HGAnno Domini

GN-0000 00 Gundam

The kit that made HG articulation a baseline expectation, still holding up as a fun, floppy, sword-swinging build.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

00 Gundam · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This kit earned its reputation the hard way, by being genuinely ahead of its time.

The hip and leg engineering here, full 360 degree thigh rotation and a two-axis ankle that gives a real 180 degree arc, was a big jump for HG kits when the original mold came out, and it still poses better than plenty of kits released a decade later. The tradeoff is a little wobble in the joints, but for the price and part count this thing delivers a genuinely dynamic Gundam.

Best for: Gundam 00 fans and HG collectors who want a cheap, highly poseable Setsuna Gundam with real sword-and-gun play value

The full review

What it is

The 00 Gundam is Setsuna F. Seiei's ride once Celestial Being rebuilds the original Exia-era lineup around the Twin Drive System, and this HG kit (reissued in 2017 for the show's 10th anniversary) captures that redesign well. It's a lean, fin-heavy silhouette with two GN Drives visible on the back, and Bandai leaned hard into poseability over detail. I went into this expecting a basic early-2010s HG and came out impressed at how much movement is packed into the hips, knees, and that unusual ankle joint. Snapping the twin GN Swords into their gun-mode grips and posing it mid-draw is honestly the most fun I've had with a budget kit in a while.

The catch

The articulation that makes this kit exciting is also its biggest weakness. The elbows and lower legs get loose after repeated posing, and because so much of the range of motion comes from simple friction joints rather than ratchets, the 00 Gundam can slump out of a dramatic pose if you're not careful with balance. Color separation leans on stickers for some of the finer chest and head details rather than molded plastic, so builders who hate stickers will need to break out the paint. Depending on which release you land (this is the 10th anniversary reissue of the 2008 mold), accessory loadout varies, and some versions shipped without a proper shield.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you're building through the Gundam 00 cast and want a Setsuna kit that actually holds a fight pose, or if you just want proof that a sub $15 HG can move like this. It's a good pick for builders past their first kit or two, since the joints reward a bit of patience during assembly and posing rather than being fall-over simple. If you want tight, ratcheted joints that never sag or a kit with zero sticker reliance, look toward a Real Grade or Master Grade version of the same suit instead, but for the money and the era it comes from, this is one of the better HG values around.

The build story

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

Assembly itself is straightforward HG-level snap fit, nothing fiddly in the gate placement, and the frame goes together fast enough for an evening build. Where it gets interesting is the leg and hip assembly, since the polycap arrangement in the ankle is unlike a standard ball joint and takes a little extra care to seat correctly during the build so it doesn't feel sloppy later.

The standout engineering is entirely in the lower body: full rotation through the thighs combined with that lengthwise ankle polycap gives the 00 Gundam a stance range that outclasses plenty of later HG kits. Weapon-wise you get two GN Sword IIs with gun and blade modes plus beam sabers, so there's real variety in the poses you can build without needing extra parts. For the part count and price point, the value here is genuinely strong.

Lore & trivia

01The 00 Gundam is piloted by Setsuna F. Seiei and is built around the Twin Drive System, using two GN Drives simultaneously to open up Trans-Am Burst.
02This HG mold originally released in 2008 alongside Mobile Suit Gundam 00's second season, and Bandai reissued it in 2017 as a 10th anniversary campaign kit.
03The 00 Gundam's dual GN Sword II armaments can each switch between a long sword blade mode and a beam rifle gun mode, giving the kit unusually flexible weapon posing for its grade.