Review [Part II]: GM II Semi-Striker

Recap
Previously on Gundariumsmith, we took a look at the packaging and contents of the HGUC GM II Semi-Striker. As my first P-Bandai kit, it was interesting to see the variations between the HGUC GM II and this kit. With what this kit comes with, I came to the conclusion that this kit may actually be worth its money, even after doubling the price here in America.

If you are interested in my thoughts on the unboxing, including the background of the GM II Semi-Striker and how I came across this kit, click here for Part I.

Individual Parts
The instructions start off with the torso followed by the head. These are the only parts that remain unmodified from the HGUC GM II. Then again, the GM II shares the same torso as the GM III which was produced first, so technically the only part that truly remains intact from the GM II is the head.

The first modified parts come with the arms. The most obvious changes are in the shoulders, the most iconic part of this jalopy suit. The articulation is not inhibited by the side armor plate: the flap naturally slides out of the way as  the arm turns at the shoulder. Though this is a subtle positive aspect, it is something I noticed while playing around with the arms.
On a side note, there are some subtle differences between the original GM Striker shoulder and the Semi-Striker. The Semi-Striker's "armor plates" are a lot more pronounced and the side flap position is farther in.

The other unique part in the arms is the built-on shield. The whole arm is actually thicker than the normal GM II arm. Other than the shape, the construction is essentially the same - two half-shells with two polycaps inside. Going back to the shoulder armor flap, the built-on shield, in some position, can get in the way of the shoulder armor. However, these two pieces do not actually get in each others way too easily. Coincidence or good engineering? I would love to talk to the Bandai engineers about this specific arm.

Legs are generally the same as the original GM II. The only difference is the calf pieces which have an alternate detail. As for the waist armor, other than the rear skirt armor, the rest also remains the same.

The added details in the legs create a rigid/angled look whereas the vanilla GM II has more smooth and sleek lines. It is only a subtle difference, but it changes the motif to match the rigid angles found in the shoulders. With such subtle changes, the articulation of the Semi-Striker is essentially the same (which is a good thing).

Accessories
The iconic weapon of the GM Striker is the Twin Beam Spear. The one included in this kit is identical to the one found in the 2006 kit. Two other accessories included in this kit is the standard Earth Federation Shield and Beam Rifle. These two are included in the instructions, however this particular GM II would not wield this equipment.

Completed Suit
In the final assembly, I am met with slight nostalgia as my first HG kit happened to also be in desert colors. Comparing the Semi-Striker build to my recalled experience with the HGUC Nemo, the GM II seems to have a much simpler design. There is a possibility that, after two years of building HG kits, I have grown accustom to the kits and the GM II just feels simpler, but looking at the Nemo's design and thinking about the color separation and the strangely separated parts in the shoulder, I cannot help but to think the Nemo has many more pieces. Nevertheless, the GM II, like any other grunt suit kit of its time frame, is quite a simple build.
 

That is not to say the simplicity takes away from the suit. Similar to what I wrote in my quick review of the HGUC REVIVE RX-78-2 (still my favorite kit of 2015), this kit does not have a large amount of detail, yet the subtle differences definitely help it stand out among other suits (unless, of course, I have a collection of desert colored grunts suits from Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn).

Furthermore, the GMII does not have any detail that would require painting or stickers, unlike its AEUG cousin, Nemo. For those who have built the Nemo (or saw me attempt to compete back in early 2014), you know that the shoulders and legs have little thruster details that normally have a little color separation. The GM II has a few stickers for the same purpose such as the red for the cockpit hatch (in red), but without the sticker the suit still looks fine.
One sticker I wish the GM II had is a reflective backing for the visor. The Nemo has it and it looks great, but for some reason, the GM II (vanilla, desert, and Semi-Striker) do not include one. The suit still looks fine without the reflective backing due to the suit's light color, but it still looks lackluster compared to the Nemo's visor.

As for the suit itself, the GM II Semi-Striker is a well balanced kit with articulation that is flexible enough to do a few poses while rigid enough to hold those poses. The arm itself is able to hold the weight of the twin beam saber and the manipulator is snug enough with the weapon that the spear will not slip.

