HGAnno Domini

GN-10000 Transient Gundam Glacier

A frosty, spear-wielding redesign that looks better on the shelf than it holds together in your hands.

MechaGrade Score

3.1/5

Transient Gundam Glacier · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit for what it wants to be, a cold, crystalline reimagining of an older Build Fighters design, but it does not hold up well to actual handling.

The translucent purple plastic sells the ice gimmick beautifully and the twin GN Partizan IIs are a genuinely fun accessory pair. Where it falls down is durability, several joints and the backpack assembly want to pop apart the moment you pose it, which knocks real points off an otherwise good-looking HG.

Best for: Build Fighters fans and display-only collectors who want the ice-suit look and can live with a kit that needs gentle hands

The full review

What it is

This is the HGBF take on Lindsey Anegaozy's ice-themed rebuild of the original Transient Gundam, and the translucent plastic is the whole personality of the kit. Roughly a third to half of the runners are cast in that frosted purple, so panel lines and edges catch light in a way flat colors never do, and it genuinely looks like it is carrying frozen GN particles rather than paint. Assembly moves fast since a chunk of the frame reuses the base Transient Gundam's joints, so if you know that kit this one goes together in an afternoon without much thinking. I came away liking the concept a lot more than I expected from a Try-era side kit.

The catch

The problem is that Bandai built this one to look good in a display case, not to survive being posed. The backpack and the butt pack both crowd the waist swivel and the weapon mounts, so getting the twin GN Partizan IIs into a clean two-hand pose takes some fighting. Several thin translucent pieces are prone to popping off if you rotate them the wrong way or just leave them under their own weight, and there is no getting around that this is fragile plastic by design. It also leans on 8 sticker sheets for some of the color separation rather than molded plastic, which is normal for the price band but worth knowing going in.

Who it's for

If you are building this as a Gundam 00 or Build Fighters completionist, or you just love the frozen-crystal look, it is worth the low HG price and a shelf slot. Go in planning to display it more than pose it hard, since the joints and backpack are not built for repeated repositioning. If you want a kit you can wrestle into dynamic poses without babying it, this is not that kit, look at a sturdier HG or step up to an MG-line suit instead. For what it is, a cheap, striking-looking side character kit, I think it earns its spot.

The build story

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

The build itself is quick if you have any familiarity with the base Transient Gundam, since a good portion of the frame and joints carry over directly. Gate placement is typical HG-era Bandai, nothing brutal to clean up, but the thin translucent purple runners need a gentler hand with clippers and a hobby knife than a standard opaque HG would.

With 22 points of articulation on paper the range looks solid for the grade, but the backpack assembly physically limits how far you can rotate the waist and raise the arms with weapons equipped. The GN Partizan IIs splitting into individual Lance Bits is the standout feature and the part that makes this kit worth having in hand rather than just in pictures.

Lore & trivia

01The Transient Gundam Glacier is a Gunpla built by Lindsey Anegaozy in Gundam Build Fighters Try, designed as a reimagining of Wilfrid Kijima's original Transient Gundam.
02Its ice powers are explained in-story as GN particles stored at near absolute zero inside the purple crystal formations across its frame.
03It carries a pair of GN Partizan IIs, upgraded versions of the original Transient Gundam's signature spears, each capable of splitting into two remote Lance Bits.
04The kit released as HGBF #050 in November 2016, built largely from parts shared with the earlier HGBF Transient Gundam kit.