Now, if you've seen my birthday haul post on reddit, you may be thinking "Hey! Weren't you going to do the RG Sinanju review first?" and to that I say, things didn't go exactly as planned. I will be doing it eventually, but not anytime too soon. However, and as much as it pains be to say so, I can say right now that it doesn't live up to the hype, but although it's definitely got some issues, it's got some good points as well.
So now i'll be moving towards the next one in line and my first gift i've received, the SD Qubeley Triple Collection set. You may recall this from my unboxing haul, and if you did, you'd know that I really wanted this kit the moment I saw it, and that I was very disappointed that it was not restocked in a while. So when my friend gave me a package and I opened it to see this kit inside, I was one happy camper.
If you haven't guessed, this set includes 3 kits, all which use the same mold in different colors. In this set you get the SD Qubeley, and both SD Qubeley MK II units in their respective colors, both of the latter which cannot be obtained normally without painting. So in this review i'll go through the individual kits in the order i've built them, and compare them along the way. But first, lets cover somethings all 3 kits use.
Box:
The box is an okay one. You get three CGI renditions of the three Qubeleys in space, with the Regular Qubeley's funnels flying around. There is also a space colony in the background,
Parts:
First of all there is a large sticker sheet shared by all three kits. It doesn't have much color separation, but then again it's all excusable as all stickers cover a small area that would never be a solid part on regular kits.
Manual:
All 3 kits are just recolors, so they share the same manual with the same instructions. Although the final page of the build does show the stickers for each individual kit. Surprisingly, there isn't a color guide for the kit, although there is something a bit different.
Although it lacks the color guide, it has some info on the suits and their pilots. If you haven't watched ZZ Gundam, the Qubeley is piloted by Haman Karn, the purple Qubeley MK II Unit is piloted by Elpeo Ple...
...and the red Qubeley MK II unit is piloted by Ple Two. You can also see a the typo "Photo Deta". Don't know what that is since I don't read Japanese, but it's quite amusing.
Qubeley Parts:
For the first kit, I built the regular Qubeley. get 3 white runners, one purple runner part, and one "polycap runner". It's worth noting that the purple mekki runner is actually cut off from the white runner in the middle if it wasn't obvious enough. On the original retail kit, the Qubeley only came in complete white, and all color apps were stickers. Since this was a special Qubeley though, the parts for the chest were mekki plated purple, so it would be more "premium" than the average SD Qubeley.
If you look REALLY closely, you can actually see that the Qubeley's plastic has a subtle shiny finish to it. It's not very noticeable, but it makes the plastic look a bit more matte, and it reflects light differently. If you look closely, you can see the light from the plastic is a little pink when reflected, this is due to the finish. Although, that finish is only applied on one side of the runners. The other side, while not as visible, is just your average plastic. It's not very noticeable, but it's still a missed opportunity. You should also note that since this kit is not naturally undergated, the finish will go away when you cut the plastic.
This is the same case with the purple mekki runner. Although on one side, it's clearly purple, they didn't coat the other side, and it's just pure silver. This doesn't matter at all, as the other side is internal and none of it shows, so I can easily let this pass.
Also, since this runner is pulled out from one of the white runners, the plastic underneath the purple mekki, is the white seen on the rest of the MS. Also, due to being a reused mold of a regular kit, the nubs aren't undergated. But to be honest, they aren't noticeable, not unless you raise the head up.
Completed Product:
The completed product looks quite good for an SD. It misses quite a few color apps, but it's too be expected, especially when considering the age. Then again, the purple for the torso is white on the regular release, so it's not perfect. Still, the Qubeley you get in this set is a very good looking one.
Articulation:
Her head is on a peg, which would allow her to rotate her head 360˚ if it weren't for the large wing binders on her shoulders. But she can also look up, because her neck is on a hinge joint. This reveals a detailed neck part and gives her overall very good head articulation, especially considering the tim
Although, the nubmarks of the mekki parts do become visible if you do this. It's not horribly noticeable though.
Her shoulders are both on a peg that connects to the torso, so all they can do is turn around 360˚.
Her arms are on hinge joints that goes outwards as well. Unfortunately, due to age, she doesn't have an elbow joint, so she isn't able to pull of many poses. Her arms are also permanently in one position, safe for the hinge joint at the shoulder, but due to the SD statue, it doesn't look too horrible.
Another unfortunate thing due to age is that her hands are molded alongside with the arm, meaning there are no other hands that you can switch out for, and that they don't move at all.
Same can be said with her left arm, but since the left hand is an open one, she can only hold her weapon with her right hand. It's not too bad considering that the Qubeley only has one held weapon which I will cover later on, and I do understand why they would make the left hand open hand open, which I will talk about later as well. Although I do understand it, I would've liked to have the choice to display her weapon in her left hand. It also looks a bit awkward when her arm is to her side like in a normal standing pose, since the hand doesn't rotate at all.
Her waist is on a peg as well, meaning her torso and waist can turn a complete 180˚.
Her feet are on pegs as well, and no, she doesn't have legs.
That's as far apart they can go from each other, also note that there are no pink stickers for the feet, so you're going to have to paint all those grooves pink for accuracy.
Her wing binders on her shoulder also move up and down individually.
Accessories:
I said she only had one accessory, and that's her beam saber. Like all SD's, it's the classic toothpick beam saber that only comes in one color. No surprise there, although due to the one-sided special finish, it does have the special finish for one half, however the other half is just normal white plastic.
Sadly, when you put her for aerial poses, her articulation doesn't really allow her to do much with it though.
