Gunpla Secret Base's review on MG Exia Ignition Mode has come to Part 4 - on the head, which is a part I'm really looking forward to ^^
Plenty of parts for the head - not only are the GN Stripes on the forehead are individually molded, the sideburns' vents are molded with tiny lines as well.
Much fiercer looking face design for Exia as compared to the 1/100 scale version.
It's also mentioned in this review that the face is rather smaller as compared to the helmet. ^^;
Parts for Exia Repair's head, with a single foil sticker for the eye included (plus another red dot for his Terminator eye) ^^
Never seen that before for a Gundam-type model kit XD
Exia Repair's completed head - never thought that a battle damaged component can be made into parts to be assembled as well. XD
For this review, Gunpla Secret Base listed three observations made from the runners:
(1) Under gate treatment seen on the runners for the GN Drive - plating version in the future? or extra precaution to prevent any careless cutting on those parts?
(2) Runners marked with "MG Exia" & "MG Inner Frame" - variations in the future?
This one's rather straight forward actually, and it has confirmed my belief that variations like Exia R2, Astraea and other are coming. There is an example of this in the past: MG F91. The runners for that particular MG are labeled "MG Gundam F91" and "MG Frame 1". The other was used for MG Crossbone and Crosbone Full Cloth. Without the exclusive marking of a particular model for its runners, they can be reused for others easily.
Actually, Bandai can reuse runners from this and that models for different variations regardless of what label they have if they want, since they are so expert at manipulating the arrangement of those parts on the runners ^^;
(3) Concentration or parts for Exia R2 seen. Kind of obvious already before the release of this MG eh? From the business perspective, why wouldn't Bandai release variations from the design of this MG ^^
Personally, I think R2 would be released much later than Astraea. Given that there are so many similarities between Exia and Exia R2, Bandai would most likely release something much different among the possible choices, which is Astraea. Type F is possible as well, but I believe Bandai would aim at something more conventional of a Gundam which will be accepted more widely among the fans. Avalanche Exia being Exia with extra armors would most likely be the last to be out (if there's one being planned), as the base is the same Exia we're getting this month, and the most expensive one as well. Example: Armored VF-25S and VF-25F came last being the most expensive releases in its series.
I shared my views on this matter in this previous posting.
All images from Gunpla Secret Base.
