SD GGF Big Zam Review

If you know me, you'll know that i'm a huge Mobile Armor fan. I will often prioritise buying a mobile armor kit if I see it in a shop, unless it's way past it's value level, and the Big Zam was always a MA that I loved. Something about the crab like appearance, giant body cannon, green color use, and the way the MA was a powerful weapon all appealed the Big Zam to me. Piloted by Dozle Zabi, it was also piloted by one beast of an honorable zeon in combat, it was a shame it wasn't mass produced. Since there isn't any commonly found Big Zam kits however, I wasn't able to obtain one until I was lucky enough the GGF from a bit of hunting. Safe to say that I spared no expense in shelling out the cash and walking home with my GGF Big Zam.

Box:

The box is quite average for a GGF box. You get a bad CGI rendering of an SD Big Zam, and you also get a small little SD RX-78-2 holding a beam saber, note the kits are not scaled like that. Also a funny bit is the typo of "Byg Zam" on the product's name, a funny little mistake.

Parts:

For actual PS plastic runners, all we get are 2 green runners that obviously share the same mold. Yep, this kit is essentially molded entirely in one color.

We also get a pair of identical polycap sheets in a light grey color.

As well as the source of all the colors on this kit, the stickers...ew.

Manual:

Similar to other GGFs, we have a manual in a similar style to old MG manuals, with a CGI representation of the Big Zam.

In it, you get information of the Big Zam, as well as it's predecessor and concept mass production type. Color guide sadly, although you still get the instructions and colorguide.

Completed Product:

The finished product is a chibified version of the Big Zam. due to not really having a standard humanoid body, the kit instead opted for shorter legs and a more squabby body. Appearances look alright, but as you already know, all color asides from green on this kit are stickers, and they are all horrible. The toe stickers suck, they are all the same wraparound-type stickers, but they don't really cover the entire area. This means they leave small green bits peeking out even with good application, and that's not even considering the peeling off it has. The knees are also pretty bad, mostly due to their application on a large rounded surface. Frankly the window stickers were the only "good" stickers, and those aren't great either. However this is frankly to be expected from an SD kit, even more so a GGF, so it's not that bad, especially with Big Zam's colorscheme. Due to it's simple construction, it's quite sturdy for it's age for a model kit. There are a few hollow parts, specifically in the edges of the 2 "halves" of the shell, but they're barely noticeable.

Articulation:

Due to being a MA, it's articulation isn't a lot to talk about, however for an SD, it's honestly quite impressive. First of all, the large mega particle gun can go slightly up and down.

Thighs are on universal joints and can kick up decently, however it's true strength lies in swinging back.

Knee is a surprising 90˚ bend, which is very nice for an SD kit, although for a kit like this, it's certainly a bit more expected.

Feet movement is quite decent for an SD, they're on a ball joint and a range so they move around decently. The legs spread quite well too, however the ankles don't really a huge spread.

Size Comparison

As you can see that despite being a MA, it's quite standard SD size, so it's definitely not accurate to the boxart sadly.

Verdict:

The SD GGF Big Zam is quite a nice little SD kit. For the retail of 500 yen, you're not getting much more than half a full sized runner, some polycaps, and stickers, but honestly for an SD, what you get is good enough. Articulation for what it is, does the job fine, you're not going to expect a lot of poses from a MA, and honestly I think this kit does more than enough with it's universal hips, knee joints, and feet movement. Stickers are quite bad, I do recommend painting for those who are able too, but due to the simple colorscheme of the Big Zam, the colorscheme is quite accurate despite being an SD GGF. Honestly there isn't much to expect nor complain about here, the Big Zam doesn't really have a lot to work with, and thus there aren't a huge amount of expectations to have. For an SD GGF MA kit, the Big Zam scores top notch, without much to complain about. If you're interested in MA kits, this one is a nice pickup to have, but remember that it's still a small SD GGF kit, and overpaying it is not really worth it. Picking it up for retail price however is definitely not a waste of money, and recommended from me. 

Pros:

- Articulation for what is an SD GGF Mobile Armor kit, is really good. (!)

- Decently sturdy to handle for it's age, doesn't really feel very fragile nor loose.

Cons:

- No color separation from parts, all colors are from stickers, and they are quite bad stickers.