The MG ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam. Long story short, don’t the buy Full Burst version of Strike Freedom Gindam kit. Bandai should have made a remaster or a 2.0 of this kit a long time ago and it is surprising that they have not done so considering that that this mobile suit is one of the main Gundams which Bandai produces a million variants of.
There is nothing super bad about the kit, just a lot of small things that stacked up to make me give this kit a thumbs down. I am not sure that normal release of this kit would make me like it anymore.
First issue that you will find upon opening the kit is that only 2 runners are in the plated gold that this kit advertises. Most of the internal frame is still the gold colored plastic that Bandai uses on non-plated kits. I do not have an issue with this gold colored plastic like most people do, but it is weird that they did not just gold plate the entire internal frame considering that Bandai did no under-gating on the gold runners you do get. Don’t forget the fun nub marks that you get from plated kits as well. It just feels half done at that point.
Second big issue is the lack of detail on this kit compared to the rest of the post Remastered Strike Gundam kits and also some odd proportions of the kit (even for a Seed kit). I am used to the big head syndrome of the Seed kits, but this kit has big hand and big head syndrome. Which does not match the style and design of the rest of the kit. All in all, the design is very unfinished and shows its age.
Third issues is the Full Burst side of this kit. I bought the Full Burst version of the Strike Freedom, which is essentially a P-Bandai kit that got a standard release in the U.S.(meaning Bandai actually shipped this kit to the states instead of a 3rd party shipping it and causing a larger price increase). The Full Burst element means that this kit includes effect parts for mounting the deployed Dragoons(Gundam Seed’s version of funnels) on to an action base (You actually get 2 action bases in this kit). As I experienced with the Jagd Doga, these rod type effect parts kinda suck. The only good thing about the rods with the Dragoons, is that the Dragoons actually stay on the rod. Where as the funnels for the Jags Doga did not. However, as you can see from the above pictures, the Dragoons will all be at the same height, except for where you put bends in the rods. However, no matter what you do, all of the Dragoons are flying at a height lower than that of the Gundam. Kinda cheesy execution of Full Burst in my opinion since the Dragoons should be able to fly anywhere around the Gundam.
Continuing on the Full Burst topic, there are no wing effect parts, which means that this kit should be labeled “Semi-Full Burst”. However you do get an effect part for the energy shield.
Even ignoring a lot of the above issues, I found this kit to be hard to pose and to lack the “Epic Gundam” energy that is associated with this kit. I do own the RG, not built yet, and I have the Metal Frame version that was made by Dragon Momoko as well. Hopefully one of these will be a better kit or maybe Bandai will make a Remastered version since they seem to be starting into the Seed Destiny line again.
