Why I do things certain ways and why I don't update at any sort of decent rate.

This might sound like a bit of a cop-out, but I work a good bit and I don't tend to think of writing reviews as fun in my off time. Also when I first started this blog I'd only been working about a month and I was only working around 15 hours while finishing up my senior year in high school, so I only managed to put up two reviews. And then I graduated at the end of May...and then I started working closer to 20 hours a week and spending a great deal of time doing nothing more than building models, playing games, and doing absolutely fucking nothing (and hating myself for it). Basically writing these reviews was the last thing on my mind and I really didn't care because in at then end of June I realized that my camera's battery was dieing from overcharge, and I didn't have that much spare cash at that moment. I then promptly forgot it needed replacing and by that point it was August. At that point I was again strapped for cash, only replacing the battery about a month ago (at the time of my first update). So we've arrived at today and I actually put something up. As of now, I plan to write up the reviews for my models, even if its only one or two a week and I'm going to try to get pictures of them up at the same time. However if I only have a basic shot of the model its because I wrote the review at night or the weather was bad and I couldn't get any natural light.

Some other stuff I might should explain would be my ratings and status for models. For ratings its pretty simple, I find that a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, system is simpler and easier for me to rate than a 1-10 system. Here is an explanation for the numbers.
--A rating of 1 is my lowest and the reasons for it will usually be elaborated upon in the review itself, but a few reasons will be, bad detail, poor articulation/joints, or poor kit design.
--A rating of 2 means the kit isn't bad, but there is some kind of flaw preventing it from being good. A good example would be 1/144 HGUC Delta Plus. The kit has good detail and pretty good articulation but the lack of accessories and a stand really drag it down, along with one beam saber and a gun that is hard to pose with.
--A rating of 3 is average and quite honestly, most of the kits I've put together are average kits. Once again the issues will generally be elaborated upon in the review but usually the issue is going to be something similar to the issues i have with 1/144 HGUC FA Gundam 7th.
--A rating of 4 is above average and generally indicates a kit with good detail, articulation and sculpting. Minor issues will prevent kits from gaining a rating of 5 and one of those issues is the lack of a stand would be the lack of a stand (or a bad stand) with a kit that really needs one (looking at you HGUC 1/144 Re-Gz and Sazabi).
--A rating of 5 puts a kit on a very high tier. Models on this level should be owned by anyone who enjoys building/collecting gunpla. One of those being 1/144 00 Gundam. Any of its variants are insanely articulated (look at my review of Seven Swords/G). Its amazingly simple to build has very few (and very simple) panel lines and very good detail. Other models on this level would be MG Sword Impulse, MG Strike Noir, and 1/144 HG 00 Quan[t]

Status refers to why you should buy a model, or on a personal level, my contentedness with the purchase.
Garbage - I hate the kit and the only reason I kept it was because I paid for it, would only recommend unless you are good with old kits, enjoy painting, or really, really, love the design.
Filler - The kit is good and I don't really dislike it, I just wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it. If you see it and like the design its worth buying (or if you're paying for shipping, literally as filler)
Buy - This is a kit you should buy but if you have something against the design, you really won't enjoy it. Unicorn Destroy Mode is a good example of this, its a good kit, fun to build, good detail and all, but unless you like the design you'd probably be disappointed.
Must buy - Buy, buy, buy, buy. Unless you have some amazing hatred of the design, you'll love the kit. Good sculpt, good design, good detail, good everything. When I give a model this status, I honestly believe everyone should own one and with good reason(s), usually ones that I've already stated.

I think that about covers anything that might confuse anyone, if you find something else feel free to mention it, I'm not exactly the greatest editor on the planet or the best with making sense of my thoughts.

1/144 HGUC RX-0 Unicorn Gundam Destroy Mode

Oh man that's a mouth-full. Any way, no pictures for a while as the weather has decided to go crazy and I don't know when I'll be able to take any more pictures outside (since I can use the stand I got from my 1/144 00 Qan[t]).

