What is Gunpla?

Gundam Models refers to plastic and non-plastic model kits depicting the mechas, vehicles and characters of the fictional Mobile Suit Gundam universe. These kits have become popular among anime fans and model-lovers, especially in Japan and in other nearby Asian countries since 1980s. The popularity of Gundam models increased in the 1990s with North America and Europe being exposed to Gundam through television, video and manga. These Gundam Models may also be called Gunpla (ガンプラ Ganpura?), a portmanteau of "Gundam plastic model". "Gunpla" more commonly refers to the practice of building Gundam models, rather than the models themselves.

Scales and grades

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Entry Grade(EG)
In 2011, Bandai released the Entry Grade (EG) line, a low-cost model series that replaces the 1:144 NG and FG lines. Unlike other kits of the same scale, all EG kits are made in China.
Super Deformed(SD)
Not based on any particular scale, the super-deformed style features comically-proportioned models, the most noticeable features of which are teir very large heads. Super Deformed Gundam kits are often very easy to construct but offer very limited articulation and require paint and detailing to truly "finish" the kit. The most famous line is the BB Senshi (or "SD GUNDAM BB Warriors" in English). There are also separate product lines: for instance, Superior Defender Gundam Force and Ganso SD Gundam (discontinued in the 1990s). Most kits of this line are from the Musha Gundam series and the Knight Gundam series.
1:144 scale/HG/RG
The very first kits have been running for 30 years (starting with RX-78-2 Gundam) and are routinely re-released by Bandai. As these kits are limited in articulation and require glue (for the early kits) and paint to assemble, these have retroactively been categorized as NG (No Grade), to differentiate them from FG (First Grade).
During the mid- to late-1980s, the quality of molding improved and HG (High Grade) level kits were introduced in 1990, starting from the titular mobile suits of the first four TV series. These limited-run kits featured full snap fit assembly, an "internal frame" (for the first two kits, which provides better range of motion and were more poseable), and utilized the molding technique known as System Injection, wherein multiple colors would be cast on the same part.

In 2010, Real Grade (RG) surpasses HG as the top-end series of the 1:144 Gunpla line. The kits feature extensive detail and articulation, as well as a poseable skeletal frame comparable to the 1:100 Master Grade kits. The first RG kit is the 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam, with the second being the 1/144 MS-06S Char's Zaku II coming out sometime in November.
1:100 scale/MG
Just like the 1:144 scale model kits, these kits started about the same time with the very first 1:144 model kits, again starting from RX-78-2 Gundam. "Generic" 1:100 kits may also be called "No-Grade" (NG 1:100) to differentiate from other specific 1:100 kits. Later kits (from Turn-A Gundam onwards) are clearly inspired from the post-HG 1:100 kits and features a similar (or greater) level of quality and detail.
Beginning with Victory Gundam in 1993, the HG line would shift to relatively well detailed larger scale kits in the 1:100 scale. There were need for little painting and detailing. These applied for the 1:100 scale models produced between 1993 and 1998, including Victory Gundam, G Gundam, Gundam Wing, Gundam X, and New Mobile Report: Gundam Wing Endless Waltz. Each TV series would receive on average between 6 to 8 models in this scale and grade.

