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The Gundam |OT2| Another 5 years of Gunpla, Origins, and GUNDAMUUUU!

CBTech

Member
I ordered a HG Ez8 to be my first Gunpla, but the estimated arrival is December 2nd. Being impatient, I ordered a GM Custom. It should arrive Friday. I'm really excited to start building. I still need to grab a hobby knife and some sandpaper. My Gundam markers also won't arrive until the middle of November so panel lining won't be happening right now.

I know this has been mentioned before, but what sites do you all use to order kits? I've been using Amazon. Prices are pretty good, but depending on the item shipment time can vary a lot.
 
I know this has been mentioned before, but what sites do you all use to order kits? I've been using Amazon. Prices are pretty good, but depending on the item shipment time can vary a lot.

hlj.com

Not sure how good they are if you can get good prices from Amazon but I always order from them. Their private warehouse feature is great and you can preorder stuff from them too, which I doubt you can do over at Amazon.

Also, you don't have plastic nippers?
 

CBTech

Member
hlj.com

Not sure how good they are if you can get good prices from Amazon but I always order from them. Their private warehouse feature is great and you can preorder stuff from them too, which I doubt you can do over at Amazon.

Also, you don't have plastic nippers?

I just got my nippers in. I just need to replace my old, not very good hobby knife, and get some sand paper.
 

tensuke

Member
I know this has been mentioned before, but what sites do you all use to order kits? I've been using Amazon. Prices are pretty good, but depending on the item shipment time can vary a lot.

I mostly use Amazon, because the prices are usually pretty good, and with prime shipping it usually works out to be cheaper and faster. Plus I have Amazon credit a lot. You CAN preorder kits but they typically release a little bit later and might be expensive at first. You'll also have a harder time finding rarer kits and option sets/addons.

BUT if I'm ordering multiple things, or rarer kits, or option sets, or just things Amazon doesn't have great prices on, I'll use HLJ. Like Amazon, you don't have to pay for preorders until they are ready to ship (you can't however pay off preorders beforehand like you can with Amazon, but a workaround could be to move money to Paypal if you wish), and when you do order in-stock items you're sent a Paypal link and I think you have 3 days to pay (although really I'd want to go ahead and pay immediately). You do have to pay for shipping from Japan (which will typically run $10-$30 depending on the size of your order), I'd go with EMS over SAL because you get tracking, it's much faster, and more secure. HLJ also has a MUCH wider array of gunpla/gundam products than Amazon. You can get almost any kind of Gundam Marker there for like $1.35 each, so I usually throw a few in with each order so I don't run out.

HLJ has a great Private Warehouse feature, where when you buy stuff, rather than having it ship immediately you can add it to your 'Private Warehouse' instead, so they'll hold your purchases for up to 60 days, and you can do custom shipments at your leisure. So you don't have to ship everything at once if you want to split shipments over time for cost reasons, or make multiple purchases at different times and ship everything at once to have just one shipment instead of multiple ones. It's really really handy when you buy a bunch of stuff.

edit: also their description of the Devil/Dark Gundam
 

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
Sazabi ver Ka is my favorite MG. The only thing that even comes close is the Nu ver Ka. I'm really hoping the V2 is something special as well. It's looking great so far.

V2 looking good so far, I probably going to wait to see if they release Assault Buster pack separately or as another kit.


Sazabi is one of the best MGs too. Must think I'm crazy to hold onto Sazabi to trade for Kshatriya and G Self or something...

I have a big backlog and a lot on my plate and need to get in right attitude before I start building again. The most complex ones and biggest part counts are on the bottom of my list as of right now...

Full Armor Unicorn really sucked out a lot of my motivation with all the weapons and amount of decals and work. I'm still not done doing it...

You are crazy, but I understand your feeling. In the duration of building Sazabi, I finished so many random mediocre anime. I would bleed to death from cutting my finger if I didn't wear any glove.

My backlog isn't as bad, at least I finished building all my kits, but for some dumb reason I couldn't get myself to start painting.
 

tensuke

Member
The name says action figure but it's wrong, the description says runners x 10 and I don't believe there even is an action figure yet.

Still not an MG though despite being 1/100 scale and having an inner frame. It's likely more detailed than the HG to a degree but that price is atrocious. On HLJ the HG is ~$7 and the 1/100 is ~$16, and you'd probably see ~$12 shipping maybe. Really I'd get whichever size you want since the quality will be about the same, but more HG kits are already out (there's supposed to be armor compatibility) and there's one option set with one or two more on the way, which are all 1/144 scale, so that would give you the most options for customization.
 

