Several interesting kits have caught my eye toward the end of this year, the month in which Bandai is known to make the biggest splash to spruce up sales before the end of the fiscal year. So let's take a look at the 5 kits that have caught my eye.
1.
The first would be the AGE-2 MAGNUM, featured in the 2018 series Gundam Build Divers. It takes a substantially different approach to its silhouette compared to its predecessor design, the AGE 2 Normal featured in the Gundam AGE the series from 2011.
The new model sports a nice gray color scheme with a highlight of purple for the waist compared to the dark black of the original Magnum. The kit flips the shoulder binders from the original and replaces them with a new translucent bluish-green effect part.
It also adds extensions for its side skirt and a severe redesign of the front skirt, feet and calf. The only parts untouched being thighs and torso and parts of the shoulder.
The articulation is identical, down to the same oddly disturbing knee cap design. But to be honest, nothing really needed changing from the original model. But the kit just standing looks pretty horrible. Almost as bad as the Reginlaze Julia.
It goes without saying that the added length of the feet doesn't help, but it does help when it comes to action poses coupled with the seeming inclusion of an action base for the funnel like weapons.
The transformation with the additional parts look similar to the Ptolemaios spacecraft seen in Gundam 00 in my opinion. When you look at the kit transformed side by side with its predecessor, it does look awfully bulky on top. However, if the top sections were taken apart, the feet extensions give the mobile armor mode a more plane like design. So in certain aspect, a welcome redesign.
Nice Side Note: The backpack appears to be able to hold beam sabers to imitate it firing a shot.
2.
The second kit that has really caught my attention is the Real Grade Full Armor Unicorn Gundam, the 30th in the line of real grades. This kit will be a monster of a kit, priced at 5400 yen. The most expensive Real Grade to date, beating out the RG Sazabi, at 4500 yen, that came out a few months back.
It really puts consumers in a pickle whether you should shell out for the MG or if you just want to stick with the real grade. Depending on what site you go to, for example, Amazon and USA Gundam Store, you'll see it retailing for around $80.
Comparatively, the Real Grade Full Armor Unicorn will be about $50 to $60, so if you knock off about $10 from the Master Grade or you happen to find a shop marks up the kit by another $10, you'll end up paying around the same price.
So at this point it really depends on your preference of scale. Realistically, you can definitely find some stores that will try to mark down the MG because its an older kit or because they've had it in their inventory for far too long.
Conversely, you'll probably find people trying to mark up the RG since its a newer kit with better articulation and technology. i.e. better transformation gimmicks and more stability due to the smaller scale. They will want to ride the hype wave as long as they can.
3.
This leads to the third Gundam Model kit that has caught my eye has been the mobile doll Sarah.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm interested in this kit for a very particular reason. Its interesting to note that the last humanoid looking Gundam model kit, the Diver Nami, was marketed as a Figure-Rise Standard Model kit.
For those that aren't familiar with the Figure-Rise Standard Line, they are line of primarily Dragon Ball Z model kits produced by Bandai. They have gained popularity due to their cheap price point compared to their S.H. Figure Art counterparts and their expressiveness compared to the Fumina type of Gundam Girl model kits.
You would think that the Sarah Model Doll would want to be branded in the same way and try to keep the trend going.
So, to me, it either means that they're trying to keep the Figure Rise Standard line separate from all non-Gundam related properties but will share innovations between the two lines or it means that the Mobile Doll Sarah doesn't have the particular technologies from the Figure-Rise line incorporated into its mold.
OR it could be secret option number 3, that Sarah, in their eyes, isn't "human" enough have the Figure-Rise label, and so they thought it best to keep it within within the HGBD line.
4.
Other the 3 stated above, this one and the following hold an even smaller candle in my book.
The Perfect Grade Gundam 00 Seven Swords in my opinion, is just a rehash of the old PG 00 with add on parts. The price point will obviously be higher than the standard version. But if you're looking for the definitive model kit to get, I would say, this is the one to set your eyes on. But to me personally, I'm not a fan of the Seven Swords variant. I think it looks a little bulky. And to be honest, I'm not a big fan of perfect grades, believe it or not. I think they're slightly over my price range, and slightly over my space...range. Real Grades and Master Grades are probably as big as I'm willing to go for the time being.
Naturally, I tend to stay around the High Grade or 1/144 scale level. Take what connotation that you will, but in my humble opinion, I have a preference for HG's more since I can mix and match the kits and feel less remorse if I mess up the model kit. That isn't to say that I don't have my own fair share of PG's though. Overall, this kit just seems to have a lot riding against it.
5.
The last on the list is going to be a hit or miss with some people since it was just announced, the Narrative Gundam C pack. The release date is set for March 2019 with a price range of about 2400 yen. (The additional 84 seen on the link below is just the additional tax slapped onto the MSRP, at least I assume. The first 22 minutes of the series Gundam NT, the show this design is from, can be seen on Gundaminfo's Youtube channel. But you won't be able to see this design until the movie is formally released. I will definitely be interested in checking it out as soon as it comes live.
Did I mention that this film has a killer soundtrack?
To me, I don't see a particular reason for me to get a model of this design. Again, this is just my personal opinion. Con's in my case would be that its a flat-out Unicorn Gundam copy. You'd think that as big of a fan of the Unicorn, that I would welcome a new addition to the lore with this design, but honestly, I can do without the imitations. I have nearly every scale of the Unicorn in its destroy mode, so I'm running low on space for another collection. I have no reason to diverge into another variant of the Unicorn.
Being a completionist, if I get the C pack, I'm definitely going to have to get the A and B packs. Additonally, the base kit doesn't seem to provide anything revolutionary model kit wise, as it seems to be a hodgepodge of Bandai's most successful franchises. Based off the promotional material, it looks like a solid kit with a gimmick for having two different colored eyes and a lot of molding detail. But again, everything is pretty standard.
The weapons look pretty lackluster with the shield and beam rifle looking like modified weapons of the EFSF Jegan with psycho-frame layered on top. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a fan of the Jegan either.
It looks like the kit is relying heavily on nostalgia to generate its value rather than to introduce anything new or different with the introduction of new model kit technologies or innovations. To me, once seeing through the smoke, its kind of a turn-off.
Its bare-bone skeleton look seemingly inspired by IBO's success, with the aforementioned psychoframe from the Unicorn, with just a dash of Char's Counterattack in the suit's likeness for the Nu Gundam, one of the most recognizable and popular designs in the Gundam Franchise.
Even the weapons are influenced by the Jegan, a popular grunt suit FROM Char's Counterattack. Just so happens to not be popular with me.
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So I think this will be a pretty hard pass for me. People are more or less saying good things about the kit though: its not a p-bandai, its a smaller package compared to the other, basically its cheaper. But I guess we'll have to wait for the release of Gundam NT to see how people really think of this design.
That concludes the 5 model kits that have caught my attention towards the end of the year. Hopefully everyone reading will take my opinions with a grain of salt and do the proper research to be an informed Gunpla enthusiast to see if these kits also interest you. I'll provide the links for some of the stuff that I've mentioned in the article below and that way you can find the information for yourself.
Have a nice day,
Sources:
AGE-2 Magnum:
RG FA Unicorn Gundam:
Mobile Doll Sarah
Nami
PG 00 Seven Sword
Narrative C Pack
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