HGUC Ghost Gundam was announced last week.
To those unfamiliar, the Ghost Gundam appears in the manga Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam: Ghost and it is the repaired Phantom Gundam given silver anti-beam coating. And the way they made the matte silver coating for this kit is quite gorgeous to look at.
Before I proceed further, let me pull out a photo of the HGUC Phantom Gundam so that we can see their differences clearer.
At first glance, you won’t notice the differences between these two designs. But once you take a closer look, then these differences will be more apparent. For starters, the face plate for Ghost Gundam has slits similar to the original Crossbone Gundam. The side armors also have different details, especially when looked at the back, with the Ghost Gundam having these additional red elements, as well as thrusters on the inner side.
The central section of the back side also has different details along with cooling cartridges hanging down. The rear section of the lower legs also has more of the red details extended throughout their lengths.
Its mobile armor mode, still called the Mirage Oiseau, looks the same, except for the addition of the Multi-Purpose Attack Weapon “Kujaku” to look like some semblance of a nose cone.
The Ghost Gundam will not complete its Phantom Gundam lineage without the Phantom Light and for this kit, they now come in glorious purple as compared to the red ones of the Phantom Gundam.
And again, the similarities never end as the Ghost Gundam also contains a gargantuan number of accessories for an equally gargantuan number of display options.
I’ve repeatedly mentioned that I’m not exactly a fan of disassembling the whole kit for the sake of transformation, which is what the Phantom Gundam, and the Ghost Gundam kits are doing. For the HGUC Phantom Gundam, I’ve decided that I need four copies, for the mobile suit and mobile armor modes with both Phantom Light activated and deactivated. I actually have three copies of the kit and it won’t be that difficult to get the last.
I’ll likely do the same with the HGUC Ghost Gundam though being 2.5 times the price of the Phantom Gundam makes it not as straight forward. The jump in price is likely because of the matte silver coating that does look really good, so let’s see. Either way I will jump on to Buyee (not sponsored) once this kit is released and start my crusade of getting four copies.
HGUC 1/144 Ghost Gundam
October 2023 / ¥6,300
Premium Bandai Exclusive
