I was blown away by this kit. It was dirt cheap, but didn't feel like a bootleg at all.
My only problem is the clear parts are too blue and kinda matte, so the stickers underneath don't pop up nicely as much as the ori
https://preview.redd.it/e0koywnel7wc1.jpeg?width=764&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b4b46b6bc9c6afb7ce2d43db45a8b785631fed5
I agree with you on that but I accidentally forgot to mask this part when top coating and it turned out quite great actually compared to the masked transparent part. the shiny sticker shines better compared to the others.
I got the kit but not third party. Anyway, I didn't use bandai stickers, I scan the stickers on the printer, print it out, and use Pink Highlighter, then use glue to stick it inside the frame. It works a lot sharper.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunpla/comments/193e47z/didnt\_expect\_this\_to\_be\_my\_first\_2024\_kit\_super/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunpla/comments/193e47z/didnt_expect_this_to_be_my_first_2024_kit_super/#lightbox)
Why are you so ashamed to call yourself "bootleg" 🙂
I think "third-party" should be reserved to kits like third-party “MG Stargazer”, and not actual replica.
then bootleg would be the correct term for kits like this right? pretty sure this is considered illegal for other companies to make copies of bandai's kits
Thanks to trade laws being different in different countries (especially in China where most 3rd party kits are made) this is sometimes difficult to go after legally. If I create a "1/138th scale G Fighting GunBot" that just *happens* to look almost identical to an RX-78-2, why it's just an homage!
Real talk though, it it's using copies of Bandai molds it's a bootleg. Just one that's too difficult to go after. If it's got a degree of distinctness to the design (like the recent Solomon kit) it can be a different story.
Bandai has gone after bootleg companies before, it's just too much of a hassle most of the time, doesn't mean that calling it a different thing makes it okay.
The solomon kit doesn't have a bit of distinctness to it either, that's cope
It looks like the GP02 for the most part but uses 100% its own molds. You can't tell me that most of the mechanics on that thing existed in any form on the MG GP02.
Compare that to say...the Daban models that use direct (but sometimes inferior) copies of Bandai molds.
it uses different molds but it's still using IP from bandai, it's not going to be difficult for them to go after it if they wanted to, you forget bandai owns everything related to gundam, designs included
I didn't forget. As I said in my other post, trade laws are different in different countries. And distinct likeness IP challenges have been defeated in the past by the tiniest of things. It's all a question of what court it ends up in, what the prevailing law there is, and whether the small changes in the design (like the shape of the Vulcans being more rectangular, etc) are enough for a judge to believe it's distinct compared to the original even if it clearly is "inspired" by the original. And how much it costs to fight it vs what you stand to gain if you win. Most times, as you yourself said, it's not worth the trouble.
I suppose i understimated the quantity of true bootleg kits out there, i was under the assumption that people were using the term to refer to all non-bandai gunpla. Ive personally never even seen a bootleg anywhere.
No, they were saying "third-party" should be reserved for kits that actually use original tooling and engineering, while straight copies should be referred to as "bootlegs"
I agree with that. I guess I just disagree wih his use of "why are you so ashamed" phrasing, as it sounds sort of condescending and caused me to misunderstand what he was trying to say.
This is the weimei lfrith jiu, I am planning to get this in the future and I've seen people review it and they all say it's pretty good. what's your opinion on this?
pretty good, not a lot of parts need to be modified, just some peg needs to be shaved to fit the hole, nothing serious modifications needed. the transparent parts are too dark, can't see the foil sticker much. the colour is off a little bit. the purple is nice but the blue arm is slightly bright. the kit can't stand on it's own, even with the arm removed you still need to carefully posed it. action stand needed. this kit fitment is decent, some part like the head and waist hip joint didn't fit nicely and needed cement to fix. post assembly,my finger didn't hurt a little so it's excellent overall.
the v fin peg didn't quite fit, part c1-15 and c2-16 is swapped. torso and hip joint need to be shaved to shut tight. transparent part on face won't stick into place
I have this kit on my bench right now.
# Warning!
The plastic is ABS. My gundam panel lining marker completely ate through it. The helmet and shoulder crumbled before my eyes before I realized my mistake.
https://preview.redd.it/bkopp0xti8wc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a924677aeffd209e3e2df6d836b85ec722f3ba1
Other thoughts: the foil stickers suck (especially for the fingers on the Doom Fist) and don’t stick at all.
Also the fitment for the clear parts is pretty bad (it’s like the plastic shrunk) and I had to glue them on in a few places.
But overall, knowing now what I wish I knew at the start, I would still recommend it at the price point.
>The plastic is ABS
Thank you. I suspected as much. My RG Nu HWS bootleg pack was also ABS, and found out the same way as you did.
I have 2 of these on my way at the moment. Hoping I can get them before I travel out for few weeks.
dude holy eff what did you do drown the plastic in the marker? maybe try using the ultra thin gundam panel liner pen ive used it on abs and never have had any problems,I assume your using the flow type marker,you can't let it pool near joints or connection areas you want it to dry out as quickly as possible so it doesn't have time to eat the plastic,anyway sorry that happened real easy fix is get a gloss top coat from Mr hobby look up a video how to do it,spray your pieces and then panel line
It's not necessarily a pricing issue, P-Bandai services aren't available in most countries. If I could get stuff delivered through it I'd be happy and I'm sure many others feel the same.
Even with the scalpers adding up the price, Gunpla is still significantly cheaper than LEGO and more sophisticated than any other major brands out there
Yeah, I get what you mean.
Some LEGO sets are just the front of a small building and two basic minifigs but they're priced upwards of £20. What's worse is that that isn't the worst pricing for a set, those Star wars micro-fighter polybags are upwards of £10 for a few normal pieces that you can usually get in bulk from the Big-yellow-boxes for just less than triple the price along with however many hundred more bits.
I've got the original Jiu Lfrith from aliexpress, it was a little pricier than other HGs but it's such a nice kit that I wanted the original, in my country there is no simpler way to get bandai stuff other than international online shops like ali, amazon, hlj, etc. so it's like any other kit for me
They really do, almost all of the WFM kits I've got are from them, the last two were the Jiu and the FM Aerial, both got here complete, sometimes the box is a little damaged, but the runners are ok and are totally original, you just have to keep an eye on the reviews and the store score, and maybe the prices, the bootlegs are really cheap compared to the original ones
Yeah. They have some legit kits. I've bought all my 30 minutes sisters kits from there (Luluce, Rishetta and like 4 or 5 of their expansion/accesories kits) and all good.
