Review: HCM-Pro Destroy Gundam

HCM-Pro No.40-oo GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam
1:200 High Complete Model Progressive
Freedom VS Destroy VS Impulse Part III of 3
~ R E V I E W ~



01. I n t r o d u c t i o n

good day to everyone. now we come to the last part of the review. the massive Destroy Gundam. as brod V2 put it -- the final piece of the puzzle. let me say thank you for reading my reviews. and for waiting for this one. we all know that this is the big one. the main star on the Freedom VS Destroy VS Impulse review 'trilogy'. (naks. parang movie title ah.) and to Bandai... screw you for making us BUY all your wonderful expensive Gundam goodies. nweiz, i had fun doing all this review and hope to do more in the future. but i gotta tell you guys that doing this reviews and taking some photos really took my time. esp on weekends. but, like i said, i had fun. i still giggle holding it and playing with it. (...or, that was just me?) this is the 'part' were we gonna tell ourselves -- 'i'm really, really happy and proud with my collections.'

ok. on to our review...

02. P a c k a g i n g

so far this is the biggest box from the 1:200 scaled HCM-Pro figures. the size of the box has the same dimensions of 2 Master Grade Zaku II ver.2.0 boxes. so it's huge. of all the HCM-Pro figures i have, this is the box that i like. it has cool close-up CGI face of Destroy Gundam. and not only it's bigger, but it uses 2 clear plastic containers instead of 1 clear and 1 white plastic containers. and since it's both transparent plastic, you can see the burned Berlin city backboard image that Bandai included -- which i used for my digirama backdrop. cool. btw, the side panel lost the concept of making it bookshelf panel like the small boxes has. so it will look awkward if you stack this up along with your small HCM-Pros. i forgot to include this -- Stellar's image on the front. minor issue lang, i just hope that they used the ones on the side panel for the front image. mas astig eh. but still, i rate this packaging section with:

>>> Rating: 5 <<<


03. P r o d u c t & D e t a i l

Content: (1) Destroy Gundam, (1) Backpack, (2) Beam Cannons, (2) Backpack Wing Tips, (1) Fork Stand, (1) Fork Stand Base
In Sprues: (2) Open Fist manipulators, and (1) ABS-made V-fin.
Special Parts: (1) Excalibur sword for Force Impulse, and (1) set of unassembled Clear Display Stand

as you noticed on the contents of this figure, all are pre-assembled item na. except for that 2 items shown -- manipulators and extra V-fin. ain't that neat? no need to cut sprues. hehehe. the last photo shows the Fork Stand Base inserted on the Backpack Verniers for addtional support when it's in MS form.

in the next part of this section, i seperated it into 2 sub-section dedicated for the 'Figure' and the 'Backpack'.

03.01. F i g u r e

Destroy Gundam. showing in this sub-section is the figure itself. i took shots of every angle to show you guys how i love the details of this figure. first set of thumbnails are turn-around profile shots of Destroy. look how big the claw-looking feets are. nice. next, you see the head, it goes down when it's in MA form. next, the backpack connector mounted on the figure's back. next, revealing the shoulder joints. btw, all moving joints are 'click-based'. (sorry, i don't know the correct term for that.) everytime you move the joints, it does that 'clicking' sound. which is IMHO, it's better than not having it. more on that at the Articulation Review. next, is the detachable arm. there's 2 buttons on the side of the arm to release it. take note that the Deflector Shield parts falls off from the arm every now and then. and lastly, details on the feet and back part of the figure.

03.02. B a c k p a c k

Backpack. one thing i could say about this backpack -- i love the details!!! it uses some silver paints. clear red and green parts on the eye and the forehead. love it. love it. and the beam cannons are huge too. but as i remember on the anime, the beam cannons are longer compared to this figure. but, i'm not complaining. i think it will look just more cooler if it's longer.

>>> Rating: 6 <<<
what??? that's 6. hahahaha! nweiz, you get the idea WHY. ^^,


04. A r t i c u l a t i o n s

like what i said on the previous section, this has a 'click-based' joints. it really does help maintaining the pose having this joints. it makes this figure stable. i think all big figures have this kind of joints. because my DXMSiA figures have this too. makes sense? hehehe. nweiz, i did tried imitating Dalong's pose but that's the maximum that i could get. and i need to lean the figure sidewards to balance it. next, my spread pose. hehehe. i don't think this figure can do the split. and i didn't bother to do my 'maxed-out pose'. i'm afraid that the 'click joints' might give away if i do that. sorry guys. next the shoulder and head joints. sad to say, that's the only leaning points it can do. btw, the ankle joints are click-based too. since, it has that 'click-based joints', it limits the poses which requires the parts to move sidewards. for example the ankle joints, you cannot move it sidewards. you can just tilt it front and backwards. wouldn't be cool to pose this in MA form, standing, legs spreading, with both feet on the ground like this? we can only accomplish that if we can just move the ankle joints sidewards. and for losing some of the articulation because of that 'click-based' joints, i rate this section:

>>> Rating: 4 <<<


05. M o b i l e U n i t F O R M s

05.01. Mobile Suit Form





05.02. Mobile Armor Form Attack Mode

profile shots of Mobile Suit and Mobile Armor forms. just by looking at it, you really can tell that this figure is very intimidating. how i wish that there's an HCM-Pro 1/200 scaled Psyco Gundam to go with this figure. now, that's something to look forward too.

for height/scale comparisons of Destroy Gundam to other Gundam figures, check out Gundam Scale Referrences thread.

>>> Rating: 5 <<<


06. Lights. Camera. A C T I O N !

here's some poses that i did. once again, i had fun posing it and playing with it and taking pictures of it. i really like the 'all-out spread' and that 'Keroro' pose. hehehe. so i guess, it's the same with my previous HCM-Pro figures, i'll give this section 6 smileys for fun factor. oh, forgot to tell you guys. don't do the last thumbnail using only the Fork Stand. it will not hold with that pose. i leaned the Backpack's Beam Cannon to the background and added lang the Fork Stand.

>>> Rating: 6 <<<
6 again???


07. C o n c l u s i o n

once again, this is another ultimate superb toy from Bandai. it's huge. it's big. very intimidating. it's full of cool details. and it's kinda -- expensive. well, that's what we get from Bandai these days. they're pushing everything to the limits. giving us what we want and what we wish. and here we are paying them for it. hehehe.

still, i would recommend this Destroy Gundam to all Gundam SEED/Destiny fans. esp to those who collects HCM-Pro figures. this is a great addition to your ever-growing-never-ending-collections of SEED-related goodies. or to those who just collects the main mechas of the series. this is a good buy. it is expensive but i guarantee you that you will get what you paid for.

so what are you waiting for? go now to your favorite Hobby Toy Specialty Stores (that's GreatToys to me -- special plugging. hehehe.), look for this HCM-Pro Destroy Gundam. and prepare your wallets. that's it.

>>> Overall Rating: 6 <<<
what??? 6??? i thought the highest is 5? hahaha! ^^,




Thanks for looking. ^^,