1/144 NG Gundam Spiegel Review

The Gundam Spiegel was always one of the MS in G Gundam that I loved from the moment I saw it on the Gundam wiki. It managed to pull of the stealthy ninja aesthetic while being a bulky german looking mecha from the 90's, and it mixed them perfectly. Instantly this design had captured me and I found it to be cool. However, it only got a vintage NG and a seldom-restocked MG back then, so I had always had the trouble finding a kit of it for my shelf. However when Bandai announced their restocking of old G Gundam kits, I knew instantly I wanted to get the NG Spiegel on my shelf, especially after hearing from both r/Gunpla and a few reviews that it was quite decent for it's time. I went into Fook Le, found this thing for $3.6, and I instantly bought it for myself, and after about a week, I began building it.

Box:

The box is your standard 1/144 G Gundam NG boxart. A small sized kit with some old drawn art, in it you see the Spiegel dueling the Dragon Gundam, about to cut off it's dragon claws.

Parts:

For parts, you get two multi-colored runners using the same mold like most vintage 1/144 NG's...

...a dark blue runner, and a standard G Gundam polycap runner.

You also get a decently big sticket sheet, not great to look at, but decent for the time

Manual:

The manual has a shot of the kit in a diorama in a horrible pose, with a bit of description of the MS with its "Ultimate Technology", and his mysterious pilot, Schwarz Bruder.

You also get some more art with some beyblade-like MS stats, as well as more info on the Gundam. Spiegel seems really powerful.

And as always, you get the beautiful color guide in text, as well as the part count.

Completed Product:

The completed kit looks actually pretty damn solid for a G Gundam NG. Proportions may look a bit off, but they're actually very lineart accurate, however the shoulders are really disconnected from the shoulders, but other than that, it looks basically perfect with the stickers applied. Granted they aren't the best stickers in the world, but I found only the chin sticker and the crotch stickers to be offensive, everything else behaved fine. It's a surprisingly nice model of the Spiegel for it's time with above average color separation, and it has cool details like a rough patterning on the helmet to make it look like a real military german helmet, which even the MG didn't do. It's a surprisingly neat detail, and it's definitely one that just makes this a bit better than you'd think.

Articulation:

Head's on a ball joint, moves like one.

The big shoulders do hinder movement.

There's a swivel at the elbow joint itself, which only bends a dissappointing 75˚. C'mon Bandai, you did better than this before.

Knees are better though at the average 90˚ and kick up decently.

Foot spread however is nonexistent.

Gimmicks:

The Spiegel doesn't have any accessories, so instead we'll delve into the gimmicks. First is the Core Lander, which simply detaches from the back when you pull it out.

Flip up the thrusters and flip down the cockpit, and you're done. It's unpainted, but for it's size, grade, and the kit's price, it's nice they included it to begin with.

Second gimmick are the Spiegel's weapons that are attached to the arms, the Spiegel blades.

They're quite simple really, just swing them down, and turn them around so the kit ca grip the handles from the back.

Like so.

Now he can slashy slashy and stabby stabby.

Size Comparison:

The Spiegel is small for a 1/144 kit, although this is to scale with it's original size. Funnily enough, the HG Shining is actually meant to be smaller than the Spiegel.

Verdict:

The 1/144 NG Gundam Spiegel did not disappoint, for it's time, this was definitely a good kit compared to it's fellow 1/144 G Gundam NG brethren. It's detailing and color separation for it's time are definitely above average, even surpassing 1/144 Wing kits and early HG's, which is something not many NG's can brag about. It's got nice detailing like the rough molding on the helmet, and the little gimmick of the core lander was a nice addon. The proportions are more accurate compared to the MG with it's bulkier appearance, although the MG has more normalised proportions are what I personally prefer. It's poseability isn't exactly something to speak home off, and a small number of it's stickers are not fun to deal with. Overall I'd still say the MG is the better kit and you should get it over this 1/144 NG, however if you're a 1/144 only collector, or want a cheaper kit and don't mind it's problems, you'll have a surprisingly good NG to buy instead.

Pros:

- Super cheap, only 500 yen retail. (!)

- Color separation is great for it's age.

- Surprising detail with certain areas, like a rough patterning on the helmet.

- Has a working Core Lander gimmick.

Cons:

- A few bad stickers, specifically the chin sticker and the groin stickers.

- Poseability is not that great.

- Seamlines are not friendly.

Neutral:

- Proportions are less human and skew more to the lineart.