What is Gunpla?

Gunpla, are plastic models depicting the numerous characters and vehicles from the 1980's TV series "Mobile Suit Gundam". The name Gunpla is an amalgamation of Gundam and plastic.

Mobile Suit Gundam was an animated TV series produced in Japan which first aired in 1979. The show's plot revolved around a war in a fictional universe between the Earth's Federation and the Principality of Zeon who had declared independence. The show was not received well resulting in its cancellation in 1980, however, the introduction of the show's characters in model-form injected fresh interest into the concept, this resulted in the production of numerous successful TV spin-off series and the creation of further models which today have a huge following that reaches as far as the US and UK markets.

The models have no particular scale and today are manufactured in both Japan and China. As the brand developed, the models became more sophisticated and have developed a cult following that takes immense pride in the construction and particularly the paintwork of Gunpla models.