MGUniversal Century

RX-121-2 Gundam TR-1 [Hazel Owsla]

A P-Bandai deep cut that turns one Hazel frame into a small arsenal, if you don't mind babying the hips.

MechaGrade Score

3.7/5

Gundam TR-1 [Hazel Owsla] · 1/100 · 2020

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a kit for builders who already love the Hazel line and want the escape-pod variant with the biggest toy box.

The Primrose pod, winch cannon, and long blade rifle all get new tooling instead of recycled Hazel Custom parts, and the sheer number of backpacks and weapon combos this thing swallows is genuinely impressive for one box. The catch is structural, not cosmetic, the torso mod that makes the Owsla special also makes the waist and crotch joint noticeably weaker than a standard MG. I still landed on a high 7 because the parts, poseability where it counts, and gimmick payoff earn it.

Best for: Universal Century completionists and Sentinel/Advance of Z fans chasing the definitive Hazel Owsla loadout

The full review

What it is

The Hazel Owsla takes the RX-121-1 Hazel Custom frame and swaps most of the torso for the Primrose emergency escape pod, a chunky survival module that was designed with high extensibility in mind. Bandai leaned into that in kit form, this MG comes loaded with a sub arm unit, optical sensor unit, leg enhancement parts, a tri booster backpack, and a multi connector pod, on top of the winch cannon and long blade rifle the suit is known for. Building it feels less like assembling one Gundam and more like assembling a weapons rack with a Gundam attached. I had a genuinely fun few nights just working through which loadout looked best on the shelf.

The catch

This was a Premium Bandai exclusive at around 8,800 yen (roughly $93 USD), so you're paying import markup and secondary market prices now that it's out of production. The bigger issue builders flag is the crotch and waist assembly, because so much of the torso got reworked to fit the Primrose pod, that joint is thinner and looser than a standard MG hip, and the legs can sag open under the weight of the bigger backpacks or shift closed if you display it lifted on the included action base. Reviewers describe articulation as present but modest, enough for dynamic stands, not a huge range of dramatic action poses.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already know the Universal Century side story it comes from and want a display piece that shows off gear-swapping rather than acrobatics, the accessory count alone makes it a fun kit to photograph in five different configurations. Skip it if you want a suit that holds aggressive action poses reliably, or if you're not willing to hunt down a secondary market copy at inflated pricing since it's a discontinued P-Bandai release. This isn't a first MG and it isn't a poseability showcase, it's a reward kit for builders who want the deep-cut Hazel variant done right.

The build story

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

The base Hazel frame goes together the way most MG kits from this line do, but the moment you get to the Primrose torso swap the build shifts focus to fitting the escape pod housing and its internal mechanism cleanly. Builders report the crotch block flexes more than expected once the pod and backpack are mounted, so test-fit before you commit to a display pose and consider light reinforcement if you plan to keep it standing for a while.

Where the kit earns its keep is the loadout variety, the winch cannon and Primrose both have working deploy mechanisms, and stacking the tri booster unit or sub arm unit onto the same frame changes the silhouette dramatically without touching the core suit. For the price of one kit you effectively get several distinct display configurations, which is the strongest value case here even with the softer articulation and pricier P-Bandai tag.

Lore & trivia

01The Hazel Owsla is the RX-121-1 Hazel Custom fitted with the Primrose, an emergency escape pod built to improve pilot and mobile suit data survival rates without cutting into the Hazel's combat performance.
02Because the Primrose replaces most of the chest and torso, Bandai and the source material distinguish this variant from the standard Hazel by giving it its own name rather than calling it an upgrade part.
03The name Hazel Owsla borrows from Richard Adams' novel Watership Down, owsla is the Lapine rabbit-language term for the group of strong, capable rabbits who guard the warren's chief rabbit.
04The kit shares its base frame with the MG Hazel Custom line but received newly molded parts for the fuselage, winch cannon, and long blade rifle rather than reusing existing runners outright.