Kimi The Builder

This makes more sense than the SEED FREEDOM’s Z’gok.

HELLO! We are back! 

In today’s 538th edition of our Let’s Talk Gunpla Segment, we’ll continue where we left off with the Gunpla retail news. This time, we’ll discuss the other two new Gundam Build kits that have been revealed. Although, admittedly, one of the kits we will discuss today has seen a much earlier release. 

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

HG 1/144 ASW-G-08A Amazing Barbatos Lupus (HGGBM)

Release Date: September 2024

Estimated price: JPY 2,750 (MYR 85.98* / USD 18.14* / EUR 16.73*)

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

Of all the kits we’ve seen, only the HGGBM Amazing Barbatos Lupus has seen an earlier release. However, that is a LINKL-exclusive, a specially coated version of this. 

But alas, some lucky Japanese builders have gotten first dibs on this HGGBM (Via the LINKL version), and from what we’ve seen of it, the HGGBM Amazing Barbatos Lupus is technically just the same HGIBO Barbatos Lupus kit, just with extra bits. Well, bits that are unrelated to the IBO series, that is. 

So, what sets this version apart from its standard variant? The HGGBM Amazing Barbatos Lupus gets a new ‘Shinanju and mini Hashmal’-pired backpack unit that looks quite at home with its Barbatos Lupus base. And the best part? It also comes with Z’gok-inspired arm-attachable hand claws/beam spray weapons, which look fantastic on the Barbatos Lupus. Also, it comes with a corn-shaped bonk stick. Yes, they even modified a perfect bonk stick to a funny-looking one. 

Moreover, Bandai also made minor changes to the Barbatos Lupus base, like modifying the shoulder armor and giving it a cool red-black color scheme. 

But the rest? If you’re familiar with the HGIBO Barbatos Lupus, this would be more or less the same thing. Also, looking at the HGGBM Amazing Barbatos Lupus promotional pictures, we suspect it inherits all the same issues as the base HGIBO Barbatos Lupus. So, we don’t expect Bandai to go out of their way to fix all of those same issues with this release.  

So, if you’re considering getting this, don’t expect too much of it. 

Even with that said, admittedly, it is a very cool kit, and we do look forward to getting it when it is made available this coming September. 

HG 1/144 GNT-0000SDV Gundam 00 Command Qan[T] Desert Type (HGGBM)

Release Date: September 2024

Estimated price: JPY 2,200 (MYR 68.90* / USD 14.51* / EUR 13.38*)

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

If you’re familiar with the Gundam Build Battlelouge series or have bought and built the Gundam 00 Command Qan[T] before, then you would be familiar with this version. 

Why do we say this?

We all concluded (after going through the promotional materials) that this is more and less the same kit, just with a different color scheme. 

But funnily enough, it’s okay for this kit because it looks badass with the new color scheme and is a retail release, too. Yes, you heard that right: for the first time in a long time, we get a recolored kit made explicitly for retail release, not P-Bandai. 

We’re surprised that P-Bandai didn’t immediately jump on this one, especially seeing how fast the original version sold here. Regardless, we’re happy that this is not a P-Bandai release because we all believe that this version looked even better than the standard version. 

But as we said with the HGGBM Amazing Barbatos Lups, we don’t expect Bandai to make any significant changes to the base kit, so we expect it to have the same issues and caveats as the standard version. 

Like the HGGBM Amazing Barbatos Lupus, we aren’t expecting much from this kit. Yet, we are still looking forward to getting it. 

That concludes our 538th edition of the Let’s Talk Gunpla segment. Again, this is another big blog post from us, and unfortunately, it is one of the last few main Retail Gunpla news posts we have left. However, admittedly, there are more fascinating Retail Plamo releases from Bandai. 

We wanted to cover more on the plamo side of the retail announcements since Bandai finally unveiled their Armored Core 30mm kits. But we might have to make a separate Plamo post for that. Or we might combine the two (Gunpla and Plamo news) in the next blog post because P-Bandai also dropped an exciting teaser for an upcoming kit. By the time we get to it, P-Bandai might’ve already announced it. However, we might not do that this coming Saturday because we will be away for some family gathering. 

But we shall definitely return next Thursday with that HUGE Gunpla/plamo news. 

We’ll be back next Thursday (hopefully, the laptop will not give us more headaches) with a new blog post. So do look forward to it!  

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Hopefully, by sharing our love and passion for building and writing about gunplas or other plamos here, this post will inspire all of you to pick up 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!