Gundam

Gunpla Build - High Grade Gelgoog Jäger 2022-05-31

I am kinda/sorta/not seriously trying to collect all of the mobile suits from 0080: War in the Pocket. I’ve come to like all of its mobile suit designs more and more over time, and because it’s a short OVA, there aren’t that many unique mecha (though there are more than you might think!) If ever you wanted to get a full set of Gunpla from a given Gundam show or film, this is about as easy as it’s going to get.

That being said, I don’t think I will literally collect them all - I don’t think, for example, that I necessarily need to have a Z’Gok E if I can get the standard version. My rule is more like “If a 0080 model is in stock, and I can afford it, I might as well grab it, but it’s not worth going on a wild goose chase (and/or breaking the bank) for any of them”.

As it turns out, one of these models did recently come back in stock, and I did have funds (in the form of reward points) to spend. So here now is the High Grade Gelgoog Jäger:

Gunpla Build - High Grade Messer 2022-05-25

Warning: This post contains mild spoilers regarding the most recently released Gundam film. If you’re worried about that kind of stuff, just skip on to the build.

During Home Alone 2022, I went to the hobby store to look for supplies, and maybe a new model kit. I checked their website, and the only thing they had that looked intriguing was the High Grade Guntank.

Alas, they were sold out of Guntanks when I got there, but I did find something else. Something I haven’t actually seen in stock anywhere since it came out two years ago. And since I’ve heard so many good things about it, I decided to get it while the getting was good.

So here it is folks - the High Grade Messer, from the recent(ish)ly released film Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway Part 1, as well as the original 1989 novelization Hathaway’s Flash.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Victory Gundam (Part 3) 2022-05-20

Upper Torso

This is where the action is. This is where we find the most color, and the most interesting details.

If you look again closely at the three components that make up the Victory, it’s clear that the Boots turn into the legs, and the Hanger turns into the arms and the lower torso (with a tiny bit of the upper torso as well). That means that the majority of the upper torso has to be made out of the Core Fighter, and sure enough, we’ll see plenty of evidence for this once it’s done.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Victory Gundam (Part 2) 2022-05-19

Feet

Most Gundam-types have long feet with squared off toes, but the Victory’s feet are rounded and comparatively shorter. It greatly resembles the foot of the F91, which makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. Yet the Victory’s foot is cleaner and simpler, and is more in line with its that-much-more-elegant aesthetic.

In terms of construction, this is an odd one. You’ve got a cross-shaped ball joint which connects the foot to the leg. What’s curious about this is that the ankle armor simply rests atop the crossbar, like so:

It doesn’t plug in. It isn’t connected or secured in any way. It just rests there. As far as I can tell, it isn’t more or less prone to popping off, so I guess it’s viable, but I’ve never really seen anything like that before.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Victory Gundam (Part 1) 2022-05-18

Let’s Stand up to the Victory and get this thing started.

(Sorry folks, it’s Gundam Law that you have to make a “pun about Victory Gundam’s opening theme any time you reference the show).

Being both a miniature mobile suit and a fairly simple design to boot, it should be no surprise that the Hight Grade Victory Gundam comes in an extremely small box, with only a handful of runners:

Still, it is a bit surprising just how simple it is. For example, about half of the parts on the blue runner are used on the Core Fighter alone.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Victory Gundam (Intro Part 2) 2022-05-17

In part 2 of our Introduction, we’ll look at the state of mobile suit tech during the events of Victory Gundam.

Mobile Suit Tech in UC 0153

For the most part, MS tech hadn’t changed all much in the three decades between the events of Gundam F91 and Victory Gundam. This is (arguably) due to the fact that it was another long era of relative peace, which in turn caused the Earth Federation government and military to become old and stagnant.

However, the rise of the Zanscare Empire gave way to some notable changes. I say “changes” because there aren’t really any signs of new mobile suit tech, but rather advancements and refinements of existing concepts - including a few that had vanished for quite some time.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Victory Gundam (Intro Part 1) 2022-05-16

Let’s talk a little bit about the time period in which the Victory Gundam existed. It’s important to understand that the mobile suit was designed and engineered in a very different environment than those that came before it.

About Late UC Technology

Victory Gundam (the TV show, not the mobile suit) is unique, in that it takes significantly later on the Universal Century timeline than any other major UC story. For reference:

The original Mobile Suit Gundam takes place in UC 0079
Zeta Gundam takes place nearly ten years later, in UC 0087
Char’s Counterattack is set in UC 0093, and Gundam Unicorn in UC 0096
Hathaway’s Flash is another decade’ish after that, in UC 00105
Gundam F91 is 18 years later, in UC 0123
Finally, we have Victory Gundam, which takes place three decades after that, way off in UC 0153

It’s so far into the future that you might reasonably assume that mobile suit technology is in a much different place than it was in the decades immediately after the One Year War of 0079. And you would be mostly right, though maybe not in ways you’d expect.

Gunpla Build - High Grade Victory Gundam 2022-05-15

For the final build of Home Alone 2022, I saved my favorite mobile suit of the bunch:

I’ve waited a long time to build the Victory Gundam - because I’ve waited a long time to find it. I’m not sure if it hadn’t been reprinted in a while, or I’ve simply missed it whenever it came in stock, but this is the first time I ever saw it in stock in any of my favorite stores.

But now it’s here, and just like last time, I wrote a super long intro that I need to break up into sections. Sorry folks - sometimes I don’t know when to shut up when it comes to chatting about my favorite mobile suits.

Anyway, I’m just going to stop here, and we’ll get to it tomorrow with Part 1 of the intro.