MGMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

ASN-G-XX Gundam Vidar

A masked avenger's Gundam Frame, and one of the sharpest MG builds to come out of the Iron-Blooded Orphans line in years.

MechaGrade Score

4.3/5

ASN-G-XX Gundam Vidar · 1/100 · 2025

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2025

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the Barbatos family finally getting the polish that the frame always deserved.

The full inner structure, the swappable Burst Saber blade, and the recoil-action pistols make it one of the more purely fun MG builds I have put together this year. It is not a huge suit and it does not have a huge price tag, but it punches well above both.

Best for: Iron-Blooded Orphans fans and MG builders who want strong pose range and clever weapon gimmicks without a flagship-size commitment

The full review

What it is

This kit takes the Gundam Frame lineage from Iron-Blooded Orphans, the same bones that gave us Barbatos, and dresses it up as Vidar, the masked suit tied to Gaelio Bauduin's return in the show's second season. What struck me putting it together is how much personality is packed into a mid-size MG. The Burst Saber has an actual blade-swap gimmick that mirrors the anime's signature move, the dual pistols have a working slide that kicks back like recoil, and the foot knives flip out cleanly with no fuss. It builds fast, poses harder than its price band suggests, and the powder blue and black color separation reads great straight off the runners.

The catch

A few of the piston and joint sub-assemblies around the legs and shoulders are fiddly to line up square on the first pass, and if you rush the alignment you will feel it fighting you when you pose the hips. It is a mid-tier MG price point rather than a budget kit, so if you are coming from HG you will notice the jump. The frame is also a known quantity by now (this is an evolution of Barbatos engineering, not a reinvention), so if you already own two or three Iron-Blooded Orphans MGs, some of the excitement is familiar rather than new.

Who it's for

If you liked building Barbatos or any of its Gundam Frame siblings and want that same engineering with sharper accessories and better gimmicks, this is an easy recommendation. It is also a strong pick for anyone who wants a Gundam that actually does something at the accessory level rather than just standing there holding a rifle. Skip it only if you are completely new to MG and want the simplest possible first build, the piston sub-assemblies reward a little patience, or if the specific silhouette does not appeal to you since the price is squarely mid-MG rather than entry-level.

The build story

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

The runners clip clean and gate placement stays mostly out of visible panel lines, so cleanup is quick. The main challenge is in the smaller piston and joint sub-assemblies around the legs and shoulders, where a slightly crooked join can telegraph into stiffness later. Take the extra minute to seat those flush and the rest of the build moves fast, snap-together confident in that modern MG way.

The standout engineering is in the accessories rather than the frame itself. The Burst Saber's hilt swaps into either side skirt to fake the blade-extension effect from the anime, the twin pistols have a slide that actually racks back for a recoil look, and the foot knives store and deploy with almost no resistance. Molded color separation on the powder blue and black armor is strong enough that sticker reliance stays low, and the full inner frame gives shoulders, hips, and ankles enough range to hold dynamic saber poses without the ratchets loosening over time.

Lore & trivia

01Vidar is the alias used by Gaelio Bauduin after his return in the second season of Iron-Blooded Orphans, piloting the suit as a masked Gjallarhorn soldier.
02Unlike most Gundam Frames in the Post Disaster timeline, which are named after demons from the Ars Goetia, Vidar is named after the Aesir god of vengeance in Norse mythology, a nod to Gaelio's arc.
03The suit's final confrontation in the anime is against McGillis Fareed, Gaelio's childhood friend turned rival, making the Vidar's design a direct narrative counterpoint to McGillis's own Gundam.