HGCosmic Era

GAT-X105 Strike Gundam YOKOHAMA F-MARINOS Ver.

The solid 2013 Strike Gundam mold traded its Earth Alliance grey for a J-League kit strip.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Strike Gundam YOKOHAMA F-MARINOS Ver. · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the dependable HGCE Strike Gundam mold wearing Yokohama F.

Marinos' blue and tricolore instead of its usual white and blue. If you already like that base kit, you already know what you are getting here, sturdier joints than the old 2004 release, a shield mount that will not snap on you, and a build that goes together cleanly. The only real news is the team livery, and that novelty is exactly why this one exists and exactly why it is worth a lower score than a kit judged purely on engineering.

Best for: Strike Gundam completionists and Yokohama F. Marinos fans who want the crossover piece more than they need a fresh sculpt

The full review

What it is

Strip away the football branding and this is the 2013 HGCE Strike Gundam, the retool that fixed the problems everyone remembers from the original 2002 release. Double jointed elbows and knees, a ball and socket neck, and a shield arm that finally holds together. I like this mold on its own merits, it poses better than an HG from that generation has any right to, and the frame feels tight straight off the runners. What makes this particular release fun is seeing that familiar silhouette recast in Yokohama F. Marinos' blue and tricolor trim, a genuinely different read on a suit I have built more than once, and a nice conversation piece if you follow J-League at all.

The catch

This was a limited collaboration release tied to Gunpla's 40th anniversary and the J.League tie-in, not a mainline retail kit, so it shows up on the secondary market well above a standard HG price when it shows up at all. The recolor leans on marking stickers and a couple of decals to sell the team branding rather than extra molded parts, so panel lining and careful sticker application matter more here than usual if you want it to read clean. It also does not include a Striker Pack, so you get the base loadout only, no Launcher or Sword arms, which some Strike fans will miss.

Who it's for

Buy this if you collect Strike Gundam variants, want a display piece with actual team meaning behind it, or you are a Marinos supporter who wants that crest on a shelf in mech form. Skip it if you just want the best version of the Strike Gundam to build and pose, because the plain HGCE release gives you the same frame and articulation without the markup or the sticker-reliant paint job. It is a novelty first and a Gunpla second, and it is worth owning once you already have the standard Strike covered, not as your only Strike kit.

The build story

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

The build itself is straightforward HGCE Strike Gundam assembly, nubs are placed sensibly and gate cut cleanup is easy, though the front head antenna needs a careful, slow cut since the opposite face can burr if you rush it. Panel lines pop nicely once you go over them, and the frame under the blue and white shell fits snugly with none of the looseness that plagued the original 2002 tooling.

Articulation is the strongest part of this kit for its era, double-jointed elbows and knees plus a ball-jointed neck and pivoting skirt armor let it hold real action poses without the legs popping out. It comes with the standard Strike loadout, the 57mm beam rifle, the Midas Messer knife, the shield, and head-mounted Igelstellung vulcans, all in the team colorway, so part count and accessory value track a normal HG, the premium here is entirely about the exclusive paint scheme.

Lore & trivia

01This kit was part of a 2020 Gunpla x J.League collaboration marking Gunpla's 40th anniversary, which recolored several Mobile Suit Gundam kits in the uniform colors of Japanese football clubs.
02Yokohama F. Marinos is a J1 League club based in Yokohama, and the kit uses the team's blue and tricolore trim in place of the Strike Gundam's usual Earth Alliance white and blue.
03The mobile suit itself is the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam, piloted by Kira Yamato for most of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED before he transitions to the Freedom Gundam.
04The base mold for this release is the 2013 HGCE Strike Gundam retool, which addressed durability complaints from the original 2004 High Grade release, most notably a shield-arm joint that used to snap under normal posing.