One accessory I failed to mention earlier is the beam saber. The actual saber is a standard piece on the GM II, however, the kit does not provide an additional effect parts for it, unlike the HGUC GM Striker which includes two pairs of beam saber runners. Also, the beam saber is quite loose in the hands.

The other accessories included can be used, but with one of the arms fitted with the built-on shield, the only place to put the shield and the beam rifle is the right arm. Sometimes I wonder why Bandai even bothered putting these items in the instructions.

Fortunately, these accessories are not completely useless in this kit. The GM II Semi-Striker includes parts to build the original GM II (in desert colors, of course). With a few part swapped out, another grunt of Torrington Base appears!

Sometimes Bandai likes to remove parts from the runner to prevent these kinds of options. I am happy they gave it us this time, not that I would keep my GM II Semi-Striker in this state.

Final Judgement
With the price hike of over double the Japanese MSRP for a simple grunt suit, many people would pass on purchasing this kit. Even I had my doubts in purchasing this expensive GM. However, comparing the cost of a kit bash, evaluating my own skill, and most important of all, my love for this particular mobile suit, I find this kit is not as costly as it may seem on the surface.
The finished product is like any other HGUC grunt from the late 2000s / early 2010s and the modifications do not inhibit the original design (unlike a lot of Build Fighters modifications). It is a simple and solid kit that can definitely hold its own without an action base. Despite its simplicity, details, especially the modified parts, keep this grunt a unique suit over its GM variant counterparts.
No matter how much I praise this kit, I do not believe I can convince anyone to purchase such an expensive GM -- it is not for everyone. However, if you like unique grunt suits, the GM II Semi-Striker may very well be a good purchase, even with the 35 USD price tag.

Review [Part I]: GM II Semi-Striker

Preamble
While my brother was in New Jersey for business, he found the time to visit Gundam Planet. While in the North East American Mecca of Mecha, my brother asked a few friends for kit requests. Because Gundam Planet is the closest store with P-Bandai online exclusives, I thought it would be the perfect time to purchase one of my favorite grunt suits of all time, the GM II Semi-Striker.

Seriously, this is one of my favorite grunt suits - almost immediately after knowing this suit's existence inspired me to build a Semi-Striker type of my own.

Apparently I voiced my opinion on this cursed-to-only-a-cameo mobile suit enough times that our friend over at Gunpla Works asked for the same kit to give to me. At least that is what I think happened. Nevertheless, thank you, Munitions, thanks Gunpla Works. You are both awesome people and I am proud to call you both my friend!
Like the previous review, this will be another first - my first foray into a P-Bandai Online Exclusive kit. I have seen many pictures of these kits and I think I know what to expect, but no picture can determine how I feel about the actual product. So here's to hoping it was worth the thirty-five US Dollars.

Background
Not much of the GM II Semi-Striker is seen in episode 4 of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. What we do know is that it receives a swift end by a Zeon Remnant mobile suit by the name Efreet Schneid. What else do we know about this retrofit of outdated technology?

The original GM II was put into service in the early 0080s to replace the original GM and was commonly seen in combat during the Gryps Conflict of 0087. Nearly two decades later, despite vast advances in technology, the Earth Federation retained its older mobile suits.
During the Laplace Conflict, we catch a glimpse of this beautiful letdown known as the GM II Semi-Striker. It is essentially a normal GM II retrofitted with parts from a GM Striker, an even older suit that specialized in close combat created to counter Zeon's Gouf. Additionally, the arm-mounted shield is similar to the shield found on Full Armor Gundam.
We will probably never see much more of the GM II Semi-Striker outside of Torrington Base, but what little we see from it contributes to the (somewhat) deep history of technology in the Universal Century.

Unbox
For those who are unaware, "P-Bandai" refers to the website p-bandai.jp which is Bandai's distribution hub for exclusive toys. The 'P' stands for Premium. Specific to Gunpla, the Bandai Online Hobby Shop sells kits exclusive to the website. A majority of these P-Bandai kits are based on a regular production kit with either a recolor, alternative parts, or a combination of the two.