Since it's the Qubeley, the kit obviously comes with funnels on her tail binder. Since it's the Qubeley, the kit obviously comes with funnels on her tail binder. Since this is the SD incarnation, there are only 2 funnels, and they do not fit normally into the tail binder like on the show. They simply plug into two pegs on the binder. There are also molded in panel lines for the regular 10 funnels on the MS, which is a neat although albeit useless inclusion. You can also rise up the binder as shown.
Although they give you funnels, you're going to have to find your own way to display them. In this image, I just used your standard blu tack. The reason the left hand is an open one is so that you can put the Qubeley in a pose where she's "commanding" her funnels using her hand, like in this image.
Qubeley MK II Ple Two use Parts:
This is a direct recolor of the Qubeley's parts, only without the torso area cut out. All the runners are in red plastic save for the polycap runner.
Just like the Qubeley, Ple Two's MK II has a special shiny finish too, and this one is much more eaiser to catch. It looks really good in my opinion and I honestly wish it were done on more recent kits as well.
Although the finish looks awesome, it's still only done on one side. Unlike the white finish however, the difference between the bare plastic and the special finish is a lot more noticeable if you look close enough, but it still looks fine from a distance.
Completed Product:
I know, bad image, she just blends into my background. This is a bit more color inaccurate to the regular Qubeley in this set. Like the standard SD Qubeley, it's torso is part of the runner, so instead of being violet like it should be, it's red. Also like the standard SD Qubeley, all color apps are stickers, and the entire kit itself is pure red, save for the polycaps. It's not too noticable in this picture, but the Zeon symbol on it's left wing binder is the worst sticker here.
Due to being a direct remold, it shares the exact same articulation and accessories as the original Qubeley. Although the finish difference of the beam saber is quite noticable, due to being coated on one side only.
She can also use funnels as well.
Qubeley MK II Elpeo use Parts:
Again, it's just a direct recolor from the regular SD Qubeley mold. All runners are a beautiful dark blue save for the polycap sheet.
Like the other kits, there is a special finish to the kit, although if you'r very perceptive, you may notice something different in this finish to others.
You may think that the finish is only on one side, but in this case, it's coated on both. The thing is, this entire runner is actually black, and the blue is painted on. So it has a more unique looking effect, like I said, if you are perceptive, you may notice the black spots around the plastic. That is the actual plastic color, and it makes for quite a cool looking effect.
Although, this cool effect does come at a price, and one that i'm not fond of. Similar to mekki plating, the nubmarks are horrible, and cutting the gates reveals the black plastic nubs underneath, and since this is a recolor of a regular kit, it's not undergated. Which means horrible nubmarks around the kit. It's a bit of a disappointment, especially since this is my favorite of the three.
Completed Product:
Like the other Qubeleys, the finished product looks great, aside from the torso which needs to be a darker purple. The black nubmarks are also an eyesore, but out of all 3, this is my favorite of the Qubeleys. I just dig that dark blue colorscheme, and Elpeo Ple is one of my favorite characters despite how annoying she can be at times. Just like on Ple Two's MK II, the Zeon symbol on the right wing binder is really the only horrible offender sticker-wise.
As expected, it shares the exact amount of articulation and accessories as the other two Qubeleys. Although there is no difference in finish, I would've traded it for dark blue base plastic instead of black plastic due to nubmarks and possible finish scratches.
She can be mounted on a stand like the other Qubeleys via your average butt connection. I recommend making her body point down and her head pointing up when it comes to aerial poses. Her articulation doesn't allow for many of them. This is literally the best arial pose i've ever done with this kit.
She still got the beam saber and funnels. No difference here, although the funnels do scratch off the finish everytime you put them back on the tail binder. Not like that's a real problem.
Now for some groupshots! In this picture, they've all got beam sabers active and are covering each other's sides so they won't get ambushed. Good strats.
I don't have 3 useable stands, so I had to put them face flat for a group flying pose. I tried.
Verdict:
In the end, despite retailed at 2000 yen, I think this is a wonderful package, especially considering it's age. Remember, this isn't a BB Senshi, it's from the GGF line, which is a much older line which look a lot more deformed than current SD's. The SD Qubeley is one of my favorite looking SD's, and I actually do indeed find it cute, even though it's from a GGF. I think that compared to the regular SD Qubeley, this pack set is the better deal. Because not only do you get two Qubeley MK II's alongside with the regular Qubeley, but they all come in special finishes and the purple mekki torso for the regular Qubeley looks fantastic. I admit, there are some problems, since this is an old SD kit, don't expect much articulation, even for an SD, and the nubmarks on Elpeo's Qubeley MK II are horrible, so also be careful not to scratch that finish.
Overall in this pack, you get two exclusive recolors of the regular Qubeley with all off the kits coming in special finishes, and better color separation with the mekki torso on the regular Qubeley, I can absolutely recommend this if you find this for a satisfactory price. Sadly, since this set is as rare, so getting one for a good price might be a bit hard, i'd say about 2,500 yen at the maximum, but you can pay more if you're very desperate for this set. In the end, I recommend this to literally anyone, especially fans of ZZ, Qubeleys and/or their pilots, people who collect rare kits, people who like special kits, SD builders and people who want to try something more unique than your average build.
Pros:
- All kits come in special finishes, most only on one side, yet the difference between the bare plastic and special finish isn't too noticable. (!)
- Two exclusive SD Qubeleys that you can't normally get without painting. (!)
- Mekki purple torso for regular Qubeley, which also makes it more color accurate than the regular SD Qubeley.
Cons:
- Nubmarks on Elpeo's Qubeley MK II are horrible. (!)
- Very little articulation on all kits due to dated engineering.
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