Gundam stands as one of the first anime series to make it big in the U.S. during the 1990s, and its reach can be felt all over the world. Even today, fans can get all their Gundam craves fixed as Sunrise continues to put out new anime titles. Over at Bandai, the company makes bank on its Gundam merchandise year over year, so you can see why they would be upset by counterfeit rings.
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And if you don’t think Bandai cares, you need to check yourself. Bandai cares lots about the crime and sent a one-of-a-kind Gunpla figure to police who broke up a counterfeit Gundam merchandise ring.
Over on social media, fans started buzzing when photos went live from the Shanghai police department. It turns out the precinct busted up an illegal ring of Gunpla sellers, and Bandai was so pleased it sent the police a massive Gunpla statue of the Unicorn suit.
As you can see above, the mecha is plenty impressive. The tall Gundam has been put in the precinct’s lobby to show off its actual gold plating. Filled with lime green highlights, the mecha comes decked out with some serious accessories that has die-hard collectors drooling.
Of course, this one-of-a-kind piece has fans curious about its cost. Even smaller licensed Gunpla can cost fans a pretty penny, and this behemoth is plated in actual gold. Fans are sure a figure like this would break the bank, but Bandai has little reason to worry about this figure’s safety. After all, it would take a brave Zeon soldier to steal this since it is – well – sitting in the middle of a police precinct.
Do you wish you had a Gundam figure like this one…? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the most popular franchises in the world, and that popularity is only expected to grow as Sunrise continues to release new projects for the franchise. This includes new anime based in the original Universal Century storyline, which will next see a film trilogy based on the Hathaway’s Flash novels, a returning anime for its SD Gundam spin-offs, and even a brand new live-action movie coming to the West co-produced by Legendary, a studio who is currently in the midst of bringing a new take on Toho’s Godzilla franchise to the screen.