Litt Tak Sdn Bhd previously teased the opening of The Gundam Base in Malaysia, the first of its kind in the country. Via an Instagram account, the distributor listed a couple of dates ahead of its grand opening on 14 April. As promised, the Gundam plastic model kit (Gunpla) speciality store is now open at Farenheit88.
As mentioned in our previous report, this is the third iteration of The Gundam Base in the Southeast Asia region. While it’s far from the only place to get your Gunpla fix, there’s plenty of reason for you to give this one a visit. For one, The Gundam Base is stocked with special editions of existing kits that’s exclusive to the store. This include, but are not limited to, existing kits being redone in clear plastic, special coating, or even titanium finish. These can be pretty pricey, but if you like some shine on your kits without having to paint them, these will likely be up your alley.
Beyond those, you have some proper limited edition versions of kits in bizarre alternate colours. This includes, say a HG Strike Freedom Gundam Kit in black and yellow, or a HG Wing Zero in black and pink. Your mileage may vary for these, and their colours differ wildly compared to their originals, almost looking like negative inversions. In a similar vein, there’s some overlap between P-Bandai kits and what’s on offer at The Gundam Base. One such example is the HG Delta Gundam Mk II, though these are also likely to be limited in number.
Exclusives, Plus Some Limited Edition Recolours
Interestingly, there’s a workshop section closer to the counter and secondary entrance to The Gundam Base. The idea here is, naturally, for builders to hang out together as they assemble or paint their Gunpla kits. If you’re familiar with the idea of a tabletop games store having a painting corner, this is basically the equivalent.
Personally, assembling or even painting kits are pretty personal and private hobbies. But for the more social hobbyist, I can see that this corner can help build camaraderie between community members. For what it’s worth, the company says that, starting 20 April, The Gundam Base will be having “daily interactive model building workshops” between 12PM and 3 PM, as well as between 5PM and 8PM. These are subject to change, with updates posted via social media channels.
Then there’s Litt Tak creative director Tan Ee Chain saying that kit building can be the hobby for kids to pick up, if it takes them away from screens. Which is fair, and arguably Gunpla is a healthier way to spend time than scrolling social media watching videos for hours on end. But I don’t know if parents are okay with replacing that habit with what can be a pretty pricey hobby. On the flip side, if that means that the hobby gets more popular, and P-Bandai kits become more accessible than it is right now, I’d take that as a win.
Some New Exclusives To Commemorate The Opening
At any rate, The Gundam Base Malaysia is now open at Farenheit88, on the second floor, at Lot 2-43. As per the mall’s own operation time, it is open from 10AM to 10PM daily. It is home to four model kits that “are being released for the first time in Malaysia”. One of them is the Real Grade God Gundam Hyper Mode. And despite it being a RG kit, it’s the priciest of the lot, at RM675. This is followed by the Master Grade (MG) models – the RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0, but in The Gundam Base colours, and the Clear Colour version of Gundam Barbatos. These cost RM225 and RM203 respectively.
The last one is a pretty confusing addition. This is the MG Destiny Gundam Heine Westenfluss Custom. Or as it is colloquially called by some, the Destiny Ignited. It’s a kit that’s been around for ages, but now it’s been inexplicably been made exclusive to The Gundam Base. It also got a price hike, now costing RM293.
