HGBuild Fighters

KUMA-03 Beargguy III [Tricolor Paint]

A stuffed-animal mobile suit with beam sabers in its mouth, and I would not have it any other way.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Beargguy III [Tricolor Paint] · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the most charming kit I have built that I would never hand to someone chasing dynamic poses.

Beargguy III is a novelty first and a mobile suit second, and once I stopped expecting Real Grade articulation out of it, I had a genuinely good time. The Tricolor Paint version is a Gundam Base exclusive recolor of the same simple, joke-forward mold, and that context matters for what you should expect going in.

Best for: collectors who want a shelf-warming novelty piece or a first-ever Gunpla build for someone who just wants a cute bear, not posing range

The full review

What it is

Beargguy III is China Kousaka's custom bear-shaped Gunpla from Gundam Build Fighters, and this Tricolor Paint release is the Gundam Base limited recolor of the standard HGBF kit. Out of the bag it is a tiny, low part count build, around a dozen runners worth of pieces, that goes together with zero glue in well under an hour. What sold me on it was the sheer commitment to the bit: interchangeable face stickers for six different expressions, a mouth that opens to reveal a beam cannon, and extendable arms that pop out beam cannons of their own. It is silly in the best way, and building it felt more like assembling a toy than a model.

The catch

Be honest with yourself about what this kit does before buying it. Articulation is minimal, the head turns, the arms swing up and down, the ears and back ribbon wiggle, and that is close to the whole range. There is no waist swivel worth mentioning and no leg movement at all since Beargguy has no legs to speak of. Face customization relies on foil stickers rather than molded or dual-injected parts, so precise placement matters and there is no swapping back once applied. As a Gundam Base exclusive colorway, the Tricolor Paint version can also run harder to find and pricier secondhand than the standard release, so shop around before paying scalper prices.

Who it's for

Buy this if you want a cute, low-effort palate cleanser between more demanding builds, or if you are introducing a genuinely new builder to the hobby and want something that cannot really be built wrong. Gundam Build Fighters fans and anyone who likes their Gunpla shelf to have a sense of humor will get a kick out of the beam-cannon mouth alone. Skip it if you are shopping for poseability, weapon loadouts, or inner-frame engineering, none of which are what this kit is selling. If you specifically want the tricolor colorway rather than the standard release, expect to hunt a little and pay a premium for the Base-exclusive stamp.

The build story

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

The build itself is fast and forgiving. Parts are large and simple by HG standards, gates are easy to clean given how few pieces there are, and nothing here demands the patience a typical HG kit does. This is closer in spirit to snapping together a chunky toy than working through an inner frame, and that is the point.

The standout engineering is entirely in the gimmicks rather than the frame: a face that swaps expression via included stickers, a mouth that hinges open to reveal a beam cannon, and arms that telescope out to fire beam cannons of their own. Part count is low even for an HG, so value here is about the novelty and display charm rather than sheer plastic for the price.

Lore & trivia

01Beargguy III was built and piloted in Gundam Build Fighters by China Kousaka, whose background in her school's art club is reflected in the kit's painted, elegant finish compared to earlier Beargguy versions.
02In the anime, China stuffed her Beargguy with cotton padding, a choice that had unexpected consequences during its battle with SD Knight Gundam.
03The Tricolor Paint version was released in December 2017 as a Gundam Base exclusive recolor of the standard HGBF Beargguy III kit, first released in 2014.