Review: HGUC 1/144 RX-121-2A Gundam TR-1 [Advanced Hazel]

Hello Builders, 

I've got an interesting kit for you today, and one that I especially know very little about! Today we're going to look at the Advanced Hazel released in 2005. 

It was a warm Saturday morning that had been long awaited by my friends and I, in our gunpla group. Finally, the day had come for us to embark on a trip to the fabled "Comic Store" located in New Hampshire. Upon arriving, it was down to business. Our group opened the door and made our way to the fateful aisle of Gunpla, and there it was.: a wall, lined with kits from a multitude of series. We were like kids in a candy shop, no, we were as close to Gunpla heaven as we could get. 

The day was filled with the seven of us perusing the aisle, enjoying the process of physically shopping for kits. Each of us would pick up a stack of kits, and then exchange them for others as the internal conflict in our hearts and minds (and wallets) shook us to our very core. Which kit do I want, which can I afford, how many can I get, is it worth it? 

At the end of the day, I escaped the store with 3 new kits, and some option parts. The HG Age-1 which I had the Razor parts for, the HG Cherudim, and the HG Advanced Hazel which we will be talking about today.

This High Grade kit comes from Advance of Zeta which takes place before the events of the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta. Again, I know very little about this series and its suits, however the interesting design of the suit really drew me in. 

In terms of a little background, what I gathered from reading a little bit about this suit, was that it was a Titans prototype mobile suit, based upon the GM Quel. Basically, it was a Quel with a Gundam style head, and various armaments. 

Parts

This kit comes with a polycap runner which is interestingly in a letter system, instead of a numerical system which I hadn't seen in awhile. It also comes with a foil sticker sheet, and a set of decal stickers, for Titans markings and logos

The A runner comes with yellow, red, and black plastic. It also includes the pink transparent beam saber. 

The B runner contains blue plastic pieces, including the two shields. 

The C runner includes blue plastic, and features a lot of the leg parts. 

The D runner includes the light grey plastic that makes up the joints and inner parts. 

The E runner is split into E1 and E2. E1 actually comes molded in 3 colors of plastic as well, which I hadn't seen before. 

Size Comparison

I decided to compare the suit with the Jesta Cannon and GM Sniper K9. The Advanced Hazel has a taller head height than both, but with the cannons extended, the Jesta has a height advantage. As you can see, however, I stripped the Hazel of most of its armaments. With the shield boosters, it gains significant height, and weight. 

Weapons and Manipulators

This kit comes with 3 shields. One standard shield, and two shield boosters. It also comes with one beam saber handle, and a beam rifle with a detachable magazine. The two additional magazines are only for show, as they only clip to the side skirts. 

The kit only comes with three hands. For the right hand, you can either have the standard holding hand, for the beam saber, or the trigger finger for the rifle. The standard holding hand is actually fairly different from other kits I've built, as the fingers are at an angle, so the saber will actually tilt forward in the hand. The trigger finger is also different in that it does not have a slot for the rifle to plug into. 

With the shields, you can see an interesting gimmick they included. The kit only comes with one hard-point connector for the shields. Instead of the connector plugging into each shield, each shield has a small grey piece that you can slide into connection piece. 

The Hazel can realistically have either shield connected to its arm, but only one at a time

Articulation

I feel that I've been spoiled with articulation lately, so this kit actually has been very disappointing in that area. It's so bulky with its armor and additional armaments that it really doesn't articulate all that well. 

I'll give it a little bit of credit though. With those bulky legs, you'd figure you wouldn't get a good bend, but they designed it in a way that it's not a brick at least...

Color and Quality

This kit is baffling to me in this area. For a 2005 kit, you don't really anticipate the same plastic quality as more recent kits, and this is no different. You're going to get that lighter feeling plastic that almost feels brittle.

This is a Titans suit. If you've ever built an HG you'll know that color separation is hit or miss, and with a dark colored mobile suit, especially from the Titans, you almost fear the worst. However, as you can see, there are some bright spots where the yellow and red really shine through the black and blue (which at times can be almost indistinguishable). Along with this, you're given some very nice decals which brighten up the kit as a whole. Adding these decals breaks up the monotony, and add a dimension not usually found in HG kits. 

Even more baffling was the foil seals. As you can see, the kit decides to use seals on the lower shins, and the top of the head (of which, only the back part will actually show). Areas that don't use seals include the enhanced sensor (shown below) and the beam rifle. 

For both those areas, I decided to use a hobby knife, and measure out a section of the leftover green to create my own makeshift seals. I was very happy with the outcome. 

Pros and Cons

If you couldn't already guess, you can go kick yourself for not expecting this. I love this kit for how unique it is. If you didn't see it before, I didn't really mention it. The shields are asymmetrical for the booster, and damn does it look cool. That shield booster is such a cool gimmick. The enhanced sensor gives it that cool "recon" look, and you're not going to get just another Gundam looking figure. Its bulky legs, covered in thrusters are really interesting as well. 

A kit with this color scheme most likely will look pretty boring, but including seals in the right areas, and decals in addition to a good amount of different colored plastic really breaks that up and makes it look great. The kit also comes with some cool additional armaments which I will talk about towards the end of the review. 

