HGUniversal Century

RGM-89D Piko Altidore's Jegan Type-D

A jet-black crow of a Jegan that proves the ugly duckling of Gunpla can still turn heads.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Piko Altidore's Jegan Type-D · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a Premium Bandai recolor doing exactly what a recolor should do, taking a mechanically proven HGUC mold and making it feel new.

I did not expect to like a Jegan reboxing this much, but the black and white Raven Corps scheme reads as genuinely striking on the shelf, not just a paint swap for the sake of one. The frame underneath is the same solid, no-drama Type-D chassis that's been kicking around since the mid 2010s, so you already know the engineering holds up. Where it earns its price tag is the little bit of extra hardware Bandai bothered to include for a side character nobody outside the Across the Sky manga has heard of.

Best for: UC completionists and Jegan fans who want the sharpest-looking mass production suit in their fleet without stepping up to MG

The full review

What it is

This is the Jegan Type-D frame, the same one that's shown up across half a dozen HGUC releases since Gundam Unicorn put mass production suits back in style, dressed in a two-tone black and white livery meant to evoke a raven. It represents the personal unit of Piko Altidore, an Aggressor pilot from the Across the Sky manga side story, and the molded plastic actually commits to the scheme instead of leaning on stickers to fake it. Building it feels familiar in the best way, snap-together HGUC engineering that goes together fast and clean, but the color choice makes the finished kit look sharper and more deliberate than the vanilla Jegan ever did sitting on a shelf.

The catch

This is a Premium Bandai exclusive, which means it was mail order only and the price sits above what a normal HGUC release would ask for what is, mechanically, a repaint. If you already own a Jegan Type-D and just want the suit, not the specific pilot's colors, there is no reason to pay the premium tax twice. The kit also carries over leftover runner content from the ECOAS Type mold that you will never use unless you're mixing parts for a custom build, so there's some dead plastic in the box. And like every Jegan variant, the head sculpt and torso proportions are still built around a mass production design, so it will never have the presence of a hero unit next to it on the shelf.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you've read Across the Sky, or you just collect every UC mass production suit variant Bandai puts out, or you simply think the raven paint job looks cooler than the standard Jegan grey (it does). Skip it if you're on a budget and only want one Jegan Type-D for your collection, since the base HGUC releases give you the identical frame and articulation for less money with a normal repaint available separately. This is a shelf-presence purchase more than a must-build kit, and it delivers exactly that.

The build story

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

The build is straightforward HGUC snap-fit, the parts pull cleanly off the runners and the fit is tight without needing glue anywhere. If you've built any other Jegan variant, this goes together the same way, quick gate cleanup and a satisfying click into place at the joints. The molded black and white plastic is the standout here, it holds up close and doesn't need painting to read as intentional rather than plain.

Loadout is generous for the scale, two beam rifles, a beam saber, a shield, and a bazooka, with the new left hand parts letting you actually dual-wield the rifles instead of just displaying the spare. Articulation matches the rest of the Type-D line, the removed front skirt armor lets the hip joint travel further than the original Jegan, and the backpack thrusters fold down a full 90 degrees for more dynamic poses than the older mold allowed.

Lore & trivia

01Piko Altidore is an Aggressor unit pilot and leader of the Raven Corps who appears in the Gundam U.C. 0094: Across the Sky manga, a side story set in the Unicorn timeline.
02The kit's black and white color scheme is a deliberate nod to Raven Corps' namesake, the raven, rather than a standard federation paint job.
03The Jegan Type-D frame this kit is built on improved on the original HGUC Jegan by dropping the front skirt armor for better leg articulation and giving the backpack thrusters a full 90 degree fold, versus roughly 45 degrees on the earlier mold.