MSiA ZGMF-1000/A1 Gunner ZAKU Warrior (Standard colors)

Height: 9.75cm to top of head

Articulation: 39 total points of articulation: Ball jointed neck; 6 points in right arm, 8 points in left - double jointed shoulder, pre-elbow swivel, double jointed elbow, ball joint wrist, plus double jointed shoulder shield on left arm; ball-jointed waist; ball-jointed main thruster on back; 6 hinged skirt plates; 9 points in each leg - ball jointed hip, triple-jointed knee, hinged ankle armor, double-jointed ankle, double-jointed thrusters on back of leg.

Accessories: MMI-M633 Beam Assault Rifle with removeable ammo clip; Extra ammo drums x2; MA-M8 Beam Tomahawk with removeable beam blade; Gunner Wizard - M1500 Orthos High Energy Long Range Beam Cannon backpack; Extra hands x4

Colors: Molded light green, dark green, medium gray, clear pink, white, and black. Painted light green, orange, black, red, white, and pink(monoeye).

Release Data: Released March 18th, 2005 in Japan at a price of ¥1500. This item is still in production as of this review (April 5th, 2005).

Gallery: 10 images.

Author: RAC

The Figure

There are a few things in life that are said to be inevitable: Death and Taxes are usually the examples given. This figure was every bit as inevitable- as soon as the other ZAKU MSiA were announced, you knew that sooner or later there would be a version in the traditional "Grunt" green color scheme. Attributed to "Dearka Elthman etc.", this is the standard-issue ZAFT ZAKU, and it's a remold/recolor I've been looking forward to.

The Head

The head is pretty much identical to that of the ZAKU Phantom, except for the lack of an antenna, which makes it favor the SD Gundam Force Zako Soldier yet more. It has the same nice range, with decent tilt in all directions and 360 degrees of swivel, if you get the snout out of the collar's way as you turn.

The Arms

On the left arm, you have the same double-jointed shoulder shield with the ingenious "peanut" joint that the Phantom enjoys. On the other side, you have a round piece of armor with a single curved spike, which looks similar to the shoulder armor of the original Gouf. The shoulder armors are reversed in reference to the original Zaku-F, which is a nice touch. It also keeps the large shield from interfering with the Gunner Wizard, though some experimenting with Rey's ZAKU Phantom indicates that it wouldn't interfere much anyway.

The arms are otherwise unchanged- same shoulder joint, though the ZAKU Warrior's right shoulder armor seems to allow the slightest bit more swivel than the version with the shield. The elbows are nice and flexible, and still make the arms look the slightest bit longer than I think would be ideal. The right wrist is angled slightly- I'm assuming it's a one-time error, since my ZAKU Phantom doesn't have this, and I haven't heard of anyone else's ZAKU with this problem. As always, I don't deduct for problems that are unique to my particular figure.

The Torso

The torso is totally unchanged from the ZAKU Phantom, which means the same nice sculpt and the same slightly-articulated thruster set into the back. Fortunately, it also has the same record-setting waist articulation, though as ExVee said of Lunamaria's ZAKU Warrior, the plastic seems to have been improved a bit, meaning the waist holds a specific position more securely than before. And also, I've yet to have one of the hinged skirt plates pop off, making that innovative move yet more spectacular.

The Legs and Feet

The legs are also unchanged, featuring hip joints with a nice range, excellent knees- though they seem a bit looser now- and conduction cables that don't interfere with posing in the slightest. The ankle guards are hinged, and give an extra kick(pun mostly intended) of range to the double-jointed ankles. The rear thrusters are also double-jointed, and you can move them back far enough to give the ankle a little bit of backwards tilt, which is about the only thing they lack. You have to be careful with this, though- without those thrusters bracing the backs of the ankles, the legs have trouble supporting the weight of the deployed Gunner Wizard cannon unless the knees are bent to take the stress off of them.

