Kimi The Builder

The Gunpla releases from the Shizuoka Hobby Show 2023! Part: 3 Gundam Builld Metaverse edition.

HELLO! We are back! 

In today’s 471st edition of our Let’s Talk Gunpla segment, we’ll return to where we left off last week with the rest of the 61st Shizuoka Hobby Show 2023 Gunpla release announcements. Today we’ll talk about those Gunpla release announcements that we are not excited about. And yes, they are from that new Gundam Build Metaverse series.

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

EG 1/144 Lah Gundam (ENTRY GRADE)

Release Date: October 2023

Estimated price: JPY 1,100 (MYR RM 35.98* / USD $ 7.93* / EUR € 7.36*)

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

We are sure most of you here aren’t that surprised to see this listed in this list, especially since this is one of the ugliest redesigns of the OG Gundam we’ve seen to date.

But honestly, that is the only reason we’re not keen on getting this kit, the looks. But we are not saying that this redesign lacks originality. Yes, it might be one ugly Gundam, but we admit that, at the very least, the redesigned look is original. 

And it is one of those Build designs we can forgive for being ugly. From what we can read through the lore Sunrise provided, the Lah Gundam builder is a rookie, and this is his first original creation. So, yeah, we can understand why it doesn’t look as impressive as the other Gundam iterations out there. 

But despite its quite unfortunate looks, admittedly, it does have some cool weapons. 

But that doesn’t mean we would go out of our way to get this, regardless of how badass Sunrise would try to make it look in the anime. 

Honestly, we can’t get over how ugly it is. But at least the Builder of the Lah Gundam had the good sense to use the EG as the base for the Lah Gundam. At least then, it wouldn’t be that painful if one does decide to get it. 

Plus, it is a good kit too.

HG 1/144 Shin Burning Gundam (HGBM)

Release Date: November 2023

Estimated price: JPY 2,640 (MYR RM 86.43* / USD $ 19.04* / EUR € 17.64*)

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

Admittedly, this is another kit from the Gundam Build Metaverse series that we are not particularly fond of and interested in getting, but one we had no issues with.

But unlike the EG Lah Gundam, the reason we are not fond of it is not due to its looks. Fortunately for it, we do think it is quite a good-looking variant of the Kamiki Burning Gundam. 

Clearly, it is one of those kits that you can see how much the creator of the Shin Burning Gundam has grown in skill just by looking at it. We also find it quite amusing that it combined elements of the G Gundam in its design. It makes a nice nod to the G Gundam series.

But unfortunately, despite its good looks, it is not enough to convince us to go out and preorder this kit.

Why?

Well, it’s because we just felt it looked a tad bit boring. Yes, we acknowledge that from the looks alone, we can see that it’s an improvement to the Kamiki Burning Gundam. But at the same time, the Shin Burning Gundam doesn’t look and feel like a real upgrade to the Kamiki Burning Gundam.

We expect that at the time and effort expended in the Shin Burning Gundam, the creator of the original Kamiki would go out and create something akin to how the God Gundam is a massive upgrade to the Shining Gundam. Instead, what we get here is more like how the EFSF upgraded the GM to GM II, where the only thing that is different is the looks.

Maybe after watching the upcoming anime, we will change our perspective on the Shin Burning Gundam, but for now, though? We’ll give it a pass. 

EG 1/144 Build Strike Exceed Galaxy (Entry Grade)

Release Date: October 2023

Estimated price: JPY 1,210 (MYR RM 39.62* / USD $ 8.73* / EUR € 8.08*)

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

We can forgive the ugly look of the EG Lah Gundam, but if there is one Gunpla reveal that we are riled up by, the EG Build Strike Exceed Galaxy would be it.

Why are we mad at a kit that looks a hell of a lot better than the EG Lah Gundam and clearly one that this designed by a seasoned builder, you ask?

Well, because we are getting it as an Entry Grade release. 

Why is that a problem? 

Because honestly, as we looked at how good it looked and the effort the designers made on this, we wondered why isn’t this released as an HG kit, especially when they already have a perfect base for it, the Build Strike Galaxy cosmos. Maybe the actual reason why they decided to do so is that the Build Strike Exceed Galaxy looked like a downgrade to the Build Strike Galaxy Cosmos. Because it sure looked like it to us.

Oh, as we were speaking of looks, that’s another thing that we’re bothered by because we noticed that between the EG Build Strike Exceed Galaxy and the EG Lah Gundam’s design, the difference between the two is akin to seeing a professional, seasoned Graphic Designer beating preschoolers in a preschoolers logo design contest. 

I may not know the lore context on why this is an EG kit. Maybe, when the anime airs, we shall know more then. But still, we do not think any reasons they could come up with would be justifiable for it to get released as an EG kit. 

Not to mention it does get a lot of really cool equipment too. But at the very least, we could use it on the HG Build Strike Galaxy Cosmos. Honestly? We wouldn’t be surprised if the parts between the EG Build Strike Exceed Cosmos could be interchangeable with the HG Build Strike Galaxy Cosmos. 

But even with that said, this would’ve been better released as an HG instead, where we know they would put in more work in the details of its parts.  

Because as we looked at how impressive it is in EG form, we know it would be a good HG release, and this would be the one that we would be excited about if Bandai announced it as an HG kit. 

And that concludes our 471st edition of the Let’s Talk Gunpla segment. There are still kits to cover from the Gundam Build Metaverse series, which we will cover in the upcoming blog post. 

And yes, we will eventually get to the SD side too! Hopefully, by next week

Anyways. We’ll be back again the next coming Thursday (hopefully) with a new blog post. So, 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 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 all of you 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!