The year is 2000. Diablo II, Counter Strike, The Sims and Deus Ex released. The PlayStation 2 came out. Britney Spears and Eminem are playing everywhere and in France, the beginning of the end of Concorde came about, as one crashed outside of Paris.
Meanwhile in Japan, another Perfect Grade hit the market and it was the PG Zeta Gundam, a 1/60 scale fully transformable model kit with built in electronics.
Aesthetics:
This kit is largely anime accurate, with chunky proportions, most comparable to the 1996 MG but quite different from the later kits, such as the MG 2.0, MG Ver.Ka and the RG, which are all slimmer.
This version is my new favorite in both modes.
Panel lines are sparse, with some tic marks scattered throughout, with some seam lines. Some amount of under-gating with occasional nub marks - I would recommend you be particularly careful with the navy plastic, as it marks easily.
Inner frame detail is somewhat sparse compared to other PG kits of its age.
No color correcting stickers, but the gigantic decal sheet are all stickers - I recommend 3rd party water slide decals.
Mechanics:
Two main points - The transformation into Wave Rider mode and the several lighting effects. The lights have three switches, one for the head, one for the fin and one in the shield for the wings for 4 diodes. Additionally there is a separate acrylic beam saber with a built in diode that you twist to turn on.
Opening panels on head, calves and chest. That's it.
Articulation is surprisingly decent and it can pose somewhat, but it won't hold up with age, due to the polycaps, expect it to fall over eventually. Like others, has suspension in ankles (which remains a weird feature).
Equipment:
1 Beam Rifle - stored on fin and either forearm
1 Shield/Nose Tip
2 Beam Saber Hilts and hand-clips - Stored in side skirts
2 Pink Beam Saber Effect Parts
1 Battery (included) beam saber with permanent acrylic light up beam effect
2 Grenade packs - attachable on forearms which open the grenade hatches
1 Set of Die Cast Landing Gear
Conclusion:
The build is very fun, despite the polycaps and the screws - You get a lot of extras and there are tiny baggies with clear numbers for every screw, spring and battery component, so despite the daunting and complex manual, things are laid out mostly clearly.
At one point you will have to tape diodes into clear pieces for the wing tips and this is not well explained - The best I can tell you is to line up the little corners so they match the notch near the tip of the acrylic piece.
I recommend using an AI to translate the text to tell the difference between left/right and diodes.
I had a lot of fun building it and I think old Perfect Grade kits offer an experience that newer ones (Strike forwards) don't.
I found the transformation to be a little confusing (I used Dalong's page to help explain it) but satisfying and it holds up very well. For me it was much easier to detach the wings entirely and then line them up, as you need to do a lot of folding and bending to make them match.
It's a big model, so there's a lot to handle. It's not quite as 'spaghetti' as the 2.0, but as polycaps loosen with age, it might become worse.
