It may be a new month of a new year, but the monthly cycle of releases remains the same, and along with them are pretty-looking packaging art. So, let’s kick off 2024 with some, and expect this to be updated as we get more reveals in the next week or so.
UPDATE, Jan 24: Added packaging art for Good Smile Company kits released during the week of January 27th.
One of the kits I was hemming and hawing is MODEROID Mazinger Zest from the manga Mazinger Destroying Hell, which is also a collaboration work between Good Smile Company and Dynamic Planning. It’s quite a departure from the original Mazinger Z design without going into Infinitism territory.
One of the reasons I’m going back and forth on buying this kit or not, is how I’m supposed to paint it. My Mazinger Z collection is mainly from the now-defunct Super Robot Chogokin line, and giving this guy the exact finish as I do with my Gunpla would be quite a visual mismatch. It doesn’t help that Good Smile also announced an upcoming God Mazinger kit, which I’ll likely have the same dilemma. Either way, I’ll look for reviews of the kit first before deciding on the purchase.
MODEROID Mazinger Zest
January 2024 / ¥3,900
Order via HobbyLink Japan
Another kit I was initially looking forward to is MODEROID Lio de Galon from Promare. It’s one of those completely out-there designs with its primarily black body with a completely white weapon, representing the halves of Galo Thymos and Lio Fotia. The black design is then broken up by highlighted sections of yellow and pink.
When they announced the release of this kit, my immediate question was how they’ll do those highlight sections. Well, they recently revealed that a sizable sticker sheet for the pink highlights will be provided.
I mean you really can’t blame them for taking this approach as there’s no way you can engineer parts separation to cover an intricate design. Compared to Mazinger Zest, I’m less interested in this kit, but I still have it on my periphery and will definitely check out reviews.
MODEROID Lio de Galon
January 2024 / ¥8,500
Order via HobbyLink Japan
UPDATE, Jan. 18: Added packaging art for kits released during the week ending January 20th.
Continuing with the HG 1/100 Macross kits Bandai Spirits has been gloriously releasing so far, we now have the ‘partner’ unit for the previously released YF-29. This is the HG 1/100 YF-21 kit from Macross Plus and it employs the same Shortcut Change feature that allows easier conversion between Fighter, Gerwalk, and Battroid modes. In addition, this kit also has an additional gimmick to display the kit in High Maneuver mode.
HG 1/100 YF-21
January 20, 2024 / ¥4,300
Order via HobbyLink Japan
Original post follows.
First is a kit that many are probably looking forward to, especially fans of the Super Robot Wars OG franchise, the HG Hückebein Mk-III. This follows the Mk-II which was released last year, and I do expect the vanilla Hückebein to be released at some point. My guess is they didn’t want to release a Hückebein kit right after Tamashii Nations’ Metal Robot Spirits version.
Regardless, this is a kit I’m looking forward to getting, and I’ll likely dual-build this with the Mk-II which is still in my backlog. Let’s not forget that Premium Bandai also has the HG AM Gunnet set which I wasn’t able to secure, so I’ll probably scour the after-market for this one. I hope to be able to secure a pre-order slot once they announce an HG AM Boxer set, but I won’t hold my breath on that one.
HG Hückebein Mk-III
January 13, 2024 / ¥4,500
Order via HobbyLink Japan
The other kit in my periphery, though not that high in terms of buying priority, is the HG Daisyogre Alter which comes from the second half of SYNDUALITY Noir which premieres this Winter. It was introduced in the last portion of the first half along with a significant plot point that the second half will go deeper into.
Much like the Daisyogre, my main apprehension with this kit is its dependence on stickers for those caution stripes. Based on these images, several of them are applied on curved surfaces, and I’m sure we all feel the same about using stickers on such surfaces. I do have the HG Daisyogre and will check online how Japanese modelers are dealing with this. As mentioned, this is not on my purchase priority list, but I might get a copy on discount.
HG Daisyogre Alter
January 13, 2024 / ¥4,200
Order via HobbyLink Japan
As mentioned, I’ll likely update this post once box arts are revealed, including HG YF-21 or some MODEROID kits if any.
