Searching Reddit’s r/gunpla/ community the other day, I saw a post titled “What’s the single best nipper after God Hand?” To this poster, the fact that the God Hand Ultimate Nipper is undeniably number one on the nipper ranking isn’t up for debate.
The God Hand Ultimate Nipper is generally considered the best Gunpla nipper on the market. And normally retailing at $80 to $100, it’s also the most expensive.
But lately, there’s been a deal on Amazon where you can get a pair of God Hand side-cutters for $50. I bought a pair in September to see if these legendary nippers are as good as they say.
Since I bought my God Hand, I’ve used it to build: an HG Rozen Zulu, a Beargguy Family (the hot pink edition I picked up in Akihabara), and a bunch of Petit Beargguys in various colors (I’m assembling a Bearggarmy). And after all that I can say, if you’ll pardon the pun, that using the God Hand nippers has cut my building time in half!
Usually, when I cut pieces out of the sprue, I leave a small nub that I can then cut off with an X-Acto knife. But the God Hand is so sharp and narrow that it can get right up against the part, allowing me to skip the knife step. With the God Hand, my process is this:
- Cut the piece out of the sprue, leaving small nubs.
- Get that God Hand right up against the piece and clip it as close as possible.
If I make sure I’m holding the nippers exactly parallel with the part, I don’t leave an indent or raised angle. If I do it right, I can skip right to filing or sanding.
Here’s a Petit Beargguy that I didn’t even file; just used the God Hand on. It’s not going to win any awards, but it’s surprisingly clean for such a quick build with so little effort.
What makes the God Hand so maneuverable? Well other than their dangerous sharpness, they also have the shortest and slimmest blades of any of my side-cutters.
To see just how small, here’s the God Hand next to my second slimmest pair, my Gundam Planet premium side cutters. (In a way this is a great recommendation of the Gundam Planet side cutters as a budget alternative, because look at how similar they are to nippers twice their price!)
Here’s all four of the side cutters I use regularly. Left: God Hand. Top: Tamiya. Right: Mr. Super Tool Set. Bottom: Gundam Planet. Notice how obvious it is that the God Hand has the shortest and smallest (but by far the sharpest) blades of them all.
After more than a month of testing, I can say that the God Hand Ultimate Nipper is absolutely the real deal. And at $50, it’s almost cheap enough to justify the splurge.
Have you ever used a God Hand? Do you swear by them or think they’re overrated?
