HGMobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost (arcade)

Extreme Gundam (type-Leos) Eclipse-Face

A Premium Bandai parts swap that turns a familiar frame into an arcade sniper.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Extreme Gundam (type-Leos) Eclipse-Face · 1/144 · 2021

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2021

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I'll be straight with you, this is a repaint and re-arm job wearing a new name, and once you accept that, it's a genuinely satisfying one.

Bandai took the solid HG Extreme Gundam skeleton, handed it a new head, a shoulder-mounted missile pod, and a pair of rifles that click together into the Cross Buster, and the result reads as a distinct kit on the shelf even though the bones underneath are recycled. If you already own the base Extreme Gundam this is a lateral move, but on its own it's a fun little build.

Best for: Extreme Vs. arcade fans and Leos Alloy loyalists who want the Eclipse-Face silhouette without hunting a used frame

The full review

What it is

This kit is Bandai's Premium Bandai answer to a very specific request: give players who love the Extreme Vs. arcade series a plastic version of Leos Alloy's ranged-spec Eclipse-Face configuration. Underneath the new parts it's the same well-regarded HG Extreme Gundam body, so the fit and the joint feel are already proven. What's new is the head sculpt, a chunky shoulder missile launcher that reads as the Carnage Striker from the games, and twin beam rifles that peg together into the Cross Buster pose. Snapping that rifle combo together for the first time is the moment the kit earns its keep, it just looks right.

The catch

The color separation leans hard on stickers rather than molded plastic for the Eclipse-Face scheme, so you're peeling and placing a lot of small decals to get the show-accurate look, and a couple of the shoulder and chest markings are fiddly to line up straight. Because this is a Premium Bandai exclusive, it only ships in a limited window and usually costs more than an equivalent retail HG, plus it can dry up on secondary markets. The instruction manual is also printed monochrome with no mobile suit background blurb, which is typical for P-Bandai reissues but a letdown if you were hoping for lore pages.

Who it's for

Get this if you played Extreme Vs. Full Boost, know who Leos Alloy is, and want the specific ranged loadout on your shelf, or if you collect Extreme Gundam variants and this is the one you're missing. Skip it if you already have a base HG Extreme Gundam and don't care about the head and weapon swap, since the frame underneath is identical and you'd be paying a premium for parts alone. New builders should also know this only surfaces through Premium Bandai reissues, so patience and a bit of searching are part of the deal.

The build story

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

Runner cleanup is standard HG fare, gates are placed where sink marks won't show on the finished model, and the frame snaps together with the same confident click the base Extreme Gundam is known for. The new head and shoulder weapon parts fit onto the existing mounting points without any awkward workarounds, so if you've built the base kit before this goes together fast.

Articulation is the strong point here since it's inherited wholesale from the base HG Extreme Gundam: a ball-joint neck, shoulders that swing and raise, double-jointed elbows, knees that bend well past 90 degrees, and skirt armor that swivels out of the way so the hips can actually move. The new rifles are the standout accessory, since they split apart for single-handed use or click into the Cross Buster for the big pose, and the shoulder missile pod adds real shelf presence without throwing off the balance.

Lore & trivia

01Extreme Gundam type-Leos Eclipse-Face debuted in Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost, added to the arcade game on July 24, 2012 as a ranged-specialist variant.
02It is piloted by Leos Alloy, an original character created for the Extreme Vs. series and the Gundam EXA manga rather than a mainline anime.
03The Eclipse-Face's twin beam rifles are described in-universe as developed from the Wing Gundam Zero's Twin Buster Rifle, and they combine into the Cross Buster configuration for a single high-output shot.
04This kit was released through Premium Bandai as an HG 1/144, reusing the base Extreme Gundam frame with a new head and shoulder-mounted weapon parts.