Mg exia ignition mode review

1 of my favourite gundam designs ever, mg exia is a kit i must get. I got the ignition mode because i wanted to build the repair exia. After watching s2 ep 1 of gundam 00: the angels' second advent, i was really surprised to see setsuna pilot the exia once again. The half-broken head+ broken sword+cape = epic. I mean, even the name of the episode is great. Even though the repair had little screen time, it is apparently awesome enough to make Bandai make a kit out of it.

1.Intro:
Model: Exia repair1
Size: Mg 1 100
Pilot: Setsuna F. Seiei

Boxart:

Looking cool featuring both versions of the exia.

Sideshot:

I liked this shot showing off the back and front views of both versions.

Telling you that the bonuses are much better than strike freedom fbm.

In case u are still in doubt of this kit, it tells you that it has laser etched markings on its clear parts and its Gn drive can light up.


Manual:

Same cover as boxart.

Price: 5250 yen for premium price, 6825 for regular price. ( i thought premium means more expensive)
          I got it at 5250 yen outside japan, very luckily indeed. It was the last one at the hobby shop.

2. Parts:

Before i start i must point out the biggest limitation of this ignition mode. Unlike what its boxart suggests, it is not meant to be transformed from exia to exia repair and back and forth. U can at most do it once. This is because certain parts like stickers, the sword and the head cannot be changed easily.
i chose to build the repair version.

Head:

The main highlight of the gundam, cool design and kudos to Bandai for making it so cool. It comes with a broken v-fin and face mask. The sticker on the forehead is repair mode sticker which is different from the regular green one. The repair stickers show exia's inner workings. Only complain is that i will prefer it to have a small clear part to cover the sticker. The red eye is a small sticker so be careful not to lose it.

Torso:

This is the best torso i have seen so far. All the clear green parts in this kit comes in green and they have laser etched markings. One of the best gimmick i have seen in gundam model kits. It also means Bandai will release a Mg exia R2 in time to come. Gotta make the full use of the laser markings, eh?
Back to the torso, it has astonishing articulation. the two side parts can flip out, and the waist can move quite a bit. However the waist is abit weak and since repair mode only has 1 arm, the model sometimes can lean towards 1 side.
The bottom piece attached to the gn drive is grey instead of blue for repair mode, and the left yellow part is missing.

There is an extra red part for the back if u choose not to put the Gn drive in. Reason being that there is a clear stand included to display the Gn drive.

Arms:

I only built the right arm, since its left arm was destroyed by graham aker. nothing special for repair mode, articulation is good as expected from a 00 model. there is a small white attachment at the back of the shoulder for the beam saber. But since i am not attaching the beam saber since this is repair mode. The awesome green part appears again. One problem i have is the shoulder is loose when attached to the torso.

waist:

Nothing special, every part is independent. the left front skirt is not used for the repair mode.

The back is more interesting as there are 2 more attachment parts for the beam sabers which sadly are not utilized as well.

Legs:

I love the design of the legs. There are these clear rubbery bendable parts used at the top and lower part of the legs. This is some kind of new material Bandai came out with. I like them, they look beautiful and they show some inner frame as well. this is also used for the torso as well, although that one is not as obvious.
Some white parts are missing as well for repair mode.

Showing its articulation.

Weapons and accessories:

The cool broken sword, some white parts come with pre-built scratches.
The Gn drive with its clear stand. I bought the Lr41 watch batteries and tried out the led included.
Well sometimes it works, sometimes it does not, other times it flickers.

The batman cape.

Silver chrome parts. Pity i won't be using most of them since i am building repair.

 The white little setsuna figure is included. The allelujah figure on the right is not.

Cool....


3. Details and articulation:

All assembled. It is easy to see that this is one heck of a model. Details wise: no paint required, just simple lining and u are done.
Articulation wise this model has one of the most articulated and the least articulated part for gundam models.
The feet is very articulated, it can bend at 2 points as seen from this pic below.

Then the least articulated part is the neck. It is connected by a single ball joint. which means a rather goofy looking head which has problems looking around.

The back shot. The cape is made up of 2 pieces and they can move independently. Which means u can swing them towards the back when exia is charging forward. They do fall off sometimes, but they are easily put back so no complains.

The Gn drive in light up mode. U can see the marking looking absolutely kickass.

A clear picture showing the waist and upper leg section for no particular reason.

 A height comparison with one of my favourite Mg the strike noir. Around the same height, not counting strike noir's backpack.

4. Poseability

The waist joint and the ankle joints in particular are weak. I had a hard time getting it to stand steadily with 2 flat feet. So an action base is a must-have for posing with this kit.

                                                                  My favourite pose

  Broken sword looks very cool.

GN drive light up, sword dashing forward. Die A-LAWS!

Although the poses look very good, with only 1 weapon left the repair1 actually had limited choice of poses.

5. Sturdiness

This is actually quite a sturdy model. Only slightly loose part i have so far is the shoulder. The cape parts do come off sometime but that is expected when u have a cape that actually has articulation.

What most impressed me is the Gn sword-one of the best design for a gundam weapon i reckon. Other than holding it with the hand ( hand is the usual trigger finger/ 3finger split with peg) , there is a slot at the forearm to attach the gn sword.

Here it is, the slot for extra stability

Of course, even though exia holds the gn sword well, it will still come off if u are not careful when making poses.

6. Conclusion

I liked exia and the repair so this kit is a must-buy for me, and i got it at the premium price too :)

But say at 6825 yen is it worth the money? 

Details: 9/10 laser-etched clear green parts.

Articulation: 8/10 could have been better if the head's articulation had not lost to my HGs

Sturdiness: 7.5/10 cape is slightly loose, ankle is weak

Poseability: 6.5/10 with only 1 weapon the repair mode will have less possible poses.

the awesomes:

1. Cool accessories like gn drive and cape

2. Epic laser etched green parts

3. Model looks fantastic

4. It is piloted by Setsuna F. Seiei

the not-so-awesome

1. you can only choose to build either the exia or the repair1, which means there will be many unused parts leftover. 

2. 1 point of articulation for neck

3. Model has weak ankles thus need action base for posing

4. Decals are unimpressive. never used any.

I liked this model enough that i may just go out and buy a regular exia so i can pose them side by side and also use the silver chrome parts leftover. With all the coolness, i say i will be a sucker and buy the kit even if it is 6825 yen.

Strike noir: hey brother we both got little screen time in the anime eh?

Exia repair : u are mistaken, this is my second form already, i will be returning as repair2 later.

Strike noir: no fair, what about me?

Exia repair : Sven forgot about you after he went star-gazing at DSSD.

Strike noir: well at least i look better on the new action base 3

                                     Gotta get a space-themed postcard for the action base 3.