2010 Nagoya Gunpla Expo

I went at the beginning of the month. Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to the pics. Still haven't really found a great uploading system yet but I think I'm getting there.  You can see the full gallery by clicking on any of the links at the base of the pictures or by clicking here.

My former 'apprentice' and I went to this together.  Actually she was the one that told me about it.  I had no idea that it was going on.  A surprising (and refreshing) amount of young women were there.  I kept wondering why but the more I talk to people the more I'm starting to realize that Gundam isn't just for middle aged men. Not that I'm middle aged but you know what I mean.  Most of the JP guys that are into it were born in the late 60's or early 70's and were in elementary school when the show was first broadcasted.  So for me it's really cool to see young women (in their early 20's) showing an interest in this stuff.

It was actually kind of fun because my friend could teach me Japanese things (language, culture, celebrities) and I could teach her about Gundam things.  Mutually beneficial.  As it should be.  After we finished I bought her some sweets.  I think most girls like that type of thing... and she was such a sweetheart so... *shrugs*

1/48 Gundam painted to look like the 1/1 Gundam in Shizuoka!  They dd a great job with this.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

My first look at the PG Strike Freedom with my own eyes. I was really shocked at the size!  Now I'm building the thing myself.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Want this jacket!

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Prototypes of two of my favourite models.  I really enjoyed seeing this for some reason.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

All young women here.  All of them taking pictures of Gundams!  I think they thought it was cool that all these famous Japanese celebrities designed Gundam colour schemes.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

I think this one was designed by 3 members of the Japanese soccer team.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Seamo knows his Gundam.  Colour reversal.  Very clever.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Blue Destiny Nemo? As much as I like Feddie MP suits I  never really liked this.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Nice plaint job with the flames!

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Zaku 1 in Gundam colours from the voice of Amuro Ray/Ribbons Almark himself.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Rikusen/Ground Gundam squad from the members of Glay.  I really liked this one.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Byaku-Shiki.  Kind of a funny name if you understand Japanese. 百式・白式

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

They had a rod of "Gundarium" there that you could touch and lift!  Quite light! haha Lighter and tougher then titanium apparently.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Bronze rod there for the sake of comparison along with the historical usage of the metal. Very heavy!  How did the ancient Greeks swing around swords of this?  Never mind wearing armour and shields.  No wonder those guys in "The 300" were so muscular!

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Stainless steel and Titanium also provided for the sake of comparison

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

This is how a PG should be done.  Beautiful!

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

I thought this was funny!  Apparently building Gundam is good for your brain!  They did a study on it.  Certain parts of your brain are activated when you make Gundam that help with remembering things!  It's recommended that children build Gundam first and then do their homework/study!  Very interesting!

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Mine.  New York Cheese Pancake.  DELICIOUS.

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

Hers.  Strawberry parfait.  After she tried mine she wanted to trade. haha

From Nagoya Gunpla Expo 2010

I went to the Gundam Expo the year before (or was it the year before that?) and it was good but it was some stuff that I'd seen before at the Gundam Museum (when it was still in Matsudo). I wasn't so keen on going this year but I'm glad I did. It was much better than before. I didn't buy any of the special goods there though (not really into 限定 stuff as much as other folks not to mention it was a bit over priced in my opinion). Besides I'd already bought a MG model and parts before going so... I was good. I saw the model I'd just bought before there but it was MUCH more expensive at the Expo. Oh well. Gotta know where to shop! That's half the battle sometimes.

At any rate it was a good day!  I'm glad I got the chance to see this stuff and the best part is that it was all FREE!

Gundam Bar - Side 3

A friend was riding through town and called me when she found this place. She sent me the link afterwards.

A couple of days later I ended up going there with another friend who knew absolutely nothing about Gundam but she got a long well with the staff regardless. The staff are really nice folks. The manager and the shop owner are quite... eccentric. The owner introduced himself to me wearing a Darth Vader mask! And instead of 'Cheers' they'd say Zieg ZEON! Wow. It was a lot to take in for a regular person. More so for a Gundam fan. There are models EVERYWHERE. Gifts from the customers! 1/60 Strike Freedom and Exia were given to them as gifts? Wow. Again. It was cool though, I could play with the MG GP02 as I was drinking, and Gouf Custom and blahblahblah. There was A LOT of stuff there. I was playing with 1/60 Exia last night actually and I really liked it.

The menu was crazy. Take a look.

