Anime has seen countless merchandise released for its many franchises over the years, with the Mobile Suit Gundam series having the most notable via its Gundam Plastic Models. Selling hundreds of millions of Gunplas over the decades following the series premiere in the 1970s, it seems that Bandai Namco has a very impressive year when it came to sales of these figurines. With a new series and movie on the way for the anime franchise, it seems like the mech franchise might have some more record shattering moments in its future.
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The first Gundam Plastic Model arrived in 1980, selling for a measly three dollars and giving fans a new model to collect that depicted the first mech suit of the anime series. Since this initial product, Gunplas have sold hundreds of millions of different models throughout the decades, normally giving fans fresh takes on already established Gundam suits while also often taking the opportunity to create models that haven’t appeared in an anime series before. With the coronavirus pandemic having a number of people staying at home in the face of the virus, the sales of Gunplas has gone up in response, and it seems that this trend is continuing.
For 2021, Gunplas sold ten percent more over the previous year’s totals, with April to December 2021 seeing an increase of around 9.7% and netting Bandai Namco over $290 Million USD. So in demand were Gunplas in 2020, that Bandai Namco used a new facility to continue production in the face of events such as the series 40th anniversary and the upcoming live-action Gundam movie that is in the works at Netflix. With plenty more Gundam series and movies in the works, we doubt Bandai Namco will stop production of these plastic models any time soon.
One of the biggest recreations of Gundam’s mech suit is the “Walking Gundam” in Japan, which has the ability to take a number of steps across a dock and being a life-sized version of, arguably, anime’s most well-known mech suit. Set to continue walking into 2023, it will be interesting to see if any life-sized statues from Mobile Suit Gundam are erected.
What is your favorite Gunpla that has been created from the popular Gundam franchise? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Mobile Suits.
