Bandai Hobby launches new flagship store in London

Bandai UK has teamed up with the iconic Hamleys of London to create a new UK home for Bandai Hobby kits.

This new location will be offering the world famous Gunpla kits (a play on  words for Gundam and Plastic for those yet to fall in love with it) from Entry Grade to Perfect Grade.

To celebrate the launch, there will be a brand new window installation unveiled on July 19th featuring a 2 metre tall RX-78-2 Mobile Suit surrounded by some of the kits available in store.

As someone who has had the enormous good fortune to have visited Gundam Base stores in Korea and Japan, I'm both proud and excited to see this strong move in the UK market - many of us, including our own Gunpla expert Dawfydd, have been building these kits for years, so this is a dream come true in many respects.

Might be nice for those of us a little less skilled to see some chogokin and Metal Build figures make their way into London too... Fingers crossed!

From the Press Release:

• GUNPLA is the flagship Bandai Hobby brand and the name is a derivation of two words – GUNDAM & PLASTIC – simply put, Gundam Plastic Models became GUNPLA. Gundam is a long standing iconic Anime franchise which first aired in Japan on April 7 1979 and has been adapted into numerous series & movies throughout the last 4 decades. This includes titles which are available on platforms like Netflix which continues to introduce new fans. The license is a sci-fi epic set in a future not too unrecognisable from our own with militarised space-warring factions using ‘Mobile Suits’ – giant robotic weapons which require a human ‘pilot’ to operate. Gundam as an IP charts its journey alongside the advancements of animation from its earnest roots in ’79 through to the latest cutting-edge technology employed in the upcoming ‘GUNDAM : REQUIEM FOR VENGEANCE’ series which is a collaboration between Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. and SAFEHOUSE Inc. using the Unreal Engine 5 3D production tool. Over its long history, the license has cemented itself as a globally recognised brand and an iconic staple of pop culture appearing in numbers media including a big-screen cameo in Ready Player One by Steven Spielberg.
  
  
• GUNPLA as a Model Kit brand focuses on the Mobile Suits as presents consumers with a vast range of kits to assemble. The brand debuted shortly after the Gundam series in 1980 and has continued to thrive ever since. Over time, more ‘grades’ have been added to the line-up which provides consumers varying scales of model complexity from the straight-forward ‘Entry Grade’ to the grandiose and highly intricate ‘Perfect Grades’ – the brand truly has a option for every skill level. At its heart, GUNPLA is based around the central idea of ‘Fun to Build’ and it takes this forward in every kit offered with the building experience at the forefront of product development. Bandai UK are excited to establish a highly-visible presence for the brand in the UK market with the Hamleys launch forming the first step of many to come.

GUNPLA offers a new dimension to the market of UK model kits and hobbyists, bringing an iconic Japanese franchise officially into the UK to a dedicated community. Bandai Hobby offers a range of graded kits to inspire beginners, and premium products to experienced hobbyists. GUNPLA has become a cultural phenomenon worldwide, with TV shows, movies, and being inspiration for many modern media.