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Meat and Potatoes; 4.8
Perks; 5.0
Homer Factor; 5.0
Each figure is now 5 1/2" tall. Woohoo!!! Classic Gundam with lots... and lots... and lots of articualtion. The RX-93 is mostly white with gun-metal grey chest and yellow and red high-lights. The Sazabi is very 'Hulked' out. It's almost twice the size in terms of volume as the Nu-Gundam with huge shoulder bads and extra chunks of armor plating. . One thing with the Sazabi it's.. well... it's SUPPOSED to be red, but it looks almost pink.
Naturally, each figure also comes with a load of extras; multiple beam-weapons, shields, rifles, bazooka, and the all important Nu weapons back which even has a detachable satellite for the Nu-Gundam and 3 'funnels' for the Sazabi. .
The meat and potatoes are good... but juuuuuuuuuuuust off the mark. Articulation, as usual, is outstanding; the only thing the figure can't do is the lotus position... which someone at Bandai is probably working on. The amazing thing is the detail. It's not enough that the head swivels, but there is a ball-joint in there so the head can also move up and down. Oh, added plus; IT'S BIGGER. Not but much, granted; each is about 5 1/2" tall rather then the standard 4 1/2", but you do notice in terms of the weight. The figures also seem much sturdier with the added heft.
Unfortunately, the added size does accentuate a SLIGHT problem; detail in the sculpt. At 4 1/2" inches, ANYTHING you add in detail is a huge plus; panel lines, extra thrusters, even a bit of paint on the face is a big difference. Once the scale goes up, though, so do the requirements for detail. The fact that thrusters and panel lines have no paint exaggerates how 'plain' the figure is. Not a huge problem, by any means, but it is a bit noticeable.
Accessories are amazing. The usual beam rifles, shields, swords, and hand-weapons come with the figures. Oh, the beam-sabers aren't just obligatory swords, either. The large 'katana' each figure has is VERY big and would make Conan the Barbarian proud. A nice touch on the beam-sabers is the blades are removable.
It's that sort of added detail that makes these figures rock; it's not enough to just give the figures STUFF, but little extras like mounting points on the figure for the accessories just add more 'omph' to the package. Oh, and the Nu-Gundam figure comes with the Nu (Actually it's supposed to be the Greek letter Nu, your math teacher will show you what it's supposed to look like.) weapons pack and likewise Sazabi has a set of 'funnel's that it can 'launch.' In the series, each section of the Nu weapon's pack separates into a little independent satellite capable of unleashing devastating energy beams. Unfortunately, only one section of the back-pack detaches to form the satellite. Oddly enough, the Sazabi comes with it's own version of the Nu-pack and three 'funnels' that are formed into 'attack' mode. Why they could do this for the Sazabi but not with the Nu Gundam is kinda odd. Oh well, you can't have EVERYTHING.
Another SLIGHT problem with the weapons; they don't necessarily fit in the hands well. MSIA versions of figures all come with multiple hands that are custom fit for the weapons, for obvious reasons; a hands molded for a rifle stock won't hold the cylindrical handle of a beam-saber well. Unfortunately, the US figures stick with one set of hands, so you have hands that just barely hold on to all weapons.
Homer factor? Oh boy... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay high. Bandai has created a rather high standard with the Gundam figures; articulation, accessories, detail, AND a very decent selling price. Bandai nailed it on the head with these two. And we're not talking tiny figures, either.
Over all? You a bot fan? You a fan of good figures? You a fan of AFFORDABLE figures with lots of stuff? Then stop drooling and JUST GET ONE.