HGBuild Divers

AGE-IIMG Gundam AGEII Magnum

A cheap, heavily armed champion's machine with one shoulder-mounted flaw holding it back from greatness.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

AGE-IIMG Gundam AGEII Magnum · 1/144 · 2018

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2018

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the better budget HG kits Bandai put out for Build Divers, and I say that as someone who went in expecting a forgettable side-kit.

The part count and included gear are way past what the price tag suggests, the frame poses well at the hips and knees, and the dark molded plastic actually holds detail nicely once you clean it up. The one thing keeping this out of the top tier is the shoulder-mounted F Funnel unit, which fights the arms every time you try to bring them up or across the body.

Best for: Build Divers fans and budget-conscious builders who want a heavily accessorized HG without touching a foil sticker

The full review

What it is

The AGEII Magnum is Kyoya Kujo's champion-tier upgrade of the AGE-2, and Bandai built the kit to match that reputation with a genuinely generous loadout: a rifle, a beam saber, the oversized Shiguru shield, and a display stand, all for an entry-level price. Snapping it together is straightforward enough that a first-time builder could get through it without a manual meltdown, and I liked that almost nothing here relies on stickers. The color separation on the torso and shoulder armor comes molded in, so the suit looks correct straight off the runners, which is rare at this price point and grade.

The catch

The plastic is molded in dark navy and near-black tones, and that is a double-edged choice: it looks moody and screen-accurate, but every nub mark, stress mark, and sanding scuff shows up far more than it would on a lighter kit. The gates themselves are also thick and placed in visible spots, so cleanup takes real patience if you want a clean finish. The bigger functional issue is the F Funnel unit mounted on the shoulder, which is large enough that it collides with the arm and limits how far you can raise or cross it, and the Shiguru shield is bulky enough to clip the wing binders in some poses.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you want a Build Divers kit that actually rewards patient gate cleanup and gives you a shelf full of extra weapons and a stand for the money. It is also a fine pick for anyone curious about the Phoenix Mode transformation gimmick, since Bandai supports the swap with dedicated parts rather than making you fake it. Skip it if dynamic full-arm poses are your priority, since the shoulder hardware genuinely caps what you can do, or if you are not willing to spend extra time on nub cleanup on dark plastic.

The build story

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

Assembly itself is easy, closer to a weekend-friendly HG than a fiddly project, and the instructions are simple enough that newer builders can get through it solo. The catch is entirely in the finishing: the dark plastic means every trace of gate cleanup shows, so you want a sharp side cutter and a little sanding patience if you care about a clean look on camera or on the shelf.

Where this kit earns its price is the loadout and the frame underneath it. Hip and knee articulation hold poses well, the beam saber and rifle both peg into the hands and shield securely, and the display stand means you are not stuck with a static standing pose out of the box. The Phoenix Mode swap is a nice bonus that a lot of HGs at this price point simply do not bother offering.

Lore & trivia

01The AGEII Magnum is the personal Gunpla of Kyoya Kujo, world champion of Gunpla Battle Nexus and team leader of Avalon in Gundam Build Divers.
02It is a customized, high-spec evolution of the AGE-2 Normal, renamed AGEII rather than AGE-2 to mark it as surpassing the original AGE System's design intent.
03Its high-speed flight form is called Phoenix Mode, an upgraded version of the AGE-2's existing flight configuration.
04The added offensive hardware on the wings and shield lets the suit attack instantly from almost any stance, matching Kyoya's aggressive battle style in the anime.