i began my road to OTAKUdom long ago, as a young teen back in the early/mid-1990s, by proxy of leftover 1980's Paint-and-Glue Anime Mecha model kits.

around 1997, i took my first major leap forward thanks to my first GUNDAM-related kit,

with multi-color molding, press-fit assembly and extensively-polycapped joints, it was a quantum leap

beyond the standard no-frills plastic model fare i was used to up to that point.

around 1998, i got my first MASTER GRADE series GUNDAM kit, and from there i scarcely looked back.

my most recent kits, -just finished in late 2019- are also my most thoroughly satisfying.

2001 BANDAI MG MSZ-006A1 and MSZ-006C1, from 1988 ZETA GUNDAM side-story GUNDAM SENTINEL;

now for something a bit more old-fashioned than the average GUNDAM kit, dating clear back to 1983. a bona-fide classic, even;

I started with that same era of Arii kits, but the much smaller ones which were like $1-3 back in the mid 80s. I didn’t get any of the larger ones except for the ones Revell sold as Robotech and I got a crapload of those in 1986 when they went on clearance.. I also loved the Dougram kits they sold with the rubber band joints which a lot of people laugh at now. At the time the only alternative was crappy rotating parts like the early Gundam/Macross kits had.

Gundam was relatively unknown in the US back then (the anime wouldn’t be officially sold here until the late 90s) so while I knew the kits and stuff because they were in my mail order catalogs I usually went for the series I had better access to. Macross was my main thing until about 1991 when the US fan movement and my means started to catch up with each other. At that time the hit stuff was Gundam Sentinel which is a series that still captivates me with its extreme realism and authentic military atmosphere as well as the heavy influence from the garage kit/fine art world. It also exists totally in Model Grafx magazine so there were no super expensive videos to buy.

These days I still build the things, I suppose I must be almost 40 years into it now since my first Macross kits predated Robotech (exact year unknown, but it would be 82-85). At the moment I’m building the base for a double build, Vigna Ghina and Vigna Ghina II from the awesome RE/100 line. RE/100 are as big as MG but skip the 150 parts you never see so the cost and build time are way lower than an MG. For me MGs are just way too much to deal with unless you’re doing kindersnapper builds straight from the box.

I’ve posted pics here in other threads...don’t know where they are. Probably in the “other hobbies” section.

Bloody cool hobby.
The thought and planning that went into those kit designs staggers my mind.
Loved putting models together many moons ago but this takes kit building to a whole different level.

Thanks for posting all the epic pictures. Zeta if you could post more pictures I for one would like to view them.
Is there an actual role-playing game or such that goes with these Gundam models ?

Cheers

I'm thinking about selling off all of mine. I simply don't have the space for every toyline I want to get into and something's gotta give, and all my gunpla has been stored away in a bunch of boxes for years anyway. Only problem is that I have no idea how to sell something like completed kits since they're technically used, but they also have added value of labor to them so idk?

Added labor? The whole point is the build them. You’ve done that so they are virtually useless except for kit bashing.

If you were a master builder it would be a different situation but Gundam are as easy to build as Lego now.

yeah I tried with Gundam Sentinel back in the mid '90s and pretty much gave up after that, too hard for me. I still love building stuff (more likely to be a converted US Marine M60E3 gunner in 1/72 scale or 20mm wargaming scale these days, or a grove of palm trees for the wargaming table) but I went to toys for some of the mecha I love a long time ago.

I've casually looked at the latest generation Gunpla on sale at hobby shops the last few years and from what I can tell they don't even need paint to look good anymore? Just snap em together and use a gundam marker for panel lines and that's it??




I tried to run a Mekton game in the '90s but it never got passed session 1, probably killed my RPG hobby it was so bad. I had way too many players and no one really cared.

A smaller group of friends and I ran Palladium's Robotech in the school library when we were 13 or so in year 7. First time role playing and I remember we took over Japan, made the factories there build a personal army of veretechs and we took over the world. . our vision of Japan was Karate Kid Part III and factories and army bases. For some reason there was no place called Tokyo or we had no interest in it..

As zeta says the labor won't matter anything unless you are a professional builder or they are store display kits.

Value will probably be very low and you would be selling them as kitbashed for parts or possibly someone would strip and repaint what
you didn't have the technique for or didn't finish.

Unless there is a rare kit that you didn't know about.

