Kit Review: HGIBO 1/144 Gundam Marchosias
The mighty Marquis has come! When Bandai/Sunrise revealed the Gundam Hajiroboshi for the mobile game Urdr Hunt, fans were excited to finally see the new Gundam Frame whose silhouette was teased many times before. And in an even more surprising move, Bandai also decided to make the Pre-Calamity War version of Hajiboroshi: the Marchosias. But can this kit overcome the deadly problems that all HG IBO Gundam Frames has: the weak waist?
+ Build quality: The build is an entertaining process…for people that haven’t built a lot of IBO Gundam Frames, that is. Since all IBO Gundam have the same frame, for people who have owned more than 3 Gundams, this will feel half boring and half exciting since the main body is largely the same. Thankfully, the Marchosias has got those beautiful wings and a lot of new hidden gimmicks that will keep you interested. And, as always, Bandai’s snap-fit are top-notch. Though I suggest not de-nubbing some of the hidden frame parts to increase friction that will help with the loosening later.
+Proportion & Details: The marchosias is pretty buff, unlike the slimmer Hajiroboshi. The proportions are also more balanced than Lupus Rex and Gusion Rebake, with enough armor on arms and legs to make it feel like a heavily armored suit without being too emphasized on one specific area. The large shoulder armors & large wings on the back are also a nice addition to give the Gundam an overall more chonky looking aesthetic. So Hajiroboshi is like a bodybuilder that didn’t skip any leg days.
+ Articulation: Pretty much the same as any other IBO suit, but the big wings might interfere with the shoulder armor in some poses, thankfully, you can move those away from the front and balance out the weight as well. Elbows and knees have a pretty wide range of movement, as well as the hip joints. Although I do not recommend playing a lot with the torso joint since those got loose very easily (speaking from experience here). You can get this kit into so many good aerial poses, for grounded poses, the feet pivot isn’t the best but pretty decent for what it is. The kit is quite back-heavy so I do recommend a stand whenever you play with it, unless you want the torso to give out in 3 months or so.
+ Accessories: This might be on par with Gusion Rebake Full City, but melee instead. The Marchosias comes with a really nice broadsword/mace and 4 daggers. The broadsword can be sheathed and turned into a blunt weapon (personally, I like the sword mode more). He also comes with a pair of forearm knuckle for some upclose-and-personal busting. But the Marquis of Hell isn’t just all about melee, the side-skirt binders are actually Railguns, which is pretty reminiscent of a certain blue-white-black mobile suit with wings also. Oh and it also has a shield, albeit quite small. Overall, Marchosias has A LOT of stuff to play with.
+ Gimmick: Aside from the side railguns, the Marchosias is also like the-O, in that it has a few tricks up its sleeves, or rather, wings and skirts. You can flip out as much as 4 sub-arms and attach the small daggers to it. which is quite neat. But I reckon the pilot has to have absurd skill to maneuver all those sub-arms as well as the main ones.
In conclusion, the Marchosias is one of the better IBO kits out there due to its very masculine design and interesting gimmicks & accessories. It’s basically take the Lupus and make it less boring. And wings on IBO Gundam are not very common so this is quite a nice change of style. Although, you do need to take some precaution when it comes to IBO HG due to their tendency to get very loose at the waist. Overall, I really recommend this kit if you like IBO.
