What’s your favorite Gundam?

[Roromi 415]

I’m sure somewhere in the bowels of this forum there’s a similar topic but I thought this would be fun to ask and discuss on here. 

So it’s simple, what is your favorite Gundam and why? For the sake of this conversation let’s keep this to Gundams only! We can do mass produced and special units down the road. 

I’ll start first! 

My favorite is Exia! Even over the OO from that series, the exia has this appeal that never washed away as the series progressed. I like that it has an array of beam sabers and even physical blades. I really liked the sword/shield/rifle combination it has too. From a purely fan perspective I like that it could switch from these old school beam saber fights to using this butcher blade on its arm. I also appreciated that they made it super agile and tough carrying on even after getting heavily damaged. It simply strikes me as having this balance of being menacing, destructible, and timeless. I hope someday to make a seed conversion... for reasons!

 

how about you guys?!

[Acidic 40]

I love this topic because my favorite changes second to second but the moment someone asks me I always say the GF13-001NHII Master Gundam. It is such a goofy design that works in a ton of ways. Master Asia will always be my favorite Gundam character and his personality is reflected in his signature mobile suit. I really like it in gold with the hyper mode but the normal colors are great too. I want a hyper mode Real Grade, I'd stop collecting gunpla after I got one.

 

[FrostyFoster 450]

Oh man! That's a tough one. I'd either be the Wing Gundam (EW version) or the Sword Impulse Gundam.

I like the Wing Gundam because of how clean and elegant it looks. It's not too over the top, like the Wing Zero EW, but it's not too basic, like the regular Wing Gundam.

For the Sword Impulse, I love the colors, the design, and the weapons it has. (Plus, it has a really cool pose!)

I don't think I can close between the two!

  

[Valiant 96]

It's hard to pick a favourite. Can I list my top 5?

In order of them springing in mind:

• RX-178 Gundam Mk-II in Titans colours
• RX-121 Gundam TR-1 [Hazel]
• RX-0 Unicorn Gundam
• ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam
• GAT-X105 Strike Gundam
• RX-93 ν Gundam
• RX-78-2 Gundam

Okay, that's a couple more than 5. It's hard to choose! Can we do this for each timeline to make it easier?

Here's my reasons for picking them. I fell in love with the Mk-II and Hazel from browsing through my dad's Gundam magazines. I haven't watched UC back then and had no knowledge of the storyline and the significance of each suit. When I started collecting gunpla, I got the Mk-II in Titans colours because it looked so much more badass in navy blue than the original colours. That could perhaps be due to the effect of brooding teenage years. I prefer Unicorn to Banshee so I seem to have moved on from that dark phase. The Mk-II looks like a warrior with a pair of blades sheathed over both shoulders. It looks as deadly as it is iconic.

Strike is just beautiful. Have you seen the PG model in person? I find myself staring at it for quite a long time whenever I come across one. I like Strike in the most basic form wielding a pair of Armor Schneiders. I found the design a little jarring initially, having grown up with Gundam Wing. But the look grew on me over time. My favourite Gundam from Gundam Wing is Wing Zero Custom. Those wings are majestic. If only they could, you know, go pew pew. Guess what, they did that with Strike Freedom. It was a modern interpretation of wing funnels. Stylish (much?), and deadly.

Going back to the UC series, I can't help but fall in love with the father of them all. the RX-78-2 Gundam is gorgeous. It has aged so well over time, unlike some of the older designs. Countless facelifts and updates has made it still so relevant today. It is amazing to sit down and just study how the Gundam has evolved in the past 40 years. And it makes me respect and appreciate the work done by the mechanic designers more each time I do so.

The Nu Gundam is striking with its asymmetrical look due to the placement of the fin funnels. It retains the classic style of the RX-78 and Mk-II, a nice shift away from the Zeta and ZZ designs, while looking more advanced and modern. I dislike the Hi-Nu design though. While Strike to Strike Freedom was a good upgrade of an existing design, I feel that the Nu to Hi-Nu was a step backwards. Maybe it's just too hard to improve on such a great design.

I saved the best for the last. So I guess this is my proper answer? Unicorn Gundam has got to be my favourite so far. I can never forget the awe that struck me when I saw it transform in the OVA. I didn't read anything prior to watching the OVAs. So I had no idea that it was able to go into Destroy Mode. It still gives me goosebumps thinking of how it made my jaw drop. It is a distillation of great mechanic design, IMHO. It is as though going through the RX-78, Mk-II, and Strike to finally reach this perfect design. That is, of course, until another more awesome design takes my breathe away and steals the crown.

[Truegear 14]

Tough choice. I love the Rose Gundam from G, and the Wing Fenice from Build Fighters. The Spiegel and Virtue are also really cool.

I also really like the Crossbone, but I haven't read the manga it's from. I should get around to that.

[JohnSeever 20]

For me, my first exposure to Gundam was Wing and I fell in love with the story and personality of the characters. 5 teenagers trained to pilot giant robots are sent to Earth to battle a force that wants to control everyone. It was good int he mid 1990s when I saw it on Toonami on the Cartoon Network. After researching the suits, the series and seeing both X and G, I am not a fan of G myself. The suit I love the most is one that I thinks fit my idea of a fun character to play, and I played this character for about 3 or 4 years on Multiverse Mush, Duo Maxwell and the XXXG-01D Deathscythe and XXXG-01D2 Deathscythe Hell, Endless Waltz version just due to appearance.

The character of Duo is that of most teenagers in the world in my opinion and at the time, I was that way. His suit, was just cool. silent and deadly, and as it got upgraded tot he final version and how it was limited in the weapons, vulcans and a beam weapon. Straight close combat, one of the coolest designs and concepts as most MS in the series are either long range, mid-range or close quarters as a last line of fighting; or a combination of the three. To me, Deathscythe is all close quarters.

A second suit I love is also from Wing, just due to the dakka it has, Heavyarms, and the Endless Waltz design with the partial mask Trowa wore. A few custom designs I have seen of this suit is the addition of a lot more missiles and guns. I could see that here as a gunpla for the GBN RP, but it would not want to move fast.

SEED wise, I love the Dual and Buster Gundams and X I love the Airbuster I think it was called. For appearance, I love out of G would be Shadow Gundam, but that is about the only thing.  Now I have a favorite non-Gundam suit I love, but will talk about that in antoher thread.