Is it ugly? Yes, but it'll grow on you once you've built it. Bear in mind that it was designed for the limited animation tools and capabilities they had 40 years ago, as this featured in an episode released in the beginning of 1980.
It is impressive how Bandai have modernized this old design and managed to give it an absolute ton of intricate detail, sadly most of which is hidden by the plating, and underneath where all the thrusters are.
This is one of the antagonist mobile suits used by Char Aznable which finally enabled him to destroy (most of) the pesky Amuro's Gundam RX-78-2, albeit at the cost of the Zeong itself. The height is about the same as a regular Gundam, but if it had its legs (Perfect Zeong) it'd be almost twice as tall, at some 35 meters (vs the 18 meters of the original Gundam). It is however, very wide, has a massive skirt/waist section jammed packed with massive thrusters and two giant hands, each finger being a laser cannon.
The idea behind it was to make a highly maneuverable space mobile suit capable of utilizing the powers of a 'newtype' (the show's version of evolved humans with semi-psychic powers) and extending its wire guided arms far out in order to give the pilot different angles of attack.
As for the model itself, it features waist articulation that no other model and probably none that will come out for a long time, has ever had. It will bend forwards and backwards to an extreme degree, allowing the thrusters to be pointed directly opposite or almost aligned with its torso. The segmented panels on the skirt section all move around in various ways, the torso thrusters will move depending on whether it's bent forwards/backwards, the eye inside turns when the head turns and of course each finger on the hand is articulated at each segment.
The head comes off, as it is a vehicle/escape pod in itself. There is a hatch on the front of the torso and the back of the head as it is a 2 seater capable of being used by 1 person.
The hands come off as well and there are thick wires that you put between them and the arms. While these are sturdy, there are little arms (attachable to the included base) that can hold them in whatever position you want.
There is no weapon equipment included, as the mobile suit in itself is a multitude of powerful beam weapons fired from its fingers, mouth and on the sides of its torso.
As mentioned, there is a base with an articulated stand on it, as well as two articulated 'arms' to hold the arms of the model included in this.
If you just want it standing on a surface, there is landing gear included that you simply attach onto the bottom, but then you'd severely limit the posability of this model, which is its greatest strength by far. There is a little model of Char Aznable included.
There is a sticker decal sheet with the usual large array of Real Grade stickers.
Why would I call this the Number One RG kit and why am I sure that it'll be better than what we'll see for years?
The preceding 2020 "Force Impulse Gundam" was essentially flawless, a testament to the capabilities of Bandai for making near perfect tolerances of parts coming together to form a tight and durable model with fantastic articulation, but in the end it is just another V fin mobile suit with the name 'Gundam' put on it.
This pushes the boundaries for what Bandai is capable of engineering wise and how to improve the ability to pose and portray mobile suits. They took an iconic model from the early 80's and decided to make a perfect homage to something that kids today are unlikely to know of or even think looks cool, which makes this kit a gift from Sunrise/Bandai to its long time fans.
Anyone who's built kits for a while understands that you don't just get these to put them on a shelf and occasionally change their pose, you get them for the experience of building the kit and this is an exceptional one.
I recommend getting the 'Last Shooting Zeong' effect kit which includes parts to recreate the final scene between this and the original Gundam, as well as thruster and beam effect parts, if you can afford it. You will need to buy the RG RX-78-2 to finish the scene however and I'd read up on my review of that before getting it.