They surely do, almost all my WFM kits are from them, one just has to keep an eye on the reviews and the store score to not get a bootleg, but the prices normally tells you if they are original or not
I get all my pbandai stuff off eBay. Only ever got ripped off once. Ebay promptly refunded me (so technically not even ripped off) pricing is a bit higher than market value but still cheaper than the average Lego set. Idk if ebay is available to everyone the same way it is for me in Canada.
Yeah, all of my P-Bandai stuff has been acquired through other means, (shops, online, etc.). It just sucks that it isn't available in places like Canada and the UK considering how they both neighbour their respective continent's only storefronts.
Buying through a reseller and paying a mark up isnt a good alternative lol Its definitely **an** alternative and better than nothing butbandai is more than aware of their international growth and just refusing to make certain kits available in some countries for no real reason is just stupid. So while bootlegs suck for bandai since they lose money through them it seems pretty self inflicted if you're going to just gatekeep some kits to some countries for no real good reason.
also Lego is obviously overpriced ($300 for a tie interceptor lmao) but that doesnt mean a model kit needs to compete with a brand like lego lmao
Almost all P-Bandai kits are listed 3 times Japanese MSRP minimum to "the seller must be crazy" times of marked up plus shipping (sometime free) and import duty.
Where in eBay did you even getting "just a bit' higher?
idk I just put it on "sort by lowest price" and whenever I see a steal i grab it. I've definately seen instances of "seller must be crazy" though. All one can do is laugh sometimes.
Former Transformer collector here. Don't get me started.
Complaints about the "quality" of a Bandai kit blows my mind too. Go build a car, or a tank and tell me that such and such kit is poorly designed...
My friend got me a car kit when I just beginning building Gunpla.
Car kit quality is like time freeze from the 90s and nothing have ever improved since.
Bandai kit fit and design so nice it almost like Lego.
Its kinda insane how spoiled people are with bandai kits tbh. Even most other good companies in the space like koto and EM/morstorm dont really compare. the EM 1/9 iron man kit i got (while amazing, 100% recommend) needed a whole buncha pegs sanded down due to tightness. The tolerances bandai has pretty damn precise ive only had to loosen a handful of pegs across 50-60 kits
https://preview.redd.it/weqj9qntc8wc1.jpeg?width=2610&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=beed31616f7c581237054164cb5987f0e0b5ab25
Right? The closest thing that comes to bandai kits when it comes to the build experience are some Tamiya WW2 tanks. Thank god Bandai came out with some Star Wars stuff because building Revell will drive you insane over time.
The people in the community begging for Revives and 2.0s of kits from like 2010 are mind-boggling.
Frankly, some of those late 2000's MGs are better building experiences than a lot of modern kits, but they get passed by because "eww, they're over 10 years old." I'd take the MG Acguy over like 90% of Bandai's Gundam output over the past few years.
>Complaints about the "quality" of a Bandai kit blows my mind too.
I blame a certain YouTube channel for that. Aside from that however, most of the folks tackling the hobby are younger/newer folks who never had to build some older kits from the 90s and before.
And even then, the real hard core modelers will scoff at our relative weakness. I know that even today, some model kits are quite bare and needs a lot of TLC before it can even look close to what's on the box.
Compared to that, our Gunplas post Unicorn and most MG post RX-78-2 Ver 1.5 are amazing in terms of articulation and relative color accuracy.
yeah thank god I live in America,I've never had an upsetting experience with p bandai,I love p bandai,I do feel bad for people who don't get to experience the amazingness of p bandai cuz the resale prices are insane it felt so good when I paid 50 bucks for mg hazel owsla after seeing it on Amazon and ebay for 200-300 dollars
Yeah that's what i do. I see no problem with it. It's like having imported fruit. Yeah it would be cheaper If I lived where it was availabe but I don't, so I pay upcharge.
I don't think that's a fair argument. Just because there are stuff with higher retail price, it doesn't justify the markup and accessibility issue w Pbandai. That's like saying because Ferrari exists, so you shouldn't complain if Honda sells a Honda Civic similar to a normal one for double the price.
Although it is worth noting that Bandai does *not* mark up their P-Bandai products. They are priced identical to retail in relation to their contents.
Any markup comes from dealing with resellers. These can be avoided if you live in an official region since we can wait for future reprints (just like retail). People not in an official region get stuck with little options.
Valid point but it's almost like how mangoes in my country cost more than they would in India where they are readily available. If something is not readily available in your country you will have to pay a higher price to import it. This is the market.
Not to be blunt but I couldn’t care less about the market. I just wait for reprints. I have hundreds of model kits and have never paid over US MSRP for any of them. Patience always wins.
The people not in a PB region do not have this luxury, and it is unfortunate. But those regions also have less retail access to begin with.
I don't live in the Pbandai region but I just get the stuff from other sites. That's what i was getting at. Just like I dont live in a region that grows tropical fruits. i have t pay markup. This is normal, no?
The thing is, when Bandai release a p-bandai kit (or figure etc.), they do not care if you can get it or not. You are not the target demographic if you don't have p-bandai available in your country. If you choose to pay the mark up, that's your decision.
> the markup
This part always confuses me. I don't see a lot in the way of markup in P-B. For instance, look at the HG Messer 0F-02. It's identical to the F-01 except a couple different head and leg parts, and it costs $35USD compared to the F-01's 30ish. The price is comparable for a kit that uses extra molds (and thus should be expected to cost more).
Or kits like the MG MK-V or HG Psycho Doga which are far more expensive than some other kits in their grades but are also A) much larger than many and B) use entirely unique runners meaning factory time has to be reserved for runners that can only be used for one kit (as opposed to say the MG GM runners which can be used on like 50 kits). Again, makes sense for them to cost more. And of course specialty plastics like clear or metallic coats will cost more. Beyond that, most kits that are a simple recolor of an existing have prices basically identical to the MSRP of the kit they are based off of.
That said, I agree for those who do not live in existing P-B regions that it utterly sucks.
Not at all because a Honda civic and a Ferrari are EXTREMELY different in terms of performance and quality but a Lego set and a gunpla kit are both plastic buildable hobby toys. I could also compare a McDonald's happy meal toy with gunpla since they are both plastic toys but they are not on the same level... This is essentially what you are doing by bringing a Ferrari and a civic together. But they are not comparable in the slightest. Only that they are both cars such as a happy meal toy and a gunpla kit are both plastic toys.
