Mobile Cgue

- OOB looks: 6/10
Mobile Cgue looks nice, but got to be honest and say that the color is somewhat dull. i would defiantly paint this gundum in order for it to look real nice [not that its completely bad some people might like it] but for me i like to have my gundams looking sharp.other than color though i do like the design of this model, has a renaissance/mid-evil knight look too him. 

- Poseability: 4/10
I had a difficult time trying to model my gundam. parts easily fall apart, back is exteremely heavy causing him to fall back a lot limiting your poses, and at times hard to get a real good angle without Moblie Cgue looking stubby.


- Accessories included: 5/10
1 medium sword
1 large gun attached to shield
1 medium sized gun
a sheet of stickers.









- Details: 5/10
I really like how the wings on both sides of his shoulders are able to move and i also really like the wing shaped style of Mobile Cgue's helmet. other than that this model has more of a plain look to him.


- Connection strength: 6/10
  Majority of parts are stable and will not come off unless you really tug on it. yet some parts are very loose such as the legs and arms making it hard to pose.



Total Points: 26/50
Mobile Cgue has a nice design to him and was enjoyable/simple to build [recommended for beginners] other than a few minor technicalities, this gundam has possibility to look good. I would suggest painting and gluing him.

Gundam Exia [Trans am Mode]

 - OOB looks: 9/10

 Very nice and well put together gundam. i love the design, color, and shape of this model. I am not going to be painting this one, he looks amazing straight out of the box i wouldn't want to ruin whats already good. Whats really cool is that the middle of his chest lights up whenever you want it to [i never had a gundam that did this so that automatically makes it on my list of favorites.]

- Poseability: 9/10
Since this is a master grade posing was very easy and smooth moving the ligaments around. i had a lot of fun posing and taking pictures with the Exia, there really is nothing you CANT do with it.

- Accessories included: 8/10
1 Long Blade
1 Short Blade
2 Beam Daggers
2 Beam Sabers
1 Sword that can switch between rifle mode and gun mode
1 Shield with sides that can slide out
1 clear base for displaying the detachable light located in the center of his back
1 red cover part that can be attached to the back when not using the light
2 small figures of Setsuna in standing and sitting poses
foil stickers
dry transfer stickers
MG Gundam Exia original marking stickers for detail.

- Details: 9/10
there is a lot of detail that goes into Gundam Exia. the color differences match well together helping every piece stand out. there are so many tiny details which make up one whole amazing gundam.

- Connection strength: 9/10
extremely stable i have yet to have a piece fall off or become loose. All pieces are snug into place and really no reason to glue at all.

Total Points: 44/50
Gundam Exia Trans Am Mode is all together an extremely good out of the box model. no need for painting, gluing, or any other type of adjustents. This gundam looks amazing on its own.

1/144 HG GPB-X80D Beginning D Gundam review by: feeshawbear

- OOB looks: 9/10
I personally love the look of the Beginning D Gundam. Edges are smoothed all around and body parts are proportional. i especially like how there is a lot of detail that goes into him that does not over power the overall look.

- Poseability: 10/10
Very mold-able and easy to move around. Parts are stable and not easy to fall off[for those of you who don't know your own strength haha(:]

- Accessories included: 8/10
 Beginning D Gundam comes with a lot of extra accessories fun if you like to mix up your poses.
2 different types of guns one large [like in picture above] and the other is smaller dark grey with red triangles.
1 large grey and blue shield
1 hand with 3 large yellow transparent swords attached
1 large sword

- Details: 9/10
TONS of detail goes into this guy but not super bulky where it gets in the way which is one of the reasons why i love it so much.

- Connection strength: 9/10
Holds together very well. I sometimes forget how fragile gundams usually are and get frustrated when trying to pose them and pieces just magically fall off. Yet the Beginning D Gundam can take my abuse and holds together very strong. i have not once had any part of him fall off me. :D

Total Points: 45/50
Being a beginner i have not had a chance to experience building a lot of gundams but this one is for sure one of my favorites so far along side with his twin the 'Beginner J Gundam' which i will review later.

Hg 1/144 BAQTO Review By: ED

 Availability at Tatsu Hobby: Available


- OOB looks: 8/10
The BAQTO high grade model is quite accurately colored and molded to it's television design.  Nothing needed except for a thin metallic green strip for the eye camera and some orange highlights for the chest.  Looks completely color accurate to the anime.


- Poseability: 7/10
The first U.E. kit, the HG Gafran, had Good articulation but had quite a few problems.  The baqto here on the other hand, has improved articulation and better flexibility.  Not to mention it can actually hold itself up.


- Accessories included: 6/10
Being a suit from the U.E., the Baqto as well as many other U.E. suits, does not have any extra weapons except for what has been built into the unit's design.  It does come with an extra set of hands that has the fingers slightly changed for it's alternative 'dragon'  mode.  What I find a bit strange is that in one set of the hands we actually get articulated beam saber hilts that can actually have beam sabers plugged into them.  I find it a bit sad bandai doesn't include some clear yellow beam sabers for them which I'm sure would increase the selling points of this kit. 


- Details: 6/10
Being an "alien" suit, the baqto doesn't  have many sharp details whatsoever. Its a very plain mobile suit in general but the HG kit tends to have some of a roundness to it.  The wings and some other parts seem like they would be sharper.  A very good thing about this kit is that we get a clear orange chest piece which shows some nice detailing in the chest.