Paint and Decoration

The green color scheme is far more attractive to me than Rey Za Burrel's primarily white ZAKU Phantom- it makes the figure seem far less drab. The white highlights and orange-red thrusters help a great deal too. The accessories are equally nicely and cleanly decorated.

Articulation gets 8/10

Sculpt and Deco get 9/10

Accessories

-MMI-M633 Beam Assault Rifle with removeable ammo clip

Again, somewhat better than my ZAKU Phantom- for one, the Rifle isn't warped, so I'm pleased there. Secondly, the Ammo Drum seems less prone to popping off- though it's still hard to acheive a decent two-handed grip without doing so at least once- and the hinged mount seems a bit better as well. This could be an effect of not having a warped stock, though. I'm not sure. The Rifle still stows on the rear hip armor, but interferes with the Gunner Wizard if you try to have both in use at once.

-Extra Ammo Drums

Only two this time, since the ZAKU Warrior's single shoulder shield decreases storage space by 50%. As I mentioned above, they fit both the Beam Assault Rifle and the shoulder shield subtly but noticeably better than the ZAKU Phantom's ammo drums did.

-MA-M8 Beam Tomahawk with removeable beam blade

Another standard-issue weapon, and thus totally identical to the ZAKU Phantom's version. It fits in the hand snugly, the Beam blade is easily removeable and attachable, and the point on the back still swivels.

-Gunner Wizard

And here we have what really differentiates the ZAKU Warrior MSiA from the Phantom releases, the Gunner Wizard. This is exactly what it sounds like- a backpack with a big gun attached. Perfectly suitable equipment for the former pilot of the Buster Gundam.

The backpack fits securely to the ZAKU- once it's on, there's no fear of it coming off. The Beam Cannon is attached to the backpack by an armature that's far simpler than the complex and frustrating Buster Gundam's- two hinges swing the Orthos down under the right arm and into what's pretty much the ideal position for it. The Cannon itself folds up when not in use, and there's a secondary handgrip that's much easier for the ZAKU to hold than the one on the Beam Assault Rifle, though it pops off on occasion. And it's certainly an attractive piece.

Unfortunately, where all the old parts and accessories were an improvement over the first release, this new Wizard has some problems. The hinges in the Cannon's stock don't quite do what they're supposed to- the two sections don't meet up properly when stored no matter how much goading and forcing I do. Pictures from other sites I've seen seem to confirm this as a design flaw. Also, unless you place the front hinge just so, the barrel of the gun doesn't quite stop in the right place when unfolded- it swings a bit too far downwards. When you do have the hinge in the proper position, the Orthos does stay fairly straight, though.

My last complaint is the red cable running between the Cannon and the backpack- the ball-joint on the backpack end isn't secured well enough, and pops off easily when the cannon is stored. There's also the problem of the weight- but that's more the fault of the ankles and knees than the Gunner Wizard itself, and a wider stance, which seems more natural when the Cannon is deployed anyway, solves the problem, pretty much.

-Extra Hands

Same as always- two with trigger-finger extended, a more general set of hands, and a pair of fists. Adding to the frustrations of the Gunner Wizard, my ZAKU's right trigger-finger hand seems to have been molded not so well, and pops off much too easily. Again, since this is a molding error, and unique to this particular piece, presumably, I'm not gonna deduct points. But boy, it's annoying.

Accessories get 7/10

Closing Remarks:

The Gunner ZAKU Warrior is a good figure which improves on a lot of the problems with the previous ZAKU releases. Unfortunately, it also adds a few of its own with the Gunner Wizard, though I like the piece more than the technically superior but kinda boring Blaze Wizard. Though from the wrist and hand problems, I'm wondering if I didn't just get myself a lousy Gunner Wizard too.

I paid roughly $18 for it after shipping, and were it not for the problems with my specific figure I'd probably be more than satisfied. In general, I'd call the Gunner Zaku Warrior Excellent, though the problems with my personal copy probably knock it down to somewhere near Good, if not a touch lower. I may get another in the future, especially if I can find a halfway decent bargain.

-RAC 04/05/2005