HGCosmic Era

GAT-X105 Strike Gundam SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA Ver.

A J-League scarf wrapped around a genuinely good Strike Gundam mold.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Strike Gundam SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA Ver. · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This one is a novelty first and a Strike Gundam second, and I mean that as praise, not a knock.

Underneath the Sanfrecce Hiroshima purple is the 2019 revised HGCE Aile Strike engineering, which is a real step up from the original 2004 kit in fit, joint feel, and color separation. Buy it for the team pride or the oddball shelf story, and you still walk away with a competent, fun HG build.

Best for: J-League fans and Gundam SEED collectors who want a genuine crossover piece, not just a Strike Gundam completionist item

The full review

What it is

This is the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam body reissued in Sanfrecce Hiroshima's purple and white club colors as part of Bandai's 2020 Gundam x J-League tie-in, timed to the Gunpla 40th anniversary. It uses the newer HGCE Aile Strike mold from the 2019 refresh rather than the old 2004 tooling, so the joints feel tighter and the parts fit is noticeably cleaner than the vintage kit that carries the same name. The team decal sheet swaps in for the usual ZAFT and Earth Alliance markings, which is the whole point of owning this version. Building it feels like building a good HG Strike with a soccer club's identity grafted on top, and that combination is more charming in hand than it sounds on paper.

The catch

It was a limited, sold-during-games collaboration item, so pricing and availability are inflated well past a normal HG now that it is out of print, and secondhand copies routinely go for double or triple a standard HGCE Strike. The purple molded plastic will show scuffs and seam lines the same way any HG does, and the kit leans on its decal sheet for the sharpest team branding rather than molded color, so careful application matters more than usual here. If you already own a standard HGCE Aile Strike Gundam, this is a colorway and decal set, not a new engineering experience underneath.

Who it's for

Grab this if you follow Sanfrecce Hiroshima, collect Gundam crossover oddities, or want a conversation piece next to a more traditional Strike Gundam build. Skip it if you are hunting for the definitive engineering upgrade on the Strike line, since the standard-colored HGCE Aile Strike gives you the same improved frame for a fraction of the collector markup. It also is not the kit to start with if you have never built the Aile Strike before, since the appeal here is entirely in already knowing and liking what is underneath the paint job.

The build story

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

The build itself tracks with what reviewers reported on the base HGCE Aile Strike remaster: new polycaps and a revised joint mechanism make assembly more intuitive than the old 2004 kit, gates are placed reasonably for cleanup, and the purple ABS/PS plastic takes panel lining well if you want to pop the details. The one recurring complaint on the Aile Strike line is sticker reliance on the backpack wings, and that carries over here since this body shares the runners.

Articulation is solid HG-grade work: a ball-jointed neck with real upward look angle, shoulders that swing forward on their polycaps, deep elbow and knee bend, and skirts that lift out of the way for high leg poses. It ships as the base Strike Gundam body with beam rifle, shield, twin beam sabers, and Armor Schneider knives rather than the full Aile Striker flight pack, which keeps the part count modest and the price closer to a standard HG despite the collab branding.

Lore & trivia

01The Sanfrecce Hiroshima Ver. was part of a 2020 Bandai collaboration with Japan's J-League, timed to Gunpla's 40th anniversary, that recolored HG kits from several Gundam series into the uniform colors of individual professional soccer clubs.
02Sanfrecce Hiroshima's name combines the Italian word for three (tre) with the Japanese word for arrow (ya), a reference to a old Mori Motonari legend about three arrows being stronger than one, and the club's purple is carried directly onto this kit's plastic.
03The mold underneath is the 2019 revised HG Aile Strike Gundam, a remaster that improved on the original 2004 release's proportions and joint engineering while keeping the classic Strike Gundam SEED design.
04The GAT-X105 Strike Gundam first appeared in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED as protagonist Kira Yamato's mobile suit, one of five Earth Alliance G-weapons stolen and contested at the Heliopolis colony.