Shun

Member

The 1/100 Barbatos isn't even out until November. If you want the better, bigger kit wait it out.

Sometimes I wish they would sell the Design Works on iBooks or Kindle.

CRWCkIGUwAE23H2.jpg:large
 

CBTech

Member
Turn A is done. I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Amazing show. One of the best Gundams out there. It is certainly on par with the UC timeline shows. I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending. It felt somewhat anti-climactic. Some of it comes from Gym Ghingham not being a compelling villain. All of the character endings were very nice.
Poor Sochie. She keeps getting the short end of stick.

I knew about this going in, but I am not a fan of the "Dark History" stuff. Trying to tie in all the other Gundam series is just pointless and doesn't really add anything to either Turn A or the franchise as a whole. Luckily, it is pretty easy to ignore.

It is time to take a break from Gundam, except for Iron-blooded Orphans. Once I finish Macross, I'll come back to finish Destiny, AGE, and G-Reco.
 
Turn A is done. I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Amazing show. One of the best Gundams out there. It is certainly on par with the UC timeline shows. I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending. It felt somewhat anti-climactic. Some of it comes from Gym Ghingham not being a compelling villain. All of the character endings were very nice.
Poor Sochie. She keeps getting the short end of stick.

I knew about this going in, but I am not a fan of the "Dark History" stuff. Trying to tie in all the other Gundam series is just pointless and doesn't really add anything to either Turn A or the franchise as a whole. Luckily, it is pretty easy to ignore.

It is time to take a break from Gundam, except for Iron-blooded Orphans. Once I finish Macross, I'll come back to finish Destiny, AGE, and G-Reco.
Before you tackle the shit end of Gundam watch Rahxephon or Votoms or something. Though I'm curious how you'd react to Destiny.
 

Tecl0n

Member
Turn A is done. I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Amazing show. One of the best Gundams out there. It is certainly on par with the UC timeline shows. I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending. It felt somewhat anti-climactic. Some of it comes from Gym Ghingham not being a compelling villain. All of the character endings were very nice.
Poor Sochie. She keeps getting the short end of stick.
.

Loran never lost sight of his main objective.
 
I've seen Rahxephon, which was very good. Votoms looks neat. I'll put it on my list.
I'd almost suggest anything over those Gundams based on what I've heard, I've only seen Destiny of those 3 (boy you're in for some unintentional fun with Destiny) and I've heard mixed opinions of G Reco and I heard AGE was horrible.
Loran never lost sight of his main objective.
I never even finished Turn A and I knew Sochie wasn't going to be picked. It's like watching Tenchi Muyo and being surprised Tenchi doesn't pick Washu.
 

CBTech

Member
I'd almost suggest anything over those Gundams based on what I've heard, I've only seen Destiny of those 3 (boy you're in for some unintentional fun with Destiny) and I've heard mixed opinions of G Reco and I heard AGE was horrible.

I've heard the same, but I've seen all other Gundam shows besides those so I feel obligated. Other than that I guess I'm just missing OVAs or Movies, like the 00 movie, but I don't care about those much. I do want to read Crossbone though.

Also, if we count Gym Ghingham, I believe Loran's kill count is a grand total of 4.
 
I've heard the same, but I've seen all other Gundam shows besides those so I feel obligated. Other than that I guess I'm just missing OVAs or Movies, like the 00 movie, but I don't care about those much. I do want to read Crossbone though.

Also, if we count Gym Ghingham, I believe Loran's kill count is a grand total of 4.
Whatever you do do not watch the 00 movie. You're better off smoking crack and going to sleep.
 

Paltheos

Member
I made a gallery recently with my MG and HGAW Double Xs (and other stuff)! The MG is lovely. Only once I got playing with it during my photo session did I find how much it can do. The pose is irresistible and like almost everyone else that's what I'm leaving it as on my shelf, but if I should ever have the urge to change it there's allot of other, good options. Link to the gallery below, for those interested.

http://imgur.com/a/0aYXB
 
00 movie is mandatory for any Gundam fan. While nonsense, at least it is entertaining.
My blu ray of it isn't even fit to be a coaster. Once you get passed the Celestial Being spoof the movie is useless with shit action and bad character development. I just remember the big climax being a laser light show where they shoot pods or something.
 

CBTech

Member
I didn't like the Double X in the show, but seeing it in model form I like it a lot more. I think the show made the cheek "X"-parts look too pronounced. They are subtle enough on the model to not just have it scream "Look, I have a big X on my face because I'm Gundam X!" Might have to pick this up instead of the standard X.
 