For anyone who doesn't know Unicorn has two forms, Destroy Mode and Unicorn Mode. Destroy Mode is permanently in Destroy Mode unlike the MG that can change between the two. While this may put some off, it probably puts more on to the model (or at least the ones like me who have problems with the MG). This is probably one of the rarer cases of a 1/144 scale kit being more articulate than a 1/100 scale kit, but its really true. The 1/144 Unicorn has much better articulation than the MG, probably due to the fact that its stuck in one form and none of the parts need to slide or move as part of the transformation. However, the articulation isn't that great, it can hold it's gun properly and is fairly stable, but don't expect 1/144 00 levels of articulation.

The level of detail is great, as usual, for the HGUC line (the newer kits at any rate). There are relatively few panel lines and if you are big on painting, it requires very little as the red bits don't really need anything to make them better.

Overall I really like this kit, much more than its MG counterpart. However if you are looking for a kit with amazing articulation, look elsewhere Unicorn has a couple poses that work well, and it should stay in one of those poses. I almost want to say this is one of those must have kits, but I've heard quite a few people say they don't like the design of Unicorn so I'm going to give it a status of "Buy" and not "Must Have."

Overall rating:
4 out of 5
Status:
Buy

Oh shit, a new post.

Been absent since may, you know almost six months now. Not without good reason though, my camera battery is dead (like dead dead). So I should be able to buy a new battery soon, and possibly a tripod, also got a stand for reviewing the little guys and I'll probably buy another stand for MGs soon too.

Where to buy models.

Updated on 9/22/10, 22/9/10, 10/9/22.

Figured I'd get this out of the way but here are the places I have bought from.

State side:

Gundamstoreandmore
Nice selection of kits, can be a bit on the pricier side but they have decent shipping prices and tend to keep older kits in stock. I've ordered from them three times and all three times the items arrived within 10 days of ordering and where packed well and had no damaged boxes or missing pieces. I've begun to noticed that GSAM stocks around three times a year so unless they have something you want, I would tell you to avoid them.

Hobbywave
Again a nice selection of kits but their new items tend to sell out quickly and take a while to restock. Prices are on par with gundamstoreandmore, however they ship through FedEx if that is a bother to you (it is to me), and the shipping is a flat $10 no matter the size of the order. I've only ordered once but it did arrive fairly quickly. They have a point system but I'm not entirely sure how it works. Recently increased their prices slightly and seem to still have the flat shipping fee. If you know when a model is coming out, expect Hobbywave to have in about two weeks after its Japanese release.

Japan based:

HLJ
Also known as Hobby Link Japan, they have the best selection of kits from the three Japanese retailers I've used. They regularly restock items (but not old ones as those are generally out of production) and respond to questions within a day or so. I've ordered from them twice and both orders went smoothly, although I used SAL shipping once and EMS the other time. Generally speaking, HLJ is the most expensive retailer, charging Bandai's MSRP. Even when they run sales, they still tend to be more expensive than AmiAmi or 1999.

Hobbysearch
Known as 1999 in Japan, they have a point system and have a nice enough selection leaning more towards newer kits and re-releases. I have one item coming from them that should be here tomorrow or the next day (May 12th or May 13th) and two items preordered 1/144 HG 1.5 Gundam (00) and HGUC 1/144 ZZ Gundam. They where a bit slow to respond to an email I sent and took four days to process an order I made Sunday night. So far so good with them however. Slow to ship, but not as slow as I am with updating.

AmiAmi
My favorite Japanese retailer as they tend to have the lowest prices, but the selection is basically just things released within the last year and a half so unless you're getting a newish item or preordering steer clear. I have had the best experience with AmiAmi with four orders, all of which where processed in about two days and arrived within the week of the ship date.

eBay
So you can't find that kit anywhere and you've found on eBay. Great find bro, buy it. Seriously, don't be afraid of eBay, or PayPal for that matter (I LOVE PayPal, makes my shopping experiences really easy). I know lots of people who avoid eBay for a multitude of reasons, be they knock offs bad experiences, or warinesses of PayPal. To be honest, the knock offs exist, and two of my friends have experienced it (both buying DVDs however). Seriously though, if you get a knock off from a seller, go to eBay and tell them that you got a knock off, unless it was actually in the sellers post, which case you're screwed. I actually bought my 1/144 HGUC Unicorn Destroy Mode from a guy: Animezing. Visit his store, he keeps it pretty well stocked and I'll probably be buying from him in the future.

A few terms:
EMS - Express Mail Service - Fastest international shipping, but also the most expensive at about 18 USD for an item weighing 400 grams (about the weight of the average 1/144 sized kit).