Advertisement taken from p-bandai.hk

Depending on where one is located, purchasing P-Bandai kits can be murder to the wallet - Bandai's online shops ship only to the region it resides. Online stores exist in Japan, Hong Kong, and some other Asian countries, but as an American, no such direct store exists. This means P-Bandai kits would have to go through a secondary seller, shipped from Japan (or another P-Bandai store), then sold once again, or whatever combination of buying, selling, shipping selling exists. Whatever the case may be, the price of these P-Bandai kits in America are much more expensive than they should be for this very reason.
Specific to the GM II Semi-Striker, the MSRP printed on the box is 1600 JPY. In the current market, that is 14.40 USD. However, buying it from Gundam Planet, my brother (and/or Gunpla Works) ended up spending 35 USD for the kit. That is more than double the MSRP!

...and that is how our wallets were murdered.

Right! The unbox! Because P-Bandai kits are not usually put on shelves of physical retail locations like a toy store or a hobby shop, the package design is much more minimalist than regular production kits. The main graphic on the top of the box is a photograph of the assembled kit in monochrome with a CG render of the suit in the background. The format of the graphics on this kit are the same as a regular HGUC kit, barcodes and information in place. However, instead of information on the suit and example builds, the sides of the boxes are printed with a single color and the title of the kit bold and centered. As mentioned earlier in the paragraph, because these kits are not typically sold in a retail location, there is no need to take the extra measure to sell the kit with flashy graphics and anime/manga affiliation.

Opening the monochrome box, We are met with a familiar sight of runners in various bags. One part that sticks out is the instruction manual. Like the box, the instruction manual does not include any flashy graphics -- just the black and white wire frame diagrams.

Runners
As expected, runners from the original HGUC kits the GM II Semi-Striker is based on, GM II and GM Striker, are included. To my surprise, there is a runner from another P-Bandai kit: HGUC GM III (Unicorn Desert Ver.). It seems there are a lot more subtle modifications were made for this kit than I originally thought.

Another interesting runner is 'B.' Though this runner has shown up in multiple variations of GM II and GM III, this version of the runner shows up specifically on the P-Bandai kit, HGUC GM II (Desert Color Ver.). This makes sense since the Semi-Striker is in the desert color scheme.

Also from the HGUC GM II (Desert Color Ver.) is the sticker sheet. Too bad the clear sticker sheet of decals were not included - the one from the GM II Desert has multiple sets of numbers in black and white with a couple of Federation emblems.

Unique to the GM II Semi-Striker kit are runners 'E' 1&2 and 'F.' Runners E1 and E2 include modified GM Striker shoulders to fit the GM II arms, the altered details of GM II's legs and modified arm to attach the FA Gundam shield.

The only actual part that will come from the GM Striker is the twin beam spear. Runner A from this 2006 kit is cut up in multiple places to ensure as little excess plastic remain. Even so, one part of the spear is missing.

That missing piece is included on one of this kit's unique runners - Runner 'F.' Instead of cutting out a section of Runner D, which would have produced more excess plastic, adding it to another runner makes more sense. Now I would like to know why this runner has such a strange shape. Are we to expect this runner somewhere else (HGUC FA Gundam please)?

The rest of the runners are straight out of a vanilla HGUC GM II (in the desert colors). I am quite sure i will be able to build the full GM II using these runners.

Originally I was expecting a kit essentially made up of a GM II with GM Striker runners. However, a lot of the subtle modifications Kei Nakamura had put into his customized kit were molded into this P-Bandai kit. This realization has lead me to believe that even with a 35 USD price tag this kit may actually be worth it. Doing out the simple math of addition, the GM II and GM Striker have a combined price of 28 USD (based on Gundam Planet prices). Paying the extra 7 USD for the GM III parts and alternate GM II details seem worth it to me (obviously if I could pay the 1600 JPY printed MSRP on the box, I would have jumped at this kit immediately).

Image taken from Gundam Guy. Scans from Dengeki Hobby January 2012

Overall, thinking about the worth of this kit purely on numbers, I find the GM II Semi-Striker to be okay. It will not be for everyone, but those of us who take a liking to obscure grunts and unique kits, this may be a kit to look at. Despite my opinion based purely on the runners, everything could drastically change after experiencing the build. Please stay tuned for the latter half of this review where I go over the parts, the overall suit, and give my verdict over the suit.