HGCosmic Era

Kitasan Black Original Strike Freedom Gundam

A recolor most builders will never even see in person, let alone build.

MechaGrade Score

3.3/5

Strike Freedom Gundam · 1/144 · 2019

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2019

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I'm rating this one with a big asterisk attached, because the thing that defines this kit isn't the plastic, it's the fact that you almost certainly can't buy it.

This is a JRA (Japan Racing Association) prize exclusive from the 2019 'Mobile Ride Gundam JRA, Beyond the Turf' crossover, handed out only to fans who correctly picked a bracket matching the Tenno Sho race results, themed around real-life champion racehorse Kitasan Black. Strip away the rarity and you're building the classic HG 1/144 Strike Freedom mold from 2005, which means you're getting a kit whose engineering is a generation behind where HG has landed today.

Best for: Cosmic Era completionists and JRA promo collectors who already own one or are chasing the grail, not a kit to shop for on a normal Gunpla budget

The full review

What it is

Under the special colorway, this is the original HG 1/144 Strike Freedom Gundam, the mold Bandai first released back in 2005 for SEED Destiny, reskinned into a scheme built around Kitasan Black, the real-life Horse of the Year who won back to back Tenno Sho titles. Bandai and Sunrise ran a handful of these JRA crossover collaborations around the Gundam 40th anniversary, and this kit was one of the prizes, not a retail release. What you get in the box is still full Strike Freedom, dual beam rifles that combine into one long rifle, dual beam cannons, twin beam sabers, a detailed beam shield, and the eight-unit DRAGOON system with its wing effect parts, all wearing a paint scheme that has nothing to do with ZAFT and everything to do with a horse race.

The catch

The engineering shows its age. Articulation on the original Strike Freedom mold is workmanlike at best, several build writeups flag stiff hip and shoulder movement that limits dynamic posing, which matters less for a suit built around ranged dragoon combat but still shows up the moment you try a melee pose. Color separation leans on stickers for eyes, shoulder markings, and chest details rather than molded plastic, and the beam sabers famously mold in the wrong color (blue instead of red) unless you swap in spare parts. Snap-built and unpanel-lined, the suit reads flat, it needs real detailing work to look like more than a toy. And then there's the obvious catch: this specific colorway was never sold, it was a sweepstakes prize, so pricing and availability outside secondary markets are basically nonexistent.

Who it's for

If you already have one of these in hand from the JRA promo, or you're a dedicated Cosmic Era or crossover-merch collector actively hunting one down on the aftermarket, it's worth building for the novelty alone, a Gundam wearing a racehorse's colors is a genuinely fun shelf story. Everyone else should just buy the standard HG Strike Freedom Gundam (or the newer Revive version) for the same core kit experience without the scavenger hunt. Skip this one entirely if what you actually want is strong out-of-box articulation or a kit you can simply order; neither is what this exists for.

The build story

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

Underneath the paint job this builds exactly like the 2005-era HG Strike Freedom mold, snap-fit gate placement is manageable but the parts benefit heavily from panel lining since the plain plastic reads flat without it. Builders working the base mold note the kit looks noticeably better once you go past the snap-build stage, and that the beam saber blades come molded blue rather than red, an easy fix if you have spare beam effect parts on hand but an odd oversight otherwise.

Where the kit earns its keep is the accessory loadout: dual beam rifles that combine into a single long rifle, a pair of beam cannons, twin beam sabers, and a beam shield the base-mold reviewers single out as unusually well detailed for an HG. The eight DRAGOON units and their wire-mounted wing of light effect parts are the signature feature, and they're exclusive to the HG version, later regrades didn't keep the full effect-parts treatment in the same form.

Lore & trivia

01Kitasan Black was a real Japanese thoroughbred who won the JRA Award for Horse of the Year in both 2016 and 2017, and later became a playable character in the Uma Musume: Pretty Derby franchise.
02This kit was released as part of 'Mobile Ride Gundam JRA, Beyond the Turf,' a 2019 crossover between the Japan Racing Association and Mobile Suit Gundam's 40th anniversary celebration.
03The kit was not sold at retail. It was distributed as a prize to fans who correctly predicted a bracket matching the results of the Tenno Sho horse race.
04The base Strike Freedom Gundam mold this kit reuses first released as an HG in 2005 for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, and its DRAGOON wing-effect parts remain unique to the HG grade.