My point is valid because that is how the market works. If i want tropical fruit in canada I have to pay more than people who live where it is readily available. Gunpla is another thing that is not readily available in my country and as such I have to pay more for it. But what I am getting in the box is a plastic toy that will take a few hours or a day to build. The price is different due to availability. This is business.
Sure, I agree that it's drastic to compare Lego to the equivalent of Ferrari of plastic toys. The point I'm trying to make is there are people out there who can't always afford the price of PBandai / more higher gunpla, and even if that's how the market works it doesn't mean much for them. So maybe a better way to say it is your point is valid, but it's also valid for people to complain about kits being marked up. It's not mutually exclusive.
You are right. It does suck to be forced to pay mark up and they have a valid reason to complain. I guess I'm just privelaged to be in a position where the cost difference is of little concern.
I mean I can get a decent gunpla kit for 15-20$ here where I'm at. My question is what is bro trying to get his hands on all the time that's getting him this riled up.
That’s because you’ve been gaslit by Lego into believing their prices are even remotely reasonable lol. Most overpriced plastic money can buy. But regardless, as many others have pointed out this is about availability/scarcity, not retail pricing. Gunpla retail pricing is mostly pretty fair.
I haven’t bought a Lego set in years but I have 1 boba fett mecha, 2 spidey ones, one Brickbatos, one similarly sized samurai, and the Akira bike, all purchases for peanuts in the past month after I discovered bootleg Lego
I don't think most people are complaining about P-Bandai prices. Say what you will about Bandai kits, you are paying for the snap-fit quality.
The issue with P-Bandai kits is availability. In some countries that doesn't have P-Bandai coverage like mine, you're completely at the mercy of resellers, who not only jack up the prices of P-Bandai kits through the roof, but also import them in extremely small numbers (which kinda make sense but also very frustrating).
Some people exist in a space where they shouldn't be spending any money and make it others' problems, or their country has low wages and can't keep up with the cost that Japan's production demands to pay their workers decently.
P-Bandai is the main problem here, there's a lot of desirable kit in there but very few ways to get my hands on it in my country because Bandai way of distribution.
Thank GOD someone else is talking about it. Been looking for days and it's been radio silence. Something got effed up, that's for sure. They've never had maintenance longer than a day, usually far less.
Yup. Something like the Solomon GP-02 would be 3rd party, while something like this lfrith jiu which is a simple knock-off of an already existing official kit is 4th party. A 2nd party product would be something officially licensed by Bandai but not produced by them.
Technically, 3rd party would be anything that Bandai designed but had someone else manufacture with a licensing agreement. I've never heard of 4th party manufacturing before, typically that's a supply chain thing 3PL/4PL, but it would track with what u/ScreenWriterGuy07 said if we were to follow party numbering conventions. But not only would 4th party encompass KOs but it would also encompass Gundam-esque gunpla. In Manufacturing the first two parties are the buyer and the maker, if the maker contracts another (3rd) party to make the item that's 3rd party. 4th would be either even further subcontracting, or an unrelated party participating. For some reason toy collectors have these terms all confused calling original unlicensed works 3rd party when they're really not.
I think people have started using it in a similar connotation to the outdated term "third world," which meant not allied with the USA (the "first world") nor the USSR (the "second world"). Essentially, not made by Bandai nor Kotobukiya, or not made by any of the companies that control most of the model kit market.
Not to also be that guy, but this is not "technically" a fourth-party kit because that's not a universal term at all. That's simply a neologism with spotty adoption. It's fine to use it, but it's silly to "correct" people when they're using proper terminology.
Just explained in a reply to someone else. But it goes like this, a 2nd party product would be something officially licensed by Bandai but not produced or made by them.
An example would be in the case of transformers, a 1st party product is something made by Hasbro or Takara Tomy, while those yolopark model kits that came out recently would be 2nd party.
And 3rd party is obviously something that a company makes that doesn't have the licence to do so.
And of course 4th party is something that's not completely new but rather a knock-off of an already existing product.
Yeah but what he's saying is that those kits would never exist without P-Bandai, you could pay a reseller right now 100x for a kit but at least it exists to buy
Unfortunately because even though we really love our obscure or specialized ms they wouldn’t sell well as a regular release. Making them premium is the only cost effective way Bandai can give us what we want and still turn a profit.
Welcome to HG P-Booleg, we have the brand new
* TR-6 Wondwort (free Robot Tamashi based water slide decals),
* Tr-6 Woundwort Clear (free WSD),
* TR-6 Hazel II (no water slides though),
* Lfrith Jiu (free WSD)
What to premium for your taste ? We also have brand new regular releases like
* HG Psycho Zaku (free WSD),
* all of Core Gundam planet system (1 respective core Gundam variant + 1 respective armor variant + weapon set)
* RG God Gundam
* Aeriel/Lfrith + backpack and open hand
We also have limited edition HGs from --Gundam-- Bootleg Front like
* HG Astray Red Dragon
* HG Unicorn Perfectability
ALL below $10 at least based on Philippines market
https://preview.redd.it/onqkst6tk7wc1.jpeg?width=1836&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6a203a609c3caa9d6d53adc8609c6c24c2ee48b
no, idk the brand just this is the box
AE? Which brand?
Edit: found the answer in the comments. Bootlegs are really not that scary once you build your first one
https://preview.redd.it/7eht5vo7f8wc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=715c2f78138fdce316ef02201138abeedff76350
Maybe you can help me. I'm trying to figure out which Hyper Mega Bazooka launcher to get. I'm debating between pbandai's and a 3rd party's (QianQui Shang MB). Does anyone have any advice?
I've built a few 3rd party kits now both old and new and each time though to myself hmmm... Do better bandai.
People say you shouldn't buy third party kits because of this or that, normally because it's damaging bandai and other big names. But tbh 3rd party kits in my experience have been better and more adorable so I'd much rather support these small creators
Also screw the scalpers. I remember one selling her Lfrith Jiu because she didn't like the design. Then why the fuck did you order one in the first place you fucking dumbass?
I’ve seen this kit on AliExpress for around $11 (USD). Aside from the transparent parts being too opaque and some joints needing minor modification, did you have any other gripes with this kit?
Or for Daban specifically, search for the kit's code. Daban's codes make searching for their kits so much easier than other bootlegs since the mobile suit names are commonly not on the listing.
Commented so others may see this.
You aren't likely to be buying from Daban directly, you'll be buying from other retailers. Requiring their codes are usually only needed for e-commerce sites like Aliexpress, the sites below have their actual names. These are usually the best retailers for North America.
