Half the year's gone... So are you X pounds lighter? Doing something out of your comfort zone? Saved more money? Well for me all the answer to that is a big fat NO. I also told myself, after seeing a how my room space has been compromised by toys, to stop buying any more... and yet here we are... a review of the new HGUC Efreet Schneid.
I was super excited that we're getting new Zeon suits. I mean NEW new, not the old Origin Zaku mold (not that it's bad). I literally jumped when I saw the Efreet Schneid getting a regular release since the 1/100 was a P-Bandai. I was also looking forward to the Efreet Kai since my1/100 has turned into a floppy mess... but lo and behold... HGUC Efreet Kai is P-Bandai. Time to boycott Bandai again I suppose...
I'll be comparing it a lot to the 1/100 Efreet Kai, so bear with me. The overall proportions are leaner, less bulky compared to the RE 1/100 Efreet. It could be because it has less armor overall, but it's not as bottom heavy as the 1/100.
Color-Wise it's pretty spot on to it's appearance in the Unicorn OVA. The RE/100 P-Bandai version is a bit more purple, while this one is more pink.
There are details that are covered by stickers. All the yellow details littered all over the body are stickers. Surprisingly there are no stickers for the 2 chest cameras. Other than that, parts separation is excellent. The sheer amount of parts just for the head is staggering.
It's not as detailed as the 1/100, but still has decent surface details. There are slots on the arms for future kits (like the P-Bandai Kai, probably a regular grunt and Nacht).
Nubs on this color of plastic will always be horrible... and it's pretty much the same news here. There are atrocious ones on the white trim on the legs.
The build is very nice and decently complex. The torso is superb! There are a few seams like the back of the legs, the forearms and the shoulder armor.
Overall, this is pretty good as far as HGUC is concerned. Stickers are relegated to details (unlike the HGUC Zeta Revive) though I kinda wish some were molded in color like the Barzam. The proportions are more balanced and the plastic color is spot on. This kit, aesthetically is ace!
The Achilles heel of the 1/100 was articulation, mainly because the polycaps can't hold the weight of the limbs. This smaller version is much better but still has compromises caused by the design.
The head is mounted on a ball joint, with the base that can swivel up and down. Main issue here is the design of the head. The back armor hinders it from looking up decently.
The flat bottomed head and lack of collar does make rotating the head easier as nothing is hindering it.
Also, thank god the monoeye level is located on top of the head and not below the snout. At least you won't wear out the polycap by repeatedly removing the head to adjust the eye.
Now here's the crowing piece of this kit's design. The shoulder connection is not the standard polycap. Instead, it's on a complex series of joints. The grey shoulder can pull out of the torso and swivel back and forth without accidentally pulling the arm off. This allows the Efreet to also cross-arm.
There's also a joint where the shoulder plugs in that can swivel up. You can also see the joint holding the shoulder armor.
With all those joints, you can more the arm up way higher than the design suggests.
The mid-torso joint can pull up.There's a complicated series of joints to facilitate this... to explain, there's an L joint with a ball-joint connecting the chest to the lower torso. The result is what you can see below i.e. a deep ab-crunch.
The waist and torso is connected via ball joint, and features the same issue as the 1/100. The cables connected from the crotch to the backpack will spring the torso back.
You then get the standard HGUC joints. Double-jointed everything is standard and has good range.
The T-joint on the crotch can swivel up and down and not forward and back.
The ankle joints are decent and features a swivel at the top of the ankle and a balljoint at the base of the feet.
Realistically speaking, the below image the widest stance you can get with the feet planted on the ground.
It can't kneel though... despite all the joints. The main issue is that the cables limit the sideskirt from going up. It can kneel decently, but only of you remove the side skirt.
Overall, it's a massive improvement over the 1/100 mainly because it can actually hold it's pose. The shoulder mechanism is amazing and it really allows you to pose it reaching out for it's weapons. The head's a bit limited so dynamic posing can be difficult, but a lot of awesome monoeye suits in illustrations aren't exactly physics bound.
