Mobile Suit Gundam

I'm always down for more OYW content. Can't say I'm happy about the Netflix jail part.

Trailer: https://youtube.com/watch?v=r1TDtEA14sY

Kinda digging the new Lacus look. And count me among those that think the new mini Haro plushies are adorable.

A lot of Gunpla news that's mostly out of date since the expo started last week and a lot of stuff has sold out in the US.

Not really a whole lot to talk about personally, but Kakarot is nothing if not thorough. Chapter data for skimming purposes:

00:00 HUF X Gundam Wing
01:07 December Gunpla Schedule
02:45 Amusement Expo + Gundam Seed Freedom Information
05:59 More Gundam Seed Freedom Merchandise
07:32 Gundam Seed Freedom Metaverse Event
10:05 HG Gundam Mk.II (Titans) (21st Century Real Type Color)
10:45 Gundam Seed 20th Anniversary HG Gunpla Set (Metallic color)
11:42 RG Freedom Gundam (Ver. GCP)
12:41 RIP Gundam Evolution
13:00 UC Engage News
13:38 GBO2 News
13:42 Arsenal Base News
13:55 Zakuto Girl
14:02 Hidetaka Tenjin Exhibition
15:11 MG Zaku Cannon Zeta Gundam Ver. Released
15:38 Robot Spirits Sword Striker Pack + Effect Parts Set Released
16:13 Premium Gacha GM Released
16:42 Gundam Build 10th Anniversary Collection CD Set Released
17:09 Asticassia School of Technology Radio Committee Vol.1 Released
17:23 Gundam Seed Phone Case Things Released
17:59 Gundam Reading Material
20:01 Gundam Apparel News
27:19 What’s the Best Gundam Build Team? [Poll Results]
28:35 Who’s the Best Gundam Queen [Ongoing Poll]
30:14 Outro

Not mine, just sharing cool stuff.

This is awful.

I'm not sure how recent this is, but Gundam.info put up an interactive flow chart to recommend a Gundam series to watch. Aside from the random translation misses ("Are you interested in story of engineers then pilots") the recommendations seem random. But they're not: it's all deterministic and repeatable. One portion of the tree as an example:

UC: yes
Short series: no
Origin of series: yes -> MSG movie I

Origin of series: no
Boy meets girl: no -> Gundam The Origin 🤨

Boy meets girl: yes -> Unicorn OVA

That "engineers then pilots" question? Answering yes leads to Twilight Axis. Really? That's your plan to get people into Gundam? 🤦‍♂️

Anyone find anything else facepalm-worthy?

Edit: why are we continuing the Reddit-like unintuitive line break markup? goes back and adds extra white space to start new lines as if CR/LF doesn't exist 😑

I adore this show. Fellow Gundam fans, you should give this a shot, even if the aesthetic puts you off.

What's gonna happen is that Bandai is going to get me to order this 1/144-ish Big Zam figure for however many hundreds of dollars, then in a few years, after it's had time to sit in the box and collect dust, they'll announce an HGUC version for much much less.

😒

Timestamps for click-free headline skimming:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:27 1/60 Metal Structure Kaitai Shouki Gundam Mk.II AEUG
• 01:52 1/60 Metal Structure Kaitai Shouki Nu Gundam Addons
• 02:41 Metal Build GN Arms Type-D & Dynames Repair
• 03:59 Metal Robot Spirits Barbatos (1st-4th Form)
• 04:43 GFFMC Gouf
• 05:57 Gundam Seed Metal Builds Announcements
• 07:00 More Figure releases
• 07:51 Metal Robot Spirits Ka Signature Zeta Pluses
• 08:41 Robot Spirits Gundam Mk.II Titans
• 09:41 More UC Robot Spirits Figures
• 10:46 Robot Spirits Big Zam
• 12:00 Robot Spirits Aegis Gundam & Buster Gundam
• 12:49 SH Figuarts Announcements
• 14:02 Witch from Mercury Robot Spirits Figures
• 14:34 Gundam Universe Figures
• 14:48 Metal Robot Spirits Command & Beret Gundams
• 15:28 Dimension Art Metal Unicorn Gundam
• 16:26 GGG Master Asia Restock
• 16:49 Gundam Seed Freedom Chibi Plushies
• 17:05 HGUC G-Line Standard Armor
• 18:26 Soft Vinyl Santa & Snowman Balloons
• 19:16 Unicorn Statue Winter Makeover
• 19:49 GBO2 News
• 20:02 Gundam Extreme Versus 2 Overboost
• 20:08 Alpha Tauri x Gundam
• 20:19 Sunshine City Bandai Cross Store
• 20:28 Musha Gundam Girl
• 20:33 China Limited Gundam Things Released
• 22:15 Gundam Build Metaverse Kits Released
• 23:14 Mini Mini Carddass & Zaku Head Gachapons Released
• 24:02 Audrey Burne Prize Figure
• 24:42 Life Sized Nu Gundam Tumbler Arcade Prizes
• 24:48 FLASH Phonecases (for Iphone 15 Pro & Pro Max)
• 25:20 Witch from Mercury Carddass vol.3
• 25:47 Gundam Reading Material
• 26:26 Gundam Apparel News
• 28:50 The Best Build Fighter Team (Ongoing Gundam.info Poll)
• 30:03 Outro