Master Grade (MG) models were first introduced in the summer of 1995, designed and made to higher standards than most other models. These take much longer to construct and are often much more expensive than their lower-grade counterparts. These kits consists of features similar to those of the HG and HGUC but better. This line of plastic kits was the first to feature a movable inner frame system which enables extensive movement and bending of joints. The popularity of this line was so great that a lot of old and new kits from non-graded series were cast as Master Grade models. The vast majority of MG offerings are from Gundam, with the rest coming from mechas in Patlabor and Dunbine, as well as character figures of Dragonball Z, Kamen Rider W, and One Piece (under the name of MG Figurerise). As the MG line has become a symbol of Gunpla, Bandai released another lineup called Real Robot Revolution (R3), for the non-Gundam type real robots like Layzner and L-Gaim, made using their experience in MG model production.
1:60 scale/PG
Bandai release 1:60 scales to the main mecha of major TV series. These are non grades or TV grades models, and the main line of 1:60 scale. Early 1:60 kits, like other scales, where simply a bigger version of the smaller scales. In the early to mid 90's, 3 High Grade EX models of V2 Gundam, Shining Gundam and God Gundam from the V Gundam series and G Gundam series where release, featuring more details and gimmicks than its smaller counter parts. Bandai also created a much more detailed series of figures. The Perfect Grade (also known as PG) model kits come in standard 1:60 scale but are superbly detailed in terms of color and its inner frame, as well as normally possessing more points of articulation, such as hands that articulate at the knuckles. Perfect Grade kits were mainly used for developing new plastic model technologies, a function currently taken over by the Master Grade series, and typically need a few years to develop each kit.
1:35 scale/UCHG
Universal Century HardGraph does not primarily center around the humanoids of the Gundam universe. Rather, it centers on military things on a more conventional scale such as land vehicles, tanks and troops. However, some kits do include detailed to-scale mecha parts which are particularly useful for the creation of dioramas. For instance, the Anti-MS Squad kit includes an articulated lower Gundam arm.
Other/Mixed Scales
There are various other scales, like the Mega Grade's 1:48, the Speed Grade's 1:200. These scales are less dominant in the Gundam Model line.
A 1:400 scale model line is designed for large mobile armours and battle ships in the Gundam Collection line, which the line's ordinary mobile suits are figures, not models. Only extremely large units like Mobile Armours and Warships need assembly. These models are pre-coloured models, and the warships need minimal assemble. An earlier line of model, the High Grade Mechanics, with a scale of 1:550 held a similar function in introducing large mobile units, but the line only consist of 3 mobile units from 0083.
Another high-detail line is the EX model, in scales of 1:144 and 1:100 (non-humanoid units like aircraft) and 1:1600/1:1700 (spaceships), ranging from the Universal Century to Cosmic Era productions. This series is not Gundam-exclusive, having models from other series like some of the jet aircraft from Sentō Yōsei Yukikaze and at least one aircraft from Ace Combat 5.
Special Editions
Over the years, Bandai released special limited editions of various kits, usually as competition (such as the yearly Bandai Action Kits Asia (now Universal) Cup held in Hong Kong) prizes, or as an event-limited (such as Japanese toy expos, movie launch premieres) item, although sometimes these kits are sold as limited web-shop items or discreetly sold by Bandai. These kits usually come in clear plastic, metal-plated (certain kits are in so-called 24-k gold finish), "gloss-finish", "pearl-finish", "titanium-finish", or any combination of these. Their prices are usually much higher than their regular-release counterparts.
Non Plastic
Bandai has also released some Gundam garage kit under their branch, B-Club. These models are composed of unpainted resin with no decals provided, often needing modification by the modeler due to the inherent properties of the manufacturing process. While comparably more expensive (some surpassing $400) compared to plastic kits, they offer an unparalleled level of detail for the dedicated and experienced model builder.
A few select kits have also appeared manufactured from metal. These kits are offered by several different manufacturers and most commonly will result in a finished model of about MG level.
These types of models (real detail) usually take days to build.

Previous thread:

Related Links

Gunpla News

Other categories of model kits available in this forum

This post has been edited by nazrul90: May 17 2012, 07:40 PM

fuuuhhh congrats on new thread

SPAM pic time

Reserve for future use

4th. http://www.mudah.my/Bandai+Hail+Buster+Gun...on-15416474.htm

This post has been edited by man_hakim87: May 17 2012, 05:21 PM

^LOL

nice lies..
the new one cost less than RM90

This post has been edited by nazrul90: May 17 2012, 05:25 PM

i'm on it!!


This post has been edited by calcilis: May 17 2012, 05:31 PM

limited edition lmao even gale strike also more 'limited' than hail buster

cabaran diterima

new Wing series MG coming soon??!!?!!!!?!

Bandai, MG Tallgeese & MG Wing Zero TV i beg u!!!!!

This post has been edited by General_Nic: May 17 2012, 05:56 PM

MG Tallgeese please
smexy :3
plus the pilot is kinda good looking

me too!

please let it FINALLY be Wing Zero TV

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Added on May 17, 2012, 6:01 pmthat is a sweet, sweet looking buster
the only reason i didn't get that is because i'm hoping the MG will be amazing

This post has been edited by HxiiiK: May 17 2012, 06:01 PM

here we go my ABF special!!

This post has been edited by Shiniz: May 17 2012, 06:04 PM

arent those 2 came from the novel?

hmm it could be just the release of custom version of the EW kit which has been predicted ages ago. But its abit misleading since its accompanied by the display from the frozen teardrop novel. They could go frozen teardrop route as well since those is not much diff then the ver ew kits, but i hope to god no cuz of the weird mecha design. (3 legged white epyon, hell no).

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Added on May 17, 2012, 6:14 pmA challenger appears!


This post has been edited by TheAdmiral: May 17 2012, 06:47 PM

I am Gundam!

Bandai you f***ers, stop teasing me with this shit. Just tell me if you're gonna make MG Wing Zero tv or not.

with so many challenger, is time to hit back!!

and we might not get MG wing zero TV version, cuz in that pic all the promo item is from EW , maybe they bring out wing zero EW 2.0?

MG O Gundam pls
the GFF Metal build seem impossible for me to get :|

go buy MG RX-78 and mod it into 0 gundam lah

here's mine!!

