I’m not trying to confuse anyone here, but as most people (of the Japanese or Japanese-anime-loving variety) know, Gundam, or Mobile Suit Gundam, is a giant robot suit that is the basis of a hugely popular animation franchise that originated in the 1970s and is still popular and releasing new episodes in the current Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn series.
OK, that was just for those not at all familiar. I am not a Gundam fanatic, but I do live in Japan, making encounters with Gundam pretty much inevitable. Gundam is such a strong part of the Japanese identity that a huge, and I mean 1/1 scale measuring 59m tall huge, model was erected in Odaiba, facing Tokyo Bay two summers ago. It was a very popular reason to go all the way out to Odaiba. I had the pleasure of admiring Gundam, all light up, from the deck of a summer night cruise. Seeing Gundam was a major highlight of the outing. It was almost as entertaining as all the tipsy 20-somethings in yukata clamouring to see it.
This past summer “life-size” Gundam was watching over Shizuoko station, and this holiday season, fans will be able to have a scaled down model of the popular attraction as it was actually assembled and displayed here in Japan. Actually, they will have to assemble it themselves, recreating the event.
Bandai is releasing a set of six different components to build into a Mobile Suit Gundam that is 10cm tall, perfect for the bookshelf or desktop. The components come with the construction equipment and crew to really recreate the construction site. The components will retail for 368yen each.