So earlier this year I rekindled my love for building gundams in a big way, and this is the kit I started off with. The Zeta Gundam is the star of the Z Gundam series, the second in the UC timeline. Z Gundam is also one of the greatest works of science fiction, ranked up with Star Wars, Star Trek, and Mass Effect, in my opinion. So it was exciting to get my hands on this kit.
Also, my camera won't let me adjust the white balance, so the colors definitely look a little yellow-ish. I'll make sure I figure out how to fix that.
The Zeta has a tough time standing on its own. It is back heavy, due to the backpack, and there's not a lot of mobility in the feet to get a good flat-footed stance. Despite the transformation gimmick (which I don't care a whit for), the inner frame seems pretty solid. The waist joint on mine doesn't seem to want to stay straight, but that may just be me. His joints are pretty tight, which is good, but it's tough to get exactly the pose you want. Ultimately, this gundam should probably be posed in flight. It's a good thing he comes with his own base.
In the air, the Zeta's capable of some dynamic poses, with good movement in the hips and knees. The wrists are also strong enough to solidly heft the beam rifle or sabers without any drooping.
The head is beautiful and is one of my favorite parts of the Zeta Gundam. The all-white face which seems extra long is unique and striking. As in the anime, the antennae fold up and the head slides down into the chest during transformation. Unfortunately, because it is a transforming gundam, there's no way to get an led unit into the Zeta.
As for accessories, the Zeta comes complete with its own base, the shield which doubles as the nose to the wave-rider transformation, a standard beam rifle, a hyper-mega launcher, two beam sabers stored in the skirt armor, and two missile pods stored on the forearms.
Overall it's a good kit, and quite beautiful. It looks a little taller and skinnier than most images from the original anime, which may be the influence of Katoki Hajime, as many of his designs end up lengthening the suits. It's quite posable, but I would love if Bandai made a non-transforming version of this kit with an inner frame comparable to the Mk-II or the original gundam.
