HGAnno Domini

GN-010 Gundam Zabanya (Final Battle Ver.)

Lyle's sniper suit gets its movie colors, but the mold underneath is still 2010 HG.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Gundam Zabanya (Final Battle Ver.) · 1/144 · 2021

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2021

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a fun bit-heavy sniper kit wearing a nicer coat of paint than it earned.

The Final Battle Ver. is a P-Bandai reissue of the original 2010 HG00 Zabanya, recolored to match its appearance in Awakening of the Trailblazer, and the gimmick, all those detachable GN Bits, is still the best reason to own it. The frame underneath, though, shows its age next to anything HG has released in the last decade.

Best for: Gundam 00 movie fans who want the Trailblazer-era Zabanya and don't mind an older HG frame

The full review

What it is

The Zabanya is Lyle Dylandy's ranged-combat successor to the Dynames and Cherudim, and this HG turns that gimmick into the actual selling point of the build. You get GN Missile Pods, a GN Pistol Bit, and the GN Rifle Bit II, all of which detach from the backpack holsters and can be handed off between the suit's own hands and the separate stand-mounted bit poses. Clicking the Rifle Bit II into its holster, then pulling it free to hand to the Gundam, is genuinely satisfying in a way spec sheets don't capture. For a 2,500 yen kit built around one movie appearance, that play value carries a lot of the experience.

The catch

This is the original 2010 mold with a Final Battle color scheme, not a new tool, and it feels like it. Articulation is dated: the elbows only bend to roughly 110 degrees, the waist twist is limited by a two-piece joint, and the skirts pivot just enough to clear the hip joints rather than opening up a real range of motion. Color separation leans on stickers for some of the finer trim rather than molded color, which is standard for HG kits from this era but noticeably behind current HG00 or HG Gundam Build kits. The all-black-and-silver movie palette also means panel lines and small details wash out unless you add your own paneling.

Who it's for

Buy this if you specifically want the Zabanya from the Trailblazer movie in your Gundam 00 lineup, or if the multi-bit sniper gimmick appeals to you more than pose range does. It rewards fans who already know the character and want the display piece with its bits fanned out around the suit. Skip it if you're coming from modern HG kits like the Gundam Build Divers or 00 Gundam Seven Sword lines and expect that level of articulation and molded color; you'll notice the gap immediately, and there are more posable HG kits at the same price point if articulation is your priority.

The build story

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

Assembly is straightforward HG-standard snap-fit, no glue needed, and nub placement is unremarkable in a good way, nothing that scars the visible surface after cleanup. The polycap joints in the shoulders, elbows, and knees give the frame decent tension out of the box, which matters given how much this kit wants to be posed holding its bits out at arm's length. The skirt armor pivots to get out of the way of the hip joints, which is a small nice touch that keeps the legs from binding when you widen a stance.

The real engineering interest here is the GN Bit system: the backpack holsters, shoulder holsters, and hand-off points are all designed so the Rifle Bit II, Pistol Bit, and Missile Pods can move between docked and deployed positions without feeling like an afterthought. That's the kit's best idea and it's executed well. Weigh that against the articulation ceiling, elbows around 110 degrees, a two-piece waist with limited tilt, and you get a kit that looks great fanned out in a static sniper pose but won't hold a dynamic action pose as confidently as newer HG lines.

Lore & trivia

01The Zabanya was developed by engineer Ian Vashti specifically for Lyle Dylandy, the second pilot to use the Lockon Stratos callsign and the younger twin brother of the original Lockon, Neil Dylandy.
02Zabanya continues the sniper-suit lineage that began with the GN-002 Gundam Dynames and continued through the GN-006 Cherudim, evolving it into an omnidirectional shooting platform meant to fight multiple enemies at once rather than a single fixed target.
03This HG kit is a P-Bandai reissue of the original 2010 HG00 #67 Zabanya mold, recolored and repackaged as the Final Battle Ver. to match the suit's appearance in the 2010 theatrical film Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer.