February 25th was a memorable day (to some it isn't, more on that later) because it was the very first time that a Gunpla Expo was held in the country. Many fans have been waiting for this event, from the exclusive kits, to the huge RX-78-2 Gundam it is indeed an event people are anticipating. There were lots of people; children and adults alike, taking photos, checking out the Gunpla display fans and non-fans were enjoying the view. So enough of this intro, let's check out some stuff at the Gunpla Expo 2017.
At the entrance, you'll see the (insert height here) RX-78-2 Gundam doing its signature "The Last Shooting" pose. And of course it is based on the RG 1/144 model kit and the one in the Gundam Front Tokyo in Diver City.
At the back, there's the "History of Gundam" starting on the TV series that started it all back in 1979 to the current "Iron-Blooded Orphans".
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| "Anime Janai!" |
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| "GODDDOO FIIINNGGEEERRR!!!" |
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| "Just wild beat, communication..." |
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| "Tadoritsuku basho sae mo wakaranai, Todoku to shinjite ima omoi wo hashiraseru yo" |
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| "MY WISHES OVER THEIR AIR SPACE!~" |
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| "Hitorri janai" |
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| “Genkai nante nai" |
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| "RAISE YOUR FLAG!" |
And at the bottom lower part, you have Gundam movies/OVAs from 1981 to the current movie series Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt and Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin.
I'm really excited about the future of the Gundam The Origin series. I hope they'll finish the One Year War. To make a sort of retelling of the original series. And I'm finally going to see some moments from the Battle of Loum (the one from the first movie was sort of short.)
Next to the History of Gundam is the History of Gunpla. From the very fist Gunpla kit from 1980 to the RX-78-2 Gundam Revive back in 2015.
It's really nice that they have the very first Gunpla on display. Imagine all of the painting stuff that you have to do back then.
And the 1/100 Full Mechanics Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex and the Gundam Vidar are on display (And their runners)
The exclusive kits for sale at the Expo are also displayed.
HG Gundam The Origin Zaku II Black Tri-Stars Metallic Coating Version
HGBF Amazing Red Warrior Full Color Metallic Version
HG Gundam The Origin MS-06S Char's Zaku II Metallic Finish
MG 1/100 Hi-Nu Gundam Heavy Weapon System Ver Ka Expo Clear
SD BB Senshi Legend Zero Gundam Special Coating Version
RG 00 Raiser Trans-Am Clear Version
And lastly we have the HGUC Victory Two Gundam Assault Buster Clear Version. Somehow the news that Gundam Model Kits Colelction was correct but the HG Zaku II Black Tri-Stars and the Amazing Red Warrior Metallic Versions were in the list. Well it's nice that they added more but it's still sad (yes dude, more on that later). I know I missed the Beargguy III Happines version, sorry about that Beargguy fans. But fear not, next up is the Beargguy displays, in Filipino fashion.
We have Beargguy kits that are customized with Filipino culture. You guys might be familiar with the famous people featured in the diorama.
I really like this jeepney. Whoever built this deserves lots of credit. Kudos to you Mr. random modeller! And of course to the others who customized these awesome looking Beargguys.
Moving on we have the Gundam Build Fighter TRY Gunplas.
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| This Transient Gundam Glacier looks really badass. One day I'll buy you together with your twin. |
The massively huge Neo Zeong was also there.
Right next to the Neo Zeong is the PG Gundam Unicorn and its twin, the Banshee.
SD EX-Standards on display. Too bad the Gundam Deathscythe was nowhere to be found at the Expo, I was eyeing for that one. I noticed just now that there's a SD EX-Standard of the Banshee. I guess the place was too crowded and I forgot about it.
Right next to the SD EX-Standards are the Gunplas for the current Gundam series, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.
A large Barbatos
The upcoming HG 1/144 ASW-G-47 Gundam Vual and the 1/100 ASW-G-01 Gundam Bael are also on display. Looks like the Gundam Vual seems like a really intersting MS (Thank God it's not a P-Bandai release!)
Moving on, we have the PG 1/60 Gunplas.
Right next to them is the Master Grades. The ones displayed are just normal previous Master Grades but one thing for me stands out the most.
The upcoming MG 1/100 ZGMF-X13A Providence from Gundam Seed.
On the other side we have other MGs.
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| Scumbag reflection. |
At the center, we have the works of our Filipino Gunpla Modellers. Thank you for representing is at the World Stage of Gunpla! May the glory of victory be yours.
The upcoming MG 1/100 RX-78-02 Gundam The Origin Special Edition was also on display. I guess it was a blessing in disguise that this one was out of stock because a special edition is about to be released next month.
Next to the Gundam The Origin kits are the ones from Gundam Thunderbolt.
The Gundam Atlas that is set to be released next month. It's cool that upcoming Gunplas are on display because we can see how the new ones will look like, I hope they'll prototypes next time.
I think the most disappointing thing about the Gunpla Expo is this. I guess one of my predictions were true. Buying a certain amount of Gunpla so that you can buy an exclusive one. Sure it's a free event but getting exclusive ones has a price to pay, and it's a large one. Yeah, we know (almost) everything in this world is about business but I think this is too much. Well, people did have mixed reactions about this sort of gig by the assholes at Ban Kee Trading but it has some pros and cons.
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| I know you won't notice it but somewhere down there is a line for the cashier. |
At the upper left part of the photograph above, you can see lots of people grabbin' some Gunplas for them to buy to just to be able to buy the exclusive ones. Somehow I somehow felt bad that they have to pay extra on these kits even though you can save more when you go to online sellers. But hey, if got lots of money to burn why not? It's their own money anyway so I can't blame them if they want to pay extra. Of course, the pricing of these kits that are sold by Ban Kee is still a problem buy us Gunpla builders on a budget. A really huge one.
But look at the bright side, lots of people were grabbin' kits, there's a long line at the cashier, and there's lots of profit for Ban Kee. Though it may sound evil and greedy at least Bandai knows that the Gunpla community is alive and kicking here in the Philippines. Maybe in the future we'll have another (and at least a better) Gunpla Expo next year? or a Gundam Docks in Manila, or maybe a consistent film showing of the latest Gundam OVAs (fuck you SM Cinemas for not showing Gundam The Origin II, III, and IV). So maybe something good indeed happened during this event that's shrouded in controversy (Like those a-holes who showed up carrying boxes of Dragon Momoko's Metal Build Strike Freedom Gundam), let's just hope and still be hopeful for a bright future for the Gunpla Industry here in the Philippines.
Colony drop anyone?
