PGUniversal Century

RX-78/C.A. Casval's Gundam

The original 1998 PG frame dressed in champagne red and gold for the man who used to be Char.

MechaGrade Score

3.6/5

. Casval's Gundam · 1/60 · 2017

GradePG

Scale1/60

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is the first-generation Perfect Grade skeleton, the one that started the whole line, wearing a limited-run finish that most builders will never get their hands on.

I like it for what it represents more than for how it poses. It is a genuinely impressive piece of engineering history with a light-up head and full opening armor, but it is also an old design with old-design problems, and this reissue exists mainly so people who missed the 2002 event kit can finally own the color scheme.

Best for: PG completionists and Char/Casval lore fans who want the original RX-78-2 frame in a finish they can actually buy instead of hunting a 2002 convention exclusive

The full review

What it is

This kit is the 1998 PG RX-78-2 mold, the frame that invented the Perfect Grade line, recolored into the champagne red and gold of Casval's Gundam from Gihren's Greed and reissued through Bandai Asia in 2017 as a plated Extra Finish version. Building it feels like assembling a piece of Gunpla history. You start with a full metal-look inner skeleton, layer armor over it panel by panel, and by the end you can pop open the chest, shoulders, and thighs to show the frame underneath, plus a head unit that actually lights up on a button battery. Watching this thing go from bare frame to finished suit is the appeal, not any one flashy gimmick.

The catch

The frame is nearly three decades old at this point and it shows. Builders of the original PG RX-78-2 have reported panels that pop loose or sag under their own weight when you try to hold a dynamic pose, and the ankles and knees do not lock down with the confidence you would expect from a modern kit at this price and size. This is also a scarce release. It started life as a 2002 event-exclusive kit and the 2017 Bandai Asia reissue was itself limited, so secondhand prices run high and you are not buying it for value the way you would a current MG.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already own or love the original PG RX-78-2 and want the Casval color story to sit next to it, or if you collect Char-lineage variants and don't mind a display-forward kit over a hyper-posable one. Skip it if you want a kit that holds gun-blazing action poses out of the box, or if you are chasing value for your money. A modern MG or the newer PG Let looseed line will pose harder and cost less per part. This one is for the shelf and the story, not the fight scene.

The build story

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

Assembly follows the classic PG structure: build the inner frame runner by runner, then close armor plates over it in stages. Gate placement is dated compared to modern kits, so expect visible nub marks in a few spots that later Perfect Grades hide better. Foil and dry-transfer stickers handle most of the fine color separation rather than molded plastic, so patience with placement pays off.

The standout engineering is the openability. Chest, shoulder, and thigh armor swing out on hinges to expose the frame, the head has a working LED, and depending on the bundle the kit can pair with Core Fighter or Core Block components carried over from the original RX-78-2 Custom Sets. Articulation is respectable for its era, with double-jointed elbows and knees, but it reads as a display piece that opens up beautifully rather than a kit built to hold weapon poses all day.

Lore & trivia

01The RX-78/C.A. Casval's Gundam first appeared in the strategy game Gihren's Greed, in a what-if branch where Char Aznable reclaims his birth name Casval Rem Deikun and leads a new Neo Zeon faction late in the One Year War.
02Its red and gold color scheme continues the personal Char-custom palette he wore across earlier suits, and its handling was tuned specifically to his preferences, giving it sharper mobility and reaction speed than a stock RX-78-2.
03This PG Extra Finish version was originally sold only at the Gundam World 2002 event during C3 (August 24 to 25), and Bandai did not make it broadly available again until the Bandai Asia and Australia reissue in March 2017.
04The kit shares its engineering with the very first Perfect Grade ever released, the 1998 PG RX-78-2 Gundam, making this one of the oldest active frames still sold under the PG banner.