Unicorn Spam time



This post has been edited by Khai62: May 17 2012, 07:21 PM

September release

and dammit! the more i see RG Justice, the more i want it



This post has been edited by HxiiiK: May 17 2012, 08:24 PM

OMG OMG.. that buster are so sexy!!!! RG Justice are so cool!! there goes all my money this year.. hahaha..

I KNOW RIGHT?! once bandai releases a picture of MG Buster doing this



it becomes a buy on sight

This post has been edited by HxiiiK: May 17 2012, 08:41 PM

Age-1 Razor parts which will be include with the magazine




Also wondering what is this ? maybe another wing kit ?

and please not ACD type. no more BYWR please

but the original kinda like Trans Am :|

mentioned a page earlier
probably MG Snow White & MG Warlock if it's that 2 Gundams in cloak
bump this up for those who havent seen it

I dig this more than the Razor parts


This post has been edited by General_Nic: May 17 2012, 09:15 PM

2 PG Unicorn ? probably fake anyway

Closer look at the MG Age-2 Strider mode



look like the knee cap serve as landing gear.

Also Frit or Flit ?



This post has been edited by Khai62: May 17 2012, 09:33 PM

i thought it was Flit
AGE seems to be one of the more successful series.. selling so many model kits already.. i wonder if bandai will even go back and focus on the older series

Of course they will pump up AGE kit since it still airing and slowdown after the series ended anyway and then wait 10 years later to get the rest of the suit like wing and seed.

eh guys, i want ask ah, where can I get poképla? hahaha. I'm interested in a Meganium and Samurott one... and since they are also by Bandai I was hoping u guys should know.

The problem of wing and seed is that too many characters each piloting unique gundams. As such it is expected that the side characters got the short end of the stick in terms of air time and popularity since many would just root for the main guy anyway (heero and jesus yamato). Thats why wing and seed took so long to release the other suits; its sales is unconfirmed to be a success at the time. Because this is Bandai, they will release things that will confirm sells (case in point, wing zero and freedom) way ahead of others in their series and hold out others to gauge its popularity b4 making a kit.

In the case of Age, we have many gundams but most of them are similar to one another (change arm and leg) plus there is only 3 gundam pilots each with its own arc, thats why Bandai could churn out so many Age kits all at once. For the reason that main character kit sells, they are not afraid to make so many of them. I dont foresee Bandai leaving some gundams from Age unreleased for a prolong period of time, they are already halfway to complete all Age gundam at this point anyway.

i think its production already halted long ago.. might be able to find some but i don't think you would like the prices..
but if anyone knows where to find any of these.. i'd like to know too

summed up perfectly.. at least now EW got quite a bit of attention again with the releases of Sandrock and Heavy Arms.. as well as the more minor suits in SEED getting MGs..
while the AGE has been churning out kits, like you said, there really isn't much variety.. which is kind of a turn off, because nothing is more depressing than looking at a shelf full of the exact same kits with a slight bit of changes here and there
at least bandai is giving some of us SEED fans some love with the Blitz, Buster and Aegis.. as well as RG Justice.. i think i'll be satisfied for a while.. and i'm still quite curious as to what the Wing kit will be

now that i noticed, iinm, GN-X is the only grunt MS outside of UC series that has a MG kit

indeed.. would love to see more grunt suits get the MG treatment.. maybe bandai will finally revisit the poor grunts after giving all the main suits the MG treatment
we can only hope

Now you say that yeah i don't recall any other grunt in AU have MG but then again the grunt suit that i like other than GN-X was Flag aka "Nyamuk" but we don't even have the main enemy on MG 00 either

Agree that it not much change on the AGE kit but i was more on MG lineup which wondering that if we will get the lead enemy unlike 00 which don't have any.

i wish for zaku from seed.. they can milk us with the backpack (wizard pack) as the variety.. +make the fans happy..

Other then UC, there has been close to none main antagonist suit in MG. This is mostly because most AU series have alot of badly developed antagonist, almost all of them are unmemorable or their back stories does not justified their actions or their objective/plan are so convoluted that it makes their character unsympathetic almost idiotic.

In UC due to having so many stories in that universe, Zeon and their struggles are flesh out in more details and are more believable, plus there are many sympathetic characters from Zeon. Alot of actions in that universe are justified in their own right (except for Titans but batshit insane antagonist is ok, they are bad guys and u expect them to do that anyway), as such its not surprising that there are many Zeon fanboys out there as oppose to lets say Zaft fanboys or Alaws fanboys. Thats why you dont see many lead antagonist be made into kits; its either their mecha design or the guy behind it are not popular.

The only antagonist MG kit from AU that i could think of from the top of my head is Master gundam (cuz hes awesome), Epyon (only because Bandai decide to make all other wing kits, i have no doubt that if the other 4 are not in plans, Bandai would not even touch epyon with a 10ft pole), and Destiny (i rank it antagonist though destiny is such a clusterf..k that i dont even know who he fights for tbh but it has to be made cus its the title suit).

