PGCosmic Era

GAT-X105+AQM/E-YM1 Perfect Strike Gundam

Every Striker Pack Kira never got to use at once, in a box the size of a toolbox.

MechaGrade Score

4.2/5

+AQM/E-YM1 Perfect Strike Gundam · 1/60 · 2020

GradePG

Scale1/60

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the Strike Gundam kit that finally answers the question nobody in the show got to answer: what if it just wore everything at once.

I went in expecting a reskin of the old 2004 PG Strike and came out with a genuinely new-tooled kit that carries Aile, Sword, and Launcher Striker Packs simultaneously without feeling like a compromise on any of them. It is not flawless, the LED gimmick is fussier than it should be and the decal situation is dated, but the core build is confident and the finished suit has real presence on a shelf.

Best for: PG collectors and Gundam SEED fans who want the definitive fully-loaded Strike and don't mind fighting a watch battery for the eye lights

The full review

What it is

This is a 2020 re-tool, not a reissue of the original 2004 PG Strike. Bandai built it specifically to carry all three Striker Packs at once, so instead of buying a base Strike and hunting down separate Aile, Sword, and Launcher kits, everything you need for the Perfect Strike loadout is in one box. Sitting down to build it, the first thing I noticed is how confident the frame feels under the Phase Shift-style armor, there's real heft to the joints and the inner structure reads as a proper modern PG rather than a warmed-over 16-year-old mold. Getting to snap the full weapons array onto one body, beam rifle, shield, sword, cannons, and all, is genuinely satisfying in a way that smaller-scale versions of Perfect Strike just can't replicate.

The catch

The LED eye gimmick runs on a single CR1220 watch battery you have to source yourself, and more than one builder has flagged that the contacts are finicky, you sometimes need real pressure on the battery compartment before the lights actually catch. Markings still lean on clear stickers rather than a full decal sheet, and a handful of them wrap around curved edges or sit in spots that are awkward to place cleanly. Nub marks are a real concern in a few areas, most notably the Armor Schneider blades that come pre-attached to the hand runners, where visible gate marks are harder to hide than on a typical part. None of this sinks the build, but budget real patience for cleanup and don't expect the electronics to work perfectly on the first try.

Who it's for

If you already love the Strike Gundam and want the one kit that lets you display every Striker Pack configuration on a single frame, this is worth the investment, the completed model earns its shelf space. It also rewards builders who enjoy a meaty, part-heavy PG session without the multi-week commitment some other Perfect Grades demand. Skip it if you specifically want the classic 2004 PG Strike experience with a single Aile loadout, or if fussy LED wiring and clear-sticker markings are dealbreakers for you, an RG or MG Perfect Strike will get you the same silhouette with a lot less fiddling and a much smaller footprint.

The build story

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

The build itself moves at a good pace for the part count, over 550 ABS pieces plus polycaps and die-cast joint parts, and most of it clicks together with the kind of confidence you want from a flagship kit. A few parts run tight during initial assembly, which is normal for a PG at this density, but nothing that fights you the way older or lower-tier kits can. The trickiest moments are cosmetic rather than structural: getting the clear stickers to sit flush on curved surfaces and cleaning up gate marks on parts like the Armor Schneiders that arrive pre-mounted on their runners.

Where this kit earns its price is the equipment loadout. You get all three Striker Packs built to attach at once, meaning the finished figure can carry the beam rifle, shield, beam sabers, Schneiders, the Sword Striker's blade, and the Launcher Striker's cannons simultaneously, something you'd otherwise need three separate kits to assemble. Articulation holds up well enough to actually pose that arsenal without everything drooping, and the eye-light gimmick, when the battery contact behaves, adds a nice bit of theater for a display piece this size.

Lore & trivia

01The Perfect Strike configuration, wearing the Aile, Sword, and Launcher Striker Packs at the same time, officially debuted on screen in the HD Remaster version of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED rather than the original 2002 broadcast.
02The Strike Gundam's GAT-X105 frame was the base platform later shared conceptually with the other four G Project Gundams, including the Duel Gundam, under Earth Alliance's prototype program.
03In the story, Mu La Flaga piloted the Perfect Strike loadout during the defense of Orb, after having previously served as one of the suit's earlier pilots alongside Kira Yamato.