I'll translate some of the "Gundam Cocktails" for you.

The Federations "White Thing"
Red Comet
Black Tri Star
Cinderella Four
Nightmare of Solomon
Stardust Memory
White Fang
Moonlight Butterfly
Blue Cosmos
Pink Princess

And if you're not a cocktail drinker you can always get the Hyaku Shiki Beer. The manager showed me a picture on his cell phone of a customer dressed up in Quattro's costume drinking that beer! Hilarious!

Of course most of the people there are Gundam fans but not all. It's on a street that's full of shops but most of them close at 6pm and this place is open until... well I'm not sure really.

It's narrow. Haven't gotten a chance to see the upstairs yet. I noticed that at the back they had a little raised tatami area. Don't know about tatami? Check here. 4.5 Mats. 6 people were sitting at a table playing a DS game linked together. Couldn't see what game it was but I asked if they were all playing the same game together and they lady said 'Yes'. I passed them on my way to the washroom.

The washroom was plastered with Gundam posters.

I think it was at that point that I realized that I probably won't be able to find a place like this anywhere else. I felt like I fit in this place (yeah just the toilet haha). But at the same time not. I could talk about modelling and Gundams freely with people who knew more about it than me. Really it was quite a special day in my life when I usually go through it with people having no idea about Gundam or having the 'otaku' stigma attached to it. Not here. It's embraced openly. I'm somehow relieved when I come across those Gundam fans who are more extreme than me.

Gundam OO DVD's are running constantly. People are coming in and out constantly. There were a lot more women there then I thought would be.

It was fun but a bit on the expensive side, not to mention the Japanese is a bit tough for me. A lot of the folks use a strong regional dialect so it's a bit hard to understand sometimes but they took it down a notch for me. Lot's of quoting from animations. Dragonball. At one point in the night everyone in the bar repeating a line from G Gundam simultaneously! Shook the walls! Nice place and I'm really glad I found it. I'll come back for sure.

More pics with write up's here.

Gunpura Expo in Nagoya

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Originally uploaded by Busterbeam

Well... it was crazy. But tame at the same time. Nothing like my frequent visits to the Gundam Museum in Matsudo. This was a lot more subdued. The sheer amount of people present pushed it into the 'crazy' category. Started off with a history of Gunpura. Starting from the early 80's up until now. It was really funny seeing the first kits that I bought there. Some of the 'No Grade' stuff that I started out on. That was in the late 90's but these kits were apparently made in the late 80's. I had no idea. It was interesting seeing how it all started and evolved over time. Some great dioramas were there and lots of completed models in display cases. The highlight was the giant Exia. Let's see... it was probably 1/10 scale? It was a bit taller than me and I'm close to 6ft tall. They were selling clear HG 1/144 RX-78 and Exia, HG 1/144 metallic Exia and Char's Zaku, clear 1/60 Exia and clear MG Strike Freedom. All stuff specifically for this expo with special boxes. I bought nothing. Prices just weren't worth it and there was nothing I really wanted. Metallic 1/144 Exia would be nice but... 2000 yen plus for a HG? No thanks. I don't even like the Exia that much.

All and all I wasn't that impressed but can't say I was disappointed because it was free. You had to pay to get into the Gundam Museum. Unless you took the secret passage way like I used to. Yeah. I knew the building THAT well. I used to live in Matsudo! Access to the store there was free though. That's where I got my PG Zeta. The store here was way too expensive and didn't have that great a selection. Modern stuff in sets. All the HG Flags together. All the Thrones together. All the 1/100 OO suits together. That kinda thing.

After that I was went to two new modelling shops that I had no idea about. Kind of embarrassing actually because its ONE block away from an area that I frequent QUITE often. Just never thought to cross the street and see what was over there... Glad I was introduced to it today. These shops put the place that I usually shop at to shame! I saw a sick black Overflag with neon/lime green trim. So hawt. Pics were banned at that place and the shop attendent was right beside me so... sorry. Wish I could've put a pic of that up.

After that played a little Kizuna. Had an awesome first game with my buddy but the 2nd game was crap. My first 8x8 game. Plus my first time playing on a Japanese team. Way out of my league. Got destroyed. Good experience though. Too bad I don't know anyone in my area that plays this game. Never mind in English. Oh well. That's life in Japan I guess. All in all a pretty intense 'Gundam' day. But I bought nothing. Probably for the best. It'll make when I do finally buy something again that much sweeter.

Anyways, full gallery here.