Interest
Gundam Designer Creates Robot-Transforming Mickey Mouse
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The Tamashii Nation 2024 event for Bandai Spirits' Tamashii Nations brand of high-end figures is showing off a figure of Mickey Mouse, with a twist: it transforms into a mecha! Kunio Okawara, the designer of VOTOMS, the Brave series, and many a mobile suit in Gundam (including the RX-78-2 and Zaku II from the very first Gundam anime!), designed the new figure, which will be out next June.
The "Chogokin Super Change Mickey Mouse" robot is part of Bandai's "Chogokin" line of premium die-cast figures. Pre-orders start at all participating retailers on November 18. The figure will cost 16,500 yen (about US$105) in Japan.
This isn't the first time that Tamashii Nations has made Disney-themed original mecha designs. Chōgōkin King Robo Mickey & Friends launched in 2013 as six figures of mechanized Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, and Steamboat Willie, which then combined into a giant robot. Tamashii Nations made a similar combining robot figure for Pixar's Toy Story characters Bullseye, Rex, Hamm, and Slinky Dog in 2016. A competing toy maker also transformed Mickey Mouse into a certain red-and-blue truck. However, this is the first time a legendary anime designer like Okawara has personally converted Mickey Mouse himself into a robot.
Source: Tamashii Nation 2024 event (Egan Loo)
