Dont know if it is appropriate to post a gundam related thread here. I'm pretty satisfied with it, but not with the price I payed for it(since I COULD had gotten it for cheaper from a certain place). HOWEVER, looking at the current Yen to Ringgit exchange rates currently, it was really not as bad as I thought, since the one I saw at a cheaper price was at old stock prices(which already ran out by the time I checked). This Gunpla happens to be my first MG(Master Grade). I bought it due to have read some forum posts on a Gundam related forum about it being an easy MG for beginners, which I am then(now, maybe a little better... =P). Other than that, I "fell in love" with the simplistic design of the Strike when I was watching Gundam SEED in January this year. ^^; The GAT-X105-Strike is the main Gundam used by the main protagonist, Kira Yamato, throughout the first season of Gundam SEED. The Strike is a special mobile suit as is has a "phase-shift" armor which practically makes it invincible to solid rounds and small attacks(all "Gundams" in SEED use this armor). Though, because it uses a limited power supply, once it runs out, the "phase-shift" armor will stop functioning and the Strike's main body becomes gray in color and can get easily shot down(since at that point the Strike can barely move also). The Strike has three "extension packs"(Striker Packs) which are the Aile Striker(do not have), Sword Striker and the Launcher Striker. Each pack has its range of uses and weaknesses in usage. Though, the Aile Striker is mostly used by Kira as it is the most versatile of the three packs. The box is HUGE, well, being priced at 5000 Yen, of course it's gonna be huge. If you ever bought normal 1/100 NG Gunplas, put two boxes together, you'll get the gist of the size of this box. Though the box is huge, it uses almost ALL the space within to stuff the runners, stickers, decals and instruction booklet in it. Decals? Yes, decals. I did not apply them since I feel like I might paint the Strike in the near future(well, far future exactly). BTW, you can see some pictures of the box and the contents from this link. You can see the review for this model through that link as well as other models too. But of course, I'm still going to continue my review on my experience with this model. It took me while to build this model as it had more parts than a regular 1/100 NG. I knew that before I built it and decided to build the main body of the Strike plus its regular weapons first. The Sword Striker and Launcher Striker packs comes later. Front view of the GAT-X105-Strike. Note this is a newer picture, therefore the ankle armor plates have been taken off. All newer pictures taken comes with this similar lighting. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bqlOuxTzAYg/S_CntGgcX9I/AAAAAAAABZo/SSRMqtEgxjs/s400/DSC01205.JPG Side view. Rear view. See the gray part on the back in the middle? There's a hole there which enables the Strike to "put on" the Striker packs. Close up. Cockpit open! I did not put the mini 1/100 scale Kira inside because it would move about in the cockpit causing unnecessary noise during posing. I have to say, the cockpit is frickin' annoying to open until I have to use something thin to "poke" it out(the lower door hatch). You notice the "pockets" on the sides of the Strike? Well, that's where the Armor Schneiders are kept, folded. The Strike currently holding the Armor Schneiders(the daggers) . I wish they made the white part of the daggers gray by the least though. White made no sense. I need to get some silver markers... Close up view. Different angle some pose. new picture. Watch out! The Strike is gonna plunge its armor piercing daggers right through you!~ Oh too late.. he following pics will show you how the hand/palm connectors work.. Three fingers are connected together. If you're skilled enough or daring enough(not me though DX) you can split them apart to make them more dynamic for hand related poses(holding weapons mostly). Opened up. Next up, the Strike's beam rifle and shield. The shield shape and design is pretty common for most of the mobile suits/Gundams in the SEED series FYI. I have to say that the Strike's hands are bit clumsy and can't really hold the rifle straight easily, but you can make it straight, just needs a "bit" of time to configure it. >>; Strike's "main weapon and shield". Actually this beam rifle and shield are only used by the Strike when it uses the Aile Striker pack, which I do not have currently. The Aile Striker pack has been shown in the anime to be fast and versatile, making it the main choice of usage by the main character, Kira Yamato. The Aile Striker pack also have a beam saber(or two, not sure) which can be used for short range combat. Front view. Note that I did not put the handle of the shield which can be connected in different ways(I didn't really like it though). It can be used to connect to the Strike's left hand. Left side close up. Right side close up. pew**pew**pew* ...and 00 blocks it with one sword. =P This is the provided stand. Very basic looking, but it works. It's my first stand and ONLY stand currently... ^^; See this connector here? It connects to the back, the ass, of the Strike here, the hole. Note, this hole is also used as a connector in the anime for the Strike to charge up(hook up to many wires), I think. Close up. Currently my phone's wallpaper. ^^; This is Aile Strike's box art pose. I just dunno why I like it so much. The basic Strike is pretty fun to play with, but I later realize something annoying... the damn ankle armor on the right leg broke! I was like WTF? But luckily I can "stick" them together for a short while to do some poses. I later opt to take the off