MSiA Dengeki Hobby Exclusive FF-X7-Bst Core Booster

Length: 12cm from nose to tailfin, 9.5cm wingspan.

Colors: Molded white, gunmetal, and gray. Painted white, red, gray, blue, black, and yellow(EFSF logo on wing).

Release Data: Given away as a premium with the February 2004 issue of Dengeki Hobby Magazine. This item is no longer in production as of this writing (February 18th, 2005.)

Gallery: 5 images.

Author: RAC

The Figure

Dengeki Hobby has a habit of giving away neat extras with their magazine. There have been upgrade sets for model kits as well as full kits themselves, and even a special edition World's Smallest Transformers set of Optimus Prime and Megatron. Most fortunately, MSiA collectors haven't been left out, and Dengeki has produced 3 MSiA-related exclusives to date: a weapons set for the Zaku-IIF Second Version, a recolored Aile Skygrasper from Gundam SEED, and this, the Core Booster from the original Mobile Suit Gundam. While this mold was available in the US, packed in with the Gundam Second Version, this is the only Japanese release of this Core Booster to date, though a completely different version was included with the Byg-Zam.

If you have the US version, the first thing you'll probably notice is that the booster is much brighter- the white used is almost blinding. Also, red is used far more sparingly- the red stripes on the wings and tailfins are much thinner. However, it doesn't look bad at all, and the panel-lines are laid out to be perfectly appropriate for either color scheme. It's a nicely-detailed mold. The panel lines aren't inked in, but I don't think that's a problem- as many as there are it would probably look far too busy anyway. The six thrusters in the back are done in gunmetal, and don't move at all. Which is fine- I can't see it being beneficial for the Core Booster the way it would be for a Mobile Suit or Armor. Really, the only negative thing to be said about the booster unit is that because of the box it was shipped in, the tailfins weren't glued in, and can pop off at times if you're not careful. A minor complaint.

The Core Fighter in the front is removeable, though I can't quite figure out why, for a number of reasons. First, a section of the mounting brace is molded into the Core Fighter, and the painted white doesn't quite match the molded white of the booster. Next, there's the fact that the fighter is molded as a solid piece- the wings don't unfold, so it can't be used as a regular Core Fighter. And lastly, if you have the Core Fighter included with the US RX-78 and G-Fighter set, the connection point is similar enough that you can wedge that Core Fighter on the booster, but I can't say I'd recommend doing so- the connection seems too tight for comfort. They're not quite compatible. ("Similar but not quite compatible" is probably a good way to sum up the overall relationship between the Core Booster and G-Armor, in fact.) So why include this feature? I don't know- it might actually have made it easier to paint the Core Fighter, which has almost as many paint applications as the rest of the Core Booster in a much smaller space.

Paint and detailing

The paint is very clean overall, with only two rough spots. One is some white showing through the edge of the wings- I'm not going to deduct for that, because it could easily have been caused by some scraping, due to the cardboard box the Core Booster shipped in. The other is the cockpit canopy for the Core Fighter, which is a bit sloppy due to how tiny it is. It's understandable, all considered, but it does look a bit off. (I should also mention here, for the record, that the canopy is black as opposed to the blue-green used on all of the US Core Fighters.)

The markings on the booster are identical to the US version- EFSF lettering on the left wing and the EFSF emblem on the right. The yellow of the logo looks much better and stands out more against the brighter white of the Japanese version. The unit number was also retained, printed directly above the small fins on each side. My Core Booster is 006, which belongs to Sayla Mass, though I understand Slegger Law's 005 was also available. It's a nice touch, though it could be difficult to find both versions at this point.

Sculpt and Deco get 8/10

Closing Remarks:

The Core Booster is a good vehicle- as far as I'm concerned, there can never be enough MSiA support vehicles anyway. It's nicely decorated, and just different enough from the US issue that it may be worth it to you to have one of each.

Putting a monetary value on a figure is difficult to begin with, since worth is incredibly relative, but doubly so with something which was originally a giveaway with a magazine. I paid just under $10 for mine, and I'm pretty pleased with it. If you don't have either this or a Gundam Second Version, you might be better off looking for the US Deluxe release of the two.

It's a good sculpt with a good paintjob, and my biggest complaint is academic at best. So, I give the Core Booster a rating of Very Good.

-RAC 2/18/2005