Gundam Gframe - RX78-1

I got some new Gundam merch from Target. Today I present to you a Gundam Gframe action figure.

As you can probably tell from the box, the Gframe is a figure that comes with a fully built, articulated inner frame, alongside armor pieces that snap right on. I guess it isn’t quite a Gunpla, (since you aren’t building it from scratch), but it looks a lot more like one than a standard action figure.

I’ve seen these figures before, at both Target, and for many years prior at Barnes & Noble, but this is the first time I ever wanted to get one. All the ones I saw previously were of common mobile that were easy to buy in model kit form. This one, however, is the RX78-1, which is a somewhat obscure variant that ’ve never seen sold in any form. I figured this might be my only shot at having one, Gunpla or otherwise, and it would be an opportunity to put one of these Gframe figures through its paces. Is it a win-win? Let’s find out. But first, a bit if history.

About the RX78-1

The original Grandaddy Gundam we all know and love is often referred to as the “RX78-2 Gundam”. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not there ever existed an “RX78-1”, the answer is YES!!¹.

There aren’t a ton of concrete details about its history. I know that it was developed at the Earth Federation’s headquarters at Jaburo, but I don’t know whether or not it was developed strictly before, or in parallel with the RX78-2. Nor do I know whether there were any significant performance differences between the two.

I do know that there was one minor difference in functionality - the RX78-1 has tiny little verniers built into its ankle armor. Beyond that, there are some cosmetic differences too. The wrist armor is a different shape, the knee armor is smaller, and for some reason the left skirt armor is shorter than the right.

Of course, there is one other major cosmetic difference - the color palette. The RX78-1 opts for a bold, black/red/white color scheme. It looks less cartoony than the 78-2’s colors, while still looking very “1970’s sci-fi”.

There aren’t all that many model kits of this and other RX78 variants, which is why this Gframe figure enticed me so much. Getting this mobile suit in any form is a rarity and a treat.

About the Figure

Spoiler alert - this thing was full of surprises.

First off - the instructions are on the inside of the box, so you have to cut it open to figure out what to do:

Next, here is a photo of all the parts in their bags:

You can see the two pieces that obviously make up the inner frame, in addition to the weapons and exterior armor parts.

But looks can be deceiving. These armor parts (minus the head) are actually connected to individual segments of a second frame, called the “display frame”:

If you really wanted to, you could just assemble all the armor parts, and you’d have a fully assembled figurine.

However, I wouldn’t recommend it. Aside from a bit of articulation at the hands and the shoulders, the display frame is entirely rigid:

Should you chose to use it, your figure is going to be stuck in a pose just like the one above. There is no way to bend the arms at the elbow, or to change the legs out of that wide stance. Furthermore, the connection between the legs and the torso isn’t very good. They fall off too easily even without any armor, so I can’t imagine how well the would stay put under a little bit of load.

Instead, we should do what the instructions suggest - remove everything from the display frame, and attach all the parts to the articulated frame.

Speaking of which, here’s a shot of the articulated frame:

It looks almost identical to the display frame, but it does in fact have articulation in all the joints.

This new assembly took me much longer than expected. Since so much of the armor pieces are dark black, it was sometimes hard to determine where the frame ended and the armor began. I had more than a few moments where I was confused as to why my figure didn’t look like it did in the instructions.

Furthermore, the instructions are very particular about assembly. You have to have the arms in a T-Pose, and you have to remove the feet, otherwise the parts won’t all fit.

Straight Build

I had no idea what to expect before buying this figure. The photo on the front of the box is dark and low-resolution. It doesn’t give a great sense of the level of detail (or part separation or color separation) one can expect.

So let’s first take a look at what it looks like as a “straight build”, with all parts attached to the articulated frame without any painting, detailing, or panel lining.

Overall, this looks an awful lot like a standard High Grade, not only in regards to the level of detail, but also in regards to where (and how much) it is lacking in color separation. That’s way better than what I was expecting.

However, there are still ways in which this figure falls short of a true model kit:

• The plastic feels a little bit rougher and looks a little bit cheaper.
• The beam sabers on the backpack are molded straight into the backpack, so you can't remove them.
• Much of the color you see above is the result of someone (or something) applying a quick, dirty, and often incomplete paint job to smaller sections of the figure's larger armor pieces. This happens in a number of places, most noticeably up here on the head:

None of these are dealbreakers, but they are a bit annoying. They are small reminders that this is, in fact, an action figure.

Weapons

Not only do we get all of the Gundam’s standard weapons, but they all look pretty great:

Just like on a High Grade, the weapons are all monochrome (I painted that bit of silver you see on the beam saber), but each one has excellent detailing. The Hyper Bazooka in particular is quite impressive. It has some lines and details that are not even present in High Grade versions, and the handle even moves up and down.

