HGUniversal Century

MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type (Char Aznable Custom) (Gunpla DVD Catalog Ver.)

The old-school Char Zaku mold in a novelty DVD-catalog box, and it still builds like a champ.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Zaku II · 1/144 · 2006

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2006

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the same HGUC MS-06S mold from 2002 dressed up in a limited November 2006 box with a Gunpla DVD catalog thrown in, and on its own merits the kit still holds up.

It is not a modern engineering showcase, but the proportions are right, the mono-eye and spike shoulder read exactly like the anime, and it goes together fast without fighting you. I would not chase this specific packaging for the kit itself, since the plastic inside is identical to the regular HGUC release, but if you land one cheap the model earns its keep.

Best for: budget-minded UC fans who want a classic-shape Char's Zaku on the shelf without hunting down the Revive tooling

The full review

What it is

What you get here is the original 2002 HGUC Char's Zaku II mold, repackaged in late 2006 with a bonus Gunpla catalog DVD, so the model itself predates the more refined Revive version by close to two decades. Snapping it together is genuinely pleasant. Runners are simple, gate placement is forgiving, and the whole kit comes together in an evening without a single tool beyond a nipper. The proportions nail the classic silhouette, the mono-eye housing looks right the moment the head goes on, and the spiked left shoulder pauldron is a satisfying two-piece snap that instantly reads as Char's personal machine.

The catch

The engineering shows its age the moment you start posing it. The torso cannot rotate independently from the waist at all, so there is no waist twist, a real limitation for a kit built around a mono-eye mobile suit that should be tracking targets. The knee and ankle joints are decent for the era but nowhere near what a modern HG delivers, and the wrists rely on simple peg joints that can feel loose after repeated swaps. Color separation is good for 2002 but you are still looking at some sticker reliance for the mono-eye and sensor details rather than molded color, and the DVD catalog bundling adds nothing to the plastic itself, it is the exact same runners as the standalone release.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you want an inexpensive, fast-building Char's Zaku that captures the classic proportions and does not demand any painting to look right on a shelf, or if you are specifically chasing the novelty of the DVD catalog packaging for a collection. Skip it if posing range matters to you, since the lack of waist rotation is a real handicap for a suit whose whole identity is about a mono-eye tracking an enemy, and the newer HGUC Revive or RG versions solve that problem along with tightening every joint. As a piece of Gunpla history and a cheap, satisfying weeknight build, it still earns a spot in a UC collection.

The build story

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

The runners are simple and the parts fit snugly without needing glue or filler. Nub marks are placed on edges that hide well after a light clip and scrape, and the whole build moves quickly since there is no polycap fiddling beyond the usual joint sockets. The spiked shoulder armor and the vents on the backpack snap together cleanly and give the kit real presence for how little time it takes to finish.

Articulation covers the head on a ball joint, shoulders that swing and raise, elbows that bend close to 90 degrees, and knees that bend past 90 with a double-jointed ankle for extra tilt, which is respectable range for a kit this old. The weak point is the torso to waist connection, which is fixed solid with no twist at all, something Bandai did not properly resolve on a Zaku until the MG 2.0 tooling years later. Accessories are the expected heat hawk and machine gun, both molded in appropriate color, giving a builder the full classic Char's Zaku loadout without needing to buy anything extra.

Lore & trivia

01Char Aznable's MS-06S is famous in the Universal Century timeline for sinking multiple Federation warships in the opening battle of the One Year War, cementing his reputation as the Red Comet
02The S in MS-06S denotes the Commander Type variant, which added a more powerful powerplant and the distinctive extended head antenna for squad communication
03This kit reuses the original HGUC MS-06S mold first released in 2002, repackaged in November 2006 as a limited bundle with a Bandai Gunpla catalog DVD rather than as a retooled kit
04The 2002 HGUC Zaku line was one of the earlier entries to lock in the now-iconic spiked shoulder pauldron as molded plastic rather than a painted add-on