What to See and Do at Gundam Base Korea

Did you know there are 18 Gundam Bases in the world? Each of these official stores offer elaborate themed Gundam displays and exclusive P-Bandai models. They are located in Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, the US, and Korea. 

Gundam Base Korea, which locals call Gunbe, is Korea’s largest. It has been open since 2003—for more than 20 years!—but it’s just as cutting edge as ever. Let Gunpla 101 contributor Arthur show you what it’s like to visit Korea’s flagship Gunpla store.

What is a Gundam Base?

A Gundam Base is a magical store with more kits of all sizes, from SDs to the exclusive Mega Sized kits, and especially the exclusive Gundam Base Limited kits! But what are kits without the tools and accessories you need? No worries, they also have nippers, tweezers, Gundam markers, themed cutting mats, just about every tool you could think of. So now that I have your attention you must be wondering, “how do I even get there?”

If you’re a Gunpla fan, you’ve probably already heard of Gundam Base Tokyo. Many Gunpla fans find themselves on a pilgrimage to Japan just to visit this location. However, if you find yourself in Korea, there’s a Gundam Base there, too!

How to get to Gundam Base Korea

Gundam Base Korea is located inside the Hyundai I’Park Mall at Yongsan Station. This is one of the largest malls in Korea, featuring shopping, food, cultural exhibits, and much more (including the Gundam Base)! But have no fear, we have a step-by-step to guide you to the Gundam Base (with one cool Gunpla themed detour along the way). Let’s start by making our way over to Yongsan Station!

When you take the subway in Korea, you can find Yongsan Station in the Yongsan district in Seoul along Line 1. Once you get off the train, head towards the exit and you’ll find yourself in a large open area with lots of confusing signs.

Once you head towards exit one and go through the doors, you’ll be looking for the entrance to I’Park Mall on the right side.

From here you can take the escalator up to the 6th floor and head over towards the giant illuminated number 6 and make a left after you get to the sign.

While you’re headed over, you’ll find yourself surrounded by pop-up stores and exhibition events at this space called “The Corner”. Normally I tend to ignore these pop-up events, but this time they’re featuring the Korean entries into the Gunpla Builder World Cup!

Now that you’ve made the left at the giant illuminated 6, Look for an overhead sign labeled “Living Park” in front of you and move towards it.

After you enter the Living Park and make a right, walk straight and you’ll see the Gundam Base straight ahead! When I was there, it even had a holiday setup.

Congratulations, you’ve made it to Gundam Base Korea! As a reward for this arduous journey, there are tons of treasures hidden inside. Let’s take a look, shall we?

What you can find at Gundam Base Korea

This Gundam Base is oriented in a circular fashion, with the checkout located in the center. We’ll be making our way around in a counter-clockwise fashion.

When you first walk in, you’ll be greeted with a large pile of featured kits on the left side. This is where they put restocks of popular kits so they’re easily accessible.

The next section we’re going to has all the Gundam Base Limited kits! Here are four examples:

For price reference, the current United States Dollar to Korean Won conversion is 1:1480, so the price of the Gundam Base Limited Unicorn Gundam Perfectability is roughly $104.

They even have Figure-Rise Standard kits available if that’s more up your alley.

If you’re into metal builds, the Tamashii Spot Seoul section has Gundam Metal Build kits available, like the ones shown here:

They also have sections for Ichiban Kuji Models and the Bandai Card Games too!

The crowning feature of this Gundam Base has to be the circular display that wraps around the checkout counter.

There are hundreds of models throughout the shop, with no duplicates to be found. These kits span across Gunpla’s history and have both P-Bandai and Gundam Base exclusive kits.

I wish I could get a panorama of the whole display, but since there’s so many people at any given time, it’s near impossible to get a good picture. That’s a good indication of how popular the Gundam Base is, though!

After that, there isn’t really any sort of organization to the Gundam Base. You’ll find displays like these everywhere with the kits underneath.

It’s finally time to check out! You’ll need to jump back in line at the center of the Gundam Base, and when you go to pay you’ll be greeted by the amazingly friendly staff present.

This time around, I got a few kits, some Gundam markers since my old ones ran out, and of course, action bases to pose my new kits.

Korea’s Largest Gundam Base

The Gundam Base Korea at Yongsan station is a must visit for anyone travelling to Korea. This is the largest Gundam Base in Korea, however there are many smaller satellite shops scattered throughout the country, and all of them are worth a visit.

Personally, I was amazed at the selection of kits both old and new available, and the great prices that they were being offered at. I spent a few hours checking out all the kits and like any dedicated builder, contemplating how much I could fit into my bag and the size of my backlog before justifying any purchase. Since they restock multiple times a week, there are a lot of popular kits that get sold out super quick like the MG Psycho Zaku and the MG Barbatos Lupus, so it’s worth going back and visiting at least once a week if you’re nearby.

Bonus: Tamiya Hobby Store

You may have already noticed on the way to the Gundam Base, but right across the path, there’s a Tamiya store where you can pick up any other supplies you might need.

Here’s how it looks from the entrance. It may be intimidating but rest assured, you can find everything you need for Gunpla here.

As a P-Bandai fanatic, Arthur is constantly on the lookout for ancient hobby shops that hold past relics. Currently, he’s obsessing over the release of the MG Cross Contrast Astray Variants.