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.