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Mobile Suit Option Set 8 & SAU Mobile Worker

A weapons locker and a stubby little worker vehicle, built for people who already own the suits it's meant for.

MechaGrade Score

3.2/5

Mobile Suit Option Set 8 & SAU Mobile Worker · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I'll say this up front, you do not buy Option Set 8 on its own merits, you buy it to feed your Reginlaze-frame kits like the Graze and Gusion.

Taken as an accessory pack it delivers real value, a variable mace, a mattock, an ice axe, a claw shield, spare open hands, and a small SAU-17 worker vehicle for a modest price. Taken as a standalone kit, which is how MechaGrade has to score it, there just isn't a mobile suit here to grade on articulation or shelf presence the way I would a Gundam.

Best for: IBO completionists who already have Barbatos Lupus, Lupus Rex, or a Graze-type kit sitting on the shelf and want fresh weapons for it

The full review

What it is

Option Set 8 is Bandai's grab bag approach to the Iron-Blooded Orphans line, a runner of interchangeable melee weapons plus a small SAU-17 worker unit, all built to snap onto suits you already own rather than stand alone. I like that Bandai kept doing these through the IBO run, because it means the weapon loadouts in the show (the maces, the pickel, that ugly little claw shield) actually show up in plastic instead of staying anime-only. Building the worker itself is quick and unfussy, closer to a HG accessory kit than a suit, and the parts snap in cleanly with the same tight IBO tolerances I've come to expect from this line.

The catch

The honest catch is that this set does almost nothing by itself. The SAU Mobile Worker is a small, simple vehicle, not a poseable mobile suit, so there's no articulation story to tell and no dynamic pose payoff. The weapons only make sense in someone else's hands, so if you don't already own a compatible Barbatos or Graze-type kit, half the box is dead weight. Molded color carries most of the parts, which is good news for detail, but the worker's finished look is plain without extra paint or panel lining, and a couple of listings note beginner-level assembly (skill level 2) that some experienced builders will find over quickly.

Who it's for

Buy this if you're deep enough into the IBO catalog that you already have a Lupus, Lupus Rex, or Graze on the shelf and want its arsenal to match what you saw in the show, or if you collect the small worker units as dioroma set dressing. Skip it if you're shopping for a first kit or want something that stands on its own as a display piece, because there's no mobile suit build here and no pose range to enjoy. This is a supporting purchase, not a centerpiece, and it only earns its price back inside a bigger IBO collection.

The build story

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

The build itself is short and low-friction. Parts are simple, gates are placed sensibly for cleanup, and everything snaps together with the same confident fit the HGIBO line is known for. There's no wrestling with tiny fiddly joints here because there's barely any articulation to engineer in the first place, the worker vehicle is closer to a toy accessory than a posable figure.

Where the set earns its keep is in the weapon runner. The variable mace, land mace, pickel-style ice axe, and claw shield are all molded in appropriate colors, so they read correctly straight off the runner without paint. Handing these off to a Lupus Rex or Graze changes the character of the kit noticeably, which is the entire point of an option set like this, and for the price it is a lot of loadout variety for very little plastic.

Lore & trivia

01SAU stands for the Strategic Alliance Union, the Earth faction that controls most of the Americas in Iron-Blooded Orphans, fighting a border war against Arbrau with support from Gjallarhorn's local garrison.
02Option Set 8 was released in February 2017, late in the IBO Season 2 toy line, and is built to arm Barbatos Lupus and Graze-type suits with melee weapons pulled straight from the show.
03The included open-palm hands are sized for Julieta Juris's Reginlaze frame, letting builders pose her suit unarmed or gripping the set's mace, mattock, ice axe, or claw shield.