Hobby Talk: Model Kit Review, MG RB-79 Mobile Pod Ball ver Ka

Link to revised review here.

I never understand the craze about Katoki Hajime's redesign kits until I picked up this one (and the next one).

Why this kit
There's this friend of mine always mentioned about how cool this kit is.  And the internet always mentioned how must have this kit is.  And one day, when I visited G-wing, this box just stood there on the shelf asking me to pick it up.  So I did.

Kit Details

The ball was released in December 2004.  It's a A0 box with only 6 runners and 148 parts. You also get 1 sheet of dry transfer decals and 1 sheet of stickers.  Being a Katoki Hajime's kit, there's a lot of stickers for this small and simple kit.  This kit is priced at RM 70.

Build / Difficulty
(Score: +1)
The build is super easy.  The parts are quite big, easy to snap it on.  Teeny tiny parts, less than 10.  So there's no need for magnifier here.  Although the build is simple, you'll need huge effort on lining and decals.   Lining and decals is a must, else you'll be throwing your money into the drain.

Here's how the kit looks, milo-O kosong style.

And here's how it look, after pen and stickers.  See the difference strokes and patches made?

I took 3 days to complete the build including lining and decals. This kit did a good job hiding the nubs.

Looks / Details
(Score: +2)
The kit looks great.  It's very simplistic consisting of a main body, 2 arms and a cannon. But there is so much details going on this little ball kit.  Further enhanced by stickers and decals.

And it's not a small kit too.  Easily towers over a HG kit.  Pictured here is the ball kit against the MG Wing Zero Custom and the MG RX78-2.

Accessories
(Score: Neutral)
Not surprising that this kit lacks accessories.  A head mounted cannon, that's all.

Articulation / Pose ability
(Score: Neutral)
This kit comes with an action base.  What this kit do is sit on the action base and look good.  You can probably guess how much movement this kit gets.  The arm moves and the head mounted cannon moves.  That's about it.  Want to put this kit in an unimaginable pose?  Good luck trying, unless you put it sideways.

Shelf presence
(Score: +1)
This kit is unique and by the size of it, will definitely catch attention.  The level of details is amazing and having this alongside other gunpla models, makes your collection look and feels complete.

Bonus
(Score: Neutral)
Did I miss anything?

Summary and Rating
(Total Score: +4)
A very high score for a very simple kit.  This level of details for a kit priced at RM 70, it's a killer bargain.  But you'll be spending more time detailing than building.

Gundam: Mobile Pod Ball
Code: RB-79
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam
Faction: Earth Federation
Weapons: 180mm Recoilless Cannon
Release: December 2004
Box: A0
Runner: 6
Parts: 148
Price: 2000 yen

Pundit: A must have!

Variants
Few variants of this kit that you can also consider.
1) Ball 08 (2005) - Color variant and different head mounted weapon.
2) Ball Shark Mouth (2006) - You guessed it, with shark mouth stickers.

Dalong's Review
Dalong's Score: 100

Up Next: MG Nu Gundam ver Ka