Novenmber 14, 2001 CURRENT RUMBLE Gundam I Am Matt Alt 11.14.01 The original Mobile Suit Gundam has always been a robot with an identity crisis. Is it the last of the heroic combining robots, or the Godfather to the real robot throne? Is it best rendered as a super-detailed styrene kits, or as a chromed-out Clover toy? The debate continues to rage. How fitting, then, that Bandai's new Jumbo Grade Gundam is an item with a bit of an identity crisis itself. The desk staff at my building initially mistook the enormous box from HobbyLink Japan as a delivery for a work crew refinishing a kitchen in a nearby apartment. The joke was on me, however, when I had to carry the bastard up five flights of stairs to my pad. And the look on long-suffering First TBDX Lady Hiroko's face as I hauled yet another "beloved acquisition" into our living room could have melted polyethylene. Oh, the injustices... the slings and arrows of outrageous toy-fortune... But, lord, what a toy. Ha ha, fooled you! Actually, the Jumbo Grade Gundam isn't a toy at all. It is, in Bandai's own words, a "fully assembled, painted, and shaded item." ITEM. Don't forget the fact that it costs $150+ retail, pre-shipping. And the fact that no self-respecting, pre-teen Pikachu fan would want an antiquated robot design like this in their room, let alone even recognize it. Nope, no toys here. But then again, it's not really a model, either, seeing as it's already "built up." So what IS it, then? Some specifics: It's 90% soft vinyl, pre-assembled and pre-painted. It's definitely a "realistic" (as opposed to "anime") take on the RX-78 design, with vents on the knees and a heavy, angular appearance. Hard polystyrene is used for the shoulder and elbow joints (the only articulation) and for the detachable accessories. The trademark laser rifle and cross-festooned shield are provided on sprues; a few minutes with a clipper, and the pieces are ready to snap together without glue. No need for modeling skills here, though. Each individual color on the shield, for example, is achieved with a separate piece of plastic in the appropriate shade; nary a drop of paint is required to bring your RX-78 to richly-hued perfection. And I'm probably the only one who cares, but I'd really like to thank Bandai for providing a set of open hands. as well. For whatever reason, I've always preferred to display my Gundam figs with their hands splayed wide open. rather than balled into little fists. And the ball-jointed wrists on the Jumbo Grade make swapping those mechanical paws a snap. If there's only one thing to take from this review, however, it's not the material details. It's the sheer presence of the piece. Total, eye-catching, room-filling presence. It's huge, it's colorful, it's stunning. I don't think I've ever owned a Gundam toy (model, whatever...) that's commanded the level of attention this sucker does. You cannot look away. It's that striking. But now that we've outlined what Jumbo Grade Gundam IS, let's touch on a few things that it's most definitely NOT. Contrary to my expectations, it's NOT in scale with the previous contender for size in my Gundam collection, the infamous Korean Mk. II knockoff. In fact, it veritably towers over the Seoul Man. [www.toyboxdx.com/matt/sidebyside.jpg] It's also NOT in the "Super Machinder" scale, I'd previously thought. Check it out: it's got at least a full head on the ol' Astro Megazord. Which leads to what was perhaps the most surprising discovery. Jumbo Grade Gundam is NOT particularly out of place in a lineup of old-school Jumbo Machinders. I never would have dreamed of displaying Gundams alongside Getters, but take a look for yourself: with the large size and primary color scheme, it virtually blends in with the vintage crew. Heck, why shouldn't it? It doesn't have any more articulation than most of them. Consider this near-unassailable evidence of Gundam's sordid origins as a combining-robot successor to Zanbot III and Tryder G7. There goes the identity crisis again... Real robot? Toy? Model? Machinder? Not? Hey, you make the call. All I know is that I'm hooked. Bandai says a Zaku II is next; I'm just praying for, much as Hiroko is dreading, the possibility of Guncannons, Guntanks, Z'goks, and other old-school Gundam designs in the same scale.  RUMBLE INDEX  |  CURRENT RUMBLE