The new factory “Bandai Hobby Center New Building”, which manufactures plastic model, including “GunPla” that welcomes its 40th anniversary this year, was completed on November 30, 2020, in “Bandai Hobby Center” of Naganuma, Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The moving has started from December 1, and the attempt to increase the manufacture of the plastic model is in set.
BANDAI SPIRITS (known as BANDAI in the past) started producing the plastic model after obtaining a factory in Shimizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture in 1969.
GunPla, which was released in 1980 and welcome its 40th anniversary in 2020, has released a total of about 4,500 types, including the RG and SD series.
As of May 2020, it has released more than 700 million units, comprised of 525.8 million from the RG series and 174.4 million from the SD series. It is also popular worldwide as 50% of the annual sale are from overseas.
In 2006, which is the year the current Bandai Hobby Center was completed, it had produced 7.22 million units of GunPla annually, but due to the increased needs of GunPla, a multi-color molding machine was installed in the factory, and in 2019, it had produced 31.26 million units, which is about 3.4 times more.
Recently, other than the “GUNDAM FACTORY YOKOHAMA” in Yokohama Yamashita Pier that is scheduled to open on December 19 and with the display of the 18 meters tall life-sized moving Gundam, the construction of the Freedom Gundam Monument in Shanghai has also started. Gundam was appointed as the Ambassador of the Japan Pavilion in “Expo Dubai”, which will be held in 2021. As the production of Hollywood’s live-action movie of Gundam is estimated, the demand for GunPla in and outside of Japan are expected to increase. Thus, with this new building, it will be able to cope with the market growth, mainly from China and North America, and prepare for a stable production system in the medium term.
（C）Sotsu, Sunrise