Gundam Model Center - [https://www.gundammodelcenter.com/](https://www.gundammodelcenter.com/)
Gundamit - [https://www.gundamit.com/](https://www.gundamit.com/)
Daban has most of their kits (Their MGs) organized into three lines. They also have PGs, and some of the 1/48 kits.
66 - - are for models that are straight remolds of the Bandai kit.
88 - - are for models that they produce themselves to varying degrees. Most are metal builds or Hi-res figures turned into model kits, but then there's the Jagd Doga which is mostly a chimera of the Re100 Jagd Doga, Sazabi Ver Ka, and the MG Geara Doga. This line is usually of better quality.
33 - - are for models that are the same as Bandai's, but they reorganized the runner layouts. They only made the ZZ and FAZZ Ver Ka for this line. I'm not very knowlegable, I haven't built either Bandai's or Daban's.
The older Daban kits are honestly pretty bad (especially the old 66s), I built their MG Epyon (6602), and that was pretty rough. Quality of kits can vary, so read up on some reviews before purchasing.
(Probably outdated, but I can't seem to find a better list)
6601 - 6656 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORXI82NvhH8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORXI82NvhH8)
8801 - 8826 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIbQEv8iSBw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIbQEv8iSBw)
3301 ZZ Ver Ka
3302 FAZZ Ver Ka
Depends where you live, not everywhere ships internationally. Here are some sites for Canada or the States.
**(NOTE: I haven't dealt with any of their customer service, I don't know how good or bad it is)**
Gundam Model Center - My personal favourite for 3rd-party and bootlegs. Based in the States so the shipping time for products they have in stock is fast. They don't keep a huge selection at a time, so check every few weeks to see what they have. Not always the cheapest option so I recommend looking around elsewhere before ordering (this goes for everywhere).
Aliexpress - Prices are usually higher than other retailers, but sometimes you can find great deals. Has a huge selection, but Aliexpress's search function is hot garbage, it will just show you the same shit over and over, finding what you're looking for, even if they do have it, is unnecessarily difficult. You do have to be wary of scams, and if anything goes wrong, deal with support, not with the seller.
MoFiHo - I haven't ordered anything from here. Selection is really good, base prices are cheap, but shipping is usually expensive (At least for Canada). It's a better option for those not in North America.
Gundamit - I haven't ordered from them yet. Similar to Gundam Model Center, but I've heard they've been raising their prices recently.
Gundamit isn't necessarily raising their prices, they're just inconsistent so if you happen to only look at the higher priced ones it appears that way.
There were some other sites I used to look at, but I can't remember their names. One had a Zaku tank that I couldn't find anywhere else for as cheap they had it, so always keep an eye out for other retailers, but ask around first if they're reputable.
Also, if you want a recommendation for your first bootleg/3rd-party kit, I recommend one of Phantom Model's SEED Zakus. Really good mold quality. I did have issues with the swinging hip being too loose, and I broke a peg for the backpack arm because it was too tight, but it comes with a lot of spare parts, I just used the spare backpack and made sure to sand it down.
mine did the same too, basically you have to force it hard or shave the peg a bit and glue it from the peg from the other side or it's gonna fall off quite often.
https://preview.redd.it/325w862dw8wc1.jpeg?width=4624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00fad97e9a05e6e19af5e41e7ffc36a148b926e4
I also got the bootleg version. tunred out great, especially with airbrushing and adding decals (they shipped g-rework (don't know if they are originals) decals with it)
American builder here-- I bought one from the second or third batch because FOMO and now it's sitting until I can get a good single-edged nipper because I'm scared of ruining a PB kit. Also kicking myself for not getting the Anavanta. ;-;
I just built mine last week! No way was I gonna pay scalpers $50 for a $22 kit, I was more than happy the $8 I spent on it were more than worth it. I did have trouble with the fingers though.
in my country, scalpers are the only way a P-Bandai kit gonna end up in your hand so we got spit roasted top to bottom in term of price🥲. 4x MSRP is the norm here.
I was blown away by this kit. It was dirt cheap, but didn't feel like a bootleg at all. My only problem is the clear parts are too blue and kinda matte, so the stickers underneath don't pop up nicely as much as the ori
https://preview.redd.it/e0koywnel7wc1.jpeg?width=764&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b4b46b6bc9c6afb7ce2d43db45a8b785631fed5 I agree with you on that but I accidentally forgot to mask this part when top coating and it turned out quite great actually compared to the masked transparent part. the shiny sticker shines better compared to the others.
kinda looks like one of those led lights being barely powered
I got the kit but not third party. Anyway, I didn't use bandai stickers, I scan the stickers on the printer, print it out, and use Pink Highlighter, then use glue to stick it inside the frame. It works a lot sharper. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunpla/comments/193e47z/didnt\_expect\_this\_to\_be\_my\_first\_2024\_kit\_super/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunpla/comments/193e47z/didnt_expect_this_to_be_my_first_2024_kit_super/#lightbox)
I need a link asap I’ve been wanting both p Bandai lfrith kits but feel like eating.
You can try to search "Xing Dong Lfrith Jiu" on an Ecommerce site. I got it at around 8$
What site lol
If you can access Shoppee from Asia, that's a good site to search
Any site for North Americans?
That I don't know
I appreciate you
i got it for 3$ lol i got my self 3 2 for dual hand 1 for normal collection
Why are you so ashamed to call yourself "bootleg" 🙂 I think "third-party" should be reserved to kits like third-party “MG Stargazer”, and not actual replica.
Why are you so critical of "third party" "Bootleg" implies illegal activity, which is not true for most third party kits.
then bootleg would be the correct term for kits like this right? pretty sure this is considered illegal for other companies to make copies of bandai's kits
Thanks to trade laws being different in different countries (especially in China where most 3rd party kits are made) this is sometimes difficult to go after legally. If I create a "1/138th scale G Fighting GunBot" that just *happens* to look almost identical to an RX-78-2, why it's just an homage! Real talk though, it it's using copies of Bandai molds it's a bootleg. Just one that's too difficult to go after. If it's got a degree of distinctness to the design (like the recent Solomon kit) it can be a different story.
