I'll start with the positives: it looks great. Moving on to the negatives, it's fragile, falls apart constantly, the build experience is miserable, parts like to fly off to the extent that cement is a requirement, pieces are frequently held on with hopes and dreams and little else. While this version of the grandfather looks great, I can't justify anyone to get it with looks alone. I actually went into this kit with an open mind, filtering the negative press out thinking it probably won't be that bad, maybe everyone who had issues with it were just scrubs who didn't know what they were doing. Maybe they're exaggerating. But no, it is actually that bad. This is the first kit I've built that I hated so much I won't even detail it. Almost none of it is undergated as well, in contrast to more modern RGs. I understand that for the time it was probably a really cool idea, and I see how it set the stage for RG kits to evolve and it is historically important for that reason. But for the love of all you hold dear, just wait for the 2.0 to come out, or if you're reading this review after it's been released, just get that instead. I can't speak to that one's quality, but the bar is pretty low so I'm assuming it clears at least this hurdle. I'm going to repurpose its accessories for other kits and pose the (very fiddly) core fighter on its own and call it good from there.

This is the very first Real Grade kit ever released, so it's obviously got some quirks and some caveats. The detail is absolutely incredible - which means lots of tiny little parts. You'll need to be patient and careful. There's a few bits you're almost-certainly going to want to glue. And I'd strongly recommend getting some decent waterslide decals to use instead of the stickers in the box. But, ultimately, it's still a great kit.

Recommends this product

Terrible build experience from start to finish. The designer who decided on that tab that you have to pull out of the foot part is my enemy now. The way the arms/shoulders connect is an absolute joke. The shoulder armor cap just sits loose and the arms tend to want to just fall off. The left arm is completely incapable of even holding the shield; the tab just slips right out of the slot in the arm. The beam saber tab is too big for the hand so it can't hold it. The fingers want to fall out of the hands. Try to pose it and the thing just wants to fall over. Not even going to bother with any decals for this one. Probably just going back into its box and into the closet for an eventual kitbash. Bandai should buy all of these kits back from stores/customers and melt them down.