though, evident in some later pictures. The shield can be "folded back" as seen with the "Aile Strike pose". Err, yeah. The next day, I decided to build the Sword Striker pack. Easy and fast to assemble as it mostly had big parts. The Sword Striker is mostly used for short range combat and anti-ship combat. The big sword is an anti-ship sword, which is its name frankly. personally, I like this Striker pack the most, but not something that is practical to use most of the times as the big sword can be quite slow for cutting(evident in Battle Assault 3, doh). Front view. Yes, it's also a newer picture. The thing on Strike's left shoulder is the beam boomerang, the Mydas-Messer, which is used as well, a boomerang. Probably the only long-range weapon available to the pilot when using this pack. Yes, the Sword Striker is mostly limited to short range. Rear view. Can you see the "claw" on the left arm? Yes, its caled the Panser-Eisen. Pretty much to grab/grapple and claw enemies up. Side view. Reaching out for the anit-ship sword. I just love this pose! ...>.>;;; close up Close up, err, don't cha' think the pose looks familiar? <<; Posing with a cool huge sword in front of the camera. ^o^ The Mydas Messer, activated! Sorry, I didn't try to make a throwing picture for it, since it's kinda impossible... The Panzer-Eisen, clawing enemies since 2002. Big sword, is big sword. I love characters/mechs with big swords... >_> Get ready to slash with teh big ass sword! Flying/Cruising around with a big sword... Though, there is one annoying thing about the Strike holding the sword, the sword can easily fall out the hands because Bandai did not opt to give a proper connector to hold the weapons firmly like some other newer MGs(Turn A has a connector on the palm which enabled it to hold the weapons firmly). Next up, the Launcher Striker pack. I build this much later on since I'm not such a big fan of huge guns. Boy am I wrong, the Launcher Strike is actually quite amazing, especially that it can keep its distance far away from the enemies(in Battle Assault 3 >>) as well as caused a huge gapping hole to the colony in one of the earlier episode of SEED. Front view. The launcher is pretty big and the Strike may fall down when trying to pose with it, if not posed properly. The thing on Strike's right shoulder has some kind of solid round machine gun and missiles. Really useful when you're low on energy to use the energy sucking launcher(read a bit further for slightly better details). XP But I think the solid rounds will be quite ineffective against phase-shift using Gundams. >_>; Right side view. I wonder if the shield can be fully utilized, if it is a shield that is, since its kinda small to me and one sided. Rear view, heavy launcher, is heavy. There is a "connector" for the launcher which helps Strike to hold the launcher easily as well as holster it at the back during stand-by. Left side view. Eat this flying nuisances! "Time for some explosions! ^_^" The only complaint you can say for the Launcher Strike is that the launcher can make the Strike very unstable and fall down easily. Plus it is not that easy to pose using the launcher with two hands(pretty limited posing for that). To be perfectly clear, the instability is not really the fault of the launcher but more to the design of the Strike's feet which is a bit on the loose side. Then again, the slight extra shift of weight to the left of the Strike makes it more likely to topple down. >.>; Next up, combining the Sword Striker and the Launcher Striker. *PEW**PEW**PEW* *STAB* Big note about putting them together, the Striker packs I mean, the Strike becomes slightly unstable and may fall down...(since it is already kinda unstable with the launcher XP) Also, there is another problem with the Strike, but not too major if you're not going to pose it much with the included stand. The rear skirt can come off from the Strike, causing it to to fall down. I decided to glue that part to the Strike in the end. XP Now, the moment you've been waiting for(maybe)! Some random bad taste in humor shots! Strike decided to take on the Turn A to see who is the more superior main character Gundam. They decided to fight bare-handed, so that it's more "manly". XP Fight-OH! The fight was tough, they were evenly match? Nah, of course not. In the end... the winner is... ... ... ... ... ... .. Wait for it... WINNER! Turn A. XD Of course they made up later, and since they are mechs, they do not have specific genders, even though the situation isn't like that. 00 who unluckily passes by saw this and well...(picture scenario by my sister and random story by me XD) "This is MY new weapons!" Err, yes, it can hold the launcher with one hand, but you need to bend it so that it can hold it better. 1/100 brothers, together now! "CHEESE!" ..."GUNDAM!" Overall, the MG 1/100 Launcher/Sword Strike Gundam is pretty much a good buy, especially for beginners as I've read somewhere that it has less parts as compared to other Gunplas, which I think is pretty true. Comparing building the main bodies of the Strike and Turn A, Turn A took a while longer... If you want to get this model kit, you should definately buy it as long as you are into Gunpla and want to start out building an MG. But I guess buying the MG 1/100 Aile Strike Gundam is a better choice since it only costs 3800 Yen. Then you buy this one as long as you have the money and interest in the Strike Gundam. XP
Nice review...which reminds me...I gotta finish my master grade master gundam...if I get the right screw driver
SEED was actually pretty good... Well better than 00, 00 S2, Wing, SEED Destiny. Making it the best gundam series I have completed to date. I did dislike the pilot though.
