Oh fuck that is a high-quality aisle. I don’t even gunpla but I would be SORELY TEMPTED.
Why not try some thirty minute missions? Even the busiest person had thirty minutes to spare somewhere.
https://www.gundamplanet.com/blog/whats-the-deal-with-30-minutes-missions.html
That’s a cool idea, though for me the building is the main and best part, so I want something that lasts as long as possible. Sadly the bigger and more complex kits tend to be the more expensive ones, and I assume there is a limit of too many of too tiny pieces that gets frustrating.
That white wheely cart in the aisle of the store picture is entirely 30-Minute Missions too! I wanted to poke at those but some of them seemed to be mostly terrain or accessories, so I figured I’d learn more before diving into those.
I agree that the idea of building these models is the fun part, but once they’re done I have no desire to display them. I might opt to set them up on my desk once I’m back in the office, but other than that I don’t really know what to do with them once they’re done.
I feel you. Have similar issue. Part of why I haven’t gotten more gunplas is that the idea of filling my bookshelf with them doesn’t appeal to me. But building one and then just throwing it away would feel wasteful too.
I’ve built a couple and feel the same way. I love the Gunpla build experience but wish there were other things this process was applied to beyond mechas. I know you can get some Star Wars ships using this build approach but have not purchased any yet.
Revell makes the Star Wars model kits, not Bandai.
Combine these with MFZ rules and you have a complete replacement for like every other skirmish minis game. I mean $15 for one model? That’s an order of magnitude cheaper than literally every other minis game I’ve played.
SORELY TEMPTED
Perhaps one of these days.
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Gunpla isn’t actually expensive unless you go for the big time master grades and mostly perfect grades. This is why you see Gunpla people tend to have a pile of models and not just the one they are working on. Guilty as charged.
If you want to go cheap, they still make “first grade” models. These are basically reproductions of what kids in '70s Japan would have had available to them. Barely articulated. One solid color, so you have to paint it. They cost less than $3 each. I bought a handful at some point way back just to practice on. Great for testing paints or techniques without worrying about messing up the model you are actually working on.
The expensive ones are usually perfect grades. But you get what you pay for. The RX 78-2 Perfect Grade Unleashed is going to cost maybe around $275. If it was in stock right now, which it isn’t. That’s a lot for one model. However.
It’s enormous. 1/60 scale. I’ve never done one that big. I’ve only done 1/100 and typically do 1/144.
It has an absolutely ludicrous amount of detail. Decals, tiny parts, internal structure, articulation of even the tiniest bits. For example, the core fighter comes out, transforms, its cockpit opens and closes, and a tiny Amuro Ray goes in there. LEDs that light up various parts like the chest vents. Specially shaped lithium batteries that fit inside. Light up beamsabers. Metal parts. Magnets. Several different hands, weapon loadouts, and other options to choose from. Balances and is extremely stable almost no matter how you pose it (within reason).
TL;DR: It’s not a situation like Games Workshop where they overcharge for just a piece of plastic. When you pay more, you get more.
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No, they both do, but Bandai makes higher quality model kits that are harder to find.
They seem to have stopped making them though for some reason. I’m not sure if they lost the license or whatever, but the Bandai model kits are some of the best Star Wars kits available. They have kits for the vehicles and for characters.
Dang, how have I never seen those before? You would think if they had that license they would be milking it more.
I know. As awesome as the kits are, they were never sold in most places. I would see a kit here and there at various comic shops and gaming stores, but it was always random and no one had the full line of models, or even more than two or three. The ones I have, I had to resort to ebay and other online sellers.
You would think that Bandai would be marketing the hell out of these, but they never did. It’s just odd.
From this website, which I can’t say if it’s accurate or not, but it looks like Revell had the Star Wars license in the US, and Bandai had it in Japan, so all the Japanese kits were import only.
If it’s true that Disney has started to clamp down on the import sets, that would explain why they’re even harder to find these days and why prices have spiked recently. I have a bunch of sets, but there were a few I still wanted to get eventually, and for some reason, Bandai never made a TIE Bomber kit, so I’m disappointed if these are now permanently unavailable.
Here are the sets I have. I’d still love to get Slave I and the Imperial Walkers, AT-AT and AT-ST, as well as the Star Destroyer kit, but prices have doubled, if not tripled recently.
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A couple of weeks ago I was at my local game store where I usually play Magic. There I saw on the shelf behind the counter a large Gumdan model kit that someone had ordered. I asked if I could see it just out of interest and the sheer size of it since it was about twice the size of the box of the other Gundam I had built. After all, it was 1:100 instead of 1:144.
Last week I saw that they had put it on another shelf deeper in the store. Apparently the person who had ordered it no longer wanted it. On monday I went back to the store because I had to pick up some cards and because I have this and next week off on a whim I decided to take the model with me and they gave me a special price on it at 40€ instead of the 52€ since they never wanted it in the store.
It is a Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second Revise from Gundam Seed. Apparently it is a customized Gundam of the characfter Gai Murakumo, and it comes with a Stand and some big ass weapons.
Also, here a size comparison between this 1:100 and a 1:144 Gundam model.
The first Gunpla I built were actually 1:100. I switched to doing more 1:144 size ones since they take up less space. Also because RG is best G. I can see how you might perceive 1:100 as big if you had only ever done 144 before. But I really only consider 1:60+ to be big.
I did a 1:100 God gundam Master grade that was a lot of fun. A lot more bits and articulation than my HG brain was used to.
I just finshied the snap-together on Shiro’s gundam from 8th MS team in HG. Gonna burn through an HG Zaku I got so I can buy some more at CTCon guilt-free.
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