My blu ray of it isn't even fit to be a coaster. Once you get passed the Celestial Being spoof the movie is useless with shit action and bad character development. I just remember the big climax being a laser light show where they shoot pods or something.

I think the action isn't shit, but Harute, Quanta, and Zabanya are all super OP, which could be considered a bit boring. I quite enjoyed the final fight, though. I think most people's problems with it is that they are fighting non humanoid enemies. 00 was great because the grunt suits were actually somewhat menacing because of the precision tactics they employed. In most gundam series, grunt suits are a complete joke. Like the Putties in the Power Rangers. Storm Troopers did more damage in Star Wars than grunt suits did in UC and SEED. The exception is when an ace piloted one, but even then... nahhhhh. Amuro thought he done Gouf'd for half a second but nahhhhh
 
I think the action isn't shit, but Harute, Quanta, and Zabanya are all super OP, which could be considered a bit boring. I quite enjoyed the final fight, though. I think most people's problems with it is that they are fighting non humanoid enemies. 00 was great because the grunt suits were actually somewhat menacing because of the precision tactics they employed. In most gundam series, grunt suits are a complete joke. Like the Putties in the Power Rangers. Storm Troopers did more damage in Star Wars than grunt suits did in UC and SEED. The exception is when an ace piloted one, but even then... nahhhhh. Amuro thought he done Gouf'd for half a second but nahhhhh
Well a repeat viewing saved ZZ so I might have to watch that fucking movie again. Wing also had some really good grunt suits so I guess 00 and Wing both share that honor. I did forget how good the grunt suits in 00 can be. Graham and his Flag fucked shit up at times too bad he got nerfed in the second season granted I don't remember much of season 2. Did Mr. Bushido even do anything?
 

tensuke

Member
Did Mr. Bushido even do anything?

He was pretty useless throughout S2 iirc. In the end he wanted a big showdown with Setsuna saying 'I survived for this! This is why I survived until this day!' and Setsuna basically said 'fuck off', jobbed him in like two minutes, and left.
 
He was pretty useless throughout S2 iirc. In the end he wanted a big showdown with Setsuna saying 'I survived for this! This is why I survived until this day!' and Setsuna basically said 'fuck off', jobbed him in like two minutes, and left.
Damn, Graham got nerfed cause they needed a masked dude. Sergei Smirnoff should've donned the mask cause nobody liked him in the first place.
 
Well a repeat viewing saved ZZ so I might have to watch that fucking movie again. Wing also had some really good grunt suits so I guess 00 and Wing both share that honor. I did forget how good the grunt suits in 00 can be. Graham and his Flag fucked shit up at times too bad he got nerfed in the second season granted I don't remember much of season 2. Did Mr. Bushido even do anything?

It was really cool to watch them work. They used their numbers to their advantage against the Gundams, which were 10x more powerful. By S2, the Gundams were really too powerful and by the movie, they were basically 1-man armadas. Zabanya and Harute, especially, could destroy entire fleets in a second. You know who else could do that? Strike Freedom, and it was, also, way OP.
 
It was really cool to watch them work. They used their numbers to their advantage against the Gundams, which were 10x more powerful. By S2, the Gundams were really too powerful and by the movie, they were basically 1-man armadas. Zabanya and Harute, especially, could destroy entire fleets in a second. You know who else could do that? Strike Freedom, and it was, also, way OP.
That's why Strike Freedom is one of my least favorites. I know Infinite Justice was OP too but I don't think on that level. Graham and his Flag crew used strategy and skill to make it work against the Gundams. Also helped that for the most part the Gundam Meisters really weren't elite pilots outside of Lockon I think. Allelujah was good, but nothing too unstoppable and I still think Setsuna was the worst skilled pilot.
 
Infinite Justice is great. Love the design and if someone picks him in EXVS you can be sure the whole game is just Athrun screaming like an absolute madman which is great.
 
It was definitely under used in Seed Destiny. At least it bitch smacked Shinn.

Infinite Justice was designed for close-range combat against powerful mobile suits. Destiny, to me, seems like it is primarily designed to take out large enemy vessels. (The big sword and the gun both seem most effective for this use if you watch the shows.) So, Shinn was really outmatched IMO. It seems like having a light duel-blade system would be much more effective against an enemy suit in close combat than having that huge sword with around 40% exposed beam. However, against a big heavily-armored ship that can't defend itself up close, presuming that the big Destiny/Impulse/Sword Strike sword is a much stronger cutting tool, it would make perfect sense. Anyway, that's what I think they were going for.

