On Gunpla

I know what many of you are thinking already, “this dumb idiot has a typo right in the title of his 45th essay!” Yes, I am dumb! Yes, I am often an idiot! But also, you have fallen directly into the trap I so cleverly set! Gunpla is (according to the internet) a portmanteau of Gundam-Plastic-Model, and thanks to my friend Joey, I’ve got a brand new, meditative, hobby that I will absolutely spend too much money on! Let’s dive in, shall we?

If you’re still confused about the “Gun” part of Gunpla, well Gundams are basically giant mechanical suits (also called Mecha or Mechs). These fictional futuristic military creations made their first appearance in 1979 in the eponymous anime “Mobile Suit Gundam”. This one anime and this incredibly cool concept of semi-realistic giant mech suits led to the creation of hundreds of shows, manga, movies, novels, games and, of course, plastic models.

So, in all these forms of media, Gundams are insanely intricate, detailed, complex machines. In Gunpla…well they start out as a bunch of plastic sheets, some teeny tiny stickers, and an instruction booklet (if you’re lucky the instructions will be in English. If you’re me, the most recent model’s instructions were entirely in Japanese). It can be pretty damn overwhelming, even if you’ve done it before, to see a box with a sick looking mech on it only to open it up and gaze upon what I can only describe as the Ikea couch/desk/Målmø-chair of toys inside.

But don’t panic! All you really need to conquer that mountain of plastic parts is a pair of hobby nippers (basically specialized plyers that you can grab for less than $10), some free time, and a perfect understanding of the Japanese writing system. Thankfully you can skip that last requirement if you’re short on time by using a cellphone camera translator…sometimes living in 2021 really does feel like the future…but most of the time it just sucks.

There is something so satisfying about clipping out a tiny plastic piece about the size of your thumbnail and wondering what the heck that thing is supposed to be. Then, after a few minutes of clipping out and snapping together pieces (one of the wonders of engineering is that these babies don’t need a single drop of glue, they snap together so nicely it’ll give you the chills), you realize you have an incredibly detailed and fully articulated Gundam leg in your hand.

It’s a really nice way to spend a rainy afternoon or a few quiet evenings. The hours melt away as you find yourself surrounded by plastic debris and five-inch versions of billion-dollar murder machines.

So, if you like putting together puzzles, or you’ve ever had fun working on a Lego, or even if you’re an old pro at putting together models, I can’t recommend highly enough putting together a Gunpla. You can even buy one on Amazon right now!

What’s your experience with Gunpla/models? Do you love ‘em or loath ‘em?