I’d like to give a special shoutout to “Anonymous Reader” for leaving a comment on last month’s shopping guide after I vented about scalpers and mused whether this TEN-year-old blog series is still useful. After a lot of thought, I think I’ll pivot to one single, yearly post on all the kits that are coming out, and focus a lot harder on the Good Stuff, that is, the tutorials, kit reviews, and features that make up the heart and soul of Gunpla 101.
I mentioned that I post these shopping guides in order to keep up the SEO, but as long as I publish ANYTHING monthly, it’ll do the trick. And it’s not like these links are that helpful, either: when people click on these Gunpla links and go to Hobbylink, they usually go on to buy adult items (no judgment though. Life is short, enjoy yourself! And if you’re wondering, the info is anonymous. I can only see what I referred, not who bought it.) I admit that I’ve been running this blog on autopilot for about 4 years after starting a family, but now that the little Newtypes are getting older, and Bandai Hobby isn’t making it any easier for me to round up kits (in deterrence of scalpers), I think I’m ready to drop what’s not working and blaze a new trail.
That means I’ll need new contributor posts! So check out the Contributor FAQ and submit a pitch to Gunpla 101. And yes, we pay: usually $40 to $60 per post, depending on the content. Speaking of contributor posts, we published a fantastic one recently. Megaplamo has been singlehandedly keeping this site useful with his great tutorials, the latest one being October’s 6 Ways to Use Primer When Painting Gunpla.
So let’s finish the year strong with our second-to-last monthly guide to new releases and pre-orders!
Ra Gundam is from the upcoming Gundam Build Metaverse web series, which is going to commemorate ten years of the Gundam Build franchise. Who is gonna tell Bandai Hobby that the metaverse is already running out of steam? (Looks pointedly at the leaked Gundam NFTs scandal.) Oh wait, they already know.
MGSD Gundam Barabatos (pictured at top)
This is our first kit in the MGSD series since January! It’s a rare but cool line that blends Master Grade complexity with SD cuteness. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love the way it treats the Gunpla hobby’s cutest grade with sincerity—and some seriously poseable finished products.
ENTRY GRADE Build Strike Exceed Galaxy
Like other Entry Grade kits, this one puts ease of construction first. So the finished kit is a fairly simple riff on the Strike Freedom with large transparent pink accents. Impressively, you don’t even need to use nippers to build this (though I’d still recommend it).
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