Gunpla Review: RE 1/100 Efreet Custom

Took me a while to post this as the kit was already built last week. But hey, better to write late than never to write at all. Let's take a look at the newest as of this post RE 1/100 kit, the Efreet Custom.

there is such a thing as blending in photoshop...

The RE 1/100 line is suppose to give us suit designs that are too obscure to receive an MG. Designs that would be otherwise too expensive to engineer a full inner frame while still meeting some financial targets. It's essentially the return of the 1/100 line that ended on the 2nd Season of Gundam 00. And when I say obscure, most of the designs so far came from a manga (except the Dijeh). The Efreet Kai is no exception.

Aesthetics

Design-wise, the Efreet Kai looks downright menacing. It's sharp and angular. It does not look soft at all with all the edges and spikes.  It's not as rounded as the Zakus anf Goufs. This suit is my all time favorite Zeon suit.

He changes his favorite suit design all the time...

The overall details and proportions changed from the original lineart to make it look more modern and realistic. The head is smaller; forearms larger with the grenades hidden inside instead of poking out like a 10 year old drew it; the rocket launchers are beefier. It's basically Efreet Kai ver Ka.

Uhh.. Layman's terms please?

As far as colors go, it's garishly bright and I love it. The blue could be darker though, but overall color scheme is pretty accurate. The only stickers you get are for the monoeye and the 2 sensors on the chest. Parts separation is excellent. The only color lacking are the yellow bits on the inside of the thrusters.

Detail-wise, the kit is loaded with surface details. Lot's of panel lines to offset the lack of an inner frame. Honestly, I prefer more surface details over the MG's smoother, panel line free aesthetics.

A few nitpicks: the bicep armor could use more detail. And while the overall kit is bulky, it does lack a feeling of solidity. That's to be expected though given the simplicity of the build assembly.

Also the ankle joint's hollow on one side... wish they could have made it so it sandwiches between 2 polycaps. With the amount of left over parts you get, Bandai could have removed those and used the plastic for a more solid ankle.

No he does not know how these are planned

Overall though, it's a successful redesign of the Efreet Kai. It's bulky and more importantly, intimidating. Parts separation is excellent and the build process is relatively simple.

Articulation

Articulation is often the waterloo of most Zeon Suits. While the Efreet has all the modern articulation points, the design hinders it a bit.

The head is on a double ball joint, but due to the back "fins", it can't really look up.

You can remove the top of the head to reveal a tab to move the monoeye.

The torso on it's own is pretty articulate. The main problem is the cables that connect the front cod piece to the backpack. It's made of stiff polycap-like material and it sort of functions like a stiff spring. It essentially limits overall torso articulation. Rotation is severely hindered by this since it just pushes the rotated waist back in place. If I can only find the 1/100 MS pipe...

Like most modern Gunpla, there is a joint that allows the shoulders to swing forward.

The shoulder armor is connected by a free moving ball joint. The rest are standard: double jointed elbow, bicep swivel and ball wrist.

A modern MG level articulation is the mechanism that allows the hips to swing forward.

The side skirts are connected to a polycap on the back skirt area. The polycap slides in and out so you can adjust it as necessary for wide legged poses. Too bad the cables restrict it again.

Look at the back of the hips to see what he's on about.

 Also another issue is with the thigh swivel. The front bit of the thigh armor hits the cylinder bit of the hips. Not a big deal but it does prevent you from twisting the leg inward.

why would you want to twist the leg inward?

Other than that, everything else is pretty much standard. Doe to the armor on the leg, the knee only bends a little over 90 degrees.

The ankle tilts are unique in that the front of the feet stays put while the back piece and top "sinks" down. It's really difficult to explain.

it can basically toe in

Same with the hip connections, the polycap where the foot connects to can slide side to side. This allows you to have some clearance whenever you're trying to have a wide legged stance.

All-in-all, pretty decent, if not mediocre in the grand scheme of things, as expected from a bulky design. Did I mention the rocket launchers can rotate in place?

At least it can still kneel relatively well.

Weapons and Extras

The Efreet Custom is pretty light in terms of accessories. The regular Efreet has bazookas and shotguns. This one specialized in melee, hit and run tactics.

It comes with build in grenade launchers on the forearms.

And the rockets attached to the feet.

Do you really need a separate pic for the launchers? It's in almost every picture!

Last set of armaments include the twin heat sabers and the hands to hold them. That's it. No guns. The Efreet Kai always had this payload as it relied on melee and the EXAM system so it doesn't really need anything else. Wish they included open palms though just for variety.

The swords are molded in clear orange. It looks OK, but would have preferred a solid orange as a metal blade does not become clear when heated. You can slot the blades on the connectors on the backpack.

Now the most important part of any melee based figure will always be poseability. As mentioned in the articulation section, the mediocre articulation and hindered waist kinda makes it difficult to pull off dynamic poses. You'll need a stand to fully exploit the Efreet in the more extreme poses. Even then it has trouble looking dynamic... or maybe I just suck at posing.

Size Comparison

While the Efreet is suppose to be on par with the Gouf, the suit is a little bit taller than standard suit size of the same era.

A few more size comparison shots.

Summary

The Efreet, as I said, is my favorite Zeon suit (I always upgrade it on the SD G-Generations games). But if I were to look at it objectively, I'd say the overall package is above average. The build process is simple and straight forward. But despite that there are no major seam lines to speak of and boasts pretty good parts separation. It does feel light for it's size though and lacks the feeling of solidity as compared to the HG Origin Gouf. Still, it's a 1/100 Efreet that's modernized. If you're on the fence for this kit, I'd say grab it. At the very least you'll have an intimidating looking kit, even if it's just a standing pose.

Good:
- It's a model of the Efreet!
- No stickers needed for main colors.Excellent parts separation.
- No visible seamlines
- simple and easy to build. Results in a stunning looking model

Bad:
- average articulation
- relatively light for what looks like a heavy suit.
- My copy has loose connections between the hips and thighs.
- mediocre accessories
- as expensive than an MG Zaku II 2.0 (at least locally).