Looking forward to the Urdr Hunt anime. It took me until last year sometime to finally get around to watching IBO... the end left me hollow but I'm more than willing to see more of that universe.

That F1 grandpa deco looks SICK. Not sure it would work in HG or EG, but I'd totally be down for an RG. And I don't even like auto racing. But it's absolutely bonkers that the PG is promotional-only.

My nephew recently got into Gundam via one of the console games whose naming conventions I'll never be able to decipher. But as a result he is obsessed with the Gaplant. I am not showing him this video lol. The kid's holiday wish list is already impossibly long.

The faces on the Suletta and Miorine palm figures look awful. Or rather, they do not look like the characters.

Titles and timestamps for those that would rather just skim:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:23 Urdr Hunt Anime Announced
• 01:58 Formula 1 X Gundam
• 03:50 HGUC Gaplant
• 06:16 Gunpla Boxart
• 06:43 Tamashii Nation 2023
• 08:08 Tenohira Suletta-chan & Miorine-san (G.E.M. Series)
• 09:11 Gundam Seed x Cup no Fuchiko (Ichiban Kuji)
• 10:50 “But Wait. Cats?” Vinyl
• 11:13 UC Engage News
• 11:37 GBO2 News
• 11:54 International Robot Exhibition 2023
• 12:22 Zeong Girl
• 12:26 Gundam Factory Yokohama Hotel Package Deal
• 13:09 Witch from Mercury Pop-up Store Goods
• 13:42 Gundam Reading Material
• 13:57 Gundam Apparel News
• 15:02 Which Gundam Seed Character’s Work do you want to appreciate? (Ongoing Poll)
• 16:32 Outro

Edit: if anyone can explain why reddit (and now lemmy) ignores single carriage returns, I'm all ears. Every freakin time I have to go back and add the list tick marks manually. (Trying to add spaces on mobile just results in unwanted periods and takes longer overall.)

I wonder if Space Santa leaves Helium-3 for the bad boys and girls who hang up their ~~stockings~~ MS Leg Boots.

Of note, all of the announced Japanese P-Bandai reprints never sold out of the US store. And they are not alone. I'm not sure if Bandai decided to allot a ton more product to the US, sales have dropped off, or some combination. It seems like almost everything has been freely available... which is awesome, at least until Bandai does a course correction.

The China-exclusive MG Freedom and Justice look freakin amazing. Not a huge fan of the Providence overall but the deco is eye-catching.

Table of contents/time stamps below in case anyone wants a tl;dw.

• 00:00 November Gunpla Schedule
• 02:04 MG Mission Pack A-Type & L-Type for F90 Preorders
• 03:11 JP P-Bandai Restocks
• 03:28 Surplus Gunpla Runner Sale
• 05:43 Cucuruz Doan’s Island Goods
• 06:03 Metal Robot Spirits AGE-FX Preorders
• 07:01 New Gundam Universe Lineup (Halloween Inspired)
• 08:22 RIP Urdr Hunt
• 10:55 Digi-Fig App
• 14:34 GBO2 News
• 14:42 Gundam Seed Freedom Animate Limited Goods
• 15:55 WfM S2 Vol.3 Blu-ray & DVD Artwork Unveiled
• 16:01 Gundam Base Christmas
• 16:17 Tokyo Gundam English Guide
• 17:13 Gundam Open Inovation
• 18:18 Zeong Girl
• 18:48 WfM S2 Vol.2 Blu-ray & DVD Released
• 18:57 MS Leg Boots (RX-78-2 & Char’s Zaku) Released
• 19:22 Gunpla Round Boxes Released
• 20:09 WfM Sheet Music Released
• 20:20 China Limited Gunpla
• 22:07 Gundam Reading Material
• 22:25 Gundam Apparel News
• 27:44 Who’s the Best Gundam Trickster? [Poll results]

If you like your Zakus with a splash (or more) of blue, this might be hard on the ol' wallet.

