Bandai Spirits Hobby Division has dropped their October to December 2025 solicitations and most of them were items already seen during Shizuoka Hobby Show 2025 so there’s not many surprises here. However, 30 Minutes Label did a new product launch live stream a couple of days ago and they showed some very interesting items, a couple of which went straight into my pre-orders.
I’m most definitely not the most knowledgeable when it comes to Armored Core, so I had to do some wiki reading to find out what this monstrosity is supposed to be. While the solicitations refer to this as the VE-40A, this is supposed to be the VE-4B, a configuration utilizing a heavyweight tank for its lower body.
The upper half is essentially the same as the VE-40A Open Face kit to be released in September, with this one being in a more neutral gray color scheme. The upper half is also where most of the articulation is for quite obvious reasons. But the bottom half totally makes up for the sheer intimidation factor. Not sure how it fares in the game in terms of mobility, but it looks really cool.
Much like other 30MM Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon releases, this kit is also cross-compatible and can use all the weapon sets sold separately. Out of the box, the kit will come with the VE-66LRB double-barreled laser rifle.
Doing the research for this kit made me realize that I kind of want the BD-011 Melander as well. It’s going to be released later this month and I think I’ll just wait for it to appear on our local retailer shelves. But for this guy, I immediately hit the pre-order button once it went up.
30MM Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon Arquebus ADD VE-40A
December 2025 / ¥3,800
Order from HobbyLink Japan
Going a bit on a tangent, this will probably be the few instances I’m taking a look, and reserving a pre-order, for a 30 Minutes Preference kit. To those unfamiliar, 30MP kits are very much like Figure-rise Standard releases, except that they’re obviously under the 30 Minutes Label, and they mainly cover bishoujo characters. And this is exactly where this Plugsuit version of Rebuild of Evangelion Rei Ayanami belongs.
I know the current anime market is flooded with all sorts of characters that fit the “best girl” moniker. But I believe many would agree with me when I say that Rei Ayanami is the quintessential quiet anime girl, and paved the way for similar characters like Nagato from Haruhi Suzumiya or Rem from Re:Zero. Hence, I am making an exception, and excuse, to pre-order Rei over here.
Besides the usual articulation you’d come to expect from a 30MP kit (coming from someone who hasn’t built one), Rei Ayanami comes with several accessories for more display options. These include her own Spear of Longinus, several replacement hand parts for various expressions, Gendo Ikari’s broken glasses, Shinji Ikari’s music player, and extra parts to recreate Rei in the sitting pose from I believe Evangelion 1.0.
At the end of the day, I’m getting this kit more because of nostalgia for the character. And of course, this is Rei Ayanami.
30MP Rei Ayanami [Plugsuit Ver.] (Rebuild of Evangelion)
October 2025 / ¥4,000
Order from HobbyLink Japan
The rest are kits we already knew so I’ll just throw the official CG renders from their solicitations.
We more or less have an idea of what to expect with the HG White Gundam thanks to the recently released HG Red Gundam. The main difference, besides the colors, and exclusion of the Gundam Hammer and the pair of Psycommu bits, is just the different “cheek parts.” The Red Gundam’s a little different since they were modified after the Alpha Psycommu was installed.
With this kit hitting retail, I’m pretty sure if ever they’ll release the 01 Gundam, it will be a Premium Bandai exclusive. But let’s cross that bridge when that kit is announced.
HG 1/144 White Gundam
December 2025 / ¥2,200
Order from HobbyLink Japan
We also have the HG Gundam Zagan, the foil to the Gundam Hajiroboshi 2nd Form from Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS: Urdr Hunt. Releasing two kits towards the end of the year makes me, and a good number of fans, think that we might be closer to whenever the anime version gets released.
It is a massive mobile suit and I hope that the tried and tested Gundam Frame used for all the Gundam kits would be able to support all these weight. Regardless, I have also secured a pre-order for this kit.
HG 1/144 Gundam Zagan
December 2025 / ¥2,800
Order from HobbyLink Japan
There’s one more item on my pre-order list, and I’m not sure why it’s still shrouded despite seeing a gray prototype during the Shizouka Hobby Show.
I’m talking about the HG PTX-08R Huckebein, the light blue one, and isn’t part of the Super Robot Wars OG continuity. Note that while we think they can easily release this in the same color as the Mk-II and Mk-III, this design is actually a little different by being less angular and more rounded. But I still think they’ll release those other versions, and I still got this guy on pre-order.
HG PTX-08R Huckebein
December 2025 / ¥4,500
Order from HobbyLink Japan
I should be good on pre-orders for this year, though that’s not saying Bandai Spirits doesn’t have any tricks up their sleeves. Especially like how they dropped Gundam GQuuuuuuX around early December last year. But let’s see.
