HGUniversal Century

RX-139BAN Hambrabi Suban

A tournament fighter's custom job built on the bones of a mobile armor classic.

MechaGrade Score

3.5/5

Hambrabi Suban · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This one surprised me.

It is a P-Bandai reskin of the old HGUC Hambrabi mold wearing a new head and a Thai fighter's paint scheme, and it works better than a reskin has any right to. The transformation into mobile armor mode is still the party trick, no part swapping, no fuss, just fold the legs back and go. If you already know the base Hambrabi you know most of what you are getting here, but the new movable head and the lighter, holed-out armor look genuinely change the read of the suit on the shelf.

Best for: Gundam Build Fighters completionists and Hambrabi fans who want the variant version, not first-time builders

The full review

What it is

The Hambrabi Suban is Luang Dallara's tournament custom from Gundam Build Fighters Amazing Ready, built off the RX-139 Hambrabi that Yazan Gable flew in Char's Counterattack. Bandai kept the transformation gimmick that made the original HGUC kit well liked, the legs fold back onto the torso and the suit drops into mobile armor mode in a handful of steps with no extra parts needed and nothing to lose track of on the table. What is new is the head, now a single movable mono-eye unit instead of the original's fixed multi-sensor face, plus reworked forward-swept wings and armor panels with cut-out holes for a lighter, more aggressive look. Building it feels like meeting an old kit wearing a new jacket, familiar engineering, fresher face.

The catch

This is a P-Bandai exclusive, so expect the usual premium over a retail HG and the usual hunt to actually find one at a fair price years after release. The mold underneath is from 2012, and it shows in the color separation, several markings and small accent colors come down to stickers rather than molded plastic, which is more work than a builder used to current-era HGs will expect. It is also a niche pick by subject matter, this is a fictional tournament build from a spinoff series, not a mainline UC suit, so resale and community chatter are thinner than for the original Hambrabi.

Who it's for

I would point this at people who already like the Hambrabi's transformation gimmick and want the variant, or Build Fighters fans chasing the tournament roster. It is not the kit I would hand someone building their first Gunpla, the stickers and the hunt to source it make it a worse first experience than a fresh-tooled HG at retail. If you can find one at a reasonable price and you like the idea of a lighter, meaner Hambrabi with a moving eye instead of a dead stare, it earns its spot on the shelf.

The build story

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

Gate placement and cleanup follow the same pattern as the original HGUC Hambrabi, nothing surprising once you're clipping runners, and the kit needs no glue anywhere in the build. The new head assembly is the most fiddly part of the whole kit since it is smaller than the rest of the frame and carries the movable mono-eye mechanism, take it slow there.

The transformation sequence is still the headline feature, folding the legs back onto the torso drops the suit into mobile armor mode in only a handful of steps and nothing needs to come off first. Articulation carries over the original's strong points too, a swiveling hip joint and double-jointed limbs that hold poses in both configurations without the frame going loose, and the three-weapon loadout (rifle, twin beam sabers, wing tomahawk) gives more posing options than most HGs at this scale bother to include.

Lore & trivia

01The Hambrabi Suban is the personal custom of Luang Dallara, Thailand's representative fighter, built for the 8th Gunpla Battle World Championships in Gundam Build Fighters Amazing Ready.
02The base suit, RX-139 Hambrabi, was piloted by returning antagonist Yazan Gable in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.
03Luang's custom swaps the original's fixed, multi-sensor head for a single movable mono-eye, reasoning that his own reflexes respond faster than the original sensor array could.
04The armor was deliberately holed out to cut weight, with the hole placement chosen carefully so the suit's defense would not suffer for it.