HGMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Gekko (manga)

210 mm Anti Materiel Rifle & Pile Bunker Shield

A magazine freebie that turned into the biggest gun on your shelf.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

mm Anti Materiel Rifle & Pile Bunker Shield · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is not a mobile suit kit, it is a weapon and shield add-on, and once I stopped judging it like a normal HG the whole thing clicked into place.

The rifle is genuinely absurd in scale, taller than the Astaroth it was designed for, and that oversized presence is the entire point. It will not give you a satisfying full-build arc on its own, but as a prop to hand off to whatever HGI-BO suit you already have on the shelf, it delivers real shelf drama for very little money.

Best for: IBO collectors who already own an HGI-BO suit and want a scene-stealing oversized weapon to hand it

The full review

What it is

This kit started life as a bonus runner packed into the December 2016 issue of Gunpla Ace magazine before Bandai spun it off as a standalone HG release, and that origin explains a lot about what you get. You are building two accessories, a hulking 210mm anti-materiel rifle with a folding tripod and a pile bunker shield, both sized for the Gundam Astaroth but built with a universal joint so they mount to basically any HGI-BO kit in your collection. The rifle is the star. It is bigger than the suit it was designed for and bigger than a Barbatos Lupus standing next to it, so the first time you clip it into a suit's hand the scale actually gets a reaction.

The catch

There is no mobile suit in the box, so if you are new to Gunpla and grab this expecting a normal HG build, you will be disappointed fast. Mounting it properly on the Astaroth means pulling the right skirt armor off first, and several builders note you will want spare joint parts from other HGI-BO option sets if you want a backpack-mounted display rather than just hand-holding it. The rifle's bulk also makes a two-handed grip pose awkward on smaller frames, since there is a lot of weapon and not much suit to counterbalance it. Treat it as a display prop for a kit you already own, not a self-contained build.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already have an Astaroth or another Iron-Blooded Orphans HG in your rotation and want an oversized weapon that actually changes the silhouette of the display, or if you collect the option-set weapon runners as their own line. Skip it if you are picking your first Gunpla kit, want a self-contained articulated figure, or do not own a compatible HGI-BO suit to hand it off to, since on its own it is a static prop rather than a poseable character. For the low price point it was sold at, it is an easy pickup for the audience it is actually built for.

The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

This is a short build, a runner or two of parts rather than a full kit, and the assembly is closer to snapping together a large prop than working through frame and armor layers. Gate placement on the rifle body is straightforward and cleanup is light given how few parts are doing the heavy lifting. The pile bunker shield goes together just as fast and the joint connectors that let both pieces attach to non-Astaroth suits are the most fiddly part of the whole build, since getting the fit snug for weight-bearing poses takes a little test-fitting.

The engineering payoff is entirely in scale and posability rather than color separation or inner-frame complexity, there is no runner-based color depth to speak of here. The tripod folds for a mounted-weapon display pose, which is a genuinely thoughtful touch for a bonus accessory. For a kit that started as a magazine giveaway, getting a rifle and a shield that both mount universally across the IBO line is real value, even if the part count and engineering ambition are intentionally modest.

Lore & trivia

01This kit originated as a bonus runner bundled into the December 2016 issue of the Gunpla Ace magazine before being sold as a standalone HG release.
02The rifle is oversized even relative to its own suit, reportedly taller than both the Gundam Astaroth and the Gundam Barbatos Lupus when stood upright.
03The Gundam Astaroth (ASW-G-29) it was designed for is piloted by Argi Mirage in the Iron-Blooded Orphans Gekko manga, and uses a neural link through his prosthetic arm for faster reaction control.
04Astaroth is one of the 72 original Gundam Frames from the Calamity War, recovered from a lunar crater generations later by the Gjallarhorn-affiliated Warren family.