Gunpla Summary: Entry Grade Line Complete!

The Entry Grade line of kits completed!

First, I would like to apologize to everyone for not being able to post the last 2 Entry Grade Gunpla Reviews last week. I was a little busy preparing and organizing a few documents of mine. But I was able to post the last Entry Grade Gunpla Review a few hours ago. The Reviews Page has also been updated accordingly. Alright, enough excuses.

So, finally, I was able to collect and review all 4 Entry Grade Gundam Model Kits! Here's a link to all 4 Gunpla Reviews in case you haven't read them yet:

• Entry Grade GN-0000 00 Gundam Gunpla Unboxing & Review
• Entry Grade GN-001 Gundam Exia Gunpla Unboxing & Review
• Entry Grade RX-78-2 Gundam Gunpla Unboxing & Review
  
• Entry Grade GAT-X105 Strike Gundam Gunpla Unboxing & Review
  

Also, jump past the break for a quick summary of the Entry Grade Kits for those of you who doesn't want to read through all the reviews.

• All Entry Grade kits are in 1:144 Scale.

From left to right: 00 Gundam, Gundam Exia, RX-78-2 Gundam, Strike Gundam.

• There are only 4 EG kits in total, 2 of which are from the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Anime.
• The Entry Grade kits only come molded in 3 colors: Red, Blue and White.
• Entry Grade kits are molded into 4 runners total, with parts not exceeding 30 pieces.
• The Entry Grade kits' main selling point is its ease of assembly and is targeted towards beginners.
• Every EG kit comes with the "Separator", which can be used to remove or "separate" parts from the runners without the use of  Side Cutters. However, ripping the parts off the runners with your hands is equally as effective.
• The "Separator" also has another gimmick in which it can a;sp be used as a guide in applying seals for the Gundam's eyes, meaning that all the Separators appear to look similar to each other, but are actually made with a unique mold. It is also labeled with the Gundam's code name (in Katakana) so that it can be differentiated from other Separators.

From left to right: "Double O", "Exia", "Gundam", "Strike".

• Surprisingly, the EG kits have a very solid build and feel. This is most probably due to the few number of parts involved and how all the parts are mostly molded into bigger parts compared to a typical High Grade [HG] Kit.
• EG kits have very limited articulation. Compared to a typical 1:144 Scale "No Grade" kit or a High Grade [HG] kit, it doesn't have articulation in its elbows and knees and all movable parts (arms from shoulders, legs from hips, feet, head) are connected via ball joints, except for the shoulder pads (which are connected to the shoulders via pegs).
• The Entry Grade kits have a few hollow parts. The inner side of the arms and thighs will be hollow and is common to all EG kits. However, there will be other hollow parts unique to each kit (like 00 Gundams's Twin Drive System and Strike Gundam's Side Skirt Armor).
• All EG kits have their Construction Manuals printed on the reverse side of the box, which means that you have to tear the box open if you want to read it. However, the kits are so easy to assemble that most people can assemble it without the help of the Construction Manual.

Hey, here's some pictures in amber lighting.

The Entry Grade kits... in amber lighting.

00 Gundam... in amber lighting.

Gundam Exia... in amber lighting.

The "White Devil"... looking not-so-white in amber lighting.

Strike Gundam... in amber lighting.

The Entry Grade was probably released around the same time as the Gundam 00 Anime.

"Don't forget about me! I'm the original Gundam! Yeah, forget about the Strike. He's just a big fat phony."

The White Devil and his lackeys are going to CRUSH YOU.

Hey. PARTS SWAPPING!

Dual Wielding! (Finally!)

RX-78-2 Gundam installed with the Twin Drive System. Since installing it to its original frame gives very unstable results, the engineers decided to just install RX-78's head on 00's suit. That's a stupid-sounding fanfic, lol.

What happens when you combine RX-78 together with Exia and Strike? A not-so-good-looking Gundam. Hey, I should make a fanfic of that. "Mobile Suit Not-So-Good-Looking Gundam". Maybe not.

The reason why I didn't use any of the seals for the EG kits is because I'm planning on painting the kits in the future. I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished products once I get that done. I'm still not sure on how to paint it, though.. I'm checking other people's tutorials online. I want to paint them using their normal colors but I'd also like to paint them in an all black color. Then, I'll apply a glossy top coat so that they'd look like mini glass statues! Is that a good idea?

In the end, I really liked the Entry Grade kits. At first, I thought that they're going to be bad since they're cheap. And, really, the only reason why I bought them initially is because reviews of these kits are pretty rare on the internetz (and because they're cheap) so I wanted to get a few and make a review of my own. I ended up buying all of them. I don't know if there will ever be new EG kit releases in the future. I hope they can at least release a few more, even if it's just the main Gundams from different Gundam Anime. I want to see Wing Gundam, Gundam X, and Shining Gundam in its Entry Grade form. However, for anyone looking for alternatives there are other kits similar to these, like No Grade kits, First Grade kits (which comes with better articulation, molded in a wider variety of colors, are also targeted towards beginners for ease of assembly, and comes within the same price range) and the more sophisticated High Grade kits.

"I'm still here. I'll never go away."

Again, the Entry Grade kits are not for everyone. But they're not bad. Not bad, at all.

*Sigh* When is the next "decent" Gundam Battle Assault going to be released?!

More Gunpla Reviews in the future. Next month, we'll check out High Grade [HG] kits. So don't forget to check Jyuzou's Blog from time to time. Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next post!