HGGundam Build Fighters Try (Black Tri-Stars livery from Mobile Suit Gundam, Universal Century)

Black Tri-Stars Petit'gguy

A cube-shaped mascot in villain colors, built in twenty minutes and grinning the whole time.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Black Tri-Stars Petit'gguy · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This one is a novelty first and a build second, and it knows it.

I had fun putting it together, but I will not pretend there is much kit here. If you already collect Petit'gguy figures or you love the Black Tri-Stars as a faction, this is a cheap, quick, genuinely charming pickup. If you are hoping for anything resembling a real gunpla build, look elsewhere.

Best for: Petit'gguy collectors and One Year War Zeon fans who want a shelf mascot in Black Tri-Stars colors

The full review

What it is

The Petit'gguy is Bandai's cube-bodied chibi mascot, the little round-eyed guy that shows up as a build companion character in Gundam Build Fighters Try, and this version dresses it in the black, purple, and gray livery of the Black Tri-Stars, the Zeon ace team of Gaia, Ortega, and Mash. It uses the same standard HGPG sprues and box format as every other Petit'gguy release, just molded in the new colors, with a sticker sheet doing the rest of the work. I built one at my desk while watching TV and had it done before the episode ended. It made me smile the whole time, which is really the point of these things.

The catch

There is no getting around how slight this kit is. Part count is tiny, there is essentially no frame or articulation beyond the head and arm joints, and the personality entirely rides on stickers rather than molded color separation, so alignment matters more than it should for something this simple. This was also an event exclusive (Gundam EXPO era), which means secondary market pricing can run well above what a normal HGPG kit costs, and that price-to-content ratio is the real sticking point if you are not already invested in the character or the faction it references.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already have other Petit'gguys on your shelf and want the Black Tri-Stars one to complete the set, or if you are a die-hard Zeon fan who wants the joke of the galaxy's most feared Zaku squad rendered as a stubby, wide-eyed cube. Skip it if you are new to gunpla and looking for a kit that teaches you anything about building, or if you are chasing part count and engineering for the money. This is a display gag, not a build challenge, and it is best enjoyed with that expectation set going in.

The build story

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

Assembly is fast and low-stress, standard HGPG sprues with simple snap-fit joints at the head and arms, nothing here will trip up even a total beginner. Gate marks are minimal because there simply are not many parts to clean, and fit is snug without needing glue or filler anywhere.

The whole appeal is in the sticker application, three stars for the arm marking, a chest emblem, and a #06 unit number referencing Mash's Zaku, plus red eye decals that swap out the usual flat black eyes. Careful placement is the only real skill test in the build, and getting it straight makes a noticeable difference in how sharp the finished mascot looks on a shelf.

Lore & trivia

01The Black Tri-Stars were Gaia, Ortega, and Mash, an elite Zeon mobile suit team formed in U.C. 0076 under then-Colonel Kycilia Zabi's experimental Mobile Training Battalion.
02The trio started out piloting dark blue-painted MS-05B Zaku I units before later moving up to the MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type in their signature black and purple colors.
03Together the Black Tri-Stars are credited with sinking fourteen Federation battleships and cruisers, cementing their reputation as some of Zeon's deadliest aces of the One Year War.
04The Petit'gguy character itself originates from Gundam Build Fighters Try as a build-support mascot, and Bandai has released it in dozens of colorways tied to famous mobile suit liveries, this Black Tri-Stars version among them.