Gundam Model Kits

The usual MG Gundam head with a clear eye piece, white mask, red chin, and a polycap enclose in two halves of the white helmet. There’s sharp and dull V-fins provided. Very similar to the RX-78-2 Gundam’s head but with a blue setting in the yellow V-fin instead of a red setting in a white one. Seems to have been cleaned up a little from the anime by straightening the sides of the head and elongating the mohawk camera. Only a little up-and-down movement due to the thick neck but plenty of side-to-side. Nice warning stickers come for the vulcans as well as a 4 for the side of the head and a real hard-to-apply transfer for the V-fin setting.

Torso

The innovative panoramic cockpit is beautifully replicated which makes it a bit of a shame that the spherical cockpit has to be covered by armor. The seam for the lower torso armor is hidden in a panel line, but not so for the blue upper armor. Yellow vents come for all the parts of the chest. The backpack assembly has some annoying seams due to the fact the armor comes in several pieces and the rear has an ugly open space in it. Plenty of nice little thrusters are placed on the pack, as well as the ball-jointed main ones. The beam sabers both plug into a single large polycap-like piece. There’s an interesting cradle that connects the torso to the hips that reminds me of Gundams with core fighters. It does get in the way when rotating the body though. The skirt armor is pretty much hollow on the insides, but yellow inserts come for the forward armor. The thrusters on the crotch armor have similar seam problems to the backpack. The hips joints are fixed and the rear armor has a slot in it for the CHOBAM that looks a little out of place.

Arms

The shoulders have an interesting construction since the armor snaps onto a peg projecting from the joint more like a Zeon kit than a Federation one. The rubber covers for the arms have to be cut in order to push the arm assembly through. While not that restrictive the arm is not very poseable due to the rubber. The rest of the arm is just as interesting. The elbow joint has a white cap on the top to cover the joint. The simple plug into the forearm allows the arm to be rotated at the elbow. The forearm is based around a slotted piece that the Gatling cannons are attached to. The lower part slides down while a carriage swings up to expose the cannons. The forearm cover and small caps plug into the carriage. There’s an insert into the forearm for the hand to cover the polycap attachment. The entire forearm is OK, but it difficult to work with the seams in the forearm and once painted it tends to stick a lot. The arm construction has to rather different due to the oddities of the Alex’s arm but as a whole its only about average.

Legs

The upper legs have a small internal assembly that the armor clips over. They remind me a lot of the GP01 legs except the seam isn’t hidden in a panel line here. A triangular-ish part serves as the knee block but the connection to the lower leg is rather exposed, allowing you to see down the leg in a bent pose. The central core of the lower legs is a polycap-laden two-piece affair that most of the armor snaps directly onto. The leg thrusters snap on in another sub-assembly that is covered by its own armor. The legs are asymmetric so be sure that the correct piece gets attached exactly like in the manual. The armor closes up very well, the only seam being a small corner on the blue thruster armor. Small inserts come for the thrusters that oddly have no openings. Ankles have an ugly construction in order to give room for the CHOBAM armor to be applied. However without the armor there’s big gaps in that area that make the simple ball joint visible. The front part and bottoms of the feet look nice but the rear part connects through a polycap that isn’t held too securely.

Weapons and Accessories

Beam rifle- An interesting design that looks more like an assault rifle than a beam weapon. Two halves with a cap for the end and an odd clip. The cap is sealed so the thing defiantly doesn’t look hollow. No argument that it doesn’t look like the designed rifle, just really doesn’t seem like a Gundam’s beam rifle.
Shield- Really nice presentation with a large, detailed main piece that the blue insert, moveable grip, and an odd container-like piece connects to. The grip has a latch-like design in order to clip around the Alex’s Gatling cover. It can also be forced around the lip of the arm’s CHOBAM armor to be held in Full Armor mode. I do think the multiple plug design for the grip is a little toyish, but its on the back of the shield so no one will notice. The Alex transfer for the shield is beautiful and crisp.
Beam sabers- Standard MG beam sabers. Made of two parts and clear pink blades.
CHOBAM armor - A major part of the kit. But unfortunately also covers up a lot of the Gundam and makes the arm Gatlings unusable. The rear torso has that same construction problem as the backpack. Although the instructions says its suppose to be assembled in parts, I found it easier to put together the rear part, remove the sabers, and plug it into the front. The front armor has a nice opening cockpit gimmick, but the simplicity of its construction makes it look better closed. The shoulder armor is hinged and clamps onto the bar on the shoulders. Unlike the cockpit, the open mode of this armor looks nice since you can see the detail on the shoulder armor. The front skirt armor simply clamps onto the crotch piece and doesn’t allow for much movement, keeping the Alex limited to static poses. The rear armor makes use of that plug in the rear and has nice looking thruster molded into the inserts. Again the leg armor is asymmetric and comes together well, but a little loose. Big and bulky the armor makes it hard for the Alex to hold its rifle and shield, but it can be done.

Conclusion

Well the Alex is a fine example of you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Either you go for the sleeker, Gatling-equipped normal mode or the big heavy-looking full armor. The Alex was very gimmicky with a lot of innovations and the model struggles to re-create them. It feels like the engineers gave it a good try but could have done better. The Gatlings weren’t as impressive as I thought and the rubber covers were troublesome. However the Alex does have a RX-78 feel to it with a nice modern upgrade. There are enough Alex kits out that you can have a pick on how gimmicky you want it or how close you want it to the lineart. The Alex is good for those who either love the Alex, the full armor, or pop-up Gatlings but overall its just an ok kit. (Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars)

Contributor: Chris "KokopelliChindi" Knudtson

General and Technical Data
Series: Master Grade (MG) 1/100 Release Date: 10/1999
Price: ¥ 3000