MG 1/100 Gundam Exia "Ignition Mode" Review - Part 1

"Premium" Price: 5000 Yen

Normal Price: 6500 Yen

This will be quite an extensive/long review as the MG Exia shows quite the number of gimmicks and points of articulation. But most of that will be covered in part 2.

Part 1: Box, Box Open, Runners, Building Process & Some Gimmicks
Part 2: Articulation, Action, Gimmicks & Comparisons
Part 3: Gundam Exia Repair & Conclusion

Pilot: Setsuna F Seiei
Height: 18.3m
Weight: 57.2t
Armaments:
1x GN-Sword/Rifle
1x GN-Shield
1x GN Long Blade
1x GN Short Blade
2x Beam Sabers
2x Beam Daggers

Read on for the first part of the review! =D

Part 1: Box

Part 2: Box Open!

Part 3: Runners

There are 15 runners in total. They were a bit too many for me to put em' all into one nice photo.

You don't need to paint the orbs anymore. Nice.

Slightly disappointing that the MG Exia was molded to use the SEED polycaps. Not that good as I find a common weakness amongst MGs that uses the same polycaps after building a few SEED MGs. The weakness being... It could've been better if Bandai innovated some new polycaps or use something more firmer to enable future MGs to be more sturdy and less likely to sag easily over time. But, meh.

Nice to see but try not to leave your fingerprints on it. XP

The "Repair" runners. The cape is somehow not properly colored. I wonder why?

From left to right, top to bottom.

• Transparent orbs as the "inner" clear piece for the green orbs.
• LED units for the GN Drive.
• Stickers, clear stickers and decals.
• "Hologram" GN Cables(thicker than I initially thought).
• Some sticker.

Part 4: Building Process & Some Gimmicks
Part 4.1: Preparations

Before you build the "Ignition Mode" version of MG Exia, make sure you obtain the LR41 batteries. They cost me RM2 for all those. You'll need a total of 4 for the LED units.

Part 4.2: GN Drive

Looks simple? Well, not so. Some extra work will be needed if you want to lock the LED units in properly or else you'll suffer from the common "blinking light" problem. I used some blue tack to make the cover of the LED units close in tightly. Luckily, it can't be seen after you put the GN Drive together. XP

GN Drive before installation.

Testing out the LEDs. Very bright. I don't recommend looking at the light directly.

Part 4.3: Torso

Putting the torso together w/o GN Drive.

Took off the red cap and slid in the GN Drive. It is secured with the gray "locks" at the back.

Part 4.4: Head

The head is very detailed and I noticed it used similar part separation as the 1/60 Exia. The only sad part is that the neck cannot move forwards and backwards, a fixed neck. You can still move the head up and down, "360" about the ball connection however.

Part 4.5: Arms

A little mistake as I accidentally hit the part and it moved upwards. =P
The GN Cable are rather hard and thick as it can be easily seen with it making the shoulder armor go up like that.

The beam saber hilts can move up and down at the rear side of the shoulder armor. This articulation point was shown in the anime when Setsuna confronted Graham the first time.

You can see the inner frame moving through the cables though not visible in my shot.

Standard MG arm bending. Virtually the same articulation as the NG Exia. I noticed that the large side of the arm prevented the arm from bending in completely. The hands are a little disappointing though. Seems to come off easily for me.

Part 4.6: Feet

Those are some of the largest amount of parts I've ever faced for just the feet!

Even the "toes" can bend!

There's a little side to side movement here as well. Nice.

Part 4.7: Legs

A bit messy as I tried to allign many parts in one snap.

The legs may seem not so different to the NG Exia but it shows many improvements.

Part 4.8: Waist

The waist is nicely detailed. All the skirt armor can move and little gimmick for the leg movement which you'll see in part 2.

Part 4.9: GN Sword, GN Blades, GN Shield

Bling bling is really bling bling. Extremely shiny and can reflect fairly well. I couldn't take straight shots without it showing too much reflected on the blade. ^^;

Much nicer than the original design. Too bad the nub mark on the plated parts are easily seen... especially for these.

The shield isn't all that much different from the NG Exia's. Bandai added a little gimmick for it though, where the blue sides on the shield can be pulled out to "open" the shield up a little wider.

That's all for part 1. Continue to part 2 later today.