As for what 'S. Freedom' was designed for... It doesn't matter. It wipes out whole fleets in 20 seconds... and that's with Kira refusing to kill! The only time Kira didn't give a fuck is right after he fucked Flay after she used his failure to save a little girl to manipulate him into feeling strong emotions for her so he'd feel more desire to fight to protect her. He was wrecking an entire elite unit in their home territory with shitty Launcher pack Strike. Imagine what he would do with S. Freedom if he didn't care about killing.
 
Infinite Justice was designed for close-range combat against powerful mobile suits. Destiny, to me, seems like it is primarily designed to take out large enemy vessels. (The big sword and the gun both seem most effective for this use if you watch the shows.) So, Shinn was really outmatched IMO. It seems like having a light duel-blade system would be much more effective against an enemy suit in close combat than having that huge sword with around 40% exposed beam. However, against a big heavily-armored ship that can't defend itself up close, presuming that the big Destiny/Impulse/Sword Strike sword is a much stronger cutting tool, it would make perfect sense. Anyway, that's what I think they were going for.

As for what 'S. Freedom' was designed for... It doesn't matter. It wipes out whole fleets in 20 seconds... and that's with Kira refusing to kill! The only time Kira didn't give a fuck is right after he fucked Flay after she used his failure to save a little girl to manipulate him into feeling strong emotions for her so he'd feel more desire to fight to protect her. He was wrecking an entire elite unit in their home territory with shitty Launcher pack Strike. Imagine what he would do with S. Freedom if he didn't care about killing.
I like how Athrun uses mostly suits that excel in hand to hand combat. He's skilled in both, but it's nice to see that he either enjoys it more than the rest or he excels in it. Nice write up on the differences in suits too, I keep forgetting that kind of thought went into the design of the suits. Strike Freedom is definitely the most OP suit in the series and I would hate to think the damage he'd do with it if he wanted to actually kill people. He'd probably steal Lunamaria from Shinn and then just proceed to kill everybody around him. Why is Kira so popular even after stealing away the girlfriends of two of his best friends? I know Lacus and Athrun weren't really in love with each other but still kind of a dick move.
 
I like how Athrun uses mostly suits that excel in hand to hand combat. He's skilled in both, but it's nice to see that he either enjoys it more than the rest or he excels in it. Nice write up on the differences in suits too, I keep forgetting that kind of thought went into the design of the suits. Strike Freedom is definitely the most OP suit in the series and I would hate to think the damage he'd do with it if he wanted to actually kill people. He'd probably steal Lunamaria from Shinn and then just proceed to kill everybody around him. Why is Kira so popular even after stealing away the girlfriends of two of his best friends? I know Lacus and Athrun weren't really in love with each other but still kind of a dick move.

Yeah, if you read the gunpla manual's suit descriptions they go into a lot of details. It's where I heard the best explanation for the backpack on Freedom. They said that it helps it move in the atmosphere and helps with balance and all that, but it also said the weapons use a lot of energy and the backpack disperses the excess heat. That's the explanation I prefer. Otherwise, it makes no sense. S. Freedom, on the other hand, had a funnel system which obviously makes sense. I think I'd really like S. Freedom if it wasn't for the gold frame. It just doesn't look good on model kits IMO. Has a cheap look.
 
Yeah, if you read the gunpla manual's suit descriptions they go into a lot of details. It's where I heard the best explanation for the backpack on Freedom. They said that it helps it move in the atmosphere and helps with balance and all that, but it also said the weapons use a lot of energy and the backpack disperses the excess heat. That's the explanation I prefer. Otherwise, it makes no sense. S. Freedom, on the other hand, had a funnel system which obviously makes sense. I think I'd really like S. Freedom if it wasn't for the gold frame. It just doesn't look good on model kits IMO. Has a cheap look.
Too bad the show never went into the details. I mean it's still scifi in a way, but they never talk about scifi like things. I'd love to hear about the little details of the suit.
 
Too bad the show never went into the details. I mean it's still scifi in a way, but they never talk about scifi like things. I'd love to hear about the little details of the suit.

That's a good point... Gundam really isn't sci-fi. They are rather conventional war movies with somewhat fantastical technology, but rarely do they delve into the technical side of things. THey just go "yo, here's your new suit" "Okay, kick ass, I immediately know how to pilot it!" In reality, I would think moving from Impulse to Destiny would necessitate extensive training for the new technology. Shinn just jumped in and attacked Athrun and Meyrin blind. Knew about how to use the advanced unique features, too.
 
