HGPost Disaster

STH-16/tc2 Orga's IO Frame Shiden Custom

A gift mobile suit its own pilot never lived to wear, boxed up as a tidy HG recolor with real Io Frame bones under the paint.

MechaGrade Score

3.4/5

Orga's IO Frame Shiden Custom · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a good Io Frame kit wearing a sadder story than most Gunpla ever get.

Mechanically it is the same solid HGIBO Shiden engineering that made the standard release likable, dressed in Orga's Nanolaminate paint scheme with a new visor, blade antenna, and shoulder shield. I like it for what it represents more than for anything new it does on the runners. If you already own the base Shiden, this is a rebuy for the story, not a reinvention.

Best for: IBO fans who want Orga's personal suit on the shelf and don't mind that it's a recolor of a kit they may already own

The full review

What it is

This is Bandai's P-Bandai-exclusive dress-up of the standard HGIBO Shiden, done up in the custom paint scheme Teiwaz gifted to Orga Itsuka as thanks for Tekkadan's mass Shiden order. You get the same Io Frame chassis, the same general silhouette, and then the additions that make it his: a sharper visor with a blade antenna, a shoulder shield, and the two-tone Nanolaminate armor look. Building it feels familiar in the best way if you've built an Io Frame kit before, snap-together, no surprises, and the new head and shield parts are a nice fifteen minutes of extra assembly on top of a kit you basically already know.

The catch

The core molded plastic leans on grey and dark tones rather than giving you the finished custom look straight from the runners, so a fair amount of the paint scheme that makes this suit special comes down to Gundam Markers, panel lining, or a proper paint job rather than out-of-box color separation. Stickers and decals cover some of the detail work too, and Bandai's own notes recommend a topcoat to keep them from lifting over time. If you want the shelf-ready King's Throne look, budget time for markers or paint, this is not a kit that pops on its own.

Who it's for

Buy this if the Iron-Blooded Orphans story matters to you and you want Orga's suit on the shelf even though he never got to pilot it himself, that bit of tragedy is baked into the plastic and worth having for series fans. Skip it if you already own a standard HGIBO Shiden and aren't attached to the character angle, because mechanically you are paying again for hardware you likely have. It's also a fine pickup for anyone building an Io Frame lineup who wants a shield-and-visor variant without jumping up to MG money.

The build story

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

If you've built the standard HGIBO Shiden, this goes together the same way, snap-fit Io Frame construction with no glue needed and clean part breakdown. The new pieces, the visor head, blade antenna, and shoulder shield, are a quick and painless addition rather than a separate sub-build, so the extra assembly time over the base kit is modest.

The articulation is where this line earns its keep: a double ball-jointed neck, shoulders that swing and raise, elbows that bend past ninety degrees, a full 360-degree waist, and double-jointed knees that let it hold a proper kneeling or lunging pose. For an HG at this price point that's a genuinely strong range, and it's the same reason the base Shiden built a good reputation before this variant existed.

Lore & trivia

01The custom Shiden was a personal gift to Orga Itsuka from Teiwaz executive McMurdo Barriston, given as thanks for Tekkadan's large bulk purchase of standard Shiden units.
02Tekkadan's Norba Shino nicknamed the suit 'King's Throne.'
03Orga Itsuka never actually piloted the suit in the anime, he was pulled away to let Mikazuki Augus take on the mobile armor Hashmal instead, and Orga was killed before he got the chance. Eugene Sevenstark later piloted it during Gjallarhorn's assault on Tekkadan's Mars headquarters.
04This variant was a P-Bandai online exclusive released in July 2017, priced at 1,296 yen in Japan.