Synopsis: 0080 War in pocket went in a different direction then other Gundam series, taking the emphasis a little more off the Gundam and focusing more on the war from a child's perspective. That is not to say that mecha designs suffered in this series far from it. Gundam 0080 brought us numerous new and memorable designs like the Kampfer, Hygogg, and other Zeon and Federation designs. The gundam starring in the series also received an unusual design addition; additional armor covering the Gundam's already special armor and on a lesser note concealed forearm gatling guns.

When this figure was slated to come out I was already interested in acquiring it given its design and the fact that the only other domestic Gundams available at the time excluding Gundam Wing Figures was the RX-78-2 Gundam Version 1.0 and the RX-78-GP01 Zephyranthes. It was also one of the first in a batch of deluxe releases of the UC line.

The Figure: Given the extra armor that is added on this figure, I'll describe it without the armor and then the figure with it.

ALEX WITHOUT CHOBHAM ARMOR: The head of Alex is well painted and well detailed featuring about 360 degrees of rotation. Head elevation is impossible due to how low the neck sits.

The arms move pretty well. The shoulder armor does not hinder arm movement and the Alex can pretty move lift its arms to the sides to show armspan. The elbow bends well to about 90 degrees. The blue section of the forearm or forearm guard is removable for the gatling guns described in the accessories section. The hands can rotate practically unhindered. There are a total of 3 hands that come with this figure; 2 sword hands and a right gun hand. The gun hand holds the gun but not much else.

The legs are well painted and well detailed. The legs can move unhindered due to short flexible skirt armor and side hip armor. The knee bends well with about 90 degrees of movement. The ankle moves unhindered and even the joint in which the leg and ankle are joined together is well detailed to look like an integral part of the figure.

The torso is well painted and well detailed. The torso can twist about 180 degrees to either side but not 360 degrees all around given hip armor obstructions. The rear skirt armor has a slot for the butt plate of chobham armor but can easily fit the bazooka of the Gundam version 1.0 as an interesting bonus. The backpack houses two beam saber hilts and the thrusters are somewhat moveable. The backpack is removable and joins to the back by three slots.

ALEX WITH CHOBHAM ARMOR: The head of Alex is hindered in terms of rotation due to the chest armor though the head can turn to look to the side.

Three pieces of armor are applied to the arm. One shoulder armor piece and two extra pieces that connect to form around the forearm. Shoulder movement isn't hindered however the forearm armor hinders the elbow joint and even wrist movement.

Each leg features two pieces of armor which connect around the lower leg area and doesn't interfere at all with knee movement. The only hinderance here is carried out by the hip armor hindering upper leg movement except toward the side.

The Torso has 4 pieces of armor. On the upper torso the chest armor can fit well but needs the back armor that fits over the backpack to connect and look well. The chest armor is still a little prone to popping off despite the connection from time to time if played with but as a display piece stays on well. The lower torso features the last two pieces of armor. The front waist piece fits well however needs to be placed first before the chest armor is placed on to insure the pieces fit well. The butt plate fits over the rear skirt armor and connects to the back by a peg connection. With all the armor placed on the torso can no longer twist and the waist armor as stated above hinders the leg movement.

Beam Rifle: The thin plastic is somewhat thin though its design prevents the rifle from warping. This is a very likeable rifle.

Shield: The detail on this shield is nice looking. However the feature that makes this shield differ from other Gundam MSiAs is that the removable handle can be switched onto one of three pegs to make the shield adjustable to suit however high or low you want the shield to sit on the handle. Adjustment is also good to better fit the shield when the Chobham armor is placed on the Gundam.

Beam Saber: This figure comes with 4 Hilts (2 placed in the backpack and 2 with the beam bleams attached). The Beam blades are a little odd. The typical connection featured in most MSiAs with detachable Beam blades features a peg and slot connection with the blade having the peg. Alex's Blades wrap around a peg in the hilt that while providing support for the blade to stay on looks a little tacky since a white peg is visible through the transparent blade. I'm guessing that given the angle at which the sabers sit on the backpack the a peg was needed to keep the hilts from falling of and fortunately this flaw was later remedied by the time of releases of designs like the GM custom and such.

Forearm Gatling Guns: The weapon used to take out the Kampfer is now available for you to recreate the scene. These guns are detailed but aren't painted and remain a dull grey. It fits in the forearm via a peg connection while the forearm guard is placed on a rectangular slot on the top of the Gatling gun.

Play Value: The figure has good articulation, a decent weapons loadout, and choice between whether or not you want to apply the Chobham armor. With all these factors this makes the Alex pretty good in this category

Display Value: With the chobham armor this gives the figure really unique look from other UC gundams, without the armor you run the risk of it just looking like most other RX-78s.

Dollar Value: This is up to what you want of the Alex. The real reason for the deluxe pricing is for the additional armor. If you have no intention of using the extra armor you'll be feeling a little cheated and in a way even if you want the armor compared to Deluxe types released later.

Conclusion: Not a bad figure despite the extra dollars you have to pay despite the understandable reason for it.

Above Gundam Alex Stands by GM Custom to compare Backpack thrusters