It's primarily a melee based suit. You've already noticed the holes littered around it's body. So...
It has a bazooka and a trigger finger hand.
It can hold it pretty well with no weigh issues because of the tight joints.
And then you have the Kunais. You get 14 of these buggers. What's good is that unlike the P-Bandai, the blade and the handles are actually separate! You also get 2 extra unmounted Kunai with a clear orange blade! This is so much better than the P-Bandai.
You mount 4 per shoulder, 4 on the the gauntlet and 2 on the back skirt. The lower hole on the backskirt on my copy is loose and bare holds the kunai.
It certainly looks better with all of these knives littered in it's body.
Can it hold the Bazooka with all the knives mounted? Well it can hold it in the same position as in the OVA.
Again, with all my HG complaints, this one really needs an open hand. Even just for the right hand. Other than that, it's pretty complete.
It's a UC0079 suit, so it's standard 18 meter height wise.
You can see it's the same height as the RX-78, but much bulkier.
You can see as well the aesthetic difference between the Origin and the standard HGUC aesthetic. the HGUC is more solid and less gappy.
And of course, compared to the RE 1/100. You can see how much bulkier the 1/100 is primarily due to the extra armor.
This is a very good kit. The entire torso assembly alone is worth experiencing. Plus you now have one of the coolest looking suits in the UC OVA in an affordable package. And it's much better than that P-Bandai where the kunai's are one piece and you have to sticker to look good. Articulation is better than I was expecting, but the you still get limited torso. Fiddling around with it can be challenging especially when te kunais started falling. I'd say buy it when you get chance... and hope that Bandai incorporates the torso design in newer HGUC.
Good:
- Holy crap that Torso!
- Good parts separation. The kunais' blade are actually separate pieces!
- Fun build and Fun to pose
Bad:
- The nubs on the white trim are huuuge
- Could have made the yellow trim separate
 |
| Apologies to dear readers who only wanted a review and not an existential issues |
I was super excited that we're getting new Zeon suits. I mean NEW new, not the old Origin Zaku mold (not that it's bad). I literally jumped when I saw the Efreet Schneid getting a regular release since the 1/100 was a P-Bandai. I was also looking forward to the Efreet Kai since my1/100 has turned into a floppy mess... but lo and behold... HGUC Efreet Kai is P-Bandai. Time to boycott Bandai again I suppose...
Aesthetics
I'll be comparing it a lot to the 1/100 Efreet Kai, so bear with me. The overall proportions are leaner, less bulky compared to the RE 1/100 Efreet. It could be because it has less armor overall, but it's not as bottom heavy as the 1/100.
 |
| He's blogging on his lunch break... and you're wondering why he's miserable |
Color-Wise it's pretty spot on to it's appearance in the Unicorn OVA. The RE/100 P-Bandai version is a bit more purple, while this one is more pink.
There are details that are covered by stickers. All the yellow details littered all over the body are stickers. Surprisingly there are no stickers for the 2 chest cameras. Other than that, parts separation is excellent. The sheer amount of parts just for the head is staggering.
 |
| He mentions stickers yet has no images of stickers |
It's not as detailed as the 1/100, but still has decent surface details. There are slots on the arms for future kits (like the P-Bandai Kai, probably a regular grunt and Nacht).
Nubs on this color of plastic will always be horrible... and it's pretty much the same news here. There are atrocious ones on the white trim on the legs.
 |
| wow! a description that matches the image somewhat |
Overall, this is pretty good as far as HGUC is concerned. Stickers are relegated to details (unlike the HGUC Zeta Revive) though I kinda wish some were molded in color like the Barzam. The proportions are more balanced and the plastic color is spot on. This kit, aesthetically is ace!
Articulation
The Achilles heel of the 1/100 was articulation, mainly because the polycaps can't hold the weight of the limbs. This smaller version is much better but still has compromises caused by the design.