• RG Zaku II (Shin Matsunaga)
• RG Zaku II (Uma Lightning)
• RG Zaku II (Robert Gilliam)
• MG Advanced GN-X
• MG Advanced GN-X (Deborah)
• MG GN-X III (A-Laws)
• MG GM Cannon (North American)
• MG Hyaku Shiki Kai
• HGBF Turn A Syn

Three Zakus, three GN-Xs, three others. Perfectly balanced.

Not really a whole lot that grabbed my attention, aside from Bandai continuing on the self-pwn track with metaverse. Just a shitton of stuff for sale at mostly ridiculous prices.

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:09 Miyuki Ichijou Passing
• 00:26 Bandai’s Response to the Metaverse Leak
• 03:01 Gundam Metaverse episode 2 & 3
• 06:09 Wa-Gu-Mi Bamboo RX-78-2
• 07:06 G Frame FA UC 0079 Memorial Selection
• 08:07 G Frame FA Sisquiede AEUG & Titans
• 08:59 FW Gundam Converge +4
• 09:46 Jumbo Soft Vinyl SD Gundam Mk.II (AEUG Ver.)
• 10:37 Witch From Mercury Mechagurumi Art
• 11:00 Gundam Seed Freedom Wafers
• 11:25 Gundam Battle Operation 2 News
• 12:53 UC Engage News
• 13:31 Gundam Evolution News
• 14:10 New Bandai Gachapon Store
• 14:18 Haro Carbon Neutral 2023
• 14:25 G-3 Girl
• 14:30 Gundam Seed Destiny Line Stamps
• 14:33 New Linkl Planet Music Video
• 15:28 Robot Spirits Figure Releases
• 16:09 Gundam Stationary Released
• 17:04 WfM Season 2 Vol.2 DVD & Bluray
• 17:10 GGG Amuro Rereleased
• 17:18 GMG MS Team EFF General Soldier and EFF Bike
• 18:18 Gundam Reading Material
• 19:19 Gundam Apparel News
• 26:02 Which Upcoming Gunpla Are You the Most Excited For? [Poll Results]

So episode 1 was introducing the characters, with a disjointed cliffhanger post-credits. Episode 2 started off with a flashback, then "I'll tell you everything." And episode 3 is plot armor helps prove that gunpla is ~~freedom~~ friendship. That's it. The rest is fanservice cameos.

What a nothingburger. Even going in with low expectations didn't help. Feels like a waste of good designs.

The colour scheme is inspired by the fact that he was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. Everything else was "inspired" by the spare parts I had lying around.

So... Bandai included CAD files for unreleased gunpla in the early access version of their metaverse software. Someone has already printed the MG for the new Freedom kit. And even though it was patched out, the installer has now been pulled completely from Bandai's site.

Neat.

This is a 15 minute evisceration. My jaw dropped at the system requirements and my forehead is bruised from the facepalming. The entire thing reeks of a C-suite stuffed suit being Very Smart and jumping on trends that either never happened or flopped two years after the fact.

Also, the "shopping" just opens the P-Bandai site in a browser window. Linked in my previous post. 🤦‍♂️

Apparently these went live at 11pm ET last night, but you need to filter by Campaign > Gundam Next Future.

• EG Grandpa Eggshell edition
• EG Lau (Gundam Base limited blue version)
• Zakupla-Kun
• HG Aerial (Recirculation color)
• MG Freedom (Real Type)
• MG Justice (Real Type ver "bright blue is totally realistic")

Eggshell Grandpa has been around for a while. Lau is definitely new. I believe the rest are as well.

Decent sized drop this week. The RG XN Raiser and HG Witch From Mercury option parts are new, everything else I believe is a reprint.

Does anyone know if PB did an effect parts set for the standard RG Nu? Or was it only included in the special edition of the regular release? This is the second or third time they've put the Hi Nu set up for order.

More Tri-Star goodness.

This makes an excellent phone lock screen IMO. Classy af.

I used to be indifferent to the Black Tri-Stars (the Ocean dub made them out to be yokels on top of being bad guy of the week for Amuro to dunk on), but eventually I came across their Zaku I and II customs and fell in love. At some point I learned about what absolute terrors they were to the Federation fleet during the OYW. It cast their OG appearance in a different light for me. I am 100% a fan now.