- Connection strength: 9/10
The HG Gafran had alot of problems with holding itself together,  let alone standing up straight.  The Baqto does not share the same issue. It is very sturdy and has hardly any connection issues at all.  It transforms easily to its alternative mode and can pull off some very nice poses. 



Total Points: 34/50
Me being a Gundam design lover, I was never to partial to the U.E. suit designs.  I disliked the HG gafran but didn't know what to expect with the baqto.  I was pleased by the result of it.  Its a very sturdy and well designed kit/ suit that is great for anyone who's a fan of the suit, or wants to recreate the scene where it gets beaten by Titus.

HG 1/144 Gundam AGE-1 Spallow Review by ED

Availability at Tatsu Hobby: Currently Available


Video review for this model can be viewed here



- OOB looks: 7/10
As with many HG kits, the Spallow is molded extremely well with many nice details.  Only a few stickers are included for the usual things like the eyes and cameras.  Unfortunately the blade which is supposed to be colored in a light green, is molded in all white and you get a big sticker for it.  Regardless it looks well for a HG kit.


- Poseability: 9/10
The spallow, as well as the other two AGE-1 forms, has outstanding articulation. Fluid movement everywhere and can pull off any pose you saw in the show.  You can even have it posed with it's legs crossed meditating.   Fantastic movement all around.


- Accessories included: 9/10
This HG includes all the necessary weapons it had in the show including the combat knife and also a happy surprise, even the small shin guns. Also not only does it have the standard holding hands, you get a closed fist and an open palm for dramatic poses. This is a very nice addition for modelers who enjoy extra manipulators.


- Details: 8/10
The use of layering parts in the head and the chest are quite remarkable.  Also the legs connect in an interesting way.  They have a slide mechanism as you.put them together which is an interesting feature in a kit this size.  The molding and small details are great and crisp as with.all bandai kits.


- Connection strength: 8/10
The only problems with any connections on the Spallow would have to be it's side skirts and the waist joint.  The side skirts are on very small polycaps and tend to fall off easily.  Also the waist ball joint tends to be a bit short so the top half of the unit occasionally will fall off if its not pushed down enough.  Really not too bad of an issue although.



Total Points: 41/50
The HG 1/144 Age-1 Spallow is a fantastic representation of the suit in the show.   Its size is perfectly sized compared to the other Age-1 HG varients.  Its details are great for modelers who just want a decent HG kit for a great price. If you favor the Spallows design this is the kit for you.

Introduction + How to use:

Hello all, and welcome to Rev'w.
 

This blog is a model kit and robot figure review blog created by Tatsu Hobby and its members in January 2012. 

The blog's main goal is to give the readers more information regarding model kits that are out in the market so that they know what they're getting when they purchase the models.

This blog's reviews is not intended to have a very in depth review and is mostly targeted to modelers who are just starting to get into the hobby, but might be useful for intermediate modelers as well

Each review will have a grading system which are based on these 5 attributes:

- OOB looks:

This attribute describes how a model looks like when it is completed Out Of Box (OOB) without any paintjob applied on it. We choose to describe this attribute as many of modelers do not have the time to paint the models and would like to display the model as it is coming out from the box. The better it looks without any paint, the higher the grade is.

- Poseability:

This attribute describes the points of articulation of the model. A very important attribute for both beginner and advanced modeler as it describes what poses are possible with this model (which may include some extreme poses). More poseability means better grade. 

- Accessories included:

Needless to say, this attribute is one of the selling point for the model. Accessories included will be listed in this section and graded based on the quantity / usefulness.

- Details:

Self explanatory, this describes the details that are incorporated into the model. The better the details are, the better the grade is.

- Connection strength:

Some models do come with weak joint connections and parts to parts connections, so we will discuss it with this attribute. Model with high grade in this attribute will have lesser parts falling down when the model is being posed.

Each attributes will be graded based on 10 points of which 50 points means highest score.

The reviews are best used when comparing two models of the same scale and grade. For example, a 1/144 High Grade model's points does not usually translate to 1/100 Master Grade model's points.

The grade advancement is usually as following:

1/144 No Grade -> 1/100 No Grade -> 1/144 High Grade -> 1/100 High Grade -> 1/144 Real Grade -> 1/60 High Grade -> 1/100 Master Grade -> 1/60 Perfect Grade

The translation of between grades are usually 3-5 points, so if 1/144 High Grade gets a 40 points, then it would compare equally to 1/100 High Grade with 35 - 37 points.

The three main reviewers for this blog are:

- ED (aka Youtube's 00gundamreviewsV2): 

The most well known reviewer on this blog. He has reviewed many many Gundam kits over past 2 years and can be considered the most senior reviewer on this blog as well.. In addition to the written reviews, he might have video review for the models as well, which can be checked under Youtube ID Gundam00ReviewsV2.

- Felicia: 

Our newest reviewer on the blog. She's just starting to build Gundams and will be sharing her thoughts on the models that she build so far. Beginner modelers will enjoy her honest thoughts on these models. She also runs a personal Gundam building blog of hers at http://feeshawbear.blogspot.com

- TatsuHobby_RX: 

The only reviewer who's an employee of Tatsu Hobby. If you have done pick up order from Tatsu Hobby, then there's a good chance that he was the one who met you. He will pop only from time to time with his reviews due to his commitments with the company.

With that said, we at Tatsu Hobby hope that you will find the blog's reviews fun and useful for you, the readers and modelers everywhere.

Please enjoy your stay!

Disclaimer: This blog's reviews might have a slight bias due to the fact that this blog is run by a retail store for promotional aspect.