Deck the Halls With Boughs of Gundam

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Deck the Halls With Boughs of Gundam



This December, visitors to Tokyo's famous Akihabara electronics district will be able to celebrate the holidays beneath a Christmas tree made up of little plastic robots.

Akihabara has been famously described (by me, just now) as "Nerd Mecca." Not only is it the shopping district to go to in Tokyo if you want all the latest and greatest consumer electronics, it's the shopping district where you can find every hobby-related item you could ever want. Statuettes of anime girls, rare videogames, comic books and graphic novels - and of course, plastic models of the mecha from the popular Mobile Suit Gundam franchise.

To celebrate the release of PSP action game Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus, Namco Bandai will be erecting a Christmas tree 5 meters tall (that's approximately 16 feet) that will feature 60 gunpla - short for "Gundam plamo," which itself is short for "plastic model." Though the report says the tree will be "made of" the models, I'm assuming that they'll just be the ornaments since making an actual tree out of the little things would be quite the monumental engineering feat.

Veteran voice actor Tohru Furuya, who voiced protagonist Amuro Ray in the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam, will be on hand to switch on the tree's lights - naturally, the series' standard red/white/blue main character color scheme - this Thursday, December 3rd. The first 100 people to pick up the PSP game will be able to take their picture with him, but let's face it - with as many hardcore Gundam fans as there are in Japan, the odds of any of The Escapist community members being one of that number are pretty darn slim.

Now, it's no full-scale statue or anything, but I'd certainly love to have a Gundam Christmas tree of my very own. Besides, if the plan is to decorate it with 60 models, I've got almost a quarter of that number here on my desk at work. What do you say, Namco Bandai - can we trade?

(ANN [http://mainichi.jp/enta/mantan/news/20091127mog00m200012000c.html])

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Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Thats Brilliant, lol.

I wouldnt mind one of those trees in my front room! Gotta love the Japanese for novalty!

...now only if they would sell the Gundam-Decorations to the public! =D
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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NAAAAANIIII?! GUNDAMU~~~~!?

with as many hardcore Gundam fans as there are in Japan, the odds of any of The Escapist community members being one of that number are pretty darn slim.
Don't give up Funk! Believe in me who believes in you. Yours is the Haro which will pierce the heavens queues and net that special picture with Amuro.
 

cainx10a

New member
May 17, 2008
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Amnestic said:
NAAAAANIIII?! GUNDAMU~~~~!?

with as many hardcore Gundam fans as there are in Japan, the odds of any of The Escapist community members being one of that number are pretty darn slim.
Don't give up Funk! Believe in me who believes in you. Yours is the Haro which will pierce the heavens queues and net that special picture with Amuro.
Wouldn't a drill be more preferable than a Haro, for all you know those things can be nasty little spies from Zeon!!1111oneoneoneone

on a side note, why aren't Gundam games for PSP (and any other consoles) localized for english speaking audiences?
 

scotth266

Wait when did I get a sub
Jan 10, 2009
5,202
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Well, all I can say to this is that the tree better have some ERUPTING BURNING FINGER in it.


Also, I'd like to see some HeavyArms Custom in there too. Talk about needing [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoreDakka] more dakka. [http://www.gadgetspirit.com/pic/gundam/wing_endless_waltz/HG/03-61210/61210_front.jpg]
 

Trivun

Stabat mater dolorosa
Dec 13, 2008
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I'm not a big Gundam fan, but this is pretty awesome. I'd love a nerdy Christmas tree like that, though that's not going to happen given my family and my housemates alike won't want one in either house I'll be spending time in this Christmas. They aren't exactly big nerds, as it were...

Still, cool tree either way :D
 

Gigaguy64

Special Zero Unit
Apr 22, 2009
5,481
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This tree of mine GLOWS with some GUNDAM FIGURES!!
Its burning lights tells me to BUY GUNDAM! so...TAKE THIS!
My Wallet, my Debit card, and all my Checks!
GUNDAM PLAMO!
Buy
Buy
BUY!

.....i like gundam....a lot.
Sigh...Oh Japan, you have just made my day once again.
 

Syntax Error

New member
Sep 7, 2008
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CantFakeTheFunk said:
The first 100 people to pick up the PSP game will be able to take their picture with him, but let's face it - with as many hardcore Gundam fans as there are in Japan, the odds of any of The Escapist community members being one of that number are pretty darn slim.
The gauntlet has been thrown! Do your best Escapists from Japan (or Escapists who happen to be on Japan on December 3)!

cainx10a said:
Amnestic said:
NAAAAANIIII?! GUNDAMU~~~~!?

with as many hardcore Gundam fans as there are in Japan, the odds of any of The Escapist community members being one of that number are pretty darn slim.
Don't give up Funk! Believe in me who believes in you. Yours is the Haro which will pierce the heavens queues and net that special picture with Amuro.
Wouldn't a drill be more preferable than a Haro, for all you know those things can be nasty little spies from Zeon!!1111oneoneoneone
Simple, really: LICENSING HELL
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
8,946
0
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cainx10a said:
Amnestic said:
NAAAAANIIII?! GUNDAMU~~~~!?

with as many hardcore Gundam fans as there are in Japan, the odds of any of The Escapist community members being one of that number are pretty darn slim.
Don't give up Funk! Believe in me who believes in you. Yours is the Haro which will pierce the heavens queues and net that special picture with Amuro.
Wouldn't a drill be more preferable than a Haro, for all you know those things can be nasty little spies from Zeon!!1111oneoneoneone

on a side note, why aren't Gundam games for PSP (and any other consoles) localized for english speaking audiences?
Lack of a target audience and/or licensing issues I expect, which is a shame as I'd love to see some of the SRPG games get translated to English. Same with the Super Robot Taisen series.
 

FallenRainbows

New member
Feb 22, 2009
1,396
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scotth266 said:
Well, all I can say to this is that the tree better have some ERUPTING BURNING FINGER in it.


Also, I'd like to see some HeavyArms Custom in there too. Talk about needing [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoreDakka] more dakka. [http://www.gadgetspirit.com/pic/gundam/wing_endless_waltz/HG/03-61210/61210_front.jpg]
I just spent hours on that site... damn you!