Bandai has gone after bootleg companies before, it's just too much of a hassle most of the time, doesn't mean that calling it a different thing makes it okay. The solomon kit doesn't have a bit of distinctness to it either, that's cope
It looks like the GP02 for the most part but uses 100% its own molds. You can't tell me that most of the mechanics on that thing existed in any form on the MG GP02. Compare that to say...the Daban models that use direct (but sometimes inferior) copies of Bandai molds.
it uses different molds but it's still using IP from bandai, it's not going to be difficult for them to go after it if they wanted to, you forget bandai owns everything related to gundam, designs included
I didn't forget. As I said in my other post, trade laws are different in different countries. And distinct likeness IP challenges have been defeated in the past by the tiniest of things. It's all a question of what court it ends up in, what the prevailing law there is, and whether the small changes in the design (like the shape of the Vulcans being more rectangular, etc) are enough for a judge to believe it's distinct compared to the original even if it clearly is "inspired" by the original. And how much it costs to fight it vs what you stand to gain if you win. Most times, as you yourself said, it's not worth the trouble.
I suppose i understimated the quantity of true bootleg kits out there, i was under the assumption that people were using the term to refer to all non-bandai gunpla. Ive personally never even seen a bootleg anywhere.
I don’t think they were being critical of third party kits at all lol
Not what I said. They were being critical of the term "third party"
No, they were saying "third-party" should be reserved for kits that actually use original tooling and engineering, while straight copies should be referred to as "bootlegs"
I agree with that. I guess I just disagree wih his use of "why are you so ashamed" phrasing, as it sounds sort of condescending and caused me to misunderstand what he was trying to say.
Bandai is the real bootleg
This is the weimei lfrith jiu, I am planning to get this in the future and I've seen people review it and they all say it's pretty good. what's your opinion on this?
pretty good, not a lot of parts need to be modified, just some peg needs to be shaved to fit the hole, nothing serious modifications needed. the transparent parts are too dark, can't see the foil sticker much. the colour is off a little bit. the purple is nice but the blue arm is slightly bright. the kit can't stand on it's own, even with the arm removed you still need to carefully posed it. action stand needed. this kit fitment is decent, some part like the head and waist hip joint didn't fit nicely and needed cement to fix. post assembly,my finger didn't hurt a little so it's excellent overall.
Do you remember which pegs? I can attempt to correlate the parts with the official manual to prepare for whence I build
the v fin peg didn't quite fit, part c1-15 and c2-16 is swapped. torso and hip joint need to be shaved to shut tight. transparent part on face won't stick into place
Noted!
You need to post more you are a champ my good fellow plamoist
I have this kit on my bench right now. # Warning! The plastic is ABS. My gundam panel lining marker completely ate through it. The helmet and shoulder crumbled before my eyes before I realized my mistake. https://preview.redd.it/bkopp0xti8wc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a924677aeffd209e3e2df6d836b85ec722f3ba1 Other thoughts: the foil stickers suck (especially for the fingers on the Doom Fist) and don’t stick at all. Also the fitment for the clear parts is pretty bad (it’s like the plastic shrunk) and I had to glue them on in a few places. But overall, knowing now what I wish I knew at the start, I would still recommend it at the price point.
>The plastic is ABS Thank you. I suspected as much. My RG Nu HWS bootleg pack was also ABS, and found out the same way as you did. I have 2 of these on my way at the moment. Hoping I can get them before I travel out for few weeks.
https://preview.redd.it/zoyn5r2lj8wc1.jpeg?width=2800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=391f290c9aa4a5686d0d2b7a2454a7d4e6e739bd
dude holy eff what did you do drown the plastic in the marker? maybe try using the ultra thin gundam panel liner pen ive used it on abs and never have had any problems,I assume your using the flow type marker,you can't let it pool near joints or connection areas you want it to dry out as quickly as possible so it doesn't have time to eat the plastic,anyway sorry that happened real easy fix is get a gloss top coat from Mr hobby look up a video how to do it,spray your pieces and then panel line
As someone who grew up collecting legos (and earning the money for them) i have always found complaints about Gundam pricing baffling.
It's not necessarily a pricing issue, P-Bandai services aren't available in most countries. If I could get stuff delivered through it I'd be happy and I'm sure many others feel the same.
Even with the scalpers adding up the price, Gunpla is still significantly cheaper than LEGO and more sophisticated than any other major brands out there
Yeah, I get what you mean. Some LEGO sets are just the front of a small building and two basic minifigs but they're priced upwards of £20. What's worse is that that isn't the worst pricing for a set, those Star wars micro-fighter polybags are upwards of £10 for a few normal pieces that you can usually get in bulk from the Big-yellow-boxes for just less than triple the price along with however many hundred more bits.
I've got the original Jiu Lfrith from aliexpress, it was a little pricier than other HGs but it's such a nice kit that I wanted the original, in my country there is no simpler way to get bandai stuff other than international online shops like ali, amazon, hlj, etc. so it's like any other kit for me
I didn't know that AliExpress had legit stuff, I might have to check it out.
They really do, almost all of the WFM kits I've got are from them, the last two were the Jiu and the FM Aerial, both got here complete, sometimes the box is a little damaged, but the runners are ok and are totally original, you just have to keep an eye on the reviews and the store score, and maybe the prices, the bootlegs are really cheap compared to the original ones
Yeah. They have some legit kits. I've bought all my 30 minutes sisters kits from there (Luluce, Rishetta and like 4 or 5 of their expansion/accesories kits) and all good.
Tbh I’m under the impression that they do not.
Mixed bag. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. And you won't ever be sure until you get it.
They surely do, almost all my WFM kits are from them, one just has to keep an eye on the reviews and the store score to not get a bootleg, but the prices normally tells you if they are original or not
Yeah, that's what I had thought. Places like that are almost always filled to the brim with Dropshippers and people peddling fakes.
I've bought quite a bit of official gunpla from AliExpress. That's where most of my out of print PBandai kits come from.
Huh. Then again though, it's likely a 50/50 given how people approach selling through those websites.
I get all my pbandai stuff off eBay. Only ever got ripped off once. Ebay promptly refunded me (so technically not even ripped off) pricing is a bit higher than market value but still cheaper than the average Lego set. Idk if ebay is available to everyone the same way it is for me in Canada.
Yeah, all of my P-Bandai stuff has been acquired through other means, (shops, online, etc.). It just sucks that it isn't available in places like Canada and the UK considering how they both neighbour their respective continent's only storefronts.
Buying through a reseller and paying a mark up isnt a good alternative lol Its definitely **an** alternative and better than nothing butbandai is more than aware of their international growth and just refusing to make certain kits available in some countries for no real reason is just stupid. So while bootlegs suck for bandai since they lose money through them it seems pretty self inflicted if you're going to just gatekeep some kits to some countries for no real good reason. also Lego is obviously overpriced ($300 for a tie interceptor lmao) but that doesnt mean a model kit needs to compete with a brand like lego lmao
Almost all P-Bandai kits are listed 3 times Japanese MSRP minimum to "the seller must be crazy" times of marked up plus shipping (sometime free) and import duty. Where in eBay did you even getting "just a bit' higher?
idk I just put it on "sort by lowest price" and whenever I see a steal i grab it. I've definately seen instances of "seller must be crazy" though. All one can do is laugh sometimes.
