MGBuild Fighters

PPGN-001 Gundam Amazing Exia

Meijin Kawaguchi's unfinished showpiece, done up in MG plastic with a booster on its back and a light in its chest.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Exia · 1/100 · 2015

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2015

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a genuinely satisfying MG once you accept it as a display piece first and a poseable robot second.

The molded color separation on the blue and white scheme is the star of the show, the Trans-Am booster gives it real shelf presence, and the LED unit in the chest and head is the kind of extra that actually earns its keep. Where it loses points is the same place every MG from this era loses points: some panel lines and small details still want a marker and a topcoat before it looks finished.

Best for: MG builders who already like Exia's silhouette and want the Build Fighters version with a booster, extra blades, and a light-up gimmick

The full review

What it is

The Amazing Exia is Bandai's MG take on the Gunpla that Meijin Kawaguchi rushed to completion at 80 percent for the Build Fighters semifinals, and that backstory shows up in the kit itself. It is built on the familiar Exia frame with double-jointed elbows and knees, a ball-jointed neck, and shoulders that swing forward and lift, so the base articulation is exactly what you would expect from a good mid-2010s MG. What sets it apart is the loadout: a jointed Trans-Am booster unit for the back, the Trans-Am GN Blade, the Amazing GN Sword and Blade, and an Amazing GN Shield, plus an LED unit that lights the chest and head green. Building it feels like assembling a small arsenal, not just a robot.

The catch

The molded colors get you most of the way there, but several of the finer details on the frame and the booster still read as flat plastic until you go in with Gundam markers or paint, and Bandai's own instructions lean on stickers and marker application for some of the finishing touches rather than doing it all in the mold. It was a Bandai Hobby Online Shop exclusive at release, so pricing and availability run higher and less predictable than a mainline retail MG, and secondary market listings vary a lot. The LED unit is the other line item to budget for separately, and it is not cheap for what amounts to two small lights.

Who it's for

If you already enjoy the Exia frame and want the version with the most stuff hanging off it, the booster, the extra blades, and a light-up chest, this kit rewards that specifically. It is a solid pick for builders who have a few MGs under their belt and don't mind reaching for a marker or a bottle of paint to finish the job properly. Newcomers to MG building or anyone who wants a kit that looks fully painted straight off the runners should look elsewhere first, and anyone put off by exclusive-release pricing should wait for a fair secondary market price rather than chase it at a premium.

The build story

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

The frame goes together the way most Exia-based MGs do: double-jointed elbows and knees, a single ball-jointed neck, and shoulder joints that raise and swing forward, all fitting together cleanly with the usual MG-era gate placement. The booster unit on the back is its own small sub-build with its own joints, which adds build time but also adds a lot to the finished pose options.

Where this kit earns its keep is the loadout and the lighting. Between the Trans-Am GN Blade, the Amazing GN Sword and Blade, and the Amazing GN Shield, there is enough gear to build several distinct poses without repeating yourself, and the LED unit lighting the chest and head green gives the finished model a presence that plain molded plastic can't match on its own.

Lore & trivia

01The Amazing Exia is Meijin Kawaguchi's personal Gunpla in Gundam Build Fighters, built on the frame of the GN-001 Gundam Exia from Mobile Suit Gundam 00.
02In the show's story, the suit was only about 80 percent complete when Meijin used it in the semifinals, with its weapons and final adjustments finished by Allan Adams and Meijin himself after development was moved from space back to Earth.
03Its Trans-Am activation is depicted as tripling combat performance for a short burst, at the cost of a sharp drop in performance once it wears off.
04The MG PPGN-001 Gundam Amazing Exia released in December 2015 as a 1/100 scale kit through Bandai's Hobby Online Shop.