Kimi The Builder

we can feel some winds of change here

Hello and welcome back to our 47^th edition of Let’s Talk Gunpla segment, this week marks another quiet week in terms of announcements in both retail and P-Bandai. Though we are going to mainly focus on the P-Bandai announcement, we do, however, have one announcement that has made waves in the community and one that really out of all the announcements that managed to pique our interest.

but before we get to that, let’s first talk about the first P-Bandai announcement of the day and the only MG P-Bandai announcement we are getting this week.

And unfortunately, there is one announcement out of all the announcements we get this week that we aren’t at all excited for and that would be the announcement for the…..

MG 1/100 GX-9900 Gundam X [Unit 3] (P-Bandai)

Release Date: 2018/07

Estimated price: JPY 4,320* (MYR RM157.29* / USD $40.69*)

*The price is subject to change, depending on the situation

We can’t deny the fact that this announcement does come as a surprise for all of us here, we really didn’t expect to see a P-Bandai Gundam X after 4 years since the retail variants release, usually Bandai would be quick in monetizing a new release, but never we would come to see them monetizing (by now) a very old released kit.

Though, when we first take a look at this we really struggled with this. The reason being we were wondering if this is really a P-Bandai kit, since really, it looks almost the same as the previous retail variant, with it sporting the same weapons, same types of equipment and even the same overall look.

However it is not to say that P-Bandai didn’t give it any changes, they do. For an instance, unlike the Retail variant, the P-Bandai variant does come with a different color scheme, in which on the P-Bandai variant you’d get light blue colored parts for some of the outer frames as compared to the dark blue color scheme of the retail version. The P-Bandai variant as well gets a different decal set as compared to the retail version, in which I feel would come in handy if you ever plan to highlight the many differences in between the retail and the P-Bandai variants.

Even with that said, this is honestly the same kit. One that you might find, a tad bit hard to justify getting. Even we are struggling to find valid reasons to get this kit since the original comes with roughly the same parts, really there isn’t anything significant here, so why the heck do you want to get this?

If they wanted something similar why not instead make the FX-99000 GX-Bits instead? hmm? That would really be a better addition than this.

Plus, with how much it would cost all of us when this hits the stores, don’t think this kit would be worth getting since you can still get the retail version at almost everywhere. Unless if you are a collector (that has more money than sense) or an insane Gundam X fan, then getting this might be worth it for you, but then again you can always paint it up if you have the appropriate tools (and skills of course) and try your luck in getting the P-Bandai decals being sold somewhere on eBay.

Hmm..on a second thought, it might not be that bad then to get this. However, even with that, we aren’t as excited for a new Gundam X. If they were planning for an airmaster MG kit or the leopard MG or like I mentioned before a GX-Bit MG kit….that might pique our interest….a bit…maybe.

I guess by now you all would be able to guess our enthusiasm for this MG P-Bandai, we really aren’t that excited for it, because honestly they should’ve instead just made a conversion parts for this than wasting all that plastic on making this.

But then again this is P-Bandai we are talking about. Oh well.

HGUC 1/144 RX-78XX Gundam Pixie (HGUC) (P-Bandai)

Release Date: 2018/07

Estimated price: JPY 2,160* (MYR RM78.65* / USD $20.35*)

*The price is subject to change, depending on the situation

Last week we thought that ONLY Woundwort P-Bandai would get the P-Bandai treatment. Little that we know that we would have ANOTHER kit set for P-Bandai. Goddamn, and they took one of the very best looking ones to be in that P-Bandai tag too…..Fuck.

Good job there P-Bandai, you really managed to outdid yourself this week too.

Anyways, coming back to the kit.

Really, what there is to say? The Pixie is a brilliant looking kit, with awesome weapons, pretty sweet weapon gimmicks, also, it does seem like it had a pretty sweet articulation and as we all look at this, we can say that this looks like nothing that we’ve seen released by retail Bandai. As you all can see clearly here, this is not a conversion of an existing kit, this is a new kit made with a new mold for its parts.

Just like the Woundwort.

