MGUniversal Century

MS-06S Zaku II (Black Tri-Stars Custom)

The Char's Zaku 2.0 mold in the black, purple and gray of the deadliest three-man team in Zeon.

MechaGrade Score

4.2/5

Zaku II · 1/100 · 2012

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2012

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the same excellent MS-06S 2.0 engineering everyone already loves, dressed in the paint scheme that actually earned its reputation in the fiction.

I built one expecting a simple recolor and got a kit that poses better than kits twice its part count. The mono-eye gimmick alone is worth the price of admission. If you already own a Char's Zaku 2.0 in red, the only reason to double up is the Black Tri-Stars presentation, and for me it was reason enough.

Best for: Zaku 2.0 fans who want the Black Tri-Stars lineup on the shelf and don't mind paying P-Bandai exclusive prices for it

The full review

What it is

This is the MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type frame from the acclaimed Ver. 2.0 lineup, repainted in the black, purple and gray of Gaia, Ortega and Mash's personal unit instead of the usual Char's red. Underneath the new decals it is the same fully reworked inner frame Bandai debuted on the 2.0 Zakus, with individually articulated fingers and a head that turns the mono-eye along an internal gear as you rotate it. It shipped as a Bandai Hobby Online Shop exclusive in September 2012 with three 1/100 scale pilot figures of Gaia, Ortega and Mash standing in for the usual single figure. Building it felt like getting a fan-service repaint of a kit that never needed an excuse to be reissued.

The catch

Being a P-Bandai exclusive release, this one was never on general retail shelves and now lives mostly in the secondary market at a real premium over a standard MG Zaku, so budget for that before you commit. The purple and gray panel lines on black armor are harder to make pop than the classic red scheme, and a lot of builders end up wanting a panel-line wash or a matte coat to keep the black from reading as a flat void under photography. The kit also carries the same skirt-armor bulk and slightly busy backpack silhouette as every 2.0-era Zaku, which is a design quirk rather than a flaw but worth knowing going in.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already appreciate the MG Zaku 2.0 frame and specifically want the Black Tri-Stars unit on your shelf, whether that's for the anime arc where they nearly took down White Base or just for the color scheme itself. It is also a good pickup for MG Zaku owners who want a second Zaku with real visual distinction rather than another red repaint. Skip it if you are gunpla-shopping on a budget or you only want one Zaku ever, since a standard-release MG Zaku II 2.0 gets you the same build experience for less money and less hunting. New builders should start with a cheaper HG Zaku before chasing an exclusive like this one.

What works

The 2.0 inner frame gives a kneeling pose, deep hip rotation and individually articulated fingers that most MG kits from the same era can't match
The head-turn mono-eye gimmick, where the eye tracks along an internal gear as the head rotates, is a small touch that sells the whole kit
Three separate 1/100 pilot figures for Gaia, Ortega and Mash plus water-slide unit decals give it more presentation value than a typical single-figure MG

Worth knowing

P-Bandai exclusive status means it was never widely stocked and now trades well above standard MG Zaku pricing on the secondary market
Black over purple and gray panel lines are noticeably harder to bring out than the classic red Char's Zaku scheme without extra weathering work
Ships with the same bulky skirt armor and busy backpack proportions as every other 2.0-generation Zaku, a known quirk of the mold rather than something unique to this release

Sold? Grab it.

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The build story

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

The runners follow the same layout Bandai used across the whole MG Zaku 2.0 family, so gate placement and cleanup are well trodden ground: nubs sit in low-visibility spots on the skirt armor and shoulder spikes, and the frame parts clip together with satisfying, positive fit rather than the loose click you get on older MG molds. Color separation is almost entirely molded plastic rather than stickers, aside from the small unit-specific decals that go on the shoulder and knee armor, which is a relief given how busy the paint scheme could have looked with stickers standing in for it.

The standout engineering is still the frame Bandai built for the 2.0 relaunch: double-jointed knees, ball-jointed skirt armor that swings clear of the hips, and a torso that lets the whole upper body twist independently of the waist. Weapon loadout covers the heat hawk, machine gun, standard Zaku bazooka and an additional prototype bazooka unique to this release, plus the three pilot figures, which is a genuinely strong accessory count for an MG in this price band even accounting for the exclusive markup.

Lore & trivia

01The Black Tri-Stars were three Zeon ace pilots, Gaia, Ortega and Mash, who first made their name at the Battle of Loum in U.C. 0079 by sinking five Federation ships including the flagship Ananke using their signature Jet Stream Attack.
02Their black, purple and gray color scheme was adopted only after that battle, when their mobile suits were upgraded to the MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type as a reward for their results.
03In the anime, Amuro Ray breaks their formation by using Gaia's mobile suit as a jumping platform and kills Mash in the process, the first crack in a team otherwise remembered as nearly unstoppable.
04This kit was sold exclusively through the Bandai Hobby Online Shop starting September 2012 and was never distributed to general retail, which is why it commands a premium over a standard-release MG Zaku today.