MG 1/100 Perfect Gundam

This 2003 MG is from the manga Plamo-Kyoshiro and is designed by Kunio Okawara, best known for designing the original Gundam mobile suits. It is a "toy" Gundam made by a boy who fights to compete in what is the predecessor system for the Build Series, ala Build Divers, where people scan their models and upload it to a game system.

Aesthetics:
The non-armored RX-78-2 is an anime accurate version that predates the 2.0 by five years and does a great job of it, it is genuinely a quite handsome RX-78-2 while also not being as mechanically limited as the 2002 Ver.Ka.
It's not entirely color accurate, as the head vulcans are molded detail, but overall it's quite good.
There are some seam lines, like across the head, but for the most part they're well hidden and in fact the kit features single mold armor parts for its limbs, negating a lot of seam lines entirely.

The arm straps that hold the double beam rifle and the shield, represent kitbashed straps/links from a watch and the housing of the watch is also represented as part of the shield.

There is definitely more of a toy aesthetic to this build, which is entirely deliberate, as Okawara set out to make a child's idea of an upgrade RX-78-2.

The kit comes with the usual foil stickers, a dry transfer sheet and a decal sticker sheet, featuring Kyoshiro's logo, with his face on it.

Mechanics:
The articulation and stability are typical for the age - Ball-in-socket hips, polycap construction, a couple of screws and a simplified shoulder structure that extends to equip the armor, but does not pivot. Overall it functions well, but once you put the armor on, it's bogged down and the polycaps immediately feel mushy and weak, particularly in the knees.

The armor itself is quite good, it snaps onto the model without much drama and it stays on. In fact it would've been a dead ringer for a Full Armor Gundam version due to its flip-out hard points around the body, but instead they used a 2.0 and gel tape of all things for the 2010 FA Gundam (not to be confused with the Thunderbolt Full Armor Gundam).

Equipment:
1 RX-78-2
1 set of Perfect Armor and Backpack
1 Shield
1 Double Beam Gun
3 Beam Saber Hilts + 2 pink Beam Saber Effect Parts (the shield can hold all three) - When the armor is not equipped, the regular backpack holds two hilts, as normal
1 Bomb that detaches from the shield and can be held (loosely)
1 large scale Kyoshiro Figure, unpainted

Conclusion:
I really, really like this kit and I feel it's required for an RX-78-2 collection as it fits right in. In fact having the non-armored version as an MG on its own, is also a stand-out model, as it has a distinctly different anime accurate design from the 2008 2.0.

The loose limbs, due to the simplistic polycap construction, makes the model a tip-over risk, it is likely to fall entirely on its own. The armor locks the knee and removes one of the two knee bends in order to help stabilize the kit, but it's still floppy. It'll be difficult to tighten up.

Still, for a 2003 kit, I'm impressed with it, it's great fun and it's way better than it has any right to be.

This 2003 MG is from the manga Plamo-Kyoshiro and is designed by Kunio Okawara, best known for designing the original Gundam mobile suits. It is a "toy" Gundam made by a boy who fights to compete in what is the predecessor system for the Build Series, ala Build Divers, where people scan their models and upload it to a game system.

Aesthetics:
The non-armored RX-78-2 is an anime accurate version that predates the 2.0 by five years and does a great job of it, it is genuinely a quite handsome RX-78-2 while also not being as mechanically limited as the 2002 Ver.Ka.
It's not entirely color accurate, as the head vulcans are molded detail, but overall it's quite good.
There are some seam lines, like across the head, but for the most part they're well hidden and in fact the kit features single mold armor parts for its limbs, negating a lot of seam lines entirely.

The arm straps that hold the double beam rifle and the shield, represent kitbashed straps/links from a watch and the housing of the watch is also represented as part of the shield.

There is definitely more of a toy aesthetic to this build, which is entirely deliberate, as Okawara set out to make a child's idea of an upgrade RX-78-2.

The kit comes with the usual foil stickers, a dry transfer sheet and a decal sticker sheet, featuring Kyoshiro's logo, with his face on it.

Mechanics:
The articulation and stability are typical for the age - Ball-in-socket hips, polycap construction, a couple of screws and a simplified shoulder structure that extends to equip the armor, but does not pivot. Overall it functions well, but once you put the armor on, it's bogged down and the polycaps immediately feel mushy and weak, particularly in the knees.

The armor itself is quite good, it snaps onto the model without much drama and it stays on. In fact it would've been a dead ringer for a Full Armor Gundam version due to its flip-out hard points around the body, but instead they used a 2.0 and gel tape of all things for the 2010 FA Gundam (not to be confused with the Thunderbolt Full Armor Gundam).

Equipment:
1 RX-78-2
1 set of Perfect Armor and Backpack
1 Shield
1 Double Beam Gun
3 Beam Saber Hilts + 2 pink Beam Saber Effect Parts (the shield can hold all three) - When the armor is not equipped, the regular backpack holds two hilts, as normal
1 Bomb that detaches from the shield and can be held (loosely)
1 large scale Kyoshiro Figure, unpainted

Conclusion:
I really, really like this kit and I feel it's required for an RX-78-2 collection as it fits right in. In fact having the non-armored version as an MG on its own, is also a stand-out model, as it has a distinctly different anime accurate design from the 2008 2.0.

The loose limbs, due to the simplistic polycap construction, makes the model a tip-over risk, it is likely to fall entirely on its own. The armor locks the knee and removes one of the two knee bends in order to help stabilize the kit, but it's still floppy. It'll be difficult to tighten up.

Still, for a 2003 kit, I'm impressed with it, it's great fun and it's way better than it has any right to be.