HGUniversal Century

RX-78-2 Gundam Swallows Ver.

A ballpark souvenir wearing a very good frame underneath the outfield colors.

MechaGrade Score

3.6/5

RX-78-2 Gundam · 1/144 · 2019

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2019

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I went into this expecting a novelty and came out respecting the kit underneath the paint job.

This is the 2015 HGUC Revive RX-78-2 mold, just dressed head to toe in Tokyo Yakult Swallows mint green, black, and white with team logo markings on the shield and chest. Strip away the baseball branding and you are building one of the best standard-grade RX-78-2 kits Bandai has ever put out, which is exactly why it scores higher than a typical team tie-in has any right to.

Best for: Yakult Swallows fans and RX-78-2 completionists who want the Revive engineering in a genuinely different color story

The full review

What it is

This is the Revive-era RX-78-2 Gundam, the version with the hinged ball-jointed neck, a torso that lets the abs crunch forward, and double-jointed elbows and knees, all recolored into Tokyo Yakult Swallows team colors as part of Gundam's 2019 40th anniversary collaboration with all twelve Japanese pro baseball teams. It shipped through the team's own store rather than a hobby shelf, which is part of the charm. Building it feels exactly like building the standard Revive kit, snap-together, confident joints, a suit that holds a batting-stance pose without complaint, just wearing a mint green and navy uniform instead of the classic tricolor.

The catch

It is still an HG at heart, so the part count and weapon loadout match the regular Revive release rather than offering anything extra for the novelty premium. The eye stickers are the one fiddly moment in an otherwise easy build, they are small and unforgiving if your hand shakes. Because this was a team-store exclusive rather than a mainline hobby shop release, original stock dried up fast and secondary market prices have crept well above the original yen price, so you are paying a collector tax on top of what is mechanically an ordinary HG.

Who it's for

Buy this if you are a Swallows fan, a completionist chasing the full twelve-team Gundam baseball set, or you just want an RX-78-2 that does not look like every other RX-78-2 on the shelf. Skip it if you only care about getting the most plastic and articulation for your money, since the standard HGUC Revive kit does the same engineering job for less and without hunting a secondary market listing. It is a display piece and a conversation starter first, a workhorse kit second.

The build story

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

The runners snap together with the same confidence you get from any Revive-generation RX-78-2, minimal nub stress and clean breaks thanks to the wedge-gate placement Bandai carried over from the base kit. Nothing about the assembly order surprises you if you have built a modern HG before, the challenge is entirely in the small stuff, namely getting the eye stickers seated straight the first time since there is little margin for a second attempt.

Where this kit earns its score is the frame underneath the paint. The hinged neck and torso crunch let you get real dynamic action poses out of a suit this small, and the double-jointed elbows and knees hold weight without drooping. The beam rifle, beam sabers, and shield all carry over from the standard release, so you get the full classic loadout, just finished in a colorway built for a stadium gift shop rather than a hobby aisle.

Lore & trivia

01This kit is part of Gundam's 2019 40th anniversary collaboration in which all twelve Japanese professional baseball teams received their own team-colored HG RX-78-2 or MS-06S Zaku II release.
02The mold is the 2015 HGUC Revive RX-78-2 Gundam, the version that introduced a hinged ball-jointed neck and a torso crunch mechanism alongside double-jointed elbows and knees.
03The Tokyo Yakult Swallows version was sold exclusively through the team's official online store rather than general hobby retail, priced at 3,000 yen at release in 2019.
04The kit carries the Swallows' mint green, black, and white team colors along with printed team logo markings on the shield and body, distinguishing it from the standard tricolor RX-78-2 releases.