This post has been edited by TheAdmiral: May 18 2012, 12:16 AM

hohoho another target to sapu during japang trip

MG Blitz's box art lookin' smexy ;DDD, but imma wait for MG Buster Gundam ;DDD


and i thought the Ballute Pack is bundled with MG Marasai D:


This post has been edited by golbeza: May 18 2012, 01:01 AM

nah don't really fancy balloon pak

was having high hope for blitz, but the colors somehow seems weird

anyone look for cute transformable OP?

sweet
HGUC 1/144 Zaku Marine (Release: July 2012, Price1,400 yen)

its okay with dat sort of roll out color. Im starting to bored with BYRW type color

Any1 know what happen to the MG Figure of Dragonball??

after the release of goku and super saiya goku then no more news de??

And I'm still waiting for trunks and vegeta to be release....still remember saw their prototype like ages ago.....

as salam,


have anyone know if i want to buy a Gundam at Japan and bring it here, kena TAX or not??

i mean as hand luggage or in plane luggage??

if kena TAX, how much??

got a friend who will go to japan next year and wanna ask him to buy for me....

thanks in advance..

sarjantulang

SEED Destiny Zaku is not grunt unit But I love to have them in MG

damn red geara doga!? Full Frontal custom



This post has been edited by calcilis: May 18 2012, 11:38 AM

For LBX fan . . . Up coming kits


FINALLY GOT PEN FOR THEM!!!

i realli wan tat RG justice..damn it..if i buy justice i will need to get freedom as well...AHHHHHH

oh no...char monoeye...I am falling in love!! uc monoeye rocks!!

Yeah Marasai can open the brain :3

buy BUY! i thought u already bought RG Freedom?

here is the freedom for ya

MK-II mana

not open yet, even skygrasper i left cannon strike pack not yet assemble. green zaku ii and freedom actually not yet apply decal

You are one dedicated RG fan
Don't rush good thing. Take it slow

banyaknyer RG! all also you collected so far only have Strike + Skygrasper.. taking it slow
next one will be Justice + Freedom!

there is another one keep diam diam only...general nic also have all RG....beside the zaku only

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Added on May 18, 2012, 5:49 pm

here is the current progress i built the skygrasper haha

This post has been edited by Agito666: May 18 2012, 05:49 PM

Something i find on the net.

i damn jelly...i september oni get...my september list of item to buy is gonna make me broke in 1 day =="

u going to sapu the whole store in sept?

hahahaha no la juz sapu justice + freedom...gotta pay up the remain of inori yuzuriha figmas...get my PS3 + games..and then gotta get sum other stuff to set it up...

AE build the King Tiger tank?

mass produce GP01FB.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/140685568053?ssPage...984.m1439.l2649

I just bought this, and was wondering if there is any difference between this and the normal SD Wing Zero. The different boxarts have me curious.

so many rg u brought!
i only got 1 04 rg zaku T_T

darnnnn agito....anyone saw anywhere still selling RG Strike?

i thought RG Aile Strike is the most abundance of all

lol....hmm last week went TS only saw Zaku...or i miss it?

i dun think TS got anymore...other place might have..sungei wang might have em...

check Gamers Arena in TS.. should have some there
Aile Strike should be one of the easiest to find or go check AF hobby, there sure got

Congratulations with the new thread ..

Well every1 spam pic.. okok.. I spam HG Farsia la ... BUT.. ADULTS ONLY

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Added on May 19, 2012, 5:39 pmalready selling in gamers arena 7th floor Berjaya Time Square

This post has been edited by ascentic: May 19 2012, 05:39 PM

so fast?! i thought GA is one of the slowest shops
and i don't remember seeing it when i went there on Wednesday

Y U SAY PLACE I RARELY GO

no wonder it's not shown in the anime...



the missing age-2 wear...

no la, is just some add on part. like the Age-1 GNX superbia wear...

This age-2 wear remind me CGUE DEEP arm .

LOL.. you can buy via online ma haha..

Anyone knows where i can find [ext] Exs Gundam decal

This post has been edited by mafilax: May 20 2012, 03:02 PM

Summon Devil Rider

Sounds like Saber Rider



This post has been edited by ascentic: May 20 2012, 04:23 PM

New Bandai hobby shop items here


This post has been edited by Khai62: May 20 2012, 07:10 PM

Any bros here know what the mg banshee retails for now? In both bts and online..

I saw GA last week RM198

GA 198
GT 193

if you're still lucky, got one fella selling 170 in the sales thread when I check yesterday

Will look for him.thanx bro

wan ask. action base 2 is really hard to find in BTS area?

because Tkting always got stock problem haha. so want to know bts is hard to find or i just order from him and wait till a flower grow on my arse.