HGUniversal Century

Gaplant TR-5 [Hrairoo] Gigantic Arm Unit [AOZ RE-BOOT version]

An old Titans frame bolted to a pair of enormous stolen arms, and somehow it works.

MechaGrade Score

3.5/5

Gaplant TR-5 [Hrairoo] Gigantic Arm Unit [AOZ RE-BOOT version] · 1/144 · 2024

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2024

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a P-Bandai kit selling one thing and one thing only, and that thing is scale.

I went in expecting a cash grab reheat of the 2006-era Gaplant TR-5 body and came out genuinely charmed by how much presence the finished suit has on a shelf. It is not a graceful kit and it is not an articulate one, but the sheer bulk of those Gigantic Arms sells the concept completely.

Best for: existing Gaplant TR-5 owners and Titans/AOZ collectors who want the definitive oversized-arm variant on the shelf

The full review

What it is

This kit takes the older HGUC Gaplant TR-5 Hrairoo body and grafts on a new set of Gigantic Arms lifted straight from the MRX-009 Psycho Gundam parts family, plus a new shoulder mount, new waist armor, and a swappable head so you can build either the standard Gaplant face or a more Gundam-shaped one. The novelty here is real. Once the arms go on, this stops reading as a repainted 2006 kit and starts reading as its own thing, a lopsided, slightly menacing prototype that looks like it should not be able to stand up straight but does.

The catch

The core body is still the original 2006-vintage Gaplant TR-5 mold, and it shows in the joint engineering. Builders online flag the same worry I had while posing mine, whether the dated hip and shoulder joints can carry the extra weight of those hands and forearms over time without sagging. This is a P-Bandai exclusive, so pricing runs around 67 USD and it will not show up on a regular retail shelf. It is also explicitly not a kit for someone meeting the Gaplant for the first time, it assumes you already know and like the base suit.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already own or love the base HGUC Gaplant TR-5 and want the version with real shelf drama, or if you collect Advance of Zeta and Titans-era prototypes and want the oversized-arm configuration that never quite made it to the front lines in the story. Skip it if you want your first Gunpla to be highly poseable, or if you are not willing to hunt down a P-Bandai exclusive at exclusive pricing. This is a suit for people who already know what they are getting into.

The build story

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

The Gaplant body itself is a quick, uncomplicated build in the way older HG kits tend to be, simple part breakdown, straightforward gate placement, nothing that trips up an experienced builder. The new Gigantic Arm parts snap on cleanly around the new shoulder mount and do not fight you during assembly, which is a relief given how much heavier they make the finished figure.

The real engineering story is in how much those arms change the silhouette. The oversized hands have working finger joints, the new waist armor and head option let you tune the look between classic Gaplant and a more Gundam-coded face, and for an HG the part count devoted just to the arm unit is generous. Where it falls short is baseline articulation, the old hip and shoulder joints were never designed for this much added mass, so dynamic poses need the included stand rather than free standing display.

Lore & trivia

01Hrairoo is a nickname borrowed from Fiver, the character from the novel Watership Down, reflecting the Advance of Zeta series habit of naming Titans prototypes after literary figures.
02The Gigantic Arm Unit repurposes arm design lineage from the MRX-009 Psycho Gundam, giving this Titans prototype hardware that visually and mechanically ties back to one of the UC's most infamous mass-produced psycommu machines.
03This configuration appears in the photonovel and animated side story Advance of Zeta: The Flag of Titans (Gundam Inle), where the Full Armor Hrairoo form is described as haveing the highest output among all 20-meter-class Titans mobile suits, though it is left unclear whether it ever actually reached the front lines.
04The kit was released through Premium Bandai in February 2024 as a build-up from the existing retail HGUC Gaplant TR-5 Hrairoo mold rather than a full new tool.