HGCosmic Era

ZGMF-2025/F GELGOOG Menace (Lunamaria Hawke Custom)

A big, sturdy grunt suit that actually holds Luna's signature poses.

MechaGrade Score

3.8/5

GELGOOG Menace (Lunamaria Hawke Custom) · 1/144 · 2024

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2024

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 one of the more confident HG grunt kits Bandai has put out in a while, and it earns that confidence honestly.

The double-jointed waist and shoulders let it hit the deep, aggressive stances Lunamaria strikes in SEED Freedom, and the parts feel substantial rather than flimsy for an HG at this price point. It is not a technical showcase like an RG, but as a mass-production suit with real personality, it delivers more than I expected going in.

Best for: SEED Freedom fans and grunt-suit collectors who want a sturdy, posable Zaku-lineage kit without MG money

The full review

What it is

The Gelgoog Menace is Bandai's HG take on Lunamaria Hawke's mount from Gundam SEED Freedom, and it wears its Zaku ancestry proudly, red accents, twin head horns, that unmistakable silhouette that traces straight back to Char's old Gelgoog. What struck me first pulling it off the runners is how solid the parts feel. This kit leans on large, chunky components rather than a pile of tiny fiddly bits, and the plastic quality is genuinely good, nubs clip clean and leave barely a mark. Bandai built this one around their SEED Action System joint work, and you can feel it the moment you start posing it. The waist articulation alone changes how this suit reads on a shelf compared to older Cosmic Era grunt kits.

The catch

The double-jointed waist is fantastic for range of motion but the hip armor panels do get in the way of some of the wider leg poses, so you will find yourself working around them rather than through them. Color separation leans on molded plastic more than stickers for the main red and gray, which is a plus, but expect the usual small HG sticker sheet for panel accents and eye details, so nothing catastrophic but not sticker-free either. It is also a big-bodied suit for a 1/144 grunt, which means shelf footprint adds up if you are collecting the wider Cosmic Era lineup. None of this tanks the kit, but they are the honest asterisks.

Who it's for

If you followed Lunamaria through SEED and SEED Freedom, or you just want a grunt suit that can actually hold a dynamic sniper stance without drooping, this kit delivers well above its price band. It is also a good pickup for anyone building out a Cosmic Era shelf who wants variety beyond the usual Gundam-type leads. Skip it if you specifically want the smallest possible footprint or you are chasing maximum detail density, an RG or MG will scratch that itch better. For everyone else who wants a sturdy, characterful grunt kit that builds clean, this is an easy recommend.

The build story

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

The build itself is a comfortable one. Parts are on the larger side for an HG, which means less time hunting for tiny sprue nubs and more time actually assembling, and the plastic takes clean cuts without much flash to clean up. Fit between panels is snug without being a fight, and the overall construction feels sturdy once it's together, this is not a kit that feels like it will loosen up after a few pose changes.

The SEED Action System is the real story here. The head sits on a ball joint with a hinge for extra tilt, the torso twists and leans front-to-back and side-to-side, and both elbows and knees are double-jointed for deep bends. The shoulders can push forward on their own hinge to support two-handed weapon poses, which matters a lot given the loadout: a linear cannon and missile launcher mounted on movable backpack wings, a beam naginata with a waist-mount grip, and a polarized-film beam shield. For an HG grunt suit, that's a strong accessory set, and the articulation actually lets you use all of it in a pose rather than just display it statically.

Lore & trivia

01This Gelgoog Menace variant is Lunamaria Hawke's custom mount in the 2024 film Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom, following her earlier service in the Impulse Gundam line.
02The unit's red color scheme is a deliberate callback to the ZAKU Warrior Lunamaria piloted during the Second Alliance-PLANT War.
03Within the film's story, Lunamaria is eventually reassigned to the upgraded ZGMF-56E2 Impulse Gundam Spec II, and her Gelgoog Menace passes to fellow Compass pilot Hilda Harken.
04The Gelgoog Menace line carries forward the classic Gelgoog silhouette, including the head horns, tracing its design lineage back to the original Principality of Zeon Gelgoog and its famous Char Aznable custom.