A brief history about the Crossbone Gundam. It is the continuation of Gundam F-91 that has never been made into an anime. Instead, it is told in the form of Manga and it is set 10 years after the event in F-91, with Seabork Arnold and Cecilia as the Crossbone Vanguard Space Pirates that trying to fend off the Jupiter Empire from destroying earth. But Seabork Arnold(called Kinkid in the manga) is not the main protagonist, but it's a young man called Tobia Arranox.Crossbone Gundam is made by the same organisation that made the F-91, code name F-97, and it was secretly delivered to the hand of Kinkid for the war. There are 3 Crossbone Gundam being made - X1, X2, and X3. Among all these, only X1 survives the war and subsequently being modified into X1 Kai Skull Heart, of which Bandai has came out with another MG 1/100 for this kit. Crossbone Gundam is designed to deal with the high gravity field of Jupiter, thus making it capable of maneuver at high speed. It also one of the Gundam that has a core fighter as it's main block in the chest. The significant features of Crossbone is the X-shape thrusters at the back, and it's appealing pirate signature. In constrast with F-91, Crossbone X-1 has a lot of melee attack weapons but bear only a Beam Samber as it's main beam projectile weapon, unlike the F-91 that wields a pair of VSBR. Here's a picture of the back side showing the X-shape thrusthers.
This kit is designed by Mr Katoki, so the box art is just plain white with the Gundam standing straight and is very beautifully done. Unfortunately, it can't pose as much as F-91, although it uses the same parts as F-91. This kit can't squat like F-91 because of the front armored skirt. Then, the main weapon, the Beam Zanber, can't hardly be fitted to the hand because of the handle. The Beam Rifle part of the Beam Zanber supposingly be able to be held by the hand, and it's also very unfortunate because the handle is too big for it to grab. Then what's the point of having this kit? Well, the purpose of this kit, IMHO, is to include as much feature as possible, especially the melee attack weapons. All these weapons are hiding all over the body - knife from the leg, some chain like weapon from the armor skirt(front & back), beam knuckle from the arm, and the cloaking pirate cloak. I'm not an engineer so I'm not sure if it's possible to do so, but I do appreciate Katoki's effort of making this kit as detailed as it can be without sacrificing much on the possibility. In fact, I do find that this kit is much more sturdier as compare to the F-91 kits. Below is another picture that I've taken to show the beam knuckle activated on the left hand.
So why would you want to get this kit? Firstly, I bought this because it's Katoki who designed it. Second, the pirates feature of this kit is cool. Thirdly, there is something that looks nicer as compare to the Manga version. Lastly, it's another protagonist's Gundam along the UC time line. I got this kit at about RM130.
One other fact: the Crossbone Gundam X-1 is produced during the time line where all mobile suits are being made smaller to cut cost, so like the F-91, this kit is only 15cm tall.