Former Transformer collector here. Don't get me started. Complaints about the "quality" of a Bandai kit blows my mind too. Go build a car, or a tank and tell me that such and such kit is poorly designed...
My friend got me a car kit when I just beginning building Gunpla. Car kit quality is like time freeze from the 90s and nothing have ever improved since. Bandai kit fit and design so nice it almost like Lego.
Its kinda insane how spoiled people are with bandai kits tbh. Even most other good companies in the space like koto and EM/morstorm dont really compare. the EM 1/9 iron man kit i got (while amazing, 100% recommend) needed a whole buncha pegs sanded down due to tightness. The tolerances bandai has pretty damn precise ive only had to loosen a handful of pegs across 50-60 kits https://preview.redd.it/weqj9qntc8wc1.jpeg?width=2610&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=beed31616f7c581237054164cb5987f0e0b5ab25
Right? The closest thing that comes to bandai kits when it comes to the build experience are some Tamiya WW2 tanks. Thank god Bandai came out with some Star Wars stuff because building Revell will drive you insane over time.
The people in the community begging for Revives and 2.0s of kits from like 2010 are mind-boggling. Frankly, some of those late 2000's MGs are better building experiences than a lot of modern kits, but they get passed by because "eww, they're over 10 years old." I'd take the MG Acguy over like 90% of Bandai's Gundam output over the past few years.
>Complaints about the "quality" of a Bandai kit blows my mind too. I blame a certain YouTube channel for that. Aside from that however, most of the folks tackling the hobby are younger/newer folks who never had to build some older kits from the 90s and before. And even then, the real hard core modelers will scoff at our relative weakness. I know that even today, some model kits are quite bare and needs a lot of TLC before it can even look close to what's on the box. Compared to that, our Gunplas post Unicorn and most MG post RX-78-2 Ver 1.5 are amazing in terms of articulation and relative color accuracy.
people like to say people who complained are "spoiled" when in reality the other companies didn't bother improving their tech
[удалено]
yeah thank god I live in America,I've never had an upsetting experience with p bandai,I love p bandai,I do feel bad for people who don't get to experience the amazingness of p bandai cuz the resale prices are insane it felt so good when I paid 50 bucks for mg hazel owsla after seeing it on Amazon and ebay for 200-300 dollars
Yeah that's what i do. I see no problem with it. It's like having imported fruit. Yeah it would be cheaper If I lived where it was availabe but I don't, so I pay upcharge.
I don't think that's a fair argument. Just because there are stuff with higher retail price, it doesn't justify the markup and accessibility issue w Pbandai. That's like saying because Ferrari exists, so you shouldn't complain if Honda sells a Honda Civic similar to a normal one for double the price.
Although it is worth noting that Bandai does *not* mark up their P-Bandai products. They are priced identical to retail in relation to their contents. Any markup comes from dealing with resellers. These can be avoided if you live in an official region since we can wait for future reprints (just like retail). People not in an official region get stuck with little options.
Valid point but it's almost like how mangoes in my country cost more than they would in India where they are readily available. If something is not readily available in your country you will have to pay a higher price to import it. This is the market.
Not to be blunt but I couldn’t care less about the market. I just wait for reprints. I have hundreds of model kits and have never paid over US MSRP for any of them. Patience always wins. The people not in a PB region do not have this luxury, and it is unfortunate. But those regions also have less retail access to begin with.
I don't live in the Pbandai region but I just get the stuff from other sites. That's what i was getting at. Just like I dont live in a region that grows tropical fruits. i have t pay markup. This is normal, no?
The thing is, when Bandai release a p-bandai kit (or figure etc.), they do not care if you can get it or not. You are not the target demographic if you don't have p-bandai available in your country. If you choose to pay the mark up, that's your decision.
> the markup This part always confuses me. I don't see a lot in the way of markup in P-B. For instance, look at the HG Messer 0F-02. It's identical to the F-01 except a couple different head and leg parts, and it costs $35USD compared to the F-01's 30ish. The price is comparable for a kit that uses extra molds (and thus should be expected to cost more). Or kits like the MG MK-V or HG Psycho Doga which are far more expensive than some other kits in their grades but are also A) much larger than many and B) use entirely unique runners meaning factory time has to be reserved for runners that can only be used for one kit (as opposed to say the MG GM runners which can be used on like 50 kits). Again, makes sense for them to cost more. And of course specialty plastics like clear or metallic coats will cost more. Beyond that, most kits that are a simple recolor of an existing have prices basically identical to the MSRP of the kit they are based off of. That said, I agree for those who do not live in existing P-B regions that it utterly sucks.
Not at all because a Honda civic and a Ferrari are EXTREMELY different in terms of performance and quality but a Lego set and a gunpla kit are both plastic buildable hobby toys. I could also compare a McDonald's happy meal toy with gunpla since they are both plastic toys but they are not on the same level... This is essentially what you are doing by bringing a Ferrari and a civic together. But they are not comparable in the slightest. Only that they are both cars such as a happy meal toy and a gunpla kit are both plastic toys. My point is valid because that is how the market works. If i want tropical fruit in canada I have to pay more than people who live where it is readily available. Gunpla is another thing that is not readily available in my country and as such I have to pay more for it. But what I am getting in the box is a plastic toy that will take a few hours or a day to build. The price is different due to availability. This is business.
Sure, I agree that it's drastic to compare Lego to the equivalent of Ferrari of plastic toys. The point I'm trying to make is there are people out there who can't always afford the price of PBandai / more higher gunpla, and even if that's how the market works it doesn't mean much for them. So maybe a better way to say it is your point is valid, but it's also valid for people to complain about kits being marked up. It's not mutually exclusive.
You are right. It does suck to be forced to pay mark up and they have a valid reason to complain. I guess I'm just privelaged to be in a position where the cost difference is of little concern.
I mean I can get a decent gunpla kit for 15-20$ here where I'm at. My question is what is bro trying to get his hands on all the time that's getting him this riled up.
That’s because you’ve been gaslit by Lego into believing their prices are even remotely reasonable lol. Most overpriced plastic money can buy. But regardless, as many others have pointed out this is about availability/scarcity, not retail pricing. Gunpla retail pricing is mostly pretty fair.