The head is mounted on a ball joint, with the base that can swivel up and down. Main issue here is the design of the head. The back armor hinders it from looking up decently.
The flat bottomed head and lack of collar does make rotating the head easier as nothing is hindering it.
Also, thank god the monoeye level is located on top of the head and not below the snout. At least you won't wear out the polycap by repeatedly removing the head to adjust the eye.
Now here's the crowing piece of this kit's design. The shoulder connection is not the standard polycap. Instead, it's on a complex series of joints. The grey shoulder can pull out of the torso and swivel back and forth without accidentally pulling the arm off. This allows the Efreet to also cross-arm.
 |
| This image should describe it better |
With all those joints, you can more the arm up way higher than the design suggests.
The mid-torso joint can pull up.There's a complicated series of joints to facilitate this... to explain, there's an L joint with a ball-joint connecting the chest to the lower torso. The result is what you can see below i.e. a deep ab-crunch.
 |
| see the torso gap? No? Better watch a video review then.. or dalong's parts list |
The waist and torso is connected via ball joint, and features the same issue as the 1/100. The cables connected from the crotch to the backpack will spring the torso back.
You then get the standard HGUC joints. Double-jointed everything is standard and has good range.
The T-joint on the crotch can swivel up and down and not forward and back.
The ankle joints are decent and features a swivel at the top of the ankle and a balljoint at the base of the feet.
Realistically speaking, the below image the widest stance you can get with the feet planted on the ground.
It can't kneel though... despite all the joints. The main issue is that the cables limit the sideskirt from going up. It can kneel decently, but only of you remove the side skirt.
Overall, it's a massive improvement over the 1/100 mainly because it can actually hold it's pose. The shoulder mechanism is amazing and it really allows you to pose it reaching out for it's weapons. The head's a bit limited so dynamic posing can be difficult, but a lot of awesome monoeye suits in illustrations aren't exactly physics bound.
Weapons and Extras
It's primarily a melee based suit. You've already noticed the holes littered around it's body. So...
It has a bazooka and a trigger finger hand.
It can hold it pretty well with no weigh issues because of the tight joints.
And then you have the Kunais. You get 14 of these buggers. What's good is that unlike the P-Bandai, the blade and the handles are actually separate! You also get 2 extra unmounted Kunai with a clear orange blade! This is so much better than the P-Bandai.
 |
| He keeps comparing it to P-Bandai to make himself feel better |
It certainly looks better with all of these knives littered in it's body.
Can it hold the Bazooka with all the knives mounted? Well it can hold it in the same position as in the OVA.
Again, with all my HG complaints, this one really needs an open hand. Even just for the right hand. Other than that, it's pretty complete.
 |
| Open hands should be the standard! |
Size Comparison and Other Comparison
It's a UC0079 suit, so it's standard 18 meter height wise.
You can see it's the same height as the RX-78, but much bulkier.
 |
| he discovered he can configure his flash as a slave flash... so all images are over exposed |
You can see as well the aesthetic difference between the Origin and the standard HGUC aesthetic. the HGUC is more solid and less gappy.
And of course, compared to the RE 1/100. You can see how much bulkier the 1/100 is primarily due to the extra armor.
Summary
This is a very good kit. The entire torso assembly alone is worth experiencing. Plus you now have one of the coolest looking suits in the UC OVA in an affordable package. And it's much better than that P-Bandai where the kunai's are one piece and you have to sticker to look good. Articulation is better than I was expecting, but the you still get limited torso. Fiddling around with it can be challenging especially when te kunais started falling. I'd say buy it when you get chance... and hope that Bandai incorporates the torso design in newer HGUC.
Good:
- Holy crap that Torso!
- Good parts separation. The kunais' blade are actually separate pieces!
- Fun build and Fun to pose
Bad:
- The nubs on the white trim are huuuge
- Could have made the yellow trim separate
No comments:
Post a Comment