HGAnno Domini

Ptolemaios Arms

A pack of GN claws, drives, and joints that turns any Gunpla into a Celestial Being cameo.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Ptolemaios Arms · 1/144 · 2018

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2018

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this kit for exactly what it is and I want to be upfront about what it is not.

This is HGBC #39, a Build Custom parts set shaped like the Ptolemaios mothership from Gundam 00, not a mobile suit and not a standalone figure with a pose to show off. What you get is a small pile of GN Container halves that open into claws, drive-shaped nacelles, and a fistful of joint connectors, all meant to bolt onto other kits. Judged as a customization pack it earns its price. Judged as a normal HG it would not.

Best for: Build Fighters style customizers and diorama builders who want Ptolemaios-flavored GN hardware to graft onto other kits

The full review

What it is

Ptolemaios Arms is Bandai's HGBC take on shrinking the Gundam 00 mothership down into modular hand parts. The two big GN Container pieces split open and reclose as oversized claws a Gunpla can actually grip, the tail sections read as drive nacelles you can rack on a backpack to fake a GN Drive glow-up, and the whole assembly breaks down at multiple points so you are not locked into one silhouette. I went in expecting a static shelf piece and came out having spent most of my time just trying combinations, claws on the arms, drives on the back, the container halves stacked as a chest ornament. For 972 yen it is closer to a box of Lego than a kit.

The catch

There is no articulation to speak of because there is no figure, and if you were hoping for an actual Ptolemaios ship replica this is not that either, it is abstracted into hand-holdable chunks rather than a scale-accurate hull. The plastic is mostly white and grey with a single small sticker sheet doing the paint job's work, so color separation out of the box is plain until you either paint it or accept the flat look. The joint connectors (the A/B/C/D peg pieces) are the whole point of the set, but their fit varies kit to kit, some Gunpla wrist and shoulder joints grip them tight, others leave the claws loose or drooping, so results depend on what you are plugging it into.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already have a shelf of Gunpla you like customizing and want a cheap, joint-compatible prop to turn a suit into something that visually nods at the Ptolemaios or just looks more armed and armored. Build Divers and Build Fighters fans get the most out of it since that is the aesthetic it is built for. Skip it if you want a kit that stands on its own, want real Gundam 00 accuracy, or are looking for something with actual pose range, this is a parts bin, not a display piece by itself, and it only pays off once you commit to mixing it into another build.

The build story

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

Assembly is quick and low stress since this is snap-fit parts with no frame to wrangle, most of the runners are the two big container shells and the joint connector sprues. Gate marks clean up easily on the flat container panels, there is nowhere near the nub count of a real suit kit so this is a half hour project at most, and the fun is entirely in figuring out which of your other Gunpla the claws and joints actually lock onto well.

The standout piece of engineering is the container-to-claw hinge itself, it is a simple design but it opens wide enough to look like a real hand attachment rather than a gimmick, and the modularity (A x4, B x1, C x2, D x4 joint pieces per most listings) means you are not stuck with the stock configuration. For the price it is a strong value if you already build enough Gunpla to have hosts for it, weak value if this would be the only kit on your shelf.

Lore & trivia

01The Ptolemaios (nicknamed Ptolemy) is Celestial Being's mothership in Mobile Suit Gundam 00, the vessel that carries and launches Gundam Exia, Dynames, Kyrios, and Virtue.
02This HGBC release is part #39 in Bandai's High Grade Build Custom line, a series of accessory and weapon packs made for the Gundam Build Fighters and Gundam Build Divers spinoff shows rather than for the mainline Gundam 00 story.
03The kit's GN Container sections are designed to double as oversized claw hands, letting builders mount them directly onto other 1/144 scale Gunpla for a customized loadout.
04It released in 2018 alongside the Gundam Build Divers anime, which is built around the in-fiction Gunpla Battle Nexus Online game rather than a traditional Gundam war story.