HGUniversal Century

RX-93ν-2I Hi-ν Gundam Influx

A cult favorite reusing a decade-old frame, dressed up in a color scheme and backpack that actually earn the price of admission.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Nu Gundam · 1/144 · 2016

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2016

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

This is a nostalgia kit wearing a new coat, and I mean that as a compliment more often than not.

The Influx takes the 2009 HGUC Hi-nu Gundam frame, drops it in black and grey, and bolts on a genuinely cool new backpack and machine gun that make it feel like its own kit rather than a repaint. The frame under all that is showing its age, though, and if you have not built an HG in a while, some of the looseness will surprise you.

Best for: Build Fighters fans and Hi-nu collectors who want the Influx color scheme and Weapon Binders specifically, not builders chasing the tightest modern HG engineering

The full review

What it is

The Influx is a P-Bandai exclusive built on the same skeleton as the original HGUC Hi-nu Gundam, but reworked into the black and grey scheme it wears in Gundam Build Fighters Amazing, where it was assembled by Allan Adams for pilot Shouki Someya to go toe to toe with Tatsuya Yuuki's Hi-nu Gundam Vrabe. What sold me on it was the new backpack. The Influx Weapon Binders are a proper redesign, not a recolor, and paired with the new Influx machine gun they give the kit its own silhouette on the shelf. The color separation on the limbs and torso holds up well too, molded in the right tones more than you would expect from a kit this old at its core.

The catch

The bones underneath are honestly from 2009, and it shows. The torso peg is loose enough that the upper body can slide or sag out of a pose, the leg polycaps have some play in them from day one, and the fin funnels on the backpack mount on small pegs that slip out if you look at them wrong. Wrists are stiff and don't offer much hand articulation, and the head can't turn far because the helmet collides with the shoulders and torso. You'll also lean on stickers for the eyes, camera lenses, foot line details, and a couple of tiny crotch and body accents rather than molded color.

Who it's for

Grab this one if the Influx's specific color scheme and backpack are what you want on your shelf, or if you're a Build Fighters fan filling out the Someya/Adams side of the roster. If you just want the cleanest, tightest Hi-nu build experience with no looseness to fuss over, this frame will frustrate you more than a newer HG would, and you're better served waiting for a fresher tooling of the mold or going up a grade. As an HG-tier centerpiece for a themed shelf, though, it earns its spot.

The build story

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

Assembly itself is straightforward HG-era snap-fit, nothing fussy about gate placement, but you can feel the kit's age the moment you start posing it. The torso connection is looser than current-generation HGs, the leg polycaps have play built in from the first pose, and the small pegs holding the fin funnels to the backpack are easy to pop loose if you're not gentle. None of it is a dealbreaker, it just means this is not a kit that holds an aggressive dynamic pose without some fiddling to reseat joints.

Where it earns its keep is the parts that are actually new for this release. The Influx Weapon Binders are a real redesign with their own wing profile, and the machine gun sculpt is unique to this variant rather than a recolored stock rifle. Molded color separation on the arms and torso is better than you'd guess given the kit's underlying age, though you'll still reach for stickers on the eyes, camera lenses, foot accents, and a few small body details rather than getting those in plastic.

Lore & trivia

01The Influx debuted in Gundam Build Fighters Amazing (and the companion manga Gundam Build Fighters A/Document), built by Allan Adams and piloted by Shouki Someya, known as the Parts Hunter.
02In-universe, the Influx was designed specifically to surpass Tatsuya Yuuki's RX-93-ν2V Hi-ν Gundam Vrabe, the rival unit that inspired its build.
03The kit was released as a Premium Bandai exclusive around April 2016, reusing the tooling from the original HGUC Hi-nu Gundam (HGUC #095) with a new backpack, weapon, and color scheme.
04The Influx Weapon Binders backpack design was later carried over and reused on the Third Meijin's Kämpfer Amazing within the same story.