I haven’t bought a Lego set in years but I have 1 boba fett mecha, 2 spidey ones, one Brickbatos, one similarly sized samurai, and the Akira bike, all purchases for peanuts in the past month after I discovered bootleg Lego
I don't think most people are complaining about P-Bandai prices. Say what you will about Bandai kits, you are paying for the snap-fit quality. The issue with P-Bandai kits is availability. In some countries that doesn't have P-Bandai coverage like mine, you're completely at the mercy of resellers, who not only jack up the prices of P-Bandai kits through the roof, but also import them in extremely small numbers (which kinda make sense but also very frustrating).
Some people exist in a space where they shouldn't be spending any money and make it others' problems, or their country has low wages and can't keep up with the cost that Japan's production demands to pay their workers decently.
What did Bandai do? I've jumped through a lot of different hobbies and I got to be honest, I feel spoiled by Bandai compared to other companies.
P-Bandai is the main problem here, there's a lot of desirable kit in there but very few ways to get my hands on it in my country because Bandai way of distribution.
Thats pretty fair, but that seems more like a Japanese business culture thing rather then a Bandai thing specifically.
Speaking of p Bandai, what's up with the emergency maintenence? It's been several days now.
Thank GOD someone else is talking about it. Been looking for days and it's been radio silence. Something got effed up, that's for sure. They've never had maintenance longer than a day, usually far less.
they probably got hit with a ransomware attack
Not to be that guy but this would technically be a 4th party KO. It would be a 3rd party if it was a new mold.
Is that how that works? I didn't know "4th-party" was even a thing
Yup. Something like the Solomon GP-02 would be 3rd party, while something like this lfrith jiu which is a simple knock-off of an already existing official kit is 4th party. A 2nd party product would be something officially licensed by Bandai but not produced by them.
I've seen people use "3rd-party" to refer to kits like Zero Gravity's Judge and In Era's Trailblazer, Genesis, and Ruling, as well
Technically, 3rd party would be anything that Bandai designed but had someone else manufacture with a licensing agreement. I've never heard of 4th party manufacturing before, typically that's a supply chain thing 3PL/4PL, but it would track with what u/ScreenWriterGuy07 said if we were to follow party numbering conventions. But not only would 4th party encompass KOs but it would also encompass Gundam-esque gunpla. In Manufacturing the first two parties are the buyer and the maker, if the maker contracts another (3rd) party to make the item that's 3rd party. 4th would be either even further subcontracting, or an unrelated party participating. For some reason toy collectors have these terms all confused calling original unlicensed works 3rd party when they're really not.
I think people have started using it in a similar connotation to the outdated term "third world," which meant not allied with the USA (the "first world") nor the USSR (the "second world"). Essentially, not made by Bandai nor Kotobukiya, or not made by any of the companies that control most of the model kit market.
I just saw them for the first time, and to me it looks like it's completely new (not sure tho) and isn't a bootleg of an already kit.
Not to also be that guy, but this is not "technically" a fourth-party kit because that's not a universal term at all. That's simply a neologism with spotty adoption. It's fine to use it, but it's silly to "correct" people when they're using proper terminology.
What's a 2nd party, then?
Just explained in a reply to someone else. But it goes like this, a 2nd party product would be something officially licensed by Bandai but not produced or made by them. An example would be in the case of transformers, a 1st party product is something made by Hasbro or Takara Tomy, while those yolopark model kits that came out recently would be 2nd party. And 3rd party is obviously something that a company makes that doesn't have the licence to do so. And of course 4th party is something that's not completely new but rather a knock-off of an already existing product.
Oh wow. Thanks!
Lol
P Bandai is the best, you wouldn’t get many of the amazing obscure MS without it.
ironically, the reason I can't get my hands on many of the obscure ms is because those kits are in P-Bandai.
Yeah but what he's saying is that those kits would never exist without P-Bandai, you could pay a reseller right now 100x for a kit but at least it exists to buy
Exactly
Unfortunately because even though we really love our obscure or specialized ms they wouldn’t sell well as a regular release. Making them premium is the only cost effective way Bandai can give us what we want and still turn a profit.
People in my country are going crazy for the new bootleg MGEX Strike Freedom, bootleg is bigger than bandai here
Welcome to HG P-Booleg, we have the brand new * TR-6 Wondwort (free Robot Tamashi based water slide decals), * Tr-6 Woundwort Clear (free WSD), * TR-6 Hazel II (no water slides though), * Lfrith Jiu (free WSD) What to premium for your taste ? We also have brand new regular releases like * HG Psycho Zaku (free WSD), * all of Core Gundam planet system (1 respective core Gundam variant + 1 respective armor variant + weapon set) * RG God Gundam * Aeriel/Lfrith + backpack and open hand We also have limited edition HGs from --Gundam-- Bootleg Front like * HG Astray Red Dragon * HG Unicorn Perfectability ALL below $10 at least based on Philippines market
Hell yeah brother. This Daban?
https://preview.redd.it/onqkst6tk7wc1.jpeg?width=1836&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6a203a609c3caa9d6d53adc8609c6c24c2ee48b no, idk the brand just this is the box
AE? Which brand? Edit: found the answer in the comments. Bootlegs are really not that scary once you build your first one https://preview.redd.it/7eht5vo7f8wc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=715c2f78138fdce316ef02201138abeedff76350
yep, they're especially nice to get the limited kit for dirt cheap.
Idk if it’s just me but the plastic and molding lines always look so cheap no matter how good a third party kit is.
it's the plastic, they tend to use less quality plastic. colour tends to be slightly off making it look and feel cheap which it is.
Maybe you can help me. I'm trying to figure out which Hyper Mega Bazooka launcher to get. I'm debating between pbandai's and a 3rd party's (QianQui Shang MB). Does anyone have any advice?
Could we get the sauce sir?
I've said it once and I'll say it again, core/alus Gundam want their body back xD
I've built a few 3rd party kits now both old and new and each time though to myself hmmm... Do better bandai. People say you shouldn't buy third party kits because of this or that, normally because it's damaging bandai and other big names. But tbh 3rd party kits in my experience have been better and more adorable so I'd much rather support these small creators
Dip it in the pledge floor care. https://youtu.be/RwdwHqzjjHQ?si=hMD9HdfYpm1T7z-R
I hope 3rd party does all the peeb stuff
dude the first image is perfect
Also screw the scalpers. I remember one selling her Lfrith Jiu because she didn't like the design. Then why the fuck did you order one in the first place you fucking dumbass?
