HGUniversal Century

MS-06SU Zaku II [UNIQLO]

The same great Revive-era Zaku engineering, just wearing a UNIQLO shopping bag instead of Zeon green.

MechaGrade Score

4.1/5

Zaku II · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

I love this kit for what's underneath the paint job, not the paint job itself.

Strip away the red, white and black colorway and you're building the excellent 2020 Revive-mold HGUC Zaku II, one of the best HG Zeon kits Bandai has put out. The UNIQLO branding is a novelty, but the plastic engineering is the real reason to care about this one.

Best for: Zaku collectors and Gunpla 40th anniversary completionists who want the Revive-mold Zaku in an unusual, hard-to-find colorway

The full review

What it is

This is the promotional Zaku II that Bandai and UNIQLO gave away in 2020 with the purchase of two Gunpla 40th Anniversary UT shirts in Japan, one of eight pieces in that collaboration. Under the red, white and black shell, it is the same tooling as the standard HGUC 234 MS-06S Zaku II (Revive), which is one of the better modern HG Zeon kits out there. I went in expecting a novelty giveaway toy and came out with a genuinely well engineered Zaku that snaps together cleanly, holds a wide range of poses, and has the underside monoeye slide switch that lets you shift the eye left and right without touching a decal. The color swap is fun precisely because it is so far from anything Zeon ever fielded.

The catch

Because it rides on the same molds as the retail Revive Zaku, there is nothing structurally new here, so if you already own the standard version you are paying for rarity and colorway, not fresh engineering. It was a limited giveaway only available at select UNIQLO stores in Asia for a short window, so secondhand prices run well above what a normal HG costs and stock is inconsistent. Like the base Revive kit, the wrist joint can be a touch stiff and the hand parts have a tendency to pop off the forearm peg when you are swapping grips, so be gentle during posing sessions.

Who it's for

If you collect Gunpla 40th anniversary pieces, oddball colorways, or just want a Zaku II that does not look like every other green one on your shelf, this is worth tracking down secondhand. If you are simply after the best build experience for your money and do not care about the UNIQLO tie-in, buy the standard HGUC 234 MS-06S Zaku II instead and save yourself the collector markup, since it is the identical kit in classic Zeon colors. Skip it if you are new to the hobby and shopping on price, there are better first kits for less money.

The build story

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

The build follows the standard Revive-mold Zaku II Char custom sequence, which is quick and satisfying without demanding much cleanup. The leg tubes need a little care during assembly but forgive minor mistakes better than an MG equivalent would, and the whole thing goes together in an evening without any real trouble.

The engineering highlights are the ball-and-socket shoulder joints that let the arms swing up past horizontal, the 2-piece rotating elbow, and a waist that spins a full 360 degrees. Color separation on the UNIQLO shell leans on molded red, white and black plastic rather than heavy sticker work, so it looks clean straight off the runners, and it comes with the usual Zaku Machinegun and heat hawk to round out the loadout.

Lore & trivia

01This kit is a UNIQLO-exclusive recolor of the HGUC 234 MS-06S Zaku II (Revive), given as a bonus for purchasing two Gunpla 40th Anniversary UT shirts in Japan in spring 2020, one of eight pieces in that promotional lineup.
02It swaps the classic Zeon green for UNIQLO's red, white and black shirt colors, making it one of the more unusual official colorways ever applied to a Zaku II mold.
03It uses the exact same molds as the retail Revive Zaku II, including the double-jointed elbows and knees and the slide-switch monoeye, so the build experience matches the acclaimed standard release.
04Distribution was limited to select UNIQLO stores in Asia for a short window, which is why it now trades at a premium over a typical HG kit.