This is old school adolescent mayhem and not recommended :

AND....

my mates and I would fill empty co2 cartridges with cordite, seal with silicone caulk, and implement a waterproof wick... presto, a dignified end to any unwanted models one wishes in More then 100 pieces.

I advise a solid earthen mound between ignition and personal space as shrapnel IS A FACTOR !

Good times in my youth.... and no one lost a limb or died in our circle !

Keep on building....

Thanks for the posts forper..... gonna look into that rpg.....

Take care of those fires down under man..... feeling for all the peeps and animals there....
Hang tough ......

That's subjective.

What was your own reason for buying them then?

I like the firecracker idea. A Viking funeral for unloved warriors. I wouldn’t build my own ordnance though.

nice

we re-enacted Jedi and melted a Kenner Darth Vader with petrol but weren't as resourceful as yourself

Robot Damashii didn't exist then. I just wanted Gundam figures and gunpla was the only way to get them.

If you want actual toys of Gundam the MS in Action line and it’s offshoots have existed since the 90s. It may be still going actually in the form of Fix Figuration and Zeonic. Now there is a new line which is twice as expensive and not super impressive IMO.

EDIT: I just checked and apparently Fix Figuration is still going with releases scheduled for 2020 but they are all 1/100 somehow now and over $200 a piece (!). The original 1999 schedule started out with a ¥1000 RX-78.

prices for finished Anime figures of all varieties have positively skyrocketed over the last decade-plus.

Anime character statues that once topped out at around $60 or so are now often anywhere from $120 to $200+

sure, quality has increased, often significantly so, but boy does one pay straight through the nose for it these days.

i'm just glad that there are so many 1/6 scale character dolls out there, of many characters that have struck my fancy over the years,
that can often be had nowadays for comparative peanuts, since hardly anyone out there besides oddballs like me seem to want them.

Anime doll collection/customization is a great hobby in itself, not at all unlike Plastic Modelling.
most often, i have to get the girl in question a new body, usually some preference of OBITSU,
i pretty much always have to paint mouth/lip detail, and finally, -the hardest part-
making them scale clothing, as simple as making a set of undies from scratch, and cleaning up/improving the fit/finish of their included clothes,
or, often enough, as complex as making an entire new outfit from scratch.

in some ways, it's an easier job vs. that of plastic modelling, in others, harder. every bit as involving a hobby, in it's own ways...

Honestly I’m amazed at the quality of those pre-built statues. My friend collects these dumb things and they are STUPID expensive. Like, you could be buying real art type expensive. But then even smaller priced stuff blows my mind, like E2046’s service where they build pirate kits for you. I couldn’t begin to imagine how I could build things of that quality almost totally by hand for like...$50 each over the price of a base kit. It seems impossible. They must have a shop that constantly changes from being totally devoted to the manufacture of one Wonderwoman or whatever developing all sorts of tricks for medium scale production and then once they hit their quota sweep the floor clean and start making a Spider Man. An individual can’t build pieces of that quality and turn a buck at anything like that price.

To me, I guess I have my lines. Toy, model, statue. I don’t buy statues because I don’t have $8000 for a stone bust of Emma Goldman or Carl Sagan. I don’t mind models of low junk like Silver Surfer or Mazinger Z but they are a treat. I have to earn it, I have to build them. If I can’t build it then it’s either a toy or a bronze head, sorry. If I didn't have this policy my house would be covered in ota junk.

though still GUNDAM-related, here's something a little different;

It was all a trick and I fell for it. Just another thread to show your damned dolls in even though the rest of the class has already agreed to give you your own special place for them. For someone who pretends to be the meek and mild peacemaker you sure need a lot of special care and consideration.

I feel like this subway isn’t safe. There’s this flasher that always turns up, you can’t escape him. He’s in every single thread. “Nah, this time it’s different. I really have candy.” but then he opens the coat. “Gotcha!” he says and then you have to clean your glass yet again.

they ARE GUNDAM-related, and i happen to own them, so what's the boggle?!?


https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/Chinagguy

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10465722

https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/HER-SELF ... Doll_Sarah

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10562491

Signofzeta, though we have had our differences, and I cannot escape the fact that you really dont like me I have to relay a sincere message.
Your method of prowess and humor has cracked me up to no end.
Your deadpan and your metaphors kill me man !

I apologize if this statement in any way offends, or is out of line........
Just wished to convey appreciation for your ability to deliver your opinion.
I enjoy your knowledge base and your sense of humor........