By Loran
Summer’s almost here, folks, and that means one thing-a lot more time to work on Gunpla! Yeah, screw going outside and being social, it’s time to build some PLASTIC ROBOTS! Bandai seems to release kits at a rate of about one a month when it comes to their biggest “cash cow” lines; that is, the High Grade and Master Grade lines. While I know this model would NEVER work in the United States, it’s very collector oriented, if you think about it. No need to search high and low for all of the new stuff released in the wave, or having to resort to buying an entire shipping case. Plus, stuff never seems to get outright canceled because of retailers not ordering enough. Man, Bandai really has their collector market figured out…
Starting with this month, there are a few nice HGUC releases coming out, one of which I’ve been waiting for years for.
This month’s release is the ECOAS type Jegan from Gundam Unicorn. Initially, I ignored this one. Jegans are awesome, yeah, but at first glance, this one didn’t really appeal to me. That was, of course, before I watched episode 3 of Gundam Unicorn. We didn’t get to see them in much action, but I really liked what I saw! I don’t own any HGUC Jegans, but I’ve heard good things about the kit. It’s an awesome suit, how can you go wrong? Plus, the assortment of weapons is very neat, especially that bazooka, and there’s something about that head I really like. I might get myself one of these after all.
In May, we’ll be seeing sort of a cross-series release: the Dreissen, first introduced in Gundam ZZ! As I’ve noticed recently, kits from ZZ really don’t sell that well. It’s a shame, because some of them are actually kind of neat. Bandai managed to get around this by including it in the Gundam Unicorn OVA, with the distinctive “sleeves”-look added to it. Sadly, it doesn’t look like it’ll be coming with parts to make its ZZ counterpart; but honestly, it’s a suit I’ve kind of been waiting for. I love Doms and Dom-descendants, and the Dreissen is no exception. It’ll even be including the beam glaive and halberd- the latter of which is one of my favorite rarely-seen Mobile Suit weapons. I’ll definitely be getting one of these, but I MIGHT hold out for a ZZ version.
June’s release is one I’ve been waiting for since the GM Custom got announced- the GM Cannon II!! YES YES YES. 0083 may be one of my least favorite Gundam shows for a wide variety of reasons, but one can’t deny how awesome the suits are. From the unpainted prototype pictures, I can tell that it uses the same “Universal GM Runner” that all modern GM kits seem to use, meaning even with its bulky frame, it’ll have a great range of articulation. The only on-screen suits from 0083 that still need kits are the Gerbera Tetra, the Xamel, and the Dra-C, and the Dra-C recently appeared in Unicorn, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see that in kit form by the end of the year. The GM Cannon II is DEFINITELY a purchase for me, and heck, I can see myself buying multiples.
So far, this summer’s looking like a good season for HGUC releases. Maybe we’ll finally be seeing an HGAC Wing Gundam Zero! I’ve been hearing rumors about it for awhile, so maybe it’ll finally be happening after all! By the end of the summer, these kits should be on the shelves at FPNYC!
