EMIA RX-78-2 Gundam

Height: 10.5cm to top of head.

Articulation: 34 total points of articulation: double-jointed neck; 7 points in arms- triple-jointed shoulders, pre-elbow swivels, double-jointed elbow, ball-jointed wrists; ball-jointed midsection; ball-jointed waist; 8 points in each leg - ball jointed hip, upper thigh swivels, triple-jointed knee, triple-jointed ankle.

Accessories: Beam Rifle with mounting clamp, Hyper Bazooka with mounting clamp, Shield, Gundam Hammer and Hyper Hammer, Beam Javelin, Beam Sabers x4 with removable blades x2, "Battle Scarred" parts for EMiA Zaku and Gouf, Extra Hands x7.

Colors: Molded dark gray (joints and clamps) and transparent pink. Painted white, blue, red, yellow, blue-gray, light gray, dark gray, silver, black, green (Zaku head) dark blue (Gouf arms) and brown ink (panel lines).

Release Data: Released in Japan on February 20th at a price of ¥1800. This item is still widely available as of this review (April 21st, 2006).

Gallery:  31 pictures.

Author: RAC

The Figure

The original Gundam is still Bandai's main attraction. It's nearly always the first release of a new line and rarely stops there. The Master Grade line of models has seen five separate RX-78-2s by my count, and the MSiA line had three distinct molds before this one. And now it's an EMiA, though not the first EMiA, surprisingly. The figure is a mixed bag, featuring design choices seemingly decided upon simply because they were never seen on an MSiA Gundam before.

The Head

The head sculpt is a bit different from most versions of the Gundam, with a more rounded helmet in particular. It seems closer to Hajime Katoki's HGUC Gundam than either the original head or most modern renditions. I'm not partial to it, but I'd probably like it better if the paint were better. Mechanically, it works quite well, with the double ball-joints providing a really great range of motion.

The Arms

Here's where it gets complicated. The shoulders are triple-jointed, featuring a hinge similar to the one used on the spectacular MSiA Gabthley. The difference is that the hinge is mounted to the torso on a ball-joint rather than a swivel, allowing for a greater range of shoulder movement. The Gundam can reach straight up if it likes, grab one of the back-mounted Beam Sabers with ease, and otherwise has a much broader range of shoulder articulation than most MSiA.

The tradeoff is that the mechanism stands out a bit on the torso- it's obvious, even from a distance, that the original design didn't intend shoulders of this type. However, these joints are pretty much necessary to achieve some of the Gundam's poses from the animation, so it's up to you whether you prefer form to function.

Complimenting the shoulder is a hinged piece of shoulder armor similar to that of the Rick Dias or The-O. Flexible as the shoulder is I'm not sure this was even necessary, but there's no way the armor can impede the shoulder movement now. Below the shoulder, the arms are ordinary Second Version arms, lacking the ball-joint post-elbow swivel used on the EMiA Zeta Gundam and Zakus. There's no practical reason for it since the forearms are practically square and a stupid, stupid design choice means no shield hardpoint to adjust.

The hands are a bit big for the figure, as has been remarked. It's most noticable on the open hands, but all the hands look a bit out of scale. The hands are pretty close to the animation model, looking more rounded and human, and lacking detail compared to the Second Version.

The Torso

While the shoulders work better than they look, the torso's feature looks fine but isn't very effective. The red part of the Gundam's torso is jointed, allowing it to lean in any direction. The opening cockpit hatch has also been removed in favor of a ball-jointed piece meant to complement that midsection joint. Unfortunately, that joint doesn't have a lot of range and tends to want to center itself, rendering its added articulation pretty much useless. The torso is nice-looking, though, particularly if you prefer the animation-style chest vent coloring, and the waist is unrestricted.

The backpack got a lot more colorful, sporting the blue-gray seen on the accessories, the plain gray of the joints, and some silver thrusters. Very nice indeed. The cover's no longer removable, but the Beam Saber mounts are adjustable, which is a nice touch. The skirt armor is MSiA-standard and thus the warping warning is in effect. I like the sculpt here, though, as it's designed to match the animation look of the lower torso being a single piece.

The Legs and Feet

Overall, the legs show the most improvement over the Gundam Second. The hips have the widest side-to-side range I've ever seen on an MSiA- the Gundam can do a superb split. There's a swivel just below the hip joint, which should be a standard feature by now. The knees are triple-jointed, and their range is pretty much the maximum possible. While similar to the Second Version's feet, the EMiA's ankles are now double-jointed, adding a little more range. The mid-foot ball-joint has been reworked to add a lot more range- the Gundam can keep its feet firmly on the ground while in a split. Also, the shape has been changed subtly, and the Gundam's feet look less like bedroom slippers when using the mid-foot joint.

Paint and Decoration

The paint is pretty much standard for EMiAs, with weathering and brown panel-inking. I also like the silver thrusters on the backpack and the soles of the feet. My copy of the figure has some paint issues on the face- the yellow of the right eye is especially sloppy-looking. Otherwise, the paint is decent.

Articulation gets 9/10

Sculpt and Deco get 7/10
 

Accessories

-Beam Rifle

Proportioned very differently from older versions of the Beam Rifle, which is easiest to see in the enlarged sight. As with the previous version, the foregrip swings to the side for a two-handed grip. The shape of the foregrip is tough to fit into the rounded space in the oversized open hands, so the trigger-finger hands are a better choice here.

