Kimi The Builder

Lightning Eclipse 

HELLO! We are back! 

In today’s 416th edition of our Let’s Talk Gunpla segment, we’ll look at P-Bandai’s latest Gunpla release announcement! Well, somewhat new, at least, because interestingly, we got this news well before the start of the two events, the Hobby Next Phase Next Autumn 2022 and the Model and Hobby Show 2022.

Yes, this piece of P-Bandai news is the start of our busy week ahead.

So, without further ado. Let us get into it, shall we? 

MG 1/100 Eclipse Gundam Raijin Equipment & Raijin Striker Pack Expansion Set (MG)

Release Date: November 2023 (Eclipse Gundam Raijin Equipment)

Estimated price: JPY 9,020 (MYR RM 289.73* / USD $ 62.58* / EUR € 64.28*)

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

Release Date: November 2023 (Raijin Striker Pack Expansion set)

Estimated price: JPY 3,520 (MYR RM 113.07* / USD $ 24.42* / EUR € 25.08*)

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

With how the Eclipse Gundam manga was progressing, we are not surprised to see the Eclipse Gundam latest striker pack update to make its Gunpla debut eventually.

But we thought they’ll release these new striker packs only as a standalone release, just as P-Bandai did with the MG F90 A to Z Mission packs. So imagine our surprise when we see P-Bandai released the MG Eclipse Gundam version with the Raijin Striker included in the release.

Yes, we admit that it is nice of them to do so, to release an option for those that haven’t owned the standard release to have the opportunity to get the Eclipse Gundam that comes already with the Raijin Striker. 

And yes, we like how the expansion set looked when combined with the Eclipse Gundam, especially when it looked like an even more badass version of the Noir Striker pack. We even like that the Raijin Striker unit comes with a new head cover for the Eclipse Gundam. The new head cover looked so good on the MG Eclipse head unit that it looked like it came from a different MS altogether. 

Obviously, we are a fan of this. However, we don’t think one should go out of their way to get this version.

Why?

Well, it’s because P-Bandai also, at the same time, released the Raijin Striker expansion set as a standalone release. So honestly, you don’t really need to get P-Bandai’s MG Eclipse Raijin. Plus, you as well don’t really get anything new here with the P-Bandai’s MG Eclipse Raijin version. Heck, knowing P-Bandai, we know that they won’t even bother printing a proper manual for that version. So there is no need to go out of your way to preorder the P-Bandai full version when you can preorder the expansion and get the retail version for roughly the same price.  

Also, we think it’s still easier to get just the expansion than to try preordering the whole thing in one shot.

Not to mention, it’s cheaper too if the only way you can get the expansion is via the scalper way.

Yes, we know by looking at the price stated here the P-Bandai’s full version isn’t that expensive. But seeing how fast the scalpers got to it, we think that the scalper way would be the best option for fans of the MG Eclipse fans to go for if they’re considering getting the MG Eclipse with the Raijin Striker installed.

Regardless, we still are excited to get this expansion, eventually. 

And that concludes our 416th edition of the Let’s Talk Gunpla segment for today. We are impressed. Yes, even though we are aware that we are late to the game, and there are many exciting Gunpla release announcements made today, we still want to cover the news at our own pace. 

Because, to be honest, there is a lot to unpack there, and we intend to take it nice and slow with all of them.

We feel like we’re definitely going to have a fun Gunpla conversation this week.

Anyways, we’ll be back again this Saturday (hopefully) with a new blog post. So, please do look forward to that! 

Oh, one more thing before we go, it would be a tremendous help to us all here in the blog if you guys were to leave a like on our posts and subscribe to the blog if you find yourselves enjoying our gunpla/plamo-related posts. We would appreciate it if you guys would take the time to show your support by leaving an upvote on our R/Gunpla posts and by leaving a like on our Facebook and Instagram posts or pages! 

We are also open to any good and bad feedback, so feel free to write away.

Hopefully, by sharing our love and passion for building and writing about gunplas or other plamos here, we sincerely hope this post will inspire you guys to pick up on the hobby. Or better yet, reignite your love and passion for the hobby.

We shall see all of you again soon, and we hope all of you here have a splendid day and week ahead! Oh, before we go, please have an excellent time building your awesome gunplas there and until next time.

Ciao!