SAL - Surface Air Lifted - Slowest shipping possible but also the cheapest at about 4 USD for 1/144 sized kits. When I say slow I mean I preordered two kits through HLJ with SAL and forgot that I had ordered them by the time they had arrived. Update: Due to a lack of funds recently, I've been using SAL more often and for whatever reason, the orders are taking about 10 or 15 days to arrive at my house (on the east coast of the US).

Registered SAL - Not as fast as EMS nor as ridiculously slow as SAL but is only about 10 USD for a 1/144 sized kit. It seems AmiAmi now has this available and I tend to pick this over anything now.

HGUC 1/144 Full Armor Gundam 7th

At first glance this looks like a large model. Surprisingly, its not that big once you remove the giant cannon on the shoulder. I really like this model which somewhat surprises me sometimes considering it has a grand total of three accessories, the giant gun, the beam rifle, and the shield. If I had to pic one flaw with this kit that isn't related to weight, it would be the lack of beam sabers, all kits should include beam saber.

My biggest issue with this kit? Weight distribution. The above picture should make it obvious that this kit does not stand well, and it took me a good five minutes to get the thing in a decent standing pose. The giant cannon on the shoulder is the prime offender as the opposite shoulder doesn't have anything to counter balance the weight. The binders on the rear skirt armor look heavy, and they are, but when you remove the shoulder cannon, they actually don't mess with the balance much. I do however think they look stupid. This picture shows about how much articulation your going to get out of the kit, it just isn't there which is entirely understandable. Side note, I do not have a 1/144 scale stand so I can't really test to see how much better it is with one. I would however generally recommend a stand for this guy.


This is about the extent of the pictures I could pull off without a stand, so if I get one I may take a few more.

So overall this is a nice kit with a pretty annoying weight issue that can be remedied with a stand or removing the cannon. The detail is nice but then again all the armored GMs and Gundam kits seem this way. If you are making an order and want another kit I would recommend this guy, however if you are just getting one kit, look elsewhere.

Overall: 3 out of 5
Status:
Filler

All the pictures:
http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r315/Groincrusher/Full%20Armor%20Gundam%207th/

00 Gundam Seven Swords G Pictures

1/144 00 Gundam Seven Swords G

Let me get this out of the way, I'm not a photographer and I don't claim to be, so please don't focus too much on my bad picture taking abilities. Advice is of course welcome.

On to business then, the High Grade 00 Gundam Seven Swords G. First off, check this out, its crazy (ignore if you already own any version of the 1/144 00).While this pose might look stupid to some people, its a great indicator of how much articulation this model has. Removing the the GN Blaster II and GN Buster Sword makes the model have much better poseability considering that these two items mess with the balance much more than you'd think (even though the GN Buster Sword is massive, it actually doesn't weigh that much when its being used as a shield or hanging off the GN Drives).

If you want pictures without Seven Swords G equipment go to dalong.net, click 00 at the top, click English Catalog, then scroll down until you find 00 Gundam.
So about that extra equipment, the GN Katars, GN Buster Sword, and GN Blaster II. Aside from these three there are two new GN Sword II versions, a long and short one. I'm not two big on because they are a bit unwieldly, especially the long one. Maybe its mine though, but I can't keep my short one together, whenever I try to pose with it, it falls apart and when I try using the wire line, it just falls over. The katars also have some issues, mostly relating to being a bit small and not fitting in the hand properly (I really need to pick up some modeling putty, any one know a good brand?) and tend to slide around. The GN Buster Sword sucks in my opinion, its too heavy to be used in the hands and just any pose you try ends up looking stupid, so I just keep it on the GN Drive or as a shield.
Anyway, I love the GN Blaster II, it works well as a gun, and it can be held as a sword without any real trouble. No pictures as a sword for the GN Blaster II for now.

So overall, while it has some issues holding the GN Katars and the GN Buster Sword, and every now and again the long and short swords (although that could be my fault more than anything). This is an extremely good model and if you can find it, buy it immediately its well worth the $30 (shipping included) from most State side stores.

Rating: 5/5
Status:
Must own, everyone should own one.

More pictures:
http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r315/Groincrusher/Gundam%2000%20Seven%20Swords%20G/