MG 1/100 Gundam Exia "Ignition Mode" Review - Part 3 - Finale (Repair Mode)

First of all, I like to thank the comments for part 2 as it made me quite happy to read them. I truly appreciate your compliments and it really is nice to know that I can take good photos of my favorite Gundam. ^^

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

At any rate, this last part of the review is fairly short as I found out there aren't that many poses for the Exia Repair to snap.

Read on for Exia Repair and my final conclusion which hopefully will give you a more in-depth opinion on the MG Exia than my early conclusion in part 2.

Part 1: Preparations & Words of Caution
If you want to switch the Exia from normal to repair, I suggest you be very extremely cautious when part swapping. I broke two parts which was a connection in the right shoulder inner frame and the rear right ankle armor though both not being such a major problem. However, if you're not careful enough, you may break some other parts, namely the V-Fin...

Part 2: Part Swapping & Parts Removal

You'll need to change the right side of the head. Sadly, Bandai did not give you any spare parts to have a second head, which would have been more convenient...

The left arm is completely removed and replaced with these three parts. FYI, Exia lost its left arm in the final battle of season 1 before it came back for one episode of season 2 as Exia Repair.

The top of the GN Sword shield may not look so different on the photo but Bandai gave a slightly scratched one for repair mode.

Other changes;

• Remove all the beam saber hilts.
  
• Remove the GN Cable on the right shoulder. Be careful when opening the shoulder inner frame.
• Remove the right GN Clavicle. Be careful not to pull it out from the tip. Try to pull it from the "root".
• Remove the left yellow vent piece.
• Swap cockpit hatch with the dark gray one. Be careful when pulling out the inner frame piece of the hatch.
• Remove the left front skirt armor.
• Remove the right knee armor.
  
• Remove both front ankle armor. Don't pull to hard.
• Remove right rear ankle armor. I'm not sure if you can pull it out without snapping in half though...

Thing(s) I didn't do but was supposed to;

• Remove the green orbs from both legs. The GN Condenser is supposed to use the gray sticker instead. However, this can only be done if you are making Exia Repair only.

If you truly want to have an Exia Repair and the normal Exia at the same time, I suggest you get another MG Exia, preferably the normal one and use the repair parts onto that one instead. Otherwise, pick only one mode for the Exia or you might face some problems. However, I don't think you'll meet much problems if you build repair mode first then convert it to normal.

Part 3: Action

"Final Shot"

*PEW**PEW**PEW*

"HRAAARGGGHHH!!!"

*SLASH*

~flying~

Exia Repair KICK!

Notes;

• The cape can move "360" around the connection and can move a bit on their ball joints.
  

Part X: ORE TACHI WA GANDAMU DA!

Part 4: Final Conclusion
Pros

• Major improvements from the NG Exia.
  -Sagging legs problem gone.
  -Better color separation for head and weapons.
  -No need for part exchange(For GN Blade holsters).
  
• Amazing articulation.
• Clear hologram GN Cables are nice to see.
• Clear orb parts are molded in clear green.
  
• Metallic plated parts.
• Repair parts.
  

Cons

• Weak ankles, though not as weak as my Freedom. Very obvious in Repair Mode.
  
• LED units cannot be shut tight easily resulting in the flickering problem.
  
• GN Sword connection to the arm is loose.
• Fixed neck.
• Hands seems to be a bit small and comes off easily.
• Not a complete inner frame.
• The arm sags down a little when the GN Sword is in sword mode. Doesn't seem to be a problem in Repair Mode.
• Need to swap parts if you want to convert normal to repair and vice versa.
• Metallic parts nub marks are hard to hide. ^^;
  

Overall, the MG Exia is a very good MG. It has advanced from previous MGs especially in articulation but unfortunately lost in transition was the complete inner frame. The inner frame isn't much of a problem as most do not display the inner frame of their model kits anyways. However, that's totally up to you.

In terms of final recommendation - If you can still get the MG Exia "Ignition Mode" at the premium price, I'd say you should gun for that for a complete experience on the model kit. You'll get LED units(need some work to make it work though), metallic plated parts and repair parts. For 1200 Yen more, I say, "Why not?". Then again, if you cannot, the normal MG Exia is pretty good alternative as well especially if the "Ignition Mode" extras do not appeal to you.

Okay, that's all for this review. I wonder if I did enough? I don't have as much free time as I supposed to have later on since I kinda busted my "should do my work time" to do other things that are not scholarly beneficial. ^^;

Ah, procrastination due to unfinished Gunpla work. =P

Until the next post. =)