News

Thai Fans Build Life-Size Gundam Bust Before Expo

Not-So-Daily Link of the Day: A "life-size" bust (from the chest up) of the title robot from the Mobile Suit Gundam anime series was unveiled at Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday. Although the 6-meter-tall (about 20-foot-tall) figure is smaller than the full-figure, 18-meter-tall (59-foot-tall) statue that stood on Tokyo Bay's Odaiba island this past summer, it has one crucial difference: it was built by fans. Thai fans built the figure to mark the 30th anniversary of the first Gundam anime's original broadcast in 1979. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun paper, it is the first figure of its kind to be built and displayed outside Japan. Not coincidentally, the Gundam Expo Thailand 2009 event is running in Bangkok from October 20 to 25. Kunio Okawara, the mechanical designer of many Gundam robots from the first one onward, will be giving a talk on his work.

A different 1/1-scale RX-78-2 Gundam bust now rests in the Bandai Museum. A fan made a 1/3-scale MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam statue in Japan that stands seven meters (23 feet) tall, while another Japanese fan built a 1/1 scale, 4-meter-tall (13-foot-tall) model of the title robot from another Sunrise anime franchise, Armored Trooper Votoms.

In a separate development, Bandai is also celebrating Gundam's anniversary with the Mobile Suit Gundam 30th GunPla (Gundam Plastic Model) Premium Box. The 12 1/144 glitter-injected, clear-plastic models represent every Gundam television series from the first Gundam anime to Mobile Suit Gundam 00. An original 24-page color pamphlet with reproductions of posters and other program materials comes inside the serial-numbered box. Online preorders has begun in Japan on Wednesday, and the actual box will ship in late January.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, Bangkok Post

Images © Sotsu, Sunrise
Sotsu, Sunrise, MBS