Top 5: Favorite Gunpla Kits (part 1)

by Christopher Troy

Heya readers! Been slow to update as of late, with the upcoming summer anime convention starting up! Loran’s been nice enough to cover for me as I prep for my events for animeNEXT (www.animeNEXT.org), and I’ve been slowly working on the 1/100th scale Arios Gundam kit, which should be reviewed next week. Consider this article a little filler piece to keep me in the loop, before I return to reviewing kits.

As of this summer, I’ll be building Gunpla for 10 years. Like Loran, I have no idea just how many kits I’ve built (including non-Gundam kits from series like Code Geass and Macross), but naming my favorite kits is definitely a lot easier then naming a favorite series!  My decision were based on design, gimmicks, and construction ease, not necessarily what series/characters I like the most.

Runners Up:

Gundam Astray Red Frame

Series of Origin: Gundam SEED/ Gundam SEED Astray

I had a lot of fun with the SEED series, both anime and Gunplay wise. The Astray Red Frame is a bit player in the actual anime, as most of it’s story is told through the Tokyopop released Manga. Still the red/white color scheme makes it visually appealing, as well as the wider head and unique flat antennae . Plus you got to love any Gundam that comes with it’s own home made Katana, as well as a shield, beam cannon, and twin beam sabers. The original red one is kind of difficult to find, but there has been a bunch of variants released since the original one.

Gundam EZ8

Series Origin: MS 08th Team

It’s a runner up since I’ve never owned it/ built. But I want to something fierce, as the series is without a doubt my favorite UC series.  The White Whale to my Ahab. One of these days…

5) OO Gundam

Series of Origin: Gundam OO season 2

To be honest, I care very little about Setsuna and his story, let alone the 2nd season of Gundam OO, outside of Lockson’s story.  And if you recall, I said that the OO looks a lot like Megaman’s evil robot master Airman, something I stand by to this day.  But the bottom line is that Gundam OO definitely has some the more unique looking Gundams to grace the franchise since Turn A. It came down to this or the Arios, but since building that has lead to me rage-quitting several times since I’ve started (more next article), the easy construction of the OO lands it on the list. Way to go Airman!

4) Gunner Zaku Lunamaria Custom

Series of Origin: Gundam SEED Destiny

FACT: Zakus are awesome. That’s not a matter of opinion folks. Visually awesome, they’re definitely one of the best designed mass-produced Mechas in the Gundam franchise, dating back to the original series. While both myself and Loran covered a large variety of Zakus in our articles, the Lunamaria custom takes the cake for a variety of reasons. It’s a great modern update to the Zaku, as the multi-color scheme gives it a sharp look, and the fact that it comes with a variety of weapons to wield helps as well.

Next article will cover my final 3 favorites, and I promise you, won’t be as SEED heavy. That’s not to say that a SEED kit won’t make it up there, but there won’t be as many as this article, LOL.