Statistics upon request.
*NOTE: Although these are Bandai official statistics, the exact number of sales are not shown. (It's
a part of Bandai policy) However, since the total profit and shipping frequency is revealed, it's not
impossible to imagine the numbers behind the scene.




1. Gunpla sales Top 10 listing (PG, MG, HG)

[ Jan.1995 ~ Sept.2006 ]
1. Gundam
2. Z Gundam
3. Zaku II (Char Aznable's Custom)
4. HyakuShiki
5. Zaku II (Mass Production Type)
6. Guncannon
7. Qubeley
8. GP01 Zephyranthes
9. Gundam Mk.II
10. Gouf

Researched by 'Gundam for Adults' Magazine under Bandai supervision

Funny how the results are only showing UC kits. (Of course, that result includes SEED kit sales)
Which means sales of new Gundams can't beat Mk.II, GP01 or even Guncannon.



2. Warehouse shipping of MG kits since June 2005


*LEGEND: Green -> Yellow -> Pink -> Red (Blue: spin-offs)
(2007 numbers are included in 2005 June numbers)

As you can see, Strike did well enough, but about the same as the two Wing Gundams. Freedom
did quite well, but not as well as Char's Z'gok did. Now isn't that a slap in the face? A underwater
mono-eyed Zeon MS did better than the new hero's MS. THAT's the power of the keyword 'Char'
in Japanese market.

The winner is none other than Acguy. Yes, ACGUY. This MS has that much of popularity in Japan.
Z Gundam 2.0 comes close, while Gundam Mk.II 2.0 has a very impressive number too. (If you
count AEUG and Titans version as the same kit, it's undoubtably No.1 among the list)

Strike Freedom has some impressive sales so far, but unless 2008 sales are taken into account
later on, can't really say it did well as the OYW / Z lineup. Moreover, due to the existance of FB
mode kit, Strike Freedom was produced LESS than other kits during the same shipping period.
(Mk.II AEUG and Titans came out at a different period, while Strike Freedom offered options of
taking the regular kit or the Full-Burst mode)

And of course, Zaku 2.0 kits are making the craziest sales of all. Expect more MSV lineups to
come next year; can't really describe it as other than the prevail of OYW.

There IS another chart for HGUC only, but since I'm dead tired making the MG one... I'll pass.



3. Why MSV is so popular in Japan

Unlike other robot animes in the market, Gundam focused more on plastic kits than ready-made
toys. At one point when the legal rights of the Gundam franchise belonged to a company named
"Clover", there were a few Gundam toys. However, Clover did not see the whole Gundam hype
as profitable as the other ones at the time. Bandai bought the rights from Clover, and so began
the "gunpla" lineup.

While the sales were going up, it wasn't as much as Bandai expected. Then they came up with a
brilliant idea, originating from Zaku II and Char's Zaku II - any MS with a different color can be
labeled and sold under a different name. (G3 Gundam is a very good example of this; greenish-
toned Gundam was named "Real-Type" and later became the base of Full-Armor Gundam)

Of course, not all customers found this idea appealing. And because the quality of gunpla back
then was questionable at best, modelers came up with modifications, bash-builds, and their own
custom versions. These modelers refered to the first Gundam bible ever: "Gundam Century".
Bandai, coming up with another brilliant idea, used this to make even more kits; thus MSV was
born.

Readers of hobby magazine could send in their own design of Zaku, with the possibility of being
produced as an official MSV kit. Later it was expanded from Zaku to all mobile suits, increading
the entire MSV lineup.

The kids of those days, those who watched O.Y.W Gundam real-time and bought the very first
gunpla, contributed in the development of MSV itself - have grown up to be adults in their 30s
and 40s - are still loyal to the Gundam of their memories; the original O.Y.W.

This is the reason why Bandai focuses more on O.Y.W kits than anything else. Heisei (G, W, X,
SEED) fans on the other hand, are mostly young and moves onto other animes, but the old fans
of O.Y.W are more loyal with a stronger consumer power.



4. Sales and profit

[Total number of gunpla sold]
Mar. 2004: 360 million
Sep. 2006: 380 million
Mar. 2007: 382.4 million


That's about 10 million kits per every 15 months. At this rate, the number of sales will reach at
400 million by March 2009; which is, coincidentially, the 30th anniversary of OYW Gundam. Do
expect something big to come up, and even more OYW stuff on its way. Here's some more stats,
although it's a bit old:


[Plamodel market of 2004]
Total number of plamodel production in Bandai Shizuoka factory: 12 million
Total number of GUNPLA production in Bandai Shizuoka factory: 10 million (83.3%)

The Japanese Engineering Daily, courtesy of Bandai Shizuoka


Scale of Japanese plamodel market of 2001: 40 billion yen (50% gunpla, 20% military kits, 30% other)
Scale of Japanese toy-hobby market of 2005: 47 billion yen (Total profit of Gunpla sales: 27 biliion yen)