There’s a major upcoming Gundam competition in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of Gundam. Anime Festival Asia (AFA) and Danny Choo will be collaborating with Bandai to introduce the Bandai World Gunpla Competition. This competition is a little different because it is an online competition that will allow participants from ANYWHERE ON EARTH to submit their entries via photos. This sounds like a truly exciting event because if it’s promoted correctly and reaches a wide enough audience, will bring together the best Gunpla modelers from every corner of the world, not just a specific region.
I’m already trying to finish up my as-yet unfinished custom 1/100 MG Gouf before the November 1st cutoff entry date. Most of us would probably never win anything but I think it’ll be really interesting to be a part of such an exciting event.
For those of you who would be interested in participating, head over to figure.fm for competition rules & regulations. Here’s hoping there’ll be lots of entries for this wonderful event.
Here’s some good news for Plamo (Plastic Model) fans, especially the legions of Gunpla (Gundam Plastic) fans out there. Bandai has revealed that their upcoming Perfect Grade (PG) kit to be released in November will be the Gundam 00 Raiser, which is the unit piloted by series protagonist Setsuna F. Seiei in Mobile Suit Gundam 00. According to Bandai’s press release, this will be their 1st all new Perfect Grade Gundam kit in 5 years! Really? Didn’t they just release the Gundam Astray Red Frame earlier this year? Anyway, this upcoming PG Gundam 00 Raiser kit will come with the 00 Gundam and 0 Raiser, both of which can be combined just like in the series. The kit will of course come with the usual bells and whistles expected of Bandai’s PG kits: highly articulated and highly poseable, inner body frame, a host of weapons, light up gimmicks on the GN drives which incorporates a spinning function too!
That’s it, I’m pretty much sold on the spinning GN Drive so this is one kit from Bandai which I’m genuinely looking forward to in a long while. And finally, the PG Gundam 00 Raiser kit will retail for 25,000 YEN ($270) which admittedly, is pretty steep even for a PG kit. But hey, that shouldn’t come as any surprise since this is Bandai we’re talking about, what with this being their cash cow franchise. I’m sure we can all count on them churning out “Limited Edition” color variants in the not-too-distant future.
HobbyLink Japan (HLJ) has just posted videos of a tour of the new Model Factory Hiro headquarters. Model Factory Hiro is a model kit manufacturer based in Japan that mainly specializes in the production of highly detailed automotive model kits. These kits are more commonly known as multimedia kits because they contain an assortment of materials such as resin, rubber, aluminum, white metal parts, brass as well as photo-etched parts to accurately replicate the full-scale vehicles.
In the videos, Scott Hards of HLJ will take the viewers through the entire design, development and manufacturing process that Model Factory Hiro goes through to bring a model to kit enthusiasts. I thoroughly enjoyed the videos as they provided a great insight into how kits are produced. Thanks HLJ!
Holy schmoley! These prototype pictures of the 1/6-Scale 19″ Iron-Monger and 12″ Obadiah Stane Figure from new-kid-on-the-block Bomber Toys are jaw-achingly beautiful! My God, just look at the size of the Monger. Best of all, it’s in kit form which means we get to paint it the way we like. And and and…it’s got blue LEDs on the eyes and chest as well! Boy I sound like a 5-year old kid in a candy store. Only downside? Well it’s as yet unlicensed, and apparently pending licensing approval from Marvel.
Those guys at Marvel better give this the green light otherwise I foresee lots of unbelievably pissed off Iron-Man fanboys, including yours truly. Or better yet, screw the license and just use a generic name for the kit & figure and sell it at a much lower price. Otherwise, I have a feeling a licensed piece of this scale would probably be equivalent to a second mortgage like the Medicom Ma.K Maschinen Krieger 1/6 Super Armored Fighting Suit S.A.F.S. Figure.
The current issue of HobbyJapan has news of a new Injection Plastic (IP) kit of Five Star Stories’ The BANG from Volks. This will be welcome news for fans of this longtime series who find Volks’ resin kit offerings to be out of their budget as this new wave of IP kits from Volks will be much more affordable. Are you a fan of the series?
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