Regardless of what we feel we know we would, in the end, would still get this kit, we don’t support what P-Bandai is doing to some of the releases but then again, it is better than not getting one at all.

Hey at least they aren’t selling us P-Bandai cakes, oh wait they did? Holy fucking shit…….

Well, I thought I’ve seen everything, but I suppose every now and then P-Bandai just manages to surprise me.

With that ends the P-Bandai section, now let’s talk about the kit that everyone seems to be talking about since its announcement and that would be….

 

Figure Rise LABO : Fumina Hoshino (Retail? Maybe?)

Release Date: 2018/06

Estimated price: JPY 5,940* (MYR RM216.28* / USD $55.95*)

*The price is subject to change, depending on the situation

This, the figure-rise LABO series.

You might be thinking, ‘wait a minute, this is not gunpla, heck this is not EVEN a plamo kit. What the hell is this doing here?’

Yes, it might not be Gunpla, but this is technically still a PLAMO kit. Don’t believe me? Just look at this educational vid here.

and here is some of the promo event that they held recently.

Are you convinced now that this is a PLAMO kit yet?

No? Well, yes, yes this is technically a hybrid, but it isn’t something new if we were to be honest, because a lot of the existing PLAMO companies has been doing this for MANY years with their 1/72 soldier figure kits. This isn’t really something new. However is what Bandai did, is what sets this kit apart. With Bandai giving it layered injection treatment on the runner parts, in turn, making them look bloody awesome and as well have them look as good as the Figure Rise bust kits.

Though, we would say that looking at some of the runner parts showcased here…..it does look quite disturbing……its like she has been cut into pieces and here we are, trying to put this poor girl back together in one piece….god damn.

Regardless we are still looking forward to seeing more of this kit and possibly put her back together own it.

Strangely with this being announced we kind of see where Bandai is getting with all of this and now it is clear where Bandai’s priorities lie. No wonder we are seeing new kits getting P-Bandai release, it does make us wonder if they are losing faith in with their gunplas? we really do hope that that is not the case and it’s really just a case of them trying something new instead.

But we really can’t shake the feeling that we are feeling some winds of change in Bandai’s heart…. and it might take all of us to a place that we all might not be happy with.

With that ends our 47^th episode of our Let’s Talk Gunpla segment. What do you guys think of the some of P-Bandai and the Figure Rise LABO announcements? Again Bandai decided to give us another reason to blow to our wallets by announcing the Pixie as P-Bandai, its sucks really because that is a kit that we are looking forward to seeing it as retail, but it is really unfortunate that instead, we are seeing this being made as a P-Bandai, like the woundwort. I do hope that we really get something awesome for retail that would eventually make the living with that fact would be so much easier. Anyways, what do you guys think of the Figure Rise Labo kit? It does seem like Bandai is treading in some new territory, but it does make us think if this is the start of something awesome or will it be something that we would regret seeing more of? We do want to hear your thoughts on this, the P-Bandai announcements and this post! Do let us know here and we always look forward to reading and responding to your comments and thoughts on the announcements and as well to this post!

We will be back with more Let’s Talk Gunpla Segment on the next coming Wednesday and we will be back as well this Sunday with Hopefully a review for the MG GM Command (Colony Type) so do look forward to that!

As ever please do leave us a like if you enjoyed this article, as well do give us some feedback and comment if you think we would be able to improve further in making sure that we can give you better content in the future! As well, we want you to know that your likes and shares would be highly appreciated in supporting and helping us grow further, honestly, your love and support means the world to all of us here in Kimi the Builder Blog editorial team.

We hope by sharing our love and passion for gunplas here, it’ll inspire you to pick up the hobby or reignite your love for gunpla!

Anyways, we shall see all of you again next week, and we hope that you all have an awesome week and weekend ahead! Have an awesome Gunpla building time there as well and until next time!

Ciao!

Sources

http://p-bandai.jp/

http://bandai-hobby.net/site/figurerise-labo/research.html

https://web.facebook.com/groups/199178637315562/permalink/237452190154873/  *

• thanks derek yap for some of the pictures! 😀