Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan we’ve been sent the Robot Damashii Hi-Nu Gundam as seen in the novel Beltorchika’s Children (one of the adaptations for Char’s Counterattack). In addition, we’ve also included some game footage of the mecha in action at the end of the review.
The RX-93-v2 Hi-Nu Gundam, as designed by Yutaka Izubuchi, is one of our all time favourite mobile suit designs. It was meant as the “finished” version of the original RX-93 Nu Gundam, as that was effectively rushed into battle in the film. The Hi-Nu by contrast is a more armored version with a wing-like configuration for the fin funnels at the rear. Not to mention having a lovely white and blue colour scheme to boot.
Due to its fantastically niche appearance, it’s become somewhat of special unit in gaming. Appearing in all manner of titles, from Super Robot Wars to Another Century’s Episode and Gundam Extreme Versus. To the point that it’s now very much a fan favourite.
We fell in love with this design back when B-Club did their 1/100 scale garage kit back in the late 90′s. It just looked so damn cool and sleek. Over the years, it’s been given all manner of kit and even toy treatments but this Robot Damashii figure really is something else. Unlike the more standardised versions of the design, this iteration is probably one of the closest to Izubuchi’s original lineart. Admittedly it’s a bit chunkier in places but overall this is a truly gorgeous toy.
Toy: Robot Damashii Hi-Nu Gundam
Price: 5,500 yen
Size/Weight: 27.5 x 19.8 x 6.5 cm / 390g
The sculpt and paint job are pretty much spot on in every way, with the decals being rather nicely done too. The articulation is similar to all other Robot Damashii figures, sturdy and able to hold poses well. Even with the fin funnels attached at the rear it can stand up just fine, though you can use the propellant tanks to also prop it up. Gimmicks-wise you have the beam sabers tucked into the top of the fin funnel housing. You also have various fin funnel beam parts that can be attached to one of the Robot Damashii stands (sold separately). The hyper bazooka and deam saber parts are also included. You also have an option to swap out the standard central rear stabiliser to one that looks closer to the original Izubuchi design. It’s also a big toy and the whole figure feels nicely beefy.
Overall then, considering the price, this is a really great toy of the Hi-Nu Gundam. Not only is the build quality at the high standards you expect from the Robot Damashii line but it also caters to the old school fans of the design in lots of lovely ways. Considering this is also one of our main go to units in the Gundam Extreme Versus games, we’re absolutely overjoyed that we finally have a proper figure of the design to play. Whilst very much meant for the fans, this is a great toy of a wonderful design and as such it comes thoroughly recommended. We only hope Bandai follow up with a Robot Damashii figure for the MSN-04II Nightingale.