Review: PG Unicorn "Fighter" Gundam (Daban)

Bandai is so pissed right now

Okay. It's been out for some time but I wanted for the hype to die down before I made my review of this kit. First of all. Guys.... if you have the money get the original Bandai kit that's just the fair thing to do it's better than this Bootleg kit and you're actually getting your money's worth.

Okay One more thing. I didn't get the optional Daban LED system for the kit since I'm planning to paint the psychoframe. Without further ado....

Here is my review of the Perfect Grade Unicorn "Fighter" Gundam made by Daban.

First of all Let's talk size.

If it was real and in 1:1 scale. The Unicorn Gundam would measure approximately 21.7 meters tall in Destroy mode. so 1:60 that'll be about 36.17 cm or 1 foot 2 inches(thereabouts).

Let's see if it's true

Yup. Seems just right.

Well... It's taller than a standard ruler. so it is HUGE. What do we expect. It is one of the taller Gundam models from the Universal Century timeline.

So a big Gundam needs big guns too. so here they are compared to an MG RX-78-2 ver 3.0

RX-78-2: A shield? Looks like a surfboard to me.

RX-78-2: twin beam Gatling guns??? Where did they get this a battleship?

RX-78-2: If I used this I could've blown up A Baoa Qu by myself.

Huge.

Basically the kit comes with 4 beam saber but only 2 beam saber effects, a bazooka, a beam magnum, a set of dual beam Gatling guns and a shield. The full armor unicorn looks impressive now, right?

A lot of other blogs have done the part by part analysis and to be frank it's not my style. I'd like to just relay my thoughts and experiences when I was building this kit.

Thoughts and Issues:

1. The plastic is reminiscent of Daban's Sinanju Stein. It's sturdy and snappy to cut but there is something really off about it's weight. It feels structurally unsound. It isn't, but it feels that way.
2. A lot of the external armor is undergated. which is a good thing. you wouldn't a predominantly white suit to have visible nub marks.
3. it's surprisingly easy to assemble. No screws, springs or any fancy locking mechanisms to hold the frame together.
1. Take that into mind because the shoulder joints may not fully support the Dual gatling gun/shield combo with an outstretched arm. friction can't keep the arm from sagging down,
4. You will face some tight fitting pegs. I would suggest not to over shave the peg holes or polycaps too much since friction is the only thing holding this thing together and standing up. 
5. I like the clear parts in this kit. I din't have to modify anything to make them fit. i just shaved the nubs off using my hobby knife and followed the instructions carefully.
6. Read the manual carefully and use your common sense. a lot of the clear parts need to go on a specific way otherwise the transformations wouldn't work.
7. If you're planning to get one but want the led later. save yourself the work. get the led's at the same time to avoid disassembling the kit to the inner frame.
8. Details are surprisingly good.
9. transformation sequence at the most part is good and smooth. Although there are some parts you have to force a little. namely the shoulders, arms and lower leg armor.
10. I love the head transformation most of all.
11. Really good posability. (Good job Bandai)

Final Thoughts.

I enjoyed making this kit. I took my sweet time in savoring the build. The details are great and it does look sweet. The gimmicks are plentiful and transformation work pretty smooth for the most part. So if' you're looking for a brilliant piece of inexpensive (relatively) Perfect grade eye candy you can't go wrong with this Unicorn.

*Rating: 90/100

Final Final Thoughts.

BUT if you take into account that Daban's newer plastic formula (I felt it began after the Nu gundam ver ka) FEELS less sturdy and less substantial compared to older models. I mean my old bootleg 00 Raiser feels heavier compared with the Unicorn.   I know it's nitpicky but there is something fundamentally "cheap" feeling about the unicorn. Please note this is my opinion.

*My Rating: 80-85

Verdict. 

Yup, It's a great kit. aside from the plastic quality feel issues I said. this is a really good copy of Bandai's original (sorry bandai).  With Daban's  Banshee already in the works, the full armor kit nearby and Dragon Momoko's more expensive , more detailed Unicorn  I would say this is a pretty good year for PG's.

Review: MG Sazabi Ver Ka (Daban)

Well here we are. The good people at daban (evil in the eyes of bandai) have managed to create a copy of the Sazabi version Katoki.  Not a perfect copy mind you, but a pretty good one. Read on for my full review of the kit.

Out of the box I found out that this piece of the metallic inner frame part snapped off somewhere and it wasn't in the plastic bag. So im assuming it was a factory defect. I have asked around and no other person had this defect but other people have claimed that they have other runner issues. Well it is a bootleg kit and it is expected of them to have these kinds.of.problems especially since this is a first issue model.

Here is a close up of the Bandai Sazabi ver ka(right) and the Daban one(left) you might notice that the daban one is slightly taller than the original and that is because Daban has redesigned the knee of the sazabi. This redesign increased the height of the sazabi but has removed the ability of the black kneecap of the daban to fully tuck in the leg armor,like the original.

In my previous blogpost I have stated that the plastic of the Daban Sazabi is prone to pressure marks. A combination of huge panels, design of the kit, and softer (than bandai)plastic makes this occurrence more prevalent with the Daban compared to Bandai's.

Let me be blunt. Do not expect a perfect snap fitting kit here. The assembly of the upper body except for the backpack,shoulders and the head, went smoothly. The shoulders for example,I assembled them in the open position already since it's a pain in the ass to transform them.

The lower body also has its fitting issues. Namely in the back skirt and thigh area. Which have some excessively tight fitting pegs. And may cause gaps. I also have read comments from.fellow owners that in some kits the knee joint is very loose.

Conclusion:

Plastic: better than daban's The O, a little worse than the Nu. The metallic runners a1 and a2 are very brittle,

Posability: The waist joint is a little loose, a little bit fiddly to pose. Hands will keep popping out (design flaw of bandai). Overall, posability is at par with the original

Color: in my eyes it seems like the Daban Sazabi has a little bit lighter shade compared to the original.

Overall:  this a good kit all on its own. Compared to the original off course it is inferior. That isnt a harsh criticism of the kit. Since the Bandai Sazabi ber ka is such a really great kit of course the clone will be a little bit lesser in comparison. Make no mistake the Daban Sazabi is a great kit with a few issues.

Should you buy it? Yes.

Rating: I'm giving it an 87-90 /100

Enjoy building it. And watch out for my next review: the Dragon Momoko MG Akatsuki coming next week.

And you can also follow me on my instagram @donjuandefantastico so you can see.what kit im building.

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