The Skygrasper was always a bit of a side-character to the Strike Gundam, a jet plane in a world ruled by mobile suits.
It is a pseudo mobile armor in the sense that the jet can use the different packs that the Strike Gundam can, albeit to a reduced degree, while also sporting machine guns, two cannons on either side and a powerful beam cannon turret, as well as anti-ship missiles. Quick, heavily armed and versatile, but predictable. Its primary role is to deliver the different packs to the Strike Gundam and provide support.
Notably, this kit includes the Sword Striker and Launcher Striker packs.
Aesthetics:
Jet - The Skygrasper is primarily white and has plenty of panel lines. It also has its own RG decal sheet, which add a lot of detail to the otherwise plain plane.
The scale seems pretty bad however. The official length is 10 meters, while the RG model is 10cm and scales up to 14,4 meters. In reality, it should probably be as big as the Strike Gundam, if not larger, in order to carry the Striker Packs.
Sword Striker Pack- The light blue looks nice, while the dark blue is very saturated and more cartoonish. The details are good and the decals for the Striker Packs break up the large surfaces.
Launcher Striker Pack - Personally the deep green feels too saturated and the yellow has a lot of contrast. Overall it looks clunky and too monotone green, although the decals help a lot.
There is an additional Real Grade decal sheet for the Striker Packs.
Mechanics:
The Skygrasper can shift its wings back and forth like a fighter jet, but only a little. Its side cannons can tilt a little bit and its turret cannon can turn and pivot. The canopy opens. The landing wheels are separate parts and the panel lids are also individual parts - Big loss risk. The front wheel has two version, one lower and one long. The wings can carry the Striker Packs.
The Sword Striker Pack is essentially a holder for the sword and the shoulder holds a boomerang blade.
The Launcher Striker Pack is a backpack with a stabilizing robot arm for the cannon, while the wings on the shoulder attachment can fold.
Equipment:
1 Skygrasper
4 Panels to close landing gear slots and base adapter slot
4 Landing Gear wheels, two of which are for the front, either long or short
1 Sword Striker Pack with back holster, sword (plus beam effect and pommel beam effect), shoulder attachment, Beam Boomerang blade (plus boomerang beam effect), a shield and grappling claw + 17cm long wire
1 Launcher Striker Pack with backpack w. support arm, Agni Impulse Cannon and shoulder armor w. gatling gun/rocket pod
2 Hands for the Strike Gundam, enabling it to hold the large weapons (my tab broke on the left hand from holding the gun, almost immediately)
1 Dummy - A fake chest and shoulder to hold one of the packs.
1 Base Adapter
+multiple parts and adapters to hold the packs and also equip the shield/rifle from the Aile Strike pack.
Conclusion:
The kit costs the same as the Strike (MSRP - Bandai's price, not the shop), which is ludicrous in my opinion. This is not a mobile suit, nor is the amount of equipment equivalent to a mobile suit kit. It is basically a glorified expansion pack for full price.
Note that you CANNOT make the Perfect Strike version with this kit. There is a separate P-Bandai Perfect Strike kit with overhauled parts, but you can make a "fake" version by equipping the Aile backpack and then just holding the sword and cannon in either hand. There may be a way to customize the Aile pack and the Launcher arm, but it requires cutting and gluing, at the least. It's not necessary, but it helps carry the weight.
Full score, because it has what it advertises, it doesn't do anything wrong. The Skygrasper is a good enough model to display and you can put it on a base, so it all works. Note that the RG Build Strike and Akatsuki are partially compatible with the Strike and Skygrasper, and vice versa, by which I mean that they have the same back-slot. The shoulder pieces are unlikely to fit, but you can put the Oowashi on the Strike Gundam, if you want to for some reason.
