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What's a Gundam you ask? Well it's a huge robotic suit piloted by a human for combat on land, in the air or in space. And on this an entire industry, a couple dozen TV series and dozens of movies have been based. The Gundam comes from Japan. I have a been a fan of the various Gundam series and movies since the late 80's but it was not something you saw here too much till a few years ago when Cartoon Network started to carry a few of the various series.

Well we have a store here called Tokyo Discount. It is a Japanese store with a little bit of everything from Japan on the shelves. This includes a small toy section with models t-shirts, noh theater masks etc. Several months ago they had on the shelf a five inch tall completed model of a Mobile Suit RX-78-1 Perfect Gundam. It's a completed kit with the Gundam in it's original form from 1978. It also has with it all the equipment and armor that can be added on to it for aerial and space combat. I wanted this thing in the worst kind of way but did not have the money. I'm not going to say how much but it's pricey for its size. :) I kept checking that it was there from time to time. I even pointed it out to Michele. We went in one day for visitation back in April and it was gone. Someone had bought it. I was way bummed.

But, on my birthday, Michele presented me with that very Gundam kit. She was the one that absconded with it from the store one day while I was at work. I love her. It's a great present. I may be 37 but inside I have a 12 year old that likes his toys and this one is one of the best. I took it to work and put it in my cubicle where it got quite a bit of attention as I assembled it for display.

I put everything on mine for space combat. It comes with a stand as well so you can pose it while off of its feet.

My box does not look the same, but this is the same kit. Mine was a blister pack in a box. The image [here] is just for reference so you can see what came with it. I forgot to take a shot of my box to show you.

Here are the pics
Front view 01

Front view 02

Back view

Front detail

On its stand

Everything on it moves and is poseable, even the little rocket nozzles can be aimed in any direction. It also came with six pairs of hands that you can change out if you want it holding one of its different swords, shields, gun, or three different hand poses.

Now at first glance this thing looks like there was a lot of work in painting it. But, not so. It turns out that all the parts are a semi-flexible latex or vinyl. If you were to scratch any part of this thing it would be the same color under the scratch, with the exception of the decals of course. The Gundam and all of its parts have been cast in their corresponding colors. The parts don't snap together, they just kind of ease together as you push them into their sockets. For lack of a better description, it's as if it is made of blocks of dried latex paint. It feels the same anyway, same luster, same flexibility, solid with no hollow parts save for the ones that were made to go around others.

You can completely take this apart down to it's skeleton and then rebuild it. There are a ton of parts and the instructions, which are in Japanese, have loads of pictures showing how it all assembles. Everything fits perfect and the flexibility gives it some forgiveness if you miss align something while pushing the pieces together. Durable, flexible, pose able and highly detailed. This is one of the best kits I have ever seen and it was a great present for Michele to get me. I love it.

There is also a 30 inch tall version of the same thing I have been tracking on line for a few months. It runs about $1000 and has even more detail and parts. It takes around one to two hours to assemble. And then there is the end all be all of Gundam models....

It's called the Giant Gundam by Bandai, the company that makes it. The name fits. This is the one the guys at work want to see on my cubicle wall. It stands 5.5 feet tall, weighs 70 pounds, has hundreds of parts and takes about 4-6 hours to assemble. When Bandai first offered these things in 2006 they were $3,500. I'm still hunting for even mention of one of these things for sale some where. Not that I'd be buying it any time soon but I am curious if they're out there. I'm sure that the people who bought them are not going to part with them anytime soon...I wouldn't. If I had one at work it would be like having another person in my cubicle with me. I mean sheesh, look at it, it's bigger than the girl standing with it! Awesome!

There's always Christmas :D