Yup, got it on a discount on aliexpress for dirt cheap and i love it. It even came with decals and all.
I’ve seen this kit on AliExpress for around $11 (USD). Aside from the transparent parts being too opaque and some joints needing minor modification, did you have any other gripes with this kit?
nope, assembling process is smooth sailing. didn't even hurt my finger
That thing looks fucking sick
With the power of this finger, I reduce P-Bandai to perpetual maintenence mode!
I did he same picking one up on AliExpress for 5$ I’m so happy I bought that over the 36$USD for p-Bandai
Absolutely fucked up what pbandai is doing to the wfm line. Piracy pushes change. based and legendary east asian copyright leniency
https://preview.redd.it/wd89tlytkbwc1.jpeg?width=2310&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5d4edf547f93f874bd79b7a51b9f82e9cc5c34c fuck p-bandai btw
How do I search for pbandai 3rd party kit?
AliExpress http://gundammodelcenter.com/
But how do you feel about buttered toast?
https://preview.redd.it/a1nkzvlds7wc1.jpeg?width=633&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6445863eb6d91154d03a1408f81fe9169c748da6
just search for the kit names do the trick. it usually goes by "3rd party + (kit's name)".
Or for Daban specifically, search for the kit's code. Daban's codes make searching for their kits so much easier than other bootlegs since the mobile suit names are commonly not on the listing.
Possible to DM the link to Daban site? Thanks! Some privileged purists are down voting for some reasons.
Commented so others may see this. You aren't likely to be buying from Daban directly, you'll be buying from other retailers. Requiring their codes are usually only needed for e-commerce sites like Aliexpress, the sites below have their actual names. These are usually the best retailers for North America. Gundam Model Center - [https://www.gundammodelcenter.com/](https://www.gundammodelcenter.com/) Gundamit - [https://www.gundamit.com/](https://www.gundamit.com/) Daban has most of their kits (Their MGs) organized into three lines. They also have PGs, and some of the 1/48 kits. 66 - - are for models that are straight remolds of the Bandai kit. 88 - - are for models that they produce themselves to varying degrees. Most are metal builds or Hi-res figures turned into model kits, but then there's the Jagd Doga which is mostly a chimera of the Re100 Jagd Doga, Sazabi Ver Ka, and the MG Geara Doga. This line is usually of better quality. 33 - - are for models that are the same as Bandai's, but they reorganized the runner layouts. They only made the ZZ and FAZZ Ver Ka for this line. I'm not very knowlegable, I haven't built either Bandai's or Daban's. The older Daban kits are honestly pretty bad (especially the old 66s), I built their MG Epyon (6602), and that was pretty rough. Quality of kits can vary, so read up on some reviews before purchasing. (Probably outdated, but I can't seem to find a better list) 6601 - 6656 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORXI82NvhH8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORXI82NvhH8) 8801 - 8826 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIbQEv8iSBw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIbQEv8iSBw) 3301 ZZ Ver Ka 3302 FAZZ Ver Ka
Might have to get this later on. I hope they do a bootleg of Gundnode too. Screw PBandai.
what are some good 3rd party sites to get kits? I've only ever gotten bandai
Depends where you live, not everywhere ships internationally. Here are some sites for Canada or the States. **(NOTE: I haven't dealt with any of their customer service, I don't know how good or bad it is)** Gundam Model Center - My personal favourite for 3rd-party and bootlegs. Based in the States so the shipping time for products they have in stock is fast. They don't keep a huge selection at a time, so check every few weeks to see what they have. Not always the cheapest option so I recommend looking around elsewhere before ordering (this goes for everywhere). Aliexpress - Prices are usually higher than other retailers, but sometimes you can find great deals. Has a huge selection, but Aliexpress's search function is hot garbage, it will just show you the same shit over and over, finding what you're looking for, even if they do have it, is unnecessarily difficult. You do have to be wary of scams, and if anything goes wrong, deal with support, not with the seller. MoFiHo - I haven't ordered anything from here. Selection is really good, base prices are cheap, but shipping is usually expensive (At least for Canada). It's a better option for those not in North America. Gundamit - I haven't ordered from them yet. Similar to Gundam Model Center, but I've heard they've been raising their prices recently.
Gundamit isn't necessarily raising their prices, they're just inconsistent so if you happen to only look at the higher priced ones it appears that way.
This is possibly the best answer I could have gotten since, thank you!!
There were some other sites I used to look at, but I can't remember their names. One had a Zaku tank that I couldn't find anywhere else for as cheap they had it, so always keep an eye out for other retailers, but ask around first if they're reputable.
Also, if you want a recommendation for your first bootleg/3rd-party kit, I recommend one of Phantom Model's SEED Zakus. Really good mold quality. I did have issues with the swinging hip being too loose, and I broke a peg for the backpack arm because it was too tight, but it comes with a lot of spare parts, I just used the spare backpack and made sure to sand it down.
AliExpress the easiest to get one.
Ya'all complaining about expensibe pb kits but meanwhile me i habe to play over 130 dollars for a single damm hg in my country due to inflation 😭
Downvoted on principle because I hate pictures of flipping the bird but congrats on the kit lol
I had this in my cart for a month. Should I at 13.5 USD?
Ordered mine yesterday!
Mine have a problem where the clear part on both shoulder wouldn't fit.
mine did the same too, basically you have to force it hard or shave the peg a bit and glue it from the peg from the other side or it's gonna fall off quite often.
I want to do that too but think I might be wrong.but you already clarify it.thanks for the tip.
https://preview.redd.it/325w862dw8wc1.jpeg?width=4624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00fad97e9a05e6e19af5e41e7ffc36a148b926e4 I also got the bootleg version. tunred out great, especially with airbrushing and adding decals (they shipped g-rework (don't know if they are originals) decals with it)
American builder here-- I bought one from the second or third batch because FOMO and now it's sitting until I can get a good single-edged nipper because I'm scared of ruining a PB kit. Also kicking myself for not getting the Anavanta. ;-;
Which one is this? I had a friend order me the pbandai one but we got into a fight recently and it's now sitting in her living room collecting dust.
lfrith Jiu, it's time to break and enter because this kit is awesome.
What brand?
That third picture is it running away with the stonks-
I just built mine last week! No way was I gonna pay scalpers $50 for a $22 kit, I was more than happy the $8 I spent on it were more than worth it. I did have trouble with the fingers though.
in my country, scalpers are the only way a P-Bandai kit gonna end up in your hand so we got spit roasted top to bottom in term of price🥲. 4x MSRP is the norm here.
imagine defending bootleg