HGGundam Build Fighters Try

Ballden Arm Arms

Not a Gunpla so much as a toolbox of joints, armor, and claws for fixing everybody else's Gunpla.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Ballden Arm Arms · 1/144 · 2015

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I will say it plainly, this is not a kit you build and put on a shelf, it is a parts bin, and once I understood that going in I actually liked it a lot.

Bandai packed this HGBC set with single axis joints, double axis joints, ball joints, armor panels, missile pods, wings, and claws, all meant to be grafted onto other HG kits. On its own terms as a customizing resource it delivers real value. Judged as a standalone display piece it barely qualifies, which is exactly the point.

Best for: kitbashers and customizers upgrading older HG kits with better joints and add-on armor, not people who want a suit to display as-is

The full review

What it is

The Ballden Arm Arms is a HGBC (High Grade Build Custom) support unit from the Gundam Build Fighters Try line, and what you get in the box is a pile of connector hardware dressed up as armor. There is a flight mode and a group mode you can build it into if you want something to sit on the shelf, but I found myself immediately pulling the runners apart to raid them instead. The single and double axis joints and the ball joints are the real prize here, they are exactly the kind of retrofit parts that let you add a working shoulder or waist joint to an old, stiff HG kit that never had one.

The catch

Because this is a parts kit and not a mobile suit, the skill level 2 build is thin on its own, you are mostly clipping connector hardware and small armor shells, and if you build it straight out of the instructions as its own little robot it looks and feels underwhelming next to any real HG suit at this price point. The bigger issue builders flag is durability, some of the smaller S parts and the Y shaped connectors are noticeably weaker than the rest of the runners and will not hold up to repeated re-posing or aggressive stress, especially once they are grafted into a host kit's joint.

Who it's for

If you already have a stack of older HG kits with weak shoulders, stiff waists, or no ankle rock and you enjoy the surgery side of the hobby, this set earns its keep fast, and there are builder tutorials online showing exactly how to graft its joints into vintage kits for real articulation gains. If you just want a kit to build once and display, skip it, there is no suit here, only the parts to make other suits better.

The build story

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

The runners are mostly small connector hardware and armor shells rather than a single suit's worth of body parts, so gate cleanup is quick but the assembly itself does not feel like building a robot, it feels like sorting a hardware drawer. Skill level 2 fit and part tolerances are typical Bandai, everything clips together cleanly, though the smaller ball joint housings need a light touch when you are testing fit before committing to glue or paint.

The standout value is entirely in the joint variety, the large ball joints in particular are sturdy enough to become a new shoulder or waist pivot on an older kit, and builder tutorials exist showing exactly how to trim forearm pegs, shoulder pegs, and waist mounts to accept them. Weapon and armor accessories (missile pods, wings, claws) give you cosmetic options too, so a kitbasher gets both functional and decorative upgrades out of one inexpensive set.

Lore & trivia

01Ballden Arm Arms is HGBC (High Grade Build Custom) kit number 22 in the Gundam Build Fighters Try support unit line, released in 1/144 scale.
02The set can be assembled into two different configurations, a flight mode and a group mode, through parts replacement rather than being a single fixed suit.
03Builders and hobby blogs have used its ball joints specifically to retrofit shoulder, forearm, and waist articulation into older HG kits that originally lacked that range of motion.