HGAnno Domini

GNY-004 Gundam Plutone

A P-Bandai deep cut that finally gives one of the 2nd Gen Gundams the modern HG treatment it always deserved.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

Gundam Plutone · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This is one of the better P-Bandai exclusives to come out of the HG00 line in years, and it caught me off guard with how much care went into it.

The color separation is genuinely close to accurate without leaning hard on stickers, the Core Fighter gimmick actually works instead of being a token gesture, and it poses better than a lot of the older-mold 00 kits it stands next to. The catch is availability and a couple of soft joints, but the build itself is a treat for anyone who knows the 00P/00F side of the story.

Best for: Gundam 00 fans and P-Bandai collectors who want the 2nd Generation Gundams represented properly, not just a filler HG

The full review

What it is

The Plutone is a P-Bandai exclusive HG that finally covers one of the four 2nd Generation Gundams from the 00P and 00F side stories, and it shows up with a mix of new tooling that separates it from the older HG00 kits it shares a shelf with. The most fun feature is the Core Fighter, the cockpit and GN Drive section actually pulls free and can be reassembled into its flight configuration, then reattached, which is the kind of gimmick that could have been a gluey afterthought but instead works cleanly here. The beam sabers tuck into the lower leg armor and pull free as handheld weapons, which is a small but satisfying detail that rewards fiddling with the kit instead of just posing it once and shelving it.

The catch

Being P-Bandai only means you are paying import markup and secondary market prices well above the original 2,420 yen release, and there is no guarantee of a reissue. On the build itself, reviewers flag that the polycap connections at the shoulders and upper arms can feel a little loose or prone to popping out over repeated posing, which is worth knowing if you like heavy dynamic posing rather than static display. The surface detailing is denser and more modern than the older HG00 kits from the same continuity, which looks great on its own but creates a visible mismatch if you display it in a lineup with the vintage-mold 00 Gundams.

Who it's for

This is the kit for someone who already loves the Gundam 00 universe and wants the 00P and 00F side characters represented on the shelf, not a first kit or an impulse buy for someone unfamiliar with the source material. If you can find one at a fair price, it rewards the extra effort with a transforming Core Fighter, real weapon variety, and a pose-friendly frame that holds up in dynamic shots. Skip it if you are chasing the mainline 00 Gundam or Exia and just want something familiar, or if P-Bandai pricing and shipping times are a dealbreaker for you.

The build story

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

The build moves at a steady, satisfying pace typical of a modern-tooled HG, with the frame built around a polycap skeleton rather than a full inner frame. Cleanup is manageable, and the parts fit together without the mystery-gap issues that plague some older Bandai molds. The stand-out sequence is the Core Fighter, which detaches cleanly from the torso and can be rebuilt into its flight configuration by swapping a small set of parts rather than requiring any cutting or glue.

Articulation is a genuine highlight for the price point. The GN particle supply cable running down the back was clearly engineered with range of motion in mind, and it does not fight you the way cables and skirts sometimes do on other kits. Weapon loadout includes the signature armaments plus the leg-mounted beam sabers that detach for handheld use, giving you real posing variety rather than a single default stance. For a suit this obscure to get this much engineering attention is the best surprise of the whole kit.

Lore & trivia

01Gundam Plutone was one of four 2nd Generation Gundams built and launched from the Celestial Being colony Krung Thep, alongside Gundam Astraea, Gundam Sadalsuud, and Gundam Abulhool.
02Krung Thep engineers originally explored fitting Plutone with a Twin Drive System running two GN Drives, but abandoned it as too difficult to synchronize, more than a decade before the concept resurfaced in the GN-0000 00 Gundam.
03The name Plutone traces back to Pluto, tied to the Referee tarot card (numbered 20) and to fire in astrology, continuing the 2nd Generation Gundams' tarot-based naming convention.
04The kit was a Bandai Hobby Online Shop (P-Bandai) exclusive released in September 2020 at 2,420 yen, with a Plutone Black variant following as a separate P-Bandai release in 2025.