Gunpla, a portmanteau of Gundam plastic model kit, is the action of assembling a model kit depicting a vehicle or a characters from the Gundam series. While I do have some experience with Gunpla when I was growing up, I really never got that into the hobby. Most of the time I would just treat it like any toy I had and wasn’t bothered if it broke or if I lost a piece. Sacrilege, I know right? But as time went on and as I got older, I thought about getting back into the hobby as something to keep myself occupied. It wasn’t till the show Gundam Build Fighters and the sequel Gundam Build Fighters Try that I jumped right back into building and collecting. So far I have three High Grades from the Build Fighters line of kits, one SD model also from the Build Fighter line, and two High Grades from the brand new series that just aired Iron Blooded Orphans. While its only a small collection so far, I’ve caught the collecting bug and can’t wait to expand my collection.
Now being that I’m pretty new to the scene of Gunpla, I thought I try to see what kits would be coming out soon and what to keep an eye on. So with that in mind I’ve decided to create a new section for the site that details all of the Gunpla kits and accessories that will be coming out in the next month.These releases will span from High Grades to Perfect Grades, but will also depend if there are any kits released at all. Some months there will be nothing but HGs and nothing else, much like this month. Also I will be only focusing on standard releases and not Bandai Premium Web releases since these kits will not be restocked. All prices, release dates and links used are from the Japanese website, Hobby Search. All Yen prices are correct, however there is a range in dollar prices due to the fact that if you order from a domestic vendor (online or local) they will charge a bit extra to makeup for import tax. So without a further ado, lets get right to it starting with this month’s High Grade releases.
HGCE ZGMF-X56S/Α FORCE IMPULSE GUNDAM REVIVE
The ZGMF/X56S Force Impulse Gundam [REVIVE], based on the original version of the Impluse Gundam from the show Gundam Seed, is a part of the Revive series of Gunpla kits that takes previously released model kits and gives them new revisions/additional improvements and features. These features include modern engineering, streamlined proportions, enhanced color part separation, and the ability to separate into the chest flyer, silhouette flier, and the leg flier. Accessories that are in the kit are as follows: beam rifle, shield, beam sabers, and separate Core Splendo. There are eleven runners, one sticker sheet, and stands at about 5″ tall. The kit retails at 1,800 Yen or around $13 to $20.
HG MS-05B ZAKU I (Gundam Thunderbolt version)
Ah the Zaku, one of the most versatile mobile suits in the Principality of Zeon arsenal. While not the flashest of mobile suits in the Gundam franchise, the Zaku can be equipped to do almost anything it need to complete its mission. This version of the Zaku comes from the Gundam Thunderbolt anime that finished airing a few months back and is in a construction yellow paint scheme. Accessories that are in the kit are as follows: machine gun, 2 types of bazookas, heat hawk ax, flare bombs, and sub-arms. There are also a set of interchanable hands that can be used for the Big Gun unit that comes withe the Gundam Thunderbolt Zaku 2 unit. There are elevens runners, one marking sticker, one foil sticker and stands about 5″ tall. Retail price for the Zaku I is 1,800 Yen or around $13 to $20.
HGUC RX-0 FULL ARMOR UNICORN GUNDAM (DESTROY MODE) RED COLOR VER.
About a few months back I binged watched all of the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OVAs. Since the only Gundam series that I’ve knowledge of are the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Wing and G Gundam, I wanted to see what the fuss was about, as I have heard that Gundam Unicorn was the best Gundam series out of all the current generation of Gundam shows. And I can see why, the animation is great, the battles are awesome and the music really sets the mood when going from non-battle to battle scenes. However I feel like I’ve heard this story before: a kid who doesn’t want anything to do with war is forced to fight or he and his friends will die. Kind of sounds like Amuro Ray from the original Gundam series no? Anyways, beside all of the action and drama, its the Gundam, the Unicorn Gundam that steals the show. Which is no wonder why there are so many versions of this suit. What makes this version of the Unicorn Gundam different from the previous kit is that this Unicorn Gundam is in its red psychoframe color and packing a ton of extra accessories. The accessories that come with kit are as follows: 3 Beam Gatling guns, 1 Beam Magnum, 2 Hyper Bazookas, 2 Missile Pods, 4 leg-mounted Missile Racks, 2 Fuel Tanks, 1 Beam Javelin, 1 Shield (Unicorn Mode) and 3 Shields (Destroy mode), and three stands to display them in various funnel modes. There are sixteen runner, one foil sticker and stands about 5″ tall. Retail price for this version of the Unicorn is about 2,890 Yen or between $28 to $40.
So that wraps up the releases for June. Kind of sad that there wasn’t any standard edition kits of the other grades for June. From what I’ve heard , as you go up a grade the kits get more intricate, detailed and a lot more harder and time consuming. For right now however I’m just content in doing straight builds and learning more. Come back next month as we take a look at what July has in store.
