The 2009 Victory Gundam Ver.Ka (Katoki designed the original, this is just empty marketing) is a very interesting kit. Note that interesting doesn't always mean better. It is a combiner mobile suit, meaning it splits into and is assembled from different parts (sort of like the Impulse Gundam or even the original RX-78-2, but in a more deliberate way).
The reason it splits apart and combines like that is a guerilla force tactic, affiliated with its faction the League Militaire. The top and bottom halves are expendable while the core fighter and pilot are top priority and can eject quickly, fly away and pick up new parts on the fly supported by ground troops, before coming back.
Aesthetics:
It's small, just around 15cm, with a fuselage aesthetic (because the chest is literally a jet plane) and a functional and simple aesthetic using mainly white, light blue and a bit of red, with barely any yellow visible in the chest vents. Because the head doesn't look like it's sunken into its chest like the V2, I actually quite prefer it.
There are two core fighters, each with a built in head, and the second one uses the Hexa variant head, with 'rabbit' ears or side fins, instead of a V fin.
There are variant shoulder vent parts in white and blue for both core fighters (anime accurate vs a small Katoki redesign).
The kit uses the usual foil camera stickers and has color corrective red ring stickers for elbows, side of the calves and side skirts.
The kit also comes with a huge sticker decal sheet and a dry transfer decal sheet with the usual Katoki markings - The model can look fairly plain (plane, get it?) if you don't use any.
Mechanics:
Articulation is subpar, but surprisingly "okay" for how complicated it is. The ball-in-socket hips are just bad however, loose and impractical.
It's a combiner and it's clever engineering that does a lot of parts swiveling, so the top part and waist down part transform and combine separately with the two jets, to form a transportation mode or 'enhanced fighter mode', kind of.
There are elbow containers that go through the arms to pop beam saber hilts out of the forearms, the cockpit technically can slide out to reveal the canopy (but it's a major PITA) and obviously it can assemble into the Victory mobile suit.
One of the neatest features is the way the ankles extend out of the legs to expand the range of movement of its ankles.
Equipment:
Spare Core Fighter (Hexa and Gundam variants)
Extra Rubber V-fin
1 Beam Rifle
2 Beam Saber Hilts with 2 thin V-Gundam style beam saber effects and fan effect in light pink
1 Beam Shield effect part - attaches onto either elbow (awkward)
10 Swappable finger parts - Fist, rifle, saber, spread and 'clamps' for fighter mode
8 x Shoulder Vent covers, 4 white and 4 blue
4 Base adapter parts for mobile suit, both fighter modes and 1 transparent Core Fighter stand part to plug into a base
Uso Ewin and Marbet pilots
1 1/100 minifig of a pre-PTSD civilian clothed Uso Ewin and Haro
Conclusion:
I built the V2 before this one and personally I like this one better, since it's simpler and feels more stable. I glued the shoulder joint to its casing, because otherwise you're going to have a bad time connecting it and your arms will fall off all the time. The V2 has the exact same stupid issue.
I'll be honest, I didn't do the fighter transformations, one because I'm not going to display them like that, but two because it's fiddly, specifically because you have to understand its internals in order to transform everything and I just left it alone.
Aesthetically, it looks great, I love that they actually managed to design this in a workable form and in much better proportions than the V2.
However, it's pretty much stuck standing, you're not getting any poses out of this and barely any aerial poses, as it has no torso movement and its limbs barely do anything. They bend nicely, but they have very little range.
Bottom line, get it because it's a fun concept, because you like the look of it, because it has beautiful core fighters and because the build experience is unique, but maybe not for playing around or posing. Just FYI, the V2 despite being six years younger, is not a better kit, they're roughly the same build experience, even if they don't share parts.
4/5 because it's functional, but barely.