This kit however, feels fragile at times. When putting it together, there are areas which call for snapping parts into each other, which locks them into place. However, these points are all plastic connections into plastic slots. I fear that if you put too much force into it, those connection points will snap. I also found the hardpoints for the shields to be fairly loose in the area where the shield connects to the backpack, and the arm. Both still stay fairly well, but don't give you a snug fit that makes it feel more secure. 

The kit is fairly back heavy, and it doesn't come with a lot of manipulators or weapons, which is kind of sad. It's also a very bulky kit. 

BONUS: CLAWS!

This kit comes with a front pack that has folding claws. This section slides into the suits already ginormous crotch, to give it a fanny pack of grabby goodness. 

These claws have folding "fingers" which can grip an assortment of weapons. Here you can see it with some knives from the Zee Zulu

Need more fire power? No problem. The claws can grab your favorite HG Customize Campaign parts, like the gatling gun and grenade launcher!

Verdict

I am so on the fence for this kit. There is so much that I was disappointed with, but also so much I was impressed and amused by. I would have to say that this kit was very fun to build (aside from the stresses of maybe breaking a piece while building it). It is a very unique kit, and don't be afraid of the Titans color scheme. You'll find that this kit isn't average at all. Almost every section has a surprise in addition to its standard build. If this kit fits your definition of cool looking, I would say grab it just for the experience. I can't say this kit is for everyone though. 

Until next time!

A look at the HG Build Custom Valuable Pod and Powered Arms Powereder

Hey Builders, 

I'm here with a quick look at the Valuable Pod and Powered Arms from Gundam Build Fighters

If you don't remember, there was a brief unveiling of Susumu Sazaki's new Gyan Vulcan in the third to last episode of Gundam Build Fighters, titled Gunpla Eve, where celebrations were being had prior to the final match betwen Reiji and Sei and Meijin Kawaguchi. 

Sazaki's Gyan Vulcan easily defeated Monta Gonda's Turn X, but was quickly dispatched by an even more excited unveiling of Ricardo Fellini's Rinascita Gundam. 

This HG Build Custom kit comes with all the parts necessary to customize an existing Gyan into the Gyan Vulcan, without having to make a new kit. However, I don't have a Gyan, and frankly I only bought it because it has a cool gatling gun pack...

Here is what the Pod actually looks like when it is completed. The Shields are kind of heavy, and the arms that connect to it sit inside loose peg holes, so they tend to fall off a lot. The kit comes with a Gyan head, that fits underneath the nose of the Pod, and has another cover piece. 

Along with the kit comes some attachment pieces. There is a piece for connecting it to a single-hole backpack, and a two-hole backpack. There are also shield holding pieces, so you can equip the large shields to be held by a mobile suit. There are also peg extenders as well. 

By connecting a few of the pieces, you get this connection piece, where the light blue peg fits into the back of a standard one hole backpack slot, and then the weapon pack connects to the black part. There is another peg hole at the bottom, where you can connect the pack to even lower. 

As seen here, the hole on the pack is actually lower, so this piece can connect it without it being too high up on the back. 

Since I don't have a Gyan, I will be using the Build Strike to show you how this pack looks. 

Here he is with just the vulcan pack

And here he is with the shield/sabers connected to the pack as well. 

The first arm piece allows a mobile suit to hold the handle, and then have extra support by clipping onto the forearm. These do not fit on the Build Strike, however. 

This piece is just a handle, and unless the hand holding it is tight enough, it will just slip and not actually be able to be held up, unfortunately. 

These pieces can also be fashioned into the vulcans, to make for some cool gatling guns. 

Here he is all fitted up with the swords as well. 

Taking off the connection piece, you can also see that the pack can connect to a two-hole backpack slot, say for example, the Crossbone Maoh or Wing Gundam Fenice

You can actually slot it in upside down as well. 

Here he is with the vulcan pack

He can actually hold the shields, with the arm clips doing their job

Interestingly enough, you can use the arms on the satellite pack to connect to the gatling guns as well, for some interesting customizing.

And he can hold the gatling guns using the arm holding pieces as well.

The Powered Arms Powereder is featured on Hoshino Fumina's GM Cardigan in the first few episodes of Gundam Build Fighters Try. Prior to switching to the SD Winning Gundam, Hoshino Fumina's primary suit was the souped up GM Cardigan, complete with a wide assortment of weapons on its backpack. 

This Build Custom comes with the parts needed to build the Powered Arms Powereder, with interchangeable guns to be attached at different points. It also comes with the arm cannons, and a submachine gun, also used by the GM Cardigan. 

The pack itself is meant to be connected to a two-hole backpack slot, but comes with an adapter for connecting to a single-hole backpack slot. 

Here is the Build Strike completed with the Machine gun, weapons pack, and arm cannons. 

And of course, you can swap out the gun heads, and also move the arms, extend them or rotate them to have them sticking out from different directions. 

Now I'll connect it to the GM Sniper K9. It has its own submachine gun, so now it has two. 

Interestingly enough, I can remove one of the powered arms, and slot the K9 Sniper rifle into it as well. It looks appropriate enough.

Here he is all gatling'd up, with the Valuable Pod vulcan cannons, and the Powered Arms gatling guns, and an HG Build Campaign gatling gun as well. 

All in all, these are some pretty cool customization kits. I love gatling guns so much, and they make kits look so much cooler. I just love how much you can customize each pack as well. You'd be surprised what you can find to connect to each pack to make it your own. The amount of customization is just great, and if you use your creativity and imagination, you can find a cool kitbash that works for you!