Entry Grade GAT-X105 Strike Gundam Gunpla Unboxing & Review

The Earth Alliance's "All-Purpose Multi-Mode" Prototype MS.

"General Unilateral Neuro-Link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver", or "GUNDAM", which is the name the "GAT" Mobile Suits' OS uses and is not actually referring to the Mobile Suit itself. Yep.

But enough trivia that most Gundam fans are probably familiar with. It's time to take a look at another Entry Grade Gunpla, the EG Strike Gundam! So, head on past the break to check out the full details.

Unboxing:

Front Cover

As usual, before we take a look inside, let's take a good look at the box. I'd just like to point out that the box is slightly damaged due to shipping. I actually bought this item online, along with the last EG Gunpla that I haven't reviewed yet (but we'll check that out on the next post). The box is just squished a bit, but nothing serious.

The Entry Grade and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED logos.

First, the Front Cover. Nothing special compared to other Gunpla Front Covers. You can see the Cover Art of the Strike Gundam smack dab in the middle. All the usual information are present here as well. The name of the Mobile Suit and Model No. (GAT-X105 Strike Gundam), the kit's Grade and Scale (Entry Grade, 1:144 Scale Model) and the Gundam series' logo where this Gundam is from are all here. Here's the Entry Grade logo at the upper left part of the box.

The bottom part of the Front Cover shows the Model No. and Mobile Suit's Code Name.

If you're unfamiliar with Entry Grade kits, that's not very surprising. The Entry Grade line of kits (as far as I know) only have 4 kits in total. EG kits also have lower quality in terms of detail and articulation, even when compared to "No Grade" kits. I think that's why they're very rare. Or maybe because it's just not that popular. Or maybe both. This is actually the third EG kit I've reviewed. You can check my other Gunpla Reviews here.

The Left Side Cover lists all the kits available from the Entry Grade line.

The complete list of kits for the Entry Grade line is pictured on the Left Side Cover of the box. I'll place a sample picture here, if you'd like to have a reference while you try to collect them all.

From left to right, we have:

1. GN-0000 00 Gundam
2. GN-001 Gundam Exia
3. RX-78-2 Gundam
4. GAT-X105 Strike Gundam

Just take note that the kits pictured here are already painted. They're not going to look like this after it's assembled "OOB".

Right Side Cover

OOB pictures and Gundam Information.

Gundam series information.

The "Separator"

I forgot to mention the kit's price. The first 2 EG kits I bought in a mall cost me ₱230 each here in our country. But since I bought this online, it only cost me ₱175 (not including shipping costs). If I were to convert that, it should be roughly around US$3-5 or ¥400-500. Cheap, right? Also, most cheap Gunpla kits like these are advertised to be easily assembled. The "Separator" pictured in the Left Side Cover is proof that this kit is one of those kinds of kits, and we'll check this in detail in just a moment. You'll also notice that the kit's sample pictures here is slightly different to the ones on the Left Side Cover. That's because these are OOB pictures, so you'll know what they'll actually look like after OOB assembly.

Back Cover

A few warning notes.

More information about the kit is printed at the back of the box. I think most of it are warning notes but, unfortunately, I can't read most of the texts. There's a few printed in English, though.

Top Cover

Bottom Cover

The only sides remaining are the Top and Bottom Covers. They look similar to each other and they're actually just a mirrored picture of the Front Cover, so nothing new here. But still, here are sample pictures for those interested.

Ok, looks like all the sides are "covered". Get it? Yeah, I know, it's not funny... Alright, let's look at the contents.

Runner A4: 6 Parts ("Separator" Included)

Runner B4: 3 Parts

Runner C4-1: 14 Parts

Runner C4-2: 5 Parts

A total of 4 runners are included in the kit, 28 parts overall including the "Separator" which is not really a part of the Gunpla itself.

Seals

Seals are also included to decorate your model kit with, for those who are not comfortable painting it.

Some advertising stuff about the different series kits.

Some questionnaires at the back.

There's a piece of paper inside the box as well, but it's not the Construction Manual for the model kit. It's just advertising stuff. Here's a picture for anyone who's interested, for some reason.

