At the start of December 2024, Gundam fans were caught off guard with the announcement of a new Gundam series just after Gundam SEED FREEDOM, Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance, and Gundam: Silver Phantom were all dropped in 2024. Not only that, but we are getting the first kit in this series in January! And so, the new year came and Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- was finally released in theaters and spoilers aside, it made me excited with the series, and the Gunpla. And just after a week, my copy has arrived, along with other ‘robits‘ this month.
Starting with the kits is of course the highly-anticipated HG GQuuuuuuX from the series of the same name. I’ve seen and watched a whole slew of reviews so I already know what to expect, and what I need to paint. That said, I won’t be building this one just yet as I am going to wait for companies like Delpi Decal to release a sheet for this kit, especially for those red pinstripes.
Next up is the Options Parts Set Gunpla 14 (Gunbarrel Striker), a kit which first appeared as an exclusive recolor for Gundam Breaker 4. Nothing out of the ordinary for this one though like the Multiple Assault Striker for the Perfect Strike Gundam, I will be using this mainly with the HGCE Strike Gundam for all the joint stability reasons.
Lastly is a kit I wasn’t expecting to get, the new Ryujinmaru from Mashin Souzouden Wataru. It’s because this is part of the first production run and included bonus parts to build the Dragon Armor Gauntlet – Armor Dragon Bones. And just to reiterate, this isn’t like the High Grade Wataru kits they’ve been releasing so far. This is specific to this series as they have a gimmick that’s also specific to this line.
And on the figure front, we have a couple. First is The Robot Spirits <Side SUPER> Grendizer (Grendizer U), the first in this new super robot-specific sub-brand of The Robot Spririts line. Just like Ryujinmaru earlier, I wasn’t also planning on getting this figure on first release and I was just hoping to get it at discount or something. But then, Tamashii Nations announced the Premium Bandai exclusive set of Spazer with Mazinger Z, both also from Grendizer U. And it won’t make sense to get that set without Grendizer itself. So yeah, I decided to snag one though I don’t think the figure is in high demand or something.
Lastly is one of the more interesting Optimus Prime pieces out there, Bingo Sports Optimus Prime. As part of Transformers’ 40th anniversary, Japanese premium car services company Bingo Sports entered a Transformers-inspired Corvette C7 GT3-R in the Japan Cup, or the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS. Then they decided to make Optimus Prime in his Age of Extinction/The Last Knight version, not sure why but we can just say that he took a detour in Japan and rescanned a race car.
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