That's a good point... Gundam really isn't sci-fi. They are rather conventional war movies with somewhat fantastical technology, but rarely do they delve into the technical side of things. THey just go "yo, here's your new suit" "Okay, kick ass, I immediately know how to pilot it!" In reality, I would think moving from Impulse to Destiny would necessitate extensive training for the new technology. Shinn just jumped in and attacked Athrun and Meyrin blind. Knew about how to use the advanced unique features, too.
Lol this is true. It seems like they only run into a hurdle if they're basic civilians and haven't had any kind of military training. Maybe the systems are a bit interchangeable or run on the same principles. Kira couldn't pilot the Strike for shit initially though he knew how to rewrite the software from scratch. So I assume learning a new mobile suit is simple with the exception of learning the new weapons. Are there even any hard scifi robot shows? I've never seen any of them on a GITSAC level.
 
Maybe Armored Troopers Votoms? Haven't watched it myself but I hear it's more grounded than Gundam.

I don't think Japan really goes for sci-fi, anyway. There are a lot of cool sci-fi concepts, but as far as I know, I can't think of anything in the mainstream like Star Trek, where really about 40% of any given episode is quiet discussion on the scientific forces at work. Of course, the science may not always check out, but that's where the 'fiction' element of sci-fi comes in. You can really just have fun exploring the concepts.

As far as Gundam goes, I feel like 00 had the most sci-fi feel to it. This sentient computer program carrying on the will of a genius dead* German scientist, using this other-worldly technology. Artificial beings and aliens, to boot. I always loved how the Gundams had this sinister, other-worldly aura about them. Like, they were something that shouldn't exist, even in that world.

Couple it with an earlier 'future' than we've seen in other series and it really works. Season 2 was not as good, yeah, but still pretty solid show overall. In my opinion, unless some of the characters were little kids, time-skips usually fall flat.

My question is this: Did Kira even have any military training? How could he best Yzak, a young man with extensive military officer training? Programming a suit doesn't give you situational or tactical know-how. Athrun is an engineer and Kira is a programmer... how are they so much better at fighting than seasoned adult pilots? They are just 16.

OH WAIT... and I'm being serious here, I just remembered that Kira was an test-tube super soldier. He probably had all the combat shit programmed into his DNA, didn't he?
 

kiunchbb

www.dictionary.com
My question is this: Did Kira even have any military training? How could he best Yzak, a young man with extensive military officer training? Programming a suit doesn't give you situational or tactical know-how. Athrun is an engineer and Kira is a programmer... how are they so much better at fighting than seasoned adult pilots? They are just 16.

OH WAIT... and I'm being serious here, I just remembered that Kira was an test-tube super soldier. He probably had all the combat shit programmed into his DNA, didn't he?

I remember in Gundam seed kira sleep in strike because he spent all his free time optimizing it after every battle. I would guess the reason he won is because his suit just have better os, he is even good enough to design an OS so easy that even normal human use.

Plus the seed thing I guess.
 

CBTech

Member
My question is this: Did Kira even have any military training? How could he best Yzak, a young man with extensive military officer training? Programming a suit doesn't give you situational or tactical know-how. Athrun is an engineer and Kira is a programmer... how are they so much better at fighting than seasoned adult pilots? They are just 16.

OH WAIT... and I'm being serious here, I just remembered that Kira was an test-tube super soldier. He probably had all the combat shit programmed into his DNA, didn't he?

I think it was mainly the super-soldier thing for Kira, though I believe he was the pilot of that small suit that his college was building and that he was the programmer for. That is how I always justified his ability to pilot the Strike as quickly as he did.
 
Had a "breathing intensifies.gif" moment walking through a department store near my new home here in Japan. Came across the gunpla area and while it was not too extensive compared to other stores holy crap those prices almost got me.

Less than $30 for Master Grades!? was super tempted. Even though I could most likely afford them, want to wait til my first paycheck and see what the monthly damage will be before blowing my money on the addictions I already got.
 

Quote

Member
Plain ol' Strike Gundam is one of the best looking Gundams. So clean and classy.

Though, I remember watching the episode where they introduce Freedom for the first time, many goosebumps and chills. Such a great reveal and episode.
 
I watched 8 episodes of Gundam Wing tonight. Mostly because I could not sleep but man, I probably could not have watched anything better. It's pretty entertaining so far.

I have a feeling the ending of the first episode will stay my favourite moment of the series. Actually laughed at it.
 
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