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Man Accused of Swapping Gundam Model Kit Box Covers in Akihabara Shop

With a model for nearly every mobile suit featured in the franchise at different build levels, there's a Gundam plastic model or gunpla for almost everyone. However, some stores that carry gunpla models do not seal the boxes, making it possible for buyers to swap box covers and illicitly buy a model at a lower price point. And that very thing allegedly happened on August 11 at the Hobbyland Akihabara store.

The issue was brought to light in X (formerly Twitter) posts by Hobbyland Akihabara on August 13. In the first of five posts, the store stated customers were no longer allowed to open gunpla boxes to check the contents. Instead, customers would have to ask staff at the register.

Hobbyland Akihabara made this decision when it discovered a male patron had allegedly swapped box covers between gunpla models to purposefully reduce the price on the model he wanted to purchase. In a subsequent post by the store, they revealed the patron had swapped the box covers between a High Grade (HG) Cosmic Era (CE) Force Impulse Gundam and Gundam Aerial, between an Entry Grade (EG) Nu Gundam and a HG Universal Century (UC) RX-78 Gundam, between the HGCE Force Impulse Gundam and the EG Nu Gundam, and between HGUC RX-78 Gundam and the Gundam Aerial.

Hobbyland Akihabara in an X/Twitter post gave the alleged culprit until 8:00 p.m. on August 13 to reach out to the store. If they did not, the store would report the crime to the police. Hobbyland Akihabara even posted a follow-up post 40 minutes before the time limit and noted the store had his information due to the payment being made with the electronic payment service Paypay.

Unfortunately, the culprit did not reach out to Hobbyland Akihabara by the 8:00 p.m. deadline. However, according to a report by the Fuji News Network (FNN) on August 14, the man appeared at the store while the news agency was interviewing Hobbyland Akihabara's manager. FNN posted a section of the ordeal to their YouTube channel.

During the encounter it was revealed the culprit had not only built the gunpla, but subsequently threw it out due to guilt. When pressed why he committed fraud by Hobbyland Akihabara's manager, the man said he had given into temptation. The interaction reportedly went on for an hour, after which the manager said he would still be filing a criminal report to the police.

Sources: Hobbyland Akihabara's X/Twitter account (link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5) via Esuteru, Fuji New Network, Fuji News Network's YouTube channel