MGUniversal Century

MS-14B Johnny Ridden's Gelgoog High Mobility Type Ver. 2.0

The same excellent Gelgoog Ver. 2.0 frame dressed in Crimson Lightning red, with a booster pack that finally gives this suit a real loadout.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Johnny Ridden's Gelgoog High Mobility Type · 1/100 · 2023

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2023

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I like this one a lot more than I expected to for what is, underneath the new red plastic, a repaint and remold of a decade-old MG.

The Ver. 2.0 Gelgoog frame still holds up: the surface detail on the torso and shoulders is genuinely dense, and the molded crimson replaces what used to be a sticker-and-paint job. It is not a perfect kit, the hands and ankles show their age, but the B-type backpack and the three-weapon loadout make this the most complete Gelgoog Bandai has put out.

Best for: Zeon collectors and One Year War completionists who want the definitive Johnny Ridden Gelgoog without touching a paintbrush

The full review

What it is

This is a P-Bandai exclusive built on the MG Gelgoog Ver. 2.0 tooling from 2012, reworked with new parts to become Johnny Ridden's personal high mobility custom. The molded crimson red is the headline change, and it is a big one, the Ver. 1 Gelgoog leaned on stickers for its accent colors and this one does not need them for the main scheme. The new B-type backpack is the real draw for me: it has a dedicated joint that lets you rack a rocket launcher, a giant buzz, or a beam rifle off the back, so you can actually build out the loadout this suit is known for instead of just holding one gun. The beam naginata and shield round it out nicely, and the water-slide decals for Ridden's personal marking are a nice touch on the shoulder.

The catch

The frame is a 2012 MG under the new paint job and it shows in a few specific spots. The fingers are notoriously loose, they fall off during posing and do not close or open all the way, and the small grip tab that is supposed to hold the weapons in the palm is finicky, more than one builder ends up adding a dab of glue or a magnet to keep the beam rifle from slipping out. Ankle articulation is limited by the size of the shin armor, so deep lunges and kneeling poses take some fighting. It is also a Premium Bandai release, meaning secondary market pricing runs well above the original 6,380 yen tag, and it is a limited run so it will not come back easily once it sells out.

Who it's for

If you already have a Zeon shelf and you want Johnny Ridden represented properly, this is worth chasing down, the backpack loadout and the fact that you are not painting a Gelgoog from scratch make it a genuinely satisfying build. Char and Garma fans who like MSV side suits will get the same appeal. If you are newer to MG kits or you want the smoothest possible finger and hand articulation for dynamic beam saber poses, know going in that this frame is twelve years old in the joints that matter most, a newer MG like the Gundam Ver. Ka line will pose more confidently. This one rewards patience during assembly and a little post-build reinforcement on the hands.

The build story

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

Gate placement follows the same 2012-era Gelgoog Ver. 2.0 runners, so cleanup is straightforward but the nub marks land in visible spots on the limb armor that reward a little extra sanding. Assembly is not fiddly in the way small RG kits can be, parts are chunky enough to handle comfortably, though the small backpack joint pieces for the weapon mounts benefit from test-fitting before final snap.

The inner frame is the same multi-layer construction praised on the standard Ver. 2.0 release, and it holds poses at the hips, knees, and shoulders well. Color separation is the big upgrade here versus the original release, molded crimson red instead of stickers means the paint scheme survives years of handling. The three-weapon backpack setup (rocket launcher, giant buzz, beam rifle) plus beam naginata and shield gives this kit more accessory variety than almost any other Gelgoog release.

Lore & trivia

01Johnny Ridden, nicknamed Crimson Lightning, was one of only nine pilots issued a field-tested MS-14B Gelgoog High Mobility Type during the final weeks of the One Year War, with 55 more B-type units built later for the Battle of A Baoa Qu.
02The B-type backpack is unique to the High Mobility variant and was designed to let the pilot swap between a rocket launcher, a giant buzz, or a beam rifle depending on the mission.
03Across different Gundam media, Ridden's beam naginata has been drawn with inconsistent hilt and blade colors, appearing with black or yellow hilts and yellow, blue, pink, or green beam blades depending on the source.
04This kit reuses the core tooling of the 2012 MG MS-14S Char's Gelgoog Ver. 2.0, one of the more well regarded One Year War MG remasters, rather than being an all-new mold.