HGUniversal Century

MS-06S Zaku II Buffaloes Ver.

A stadium jersey poured over one of Gunpla's oldest, most dependable molds.

MechaGrade Score

3.3/5

Zaku II · 1/144 · 2019

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2019

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a novelty item wearing a classic kit's skeleton, and once I accepted that framing it was a genuinely fun little build.

It is the old 2002 HGUC MS-06S tooling recolored in Orix Buffaloes navy and gold for the Gundam 40th Anniversary NPB baseball collaboration, sold through the team's own webshop in May 2019. You are not buying cutting-edge engineering here, you are buying a piece of crossover merchandise built on a mold that has already proven itself for close to two decades.

Best for: Team-collab collectors and Zaku completionists who want the novelty piece, not builders chasing the sharpest current Zaku tooling

The full review

What it is

Underneath the navy and gold, this is the familiar Char's Zaku II shape everyone who has touched Gunpla for more than a week already knows, the forward-leaning shoulder spikes, the single mono-eye, the heat hawk and shield. Bandai built this for the Gundam 40th Anniversary collaboration with all twelve Nippon Professional Baseball teams, and the Orix Buffaloes version was sold directly through the team's webshop for a modest 3,000 yen. Building it felt like assembling an old friend in a new outfit, the parts snap together with the low drama you would expect from a design this mature, and there is a real charm in seeing a mobile suit recolored into a baseball team's identity instead of a faction's.

The catch

The tooling is the honest caveat. This is the pre-Revive 2002 HGUC Zaku II mold, not the more refined 2020 Revive version, so the range of motion is real but limited by modern standards, the rear skirt does not articulate, the mono-eye needs the head popped to reposition, and knee bend tops out well short of what a current-gen HG manages. It was also a limited, team-store exclusive rather than a mainline retail release, so pricing and availability outside Japan run well above the original 3,000 yen once it shows up on the secondary market. Treat it as a collectible curiosity, not a showcase of current Bandai engineering.

Who it's for

Grab this if you collect Gundam crossover merchandise, follow NPB baseball, or already own the standard HGUC Char's Zaku II and want the novelty variant sitting next to it on the shelf. Skip it if you are looking for the best current Zaku II experience for the money, the 2020 Revive version or one of the newer HG Zaku lines will give you tighter engineering and a wider pose range for similar or less effort. This kit earns its keep on personality and backstory, not on being anyone's technical pick.

The build story

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

The build itself is uneventful in the best way. Gate placement is straightforward on parts this simple, cleanup is quick, and there is no wrestling with tiny polycaps or fussy inner-frame steps the way there is on newer kits. If you have built any HGUC-era Zaku before, your hands already know this one.

Articulation is the tell that this is older engineering, ball-jointed neck and hips get you a decent stance, shoulders raise to horizontal and swing forward on their peg mounts, but the knees stop around 100 degrees of bend and the rear skirt armor is fixed, which limits how deep you can crouch a pose. Color separation leans on the molded navy and gold plastic doing most of the work, which is the right call for a team-identity piece, and the heat hawk and shield carry over from the standard Zaku loadout without any new accessories.

Lore & trivia

01This kit is part of Bandai's Gundam 40th Anniversary collaboration with all twelve Nippon Professional Baseball teams, launched in 2019.
02The Orix Buffaloes version was sold exclusively through the team's official webshop starting May 14, 2019, for 3,000 yen.
03The Orix Buffaloes have used dark blue and gold as their team colors since 2011, which is the palette this Zaku II is molded in.
04The mold underneath the recolor is the original HGUC MS-06S Char's Custom Zaku II tooling first released in 2002, predating the more articulated 2020 Revive version.