As for the Beam Rifle, while it has the same general shape as the original version, there are noticeable differences. For instance, it lacks the big yellow sight and the awkwardly shaped front grip. Then you have the tip of the rifle, which screams “old school sci-fi ray gun”.

The Beam Saber

This figure uses the old school, "toothpick" style beam saber: For some reason the packaging shows it unpainted, which makes it look like the RX78-1 is equipped with a regular sword instead. It's kind of funny (though seriously, it's supposed to be painted to look like a Beam Saber).

Now, let’s do some detailing and panel lining and see how much better it can look (if at all).

Detailing

Since this figure took barely any time to assemble, I went “all out” with the detailing. I did all the usual panel lining and color separation, and I colored the weapons.

I also added some additional, noncanonical coloring, and I topcoated (even though it wasn’t stricly necessary). Here is the result:

And here is a side by side comparison:

Similarly, a comparison of the weapons:

Not my absolute best work, but I’ve done way worse with white paint.

Anyway, as expected, the extra details go a long way. It now looks much less toylike than it did straight out of the box, though it looks a little more toylike than a true blue model kit would. The key word here is “little” - this is far, far closer in quality to a real Gunpla than I ever expected.

Articulation

This figure has a full inner frame, so it should be super poseable, right?

Ehhhhhh …

Some of the joints are have excellent range, but others don’t. The arms move up all the way, which is impressive:

… though like the Entry Grade Gundam, it kind of cheats by keeping the shoulder joint uncovered:

The bend at the knee is also quite good, though the bend at the waist is not. The skirt armor appears to get in the way:

At least it can do an amazing split:

It also has a bit of a forward bend, and quite a solid backward bend:

All in all, it’s about on par with an older High Grade. Some of the articulation is top notch, but is marred by limitations elsewhere.

Display Frame as Action Base

This figure has one last surprise for us. You can take the display frame and reassemble it into a cheapo Action Base:

The fact that it has a creepy, “built from the corpse of a mobile suit” vibe is not lost on me. Still, it’s a base, something which is usually sold separately.

And it’s a pretty good base too! The connector tip actually pivots, so you can tilt the figure forward and backward as needed. And while it does struggle to lay flat due to its weird assembly, its tripod-esque shape helps it stay upright regardless.

Action Poses

I didn’t do anything too crazy, but I managed to pull off some solid poses without a bit of trouble.

Check out how perfectly straight it is during this kneeling pose. This took a bare minimum of effort on my part:

Lastly, a couple of poses using the base:

Size

On its own, in isolation, the figure looks (to me) to be about the size of a High Grade. In reality, it’s quite a bit shorter. Here it is next to the Grandaddy Gundam, which towers over it:

Even a shorter MS like the Gundam Mk II is taller:

In fact, it turns out to be exactly the same height as the High Grade Gundam F91, by far my smallest model:

As a final comparison, I find it interesting that the knee and the wrist armor is so similar in design to the Gundam Alex’s:

Price

These Gframe figures cost $14 at Target, which feels about right. True, there are High Grades that cost a few bucks less, but there are many more of similar complexity that cost more. Consider the fact that you are getting an action figure with a similar level of detail, color separation, and articulation, and which doesn’t skimp on the weapons. All this - plus a quick, bare minimum “build” - for the same price as an entry-level High Grade. When you put it that way, I think the price is extremely reasonable. It certainly feels more reasonable than the much pricier Gundam Universe figures, which feel too costly (even though those figures are larger in size).

Conclusion

This Gframe figure was (relatively) easy to assemble, and doesn’t skimp too much on detail, accessories, or articulation. What’s more, if you look at the list of Gframe figures that have been released, a lot of them are “deep cut” mobile suits from Mobile Suit Variations and Advance of Zeta, all of which are difficult at best to find in model kit form.

As a result, I think these figures are a great way to supplement your 1/144th scale Gunpla collection in situations where finding a High Grade kit is either too difficult or too expensive. They aren’t perfect, but they’re generally “good enough”. Consider me a fan. I’d be happy to pick up more of them in the future should I ever need to.

Other Thoughts

• Some time ago, Bandai spun off a sister company, Bandai Spirits, to deal solely with “adult” products like gunpla, statues, etc. OG Bandai products use the original red logo, while Bandai Spirits uses the blue one. This has been the case for all Gunpla released/reissued in the last three or four years, and yet this Gframe figure has the red logo. I suppose that either means it is older than I thought, or this is not a Bandai Spirits product.
• The figure comes with a pair of open hands, and a pair of closed hands for holding weapons. They’re the super simple type where you just plug the weapon straight in - you can’t open them up. That made me wonder how exactly it was supposed to grip the handle on the bazooka. As it turns out, you can pull the grip out, slot the hand on, and plug it back in: