Model Kit Musings - Fenice Rinascita

Not Ricardo Fenice sold separately.

5184 yen. 5,184 yen. Five Thousand One Hundred and Eighty Four Yen!

Wing Gundam is my favorite mobile suit of them all and anything resembling it is right up my alley, so it goes without saying the Fenice Rinascita is definitely on my radar but what's up with that price! There's no way translucent plastic costs that much, right? I doubt it true but perhaps this price means the inclusion of the Meteor Hopper (which actually belongs to the Wing Gundam Fenice). I'd pay 5,184 yen for  an MG version of the Honoo any day but I'm going to have to wait on a sale for this kit, I simply don't see the value for what's largely little more than a re-skin.

Surely these aren't worth the extra yen?

I know times are hard at Bandai (not really) with the taxation increase and whatnot but is this kit really worth more than the Exia Dark Matter (5,000 yen), Wing Zero Proto Zero (4,800) or the Astray Blue Frames (4,800 and 5,000 yen respectively)? I can't help but think this is a by-product of the popularity of Build Fighters, the cost of these kits has risen with each release from the 4,200 yen of the Build Strike Full Package to 5,000 yen for Sengoku Astray and Exia Dark Matter. Regardless of the reason I'm not pleased with this price, that said it's still possible there's more material not being shown that more than makes up for the price. Here's hoping, till next time peeps.

All images courtesy of Gundam Guy Blogspot.

Gundam's Come in Bunches (Apparently)

Wasn't long ago that Unicorn and Banshee were crowding my view, well that time is over it is now the season of the Astray. Fortunately the many versions of the Gundam Astray have all been stellar pieces and this MG by Kusganie is no exception.

Images courtesy of Gundam Guy and Master File. 

Better With Ninjas

Much like Pirates all things are made better with the inclusion of Ninjas, Gundam included. I defy you dear readers to gaze upon this Gold Frame and not see the awesome! Just go ahead I'll wait... See told you you couldn't do it.

This Gunpla modeled by Miniamp123 has been dubbed the "Astray Gold Frame Ninja Version" but I'm going to call it Konoha Gold Frame because much like the Shinobi from Naruto, this mobile suit don't give no damns about concealment (Ninjas were masters of camouflage).

Jokes aside this fantastic build highlights one of my favorite aspects of the Astray line, versatility. Parts swappable across Blue and Red frame mean anyone can easily kit bash one of their own and the nature of the design makes it easy to create some really awesome color combinations by changing the color of the armor, frame or both! Those of you interested in seeing the full gallery should head over to Gundam Guy post haste.