That's it for the contents. Shall we go ahead and assemble the Gundam Model Kit?

Oh, "Where's the Construction Manual?" you might ask?

"Tear Here".

You'll notice that there's a guide at the back of the box so you can tear it open. At the reverse side of the box, you'll see the Construction Manual. It really wouldn't bother me that much to tear the box apart if I didn't keep the boxes. (And I keep the boxes, by the way.)

Construction Manual

Here's the picture of the Construction Manual.

Now, time to separate the parts from their runners.

The parts are now separated from the runners.

Actual Picture of the "Separator".

OK, now let's talk about the "Separator". Usually, cheap Gunpla kits like these are targeted to beginners and its main selling point is its ease of assembly. As I've said earlier, the Separator isn't actually part of the Model Kit itself. It's purpose is to help you "separate" the parts of the kit from the runners. Although you can rip the parts off the runners without the Separator's help, experienced Gunpla Builders will advise you not to do so. I used Side Cutters, instead, for a cleaner cut and to avoid damaging the kit.

Alright! Time to assemble the Gundam, then the actual Gunpla Review.

Review:

Don't expect anything extraordinary about this kit. In fact, if there's anything to expect is that it is very limited. Before going into details, let's take a look at some profile pictures.

Front View

Rear View

Side View

Height Measurement

Then, I'll try to get the EG Strike Gundam in some "dynamic poses", if you can call it that. This is where the limited articulation really shows.

Kira wants to have an "Emo-off" with Setsuna.

"Generic Gundam Pose!"

The EG Strike Gundam comes with 2 weapons: a Beam Rifle and a Shield.

Next, let's check how the kit looks up-close. I'll post a few pictures below and include some captions. Again, don't expect anything extraordinary about this kit or you'll be extremely disappointed.

No articulation on the arms, only the shoulders. The inside part of the arm is hollow, too.

Peg holes are available on both arms for Strike Gundam's Shield accessory.

The arms can stretch out this far out from the shoulder.

The thighs are hollow, too. No articulation also, but you can move the legs slightly from the hips.

Not as much panel line options when compared to the first Entry Grade Gunpla that I've reviewed, the RX-78-2 Gundam.

The Legs can spread this far out from the hips. It can also rotate slightly from left to right. The legs can spread further out but the Side Skirt Armor is preventing it from doing so.

The legs can go this much forwards and backwards. It can go further, but the Back Skirt Armor is preventing the legs to further back and the Front Skirt Armor is preventing the legs to further forward.

The feet are connected to a ball joint so that they can wiggle a bit. Although that foot guard is, again, limiting their movement.

The back looks great. You can see from here that the Side Skirt Armor is hollow. There's a peg hole at Strike Gundam's back. I don't know what it's for. I tried attaching the Shield, but its peg is not long enough to reach the peg hole.

The reason why I didn't attach the seals/stickers is because I'm planning to paint these kits in the future. Of course, I'll post pictures when I eventually get started on that, but I don't think that will be any time soon.

And now, my final thoughts..

As expected, the articulation of the kit is very limited. You can almost say that it doesn't have any articulation at all. Surprisingly, details are not that bad. Compared to the EG RX-78-2 Gundam, the kit doesn't have as much panel lining opportunities, but I think that's because Strike Gundam is a somewhat "modern" Gundam, that's why it's more detailed compared to RX-78. I think they placed a lot of panel lining opportunities on RX-78 to compensate for its lack of detail.

Assembly is very quick and easy. It took me less than an hour to assemble it. The hardest part of the assemble is taking the parts off the runners. Well, it's not really hard, it's just that it's the most time consuming (I took my time to remove the nub marks). Another factor why it took me almost an hour to assemble is because I was taking pictures of it. This is perfect for people who wants to get started at Gunpla Building because of its price and ease of assembly. But for people who are looking for a little bit more detail, I suggest purchasing a High Grade [HG] kit or at least a No Grade kit. They're a little bit more expensive, but it's worth it. (And they're still relatively cheap.)

"Next Mission: Retrieve (or destroy) the 4 stolen prototype Mobile Suits."

My third Entry Grade Gunpla Review is complete! I'll be posting the final kit in the Entry Grade line next. Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next post!