>SEED >Good Oh ho, good joke. If any thing the best Gundam series in quite some time is either Wing or Unicorn, thought Uni isnt finished yet.
It is not late though.. Post Merge: [time]1274325596[/time] it doesn't matter, I just like this kit..
So all you've ever seen of Gundam is 00 then correct? If so you need to go back and watch the classics before you can be called a "Gundam Fan" or have any say in good Gundams. DO YOU HEAR ME MAGGOT?
Drop SEED and 00 like fucking Rocks. Then start with the original Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam. You're going to have to ignore the animation Quality seeing as how it was made back in the 70's. From there it should be pretty easy to follow stuff. I also Suggest G Gundam and Wing, while neither one is part of the UC time line, they're both pretty good Gundam series.
Honestly another SEED haters..I watched SEED a few months back and it's an okay series,just need a LOT fewer flashbacks and crying,then it'd be okay.Imo the second half of the series is actually kinda sweet(NOT talking bout destiny,it was plain awful).I watched zeta,wing,seed,00 and the original.So far the best i've seen is 00.Havent watch uni yet so idk if its good or not. Back to the topic,sweet and detailed review man.Might gonna get one
You watched the Original and Zeta and Wing and you still think SEED is good? Sir have you had your eyes checked recently? I believe there may be something wrong with you, especially if you like 00 more than the other. Though then again your avatar tells me a lot about your tastes in anime and Gundams. Its quite easy to tell that the Animation quality and Sound quality seem to have a lot to do with your choices. You may not admit it or notice it yourself but I can easily tell this, how you ask? Because 00 and SEED both have rather weak stories, as does KH. All 3 are quite shiny and have a nice Cast to them, but all 3 also lack substance.
WRONG! First of all we're talking about gundams series,idk what you have against kingdom hearts but its definitely not about gundams. Second of all,Kingdom hearts is not an anime,its a game.So comparing them to animes are seriously plain dumb. Now,you say that my choices are more about video and audio quality?Alright you're spot on about that,it does give a rather big impact to my taste of animes.But i can assure you,it does not impact my judgment about the story itself.You said i watched other gundams and still think SEED is good.Ya that's right(although my original statement was that SEED is an okay series).If you actually watched SEED you'll notice it's not really that bad.I'm stressing that point because the way you said it was like SEED was actually a pain in the ass to watch. You know what you're problem is?Your trolling about SEED and 00 tells me a lot about YOUR tastes of animes.Its damn easy to see that you're not a kid,but you're an overgrown man who does not want to get a move on and stuck in the past.Always wanting the old animes,always hating the new animes whether they are good or bad.I have nothing against the oldies.Its just that i can move on to a newer series.This GENERATION series.So grow up man. I'm sorry to alukudo for not staying in the topic. :-\
You missed the comparison I made, it was about quaility and lack of story, so really it wasnt "dumb" to compare them. As for being and old man, I'm 17. As far as liking the old stuff and hating the new, I didnt HATE 00 but I didnt like it either. 00 wasnt exactly the best series their ever was, but it wasnt the worst, SEED was. I personally dont care for either 00 or SEED because they both feature things that I dont care about. SEED it was just the entire show and the fact that they tried to reuse things like the name Zaku and Gundam and call it a Gundam show, it just didnt work. For 00 it was Mech design and Characters. I also dont care for the animation style of either one myself. Now as far as story goes, 00's was OK but not the best, SEED, I dont even want to talk about SEEDs.
