HGPost Disaster

EB-06 Graze Ares Color Standard Type/Commander Type

The same tough little grunt suit that started the HGIBO line, just dressed in Gjallarhorn's space purple.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Graze Ares Color Standard Type/Commander Type · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the base HG Graze kit again, and that is exactly why it works.

The Graze frame was one of the quiet turning points for HG engineering, giving a budget mook suit a real inner structure years before that became normal at this price point, and the Ares recolor does nothing to hurt that. You are paying for the purple space plastic and the two-head gimmick, not a redesign, so go in knowing this is a repaint with a name.

Best for: IBO fans who want Gjallarhorn's space-deployed Grazes on the shelf and don't mind that it is a straight recolor of the original HG

The full review

What it is

The Graze was Gjallarhorn's mainline grunt suit in Iron-Blooded Orphans, and this release swaps the familiar Earth-tan color scheme for the deep purple used when Graze units launched from the Ares low-orbit station to intercept Tekkadan in space. Structurally it is the same kit that launched the whole HGIBO line, and I still think that frame holds up. You get a real inner skeleton under the armor, spherical joints at the hips and shoulders, double-jointed knees, and swiveling thighs that let the suit crouch and twist further than a suit at this price has any business doing. Swapping the head between the plain Standard Type and the twin-antenna Commander Type takes seconds and actually changes the read of the model on the shelf.

The catch

It is a recolor, full stop, and the color story is the whole pitch here, so if you already own a Graze or a Graze Custom this adds a shelf variant rather than anything new to build. The purple KPS plastic several builders have flagged is prone to slight yellowing if it sits in the dark for long stretches, which matters if you are buying this specifically for the color. Hands are hard plastic and grip weapons loosely enough that the rifle and battleaxe can slip out during posing, and a few builders have had shoulders and feet pop off under enthusiastic articulation. Nothing here is a dealbreaker, but panel lining and a little care with the joints go a long way.

Who it's for

Buy this if you want the Ares-purple Grazes that showed up during the space arc, or if you like the idea of a squad of grunt suits in a different colorway sitting next to your standard Graze. Skip it if you already have a Graze on the shelf and were hoping for new tooling, better hand grip, or tighter joints, because none of that changed. For a first HGIBO kit I would actually still point people to this over flashier releases, since the frame is genuinely good and the price stays low, but go in expecting a paint variant and you will not be disappointed.

The build story

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

The gate placement is typical Bandai HG, mostly on flat or hidden faces, and cleanup is quick since there is no sticker sheet doing heavy lifting on the main armor colors. The molded purple and gray read well straight off the runners, and one builder noted the Graze looks solid even unpainted, though panel lining brings out the detail Bandai actually put into this sculpt.

The frame is the real story. Full inner skeleton, spherical ball joints at the shoulders and hips, double knee joints, and a chest that adds a little torso twist on top of the waist swivel. Two rifles and a battleaxe come in the box along with waist-mount storage for the weapons you are not holding, and the head swap between Standard and Commander Type costs nothing but a spare part, so you effectively get two suits worth of shelf variety from one kit.

Lore & trivia

01The Graze is a mass-produced Gjallarhorn suit built on lineage traced back to the Calamity War era V08-1228 Grimgerde and its Valkyrja Frame.
02'Ares Color' refers to Ares, Gjallarhorn's low-orbit station near Mars, and the purple scheme is the suit's space-deployment color used when Graze units launched from Ares to intercept Tekkadan.
03The only difference between Standard Type and Commander Type is the head antenna, which doubles the Commander unit's communication range to hold the chain of command under Ahab Wave interference.
04This HGIBO frame, with its full inner structure at HG scale, was a notable step up in engineering ambition for the grade when the line launched.