Gundam Universe RX-78-2 Gundam (GU-01) review

You ever looked at one of the Gunpla models out there and thought it looked cool yet you were unsure of wanting to assemble the entire thing? We all felt intimidated by the difficulty they'd have for newcomers, especially when things like removing the excess sprue material or applying details can be tedious to some. It makes sense to have the Gundam series provide people with non-Gunpla versions of the designs famous for the line, and I was fortunate enough to buy one for $12 earlier in the year. It took me long enough, but here is my review on the iconic RX-78-2 from the Gundam Universe line.

Here we have the RX-78-2 in hand, immediately nailing the simple yet elegant aesthetics of the Gundam design we have here. Being one of the staple Mecha from Japanese culture since 1979, we get an eye-catching color combo of white with blue, red, and yellow present within the torso. Having less to do than other famous robots like Optimus Prime or the Megazord from MMPR, the RX-78-2 prioritizes having a lean and elegant aesthetic in mind, befitting many a vintage robo like Mazinger Z and the like. The white surface area does look flat and textureless from a distance, but you could add some panel lines if you really wanted to. I find the appearance as it is to be perfectly fine, especially when we have a good balance of non-white colors in the torso with a bit of red for the feet. One compliment I didn't expect to give this thing is how hefty it feels, and I could imagine there being die-cast a la the Super Robot Chogokin figures.

Head sculpt especially has a nice level of paint apps to represent the forehead crest, the vents in the cheek guards, the red in the "Mohawk", and the black within the battle mask as well as the red goatee complete the helmet's deco. Nothing, however, compared to the eyes including the black outline as well as an additional red trim to separate them from the mouthplate. Absolutely marvelous, though the stuff materials used for the Chevron make me worried about them snapping off. We'll get to articulation in a moment, but you can display it with its rifle, which includes an articulated scope. The shield includes integration with the accessory-holding left hand as well as a tab that goes on the left forearm. 

With either the twin laser swords or having the beam effect in the rifle, you can get some dynamic anime-like mecha poses fitting the RX-78-2. Articulation consists of ball joints at the neck, shoulders, wrists, torso, hips, and ankles, hinges for the double-jointed elbows (which don't bend as well), and double-jointed knees, and swivels for the biceps, and thighs. There are ball joints for the shoulder pads as well as hinges for the skirt panels to allow better range.

Though one is not included, a flight stand can be used on this figure via an adaptor that goes near the butt, making it look somewhat unfortunate in terms of appearance. Scale-wise, the RX-78-2 Gundam is slightly shorter than the average Marvel Legend, making this more in-line with the usual SRC figures, and maybe some Gunpla models depending on the type you own. Honestly, I'm surprised to see this at a discount store like Ross, and same thing goes for a lot of anime figures like the Dragon Stars figures, the many statuettes from Sailor Moon, or plenty of other anime figurines with or without articulation. Is it because people already got these and don't have interest in getting what they already imported? Either way, getting this for $12 is a steal, especially given most other figures would be hard to get at a bargain as low as it gets. Second closest example would be Figuarts being priced at $40 by Walmart, but this is even better thanks to the quality surprising me. The range could be a bit better, but this makes for a great entry point into the Gundam line without the Entry Grade experience.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