Joe's Gunpla World: 1/100 NG 00 Raiser in Designer's Colors

In Preparation for MG 00 Raiser

I had just finished Gundam 00 for the first time when MG 00 Raiser was announced and I immediately pre-ordered it! It's here now, but I won't get to it until the end of summer. I've got a big project in the works and another HUGE project that I will hopefully complete before the end of August involving 9 kits, ping pong balls, some scrap plastic, magnets, wire, and a dremel tool... No electricity, though, so don't hope for LEDs.

Anyway, upon first seeing the 00 Gundam, I was none too thrilled with it's design. I didn't watch 00 while it was airing, so the constant stream of variations on the kit led me to feel annoyed beyond belief! We got the 00 Gundam, the 0 Raiser, the 00 Raiser, the 00 Raiser Trans AM, the Seven Swords, the limited Seven Swords G Inspection, the Designer's Colors, and then the Condenser Type, and that's just the 1/144 HG's! It was looking as though the 00 Gundam was going to surpass MG Zaku II 2.0 frames or MG Strike Gundam frames in number of releases! But at least those were different units, this was just the same Gundam over and over.

The releases stopped though and I started watching Gundam 00. Admittedly, the first time I saw the 00 Gundam in action, swinging the GN drives forward to create an energy barrier, I still thought the design was a little goofy. I mean, come on, all the energy from the two GN Drives was routed through those supports on the backpack? I guess. Then the 0 Raiser came along and the 00 Gundam reached it's full potential. That was when my opinions started to make a 180. When I saw the GN Sword 3, the Raiser Sword, slice through entire battle ships, I was hooked. I hadn't seen anything like that since Epyon took down Space Fortress Barge!

I wanted a 1/100 scale 00 Gundam to go with my 1/100 NG Exia and I wanted the Raiser and the GN Sword 3. I didn't need the fancy clear greed stand that came with the normal release, so I opted for the extra markings and LED unit and bought the 1/100 NG 00 Raiser in Designer's Colors. The lighter tones of blue and grey suit the desing of the MS very well, in my opinion. On with the kit:

The Box art is very cool, 00 Raiser in full battle ready gear gliding along with the Celestial Being emblem emblazoned on the box in the background. Simple and elegant.