MGUniversal Century

MS-09R Rick Dom (Dozle Zabi Custom)

A gold-trimmed Zeon officer's Dom wearing an MG mold that never got the memo it was 2015.

MechaGrade Score

3.3/5

Rick Dom (Dozle Zabi Custom) · 1/100 · 2015

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a genuinely handsome kit riding on genuinely tired bones.

The Dozle Zabi paint scheme and shoulder spikes make it one of the best-looking Doms Bandai has ever put out, but the plastic underneath is the same MG Rick Dom tooling from the early 2000s, and it shows the moment you start posing it. I like this kit for what it represents in the lore more than for how it builds.

Best for: UC completionists and Zeon officer-corps collectors who want the definitive-looking Dozle Zabi Dom on the shelf

The full review

What it is

This is the Premium Bandai exclusive reskin of the standard MG Rick Dom, dressed up as the personal custom unit built for Dozle Zabi, Zeon's fleet commander and the man who outranked Char. The cockpit is visibly enlarged to fit his frame, there are spikes bolted onto the shoulders and the backs of both manipulators, and gold pinstripe trim wraps around the armor edges to signal his rank. Opening the box for the first time and seeing that gold against the deep Zeon green is a genuinely good moment. It comes loaded, a giant bazooka, a dedicated heat hawk cut just for this variant, and a heat saber, so the accessory spread does not feel like an afterthought.

The catch

The problem is the mold itself. This kit shares its frame with the original MG Rick Dom, and that kit is old enough that the hip and leg joints run loose on plenty of copies, standing fine but not holding dynamic poses with much confidence. The gold trim is not molded color, it is foil stickers plus water transfer decals, so a big part of what makes this variant special is riding on adhesive rather than plastic, and it will show wear and lifting edges over time if you handle the kit much. At P-Bandai pricing (roughly 5,400 yen at release) for legacy engineering, the value math is not great next to a current MG.

Who it's for

If you are building this purely as a display piece for a Zeon shelf or you care about the Dozle Zabi character specifically, it earns its spot, the silhouette and gold trim payoff is real and nothing else replicates it. If you want a Dom that poses hard and holds it, or you are chasing part-count value for your money, skip this and grab the newer 2022 MG Rick Dom retool instead, then treat this one as a paint reference. I would not recommend it as anyone's first MG.

The build story

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

The build itself is straightforward Dom assembly, nothing fiddly or clever in the frame, which is both a blessing for a relaxed evening build and a reminder this is an older design. Gate placement is dated by current MG standards, expect visible nub marks on some of the rounder cowl pieces unless you clean up carefully. The skirt armor panels swing up and down on their hip axis to clear the legs during big poses, which is the one bit of mechanical thoughtfulness that holds up.

Articulation is the weak link, the legs can stand fine but do not hold aggressive kneeling or wide stances with much confidence on a lot of build copies, and this is consistent across builder reports rather than a one-off unit issue. Where it earns points is presentation, the giant bazooka, heat hawk, and heat saber loadout gives you real posing options even if the joints limit how far you push them, and the gold decal work, once applied carefully, sells the officer's-custom look better than almost any other Dom variant on the market.

Lore & trivia

01Dozle Zabi was Zeon's fleet admiral and the third child of Zeon founder Degin Zabi, ranking above Char Aznable in the chain of command.
02The MS-09R Rick Dom Dozle Zabi Custom is documented as the 100th unit off the Rick Dom production line, pulled aside and modified specifically for his use.
03The gold trim was reportedly not a request from Dozle himself but the idea of a technical officer wanting to visibly signal the Zabi family's authority.
04This MG was a Premium Bandai webshop exclusive first released in March 2015 and later reissued in 2020, sharing its tooling with the standard MG MS-09 Dom/Rick Dom kit.