For some reason, the weapons are made of a somewhat softer plastic than is normal for MSiA accessories. There's a solid plastic peg holding the barrel of the Rifle on, but since it sockets into soft plastic there's it tends to get misaligned too easily. The included mounting clamp fits the Rifle and the Gundam well- the weapon slides in and out easily enough, but only when you want.

-Hyper Bazooka

Something to note here: the color of the Hyper Bazooka is either incorrect or not, depending on how you look at it. In some parts of the original Gundam, the Hyper Bazooka is shown in the two-tone color scheme used on the Gundam Second Version's bazooka. In others, it's plain gray as shown here. I'm assuming the more complex color scheme to be "correct," but this one is seen more than other infamous quirks of the original animation such as the Beam Rifle-wielding GM.

The weapon itself isn't bad, sporting a rotating handgrip and the often-ignored open-back magazine- this also came and went in the animation, as I recall. The grip fits in the hand well, and the only flaw is a soft plastic socket for a hard plastic connector once again. The mounting clamp works well, as it should since they've had more than enough times to get this kind of accessory right.

-Shield

The Shield is confusing. See, the Gundam First Version had no way to hold its shield up but the handgrip, which is placed where it's pretty much guaranteed that the round handgrip will cause it to swing away from the figure. The Gundam G-Fighter version fixed this with a semi-useful shield mounting hardpoint. The Gundam Second Version fixed this with a really good shield-mounting hardpoint. The EMIA... reverts to the First Version style of handgrip only. Huh?

The shield has a folding peg to mount the shield to the back, and it has storage for the two extra Beam Saber grips the Gundam comes with. It also has a second socket for the ball-jointed handgrip to allow the Gundam to hold the shield as seen in the Gundam: The Origin manga. (It's a pretty useful grip at that, and the way the Gundam blocks with it seems more natural than the traditional grip.) This is all well and good, but even though the shield is light, it still tends to swing away from the arm. As with the GP02A, I believe a square handgrip would've been enough to combat this. As it is, it's got a problem that hasn't been seen on an RX-78 since the very first MSiA seven years ago, and that's just unacceptable.

-Gundam Hammer and Hyper Hammer

If you own the Gundam Second Version, these will look eerily familiar. They're the same molds, except painted the same bluish gray as the rifle and bazooka. The new color may match the animation a bit better, but the gunmetal color of the Japanese Gundam Second matches the black chain used for the weapons much better. There's also a detail downgrade to be noted here, as the Hyper Hammer's various thrusters used to be painted red to make it a bit more interesting to look at.

-Beam Javelin

Another holdover from the Gundam Second, and totally identical, down to the lack of paint or panel-inking. The only difference is that the pink on the Second Version weapon is a bit more vivid.

-Beam Sabers

Four grips here to take advantage of the redesigned shield. They're up to the current standard with one nice little touch- there's a slight "lip" molded into the saber hilts so that they attach to the backpack securely.

-"Battle Scarred" parts

To add to the Gundam's display value, bonus parts have been added which are very reminiscent of the US Battle Scarred line. For the EMiA Zaku, you get a head (and a hand for the Gundam) to recreate Amuro's snout-yanking attack in the first episode of the series. For the EMiA Gouf, you get a pair of stumps to commemorate the final battle between the Gundam and Ramba Ral's Gouf.

The Zaku parts are easy to install. The Gouf parts are a bit tougher, since the hinged ball-joints tend to want to come out of the torso before they come out of the arm. There's a bigger problem, too: the colors don't quite match the EMiA they're designed for. They're noticably brighter in color. I suspect this is because the base plastic being used is the Gundam's white instead of whatever colors were used for the Zaku and Gouf. Due to the darker shading on the Zaku's face, it's less noticeable from the front than the back, which is good, but I expect the Gouf's arms to stand out pretty badly.

-Extra Hands

Nine in all, not counting the one intended for use with the Zaku. The standard six- "Gun," "Saber," and fists, plus a pair of open hands with fingers splayed to recreate the Gundam in freefall, plus an open left hand that's a little less dramatic-looking. They're all a bit big, as mentioned before. Plus, the size of the hands compared to the Beam Sabers means that the hands designed for them have a very round opening, so it's a bit harder to get that hand wrapped around the Rifle's foregrip. Otherwise, however, they all seem to work pretty well.

Accessories get 7/10

Closing Remarks:

When the Gundam Second Version came out, it was a marked improvement over both previous versions of the RX-78-2. There was not a single thing part of the figure which wasn't superior to the older Gundams, or older MSiA in general for that matter. That may have created unrealistic expectations in me for this figure, for while certain parts (like the legs) are very much improved, some of the updates are questionable, like the torso joint. Due to the aesthetic compromises for the new shoulders, opinions will likely vary on whether it was worth it. And there's no disputing that the shield is a step seven years in the wrong direction.

It's a mixed figure, moreso than any other EMiA. It ran me about $24 shipped, and I for one am pleased with it, though I don't think it's the absolute best Bandai could've done. That being the case, the most appropriate rating would be Very Good.

-RAC, 04/21/2006