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General Examples[]

  • Broken Base:
    • The fandom is generally grouped roughly based on which series brought you into the fandom, though this has died way down since Gundam's heyday in the early 2000s. The original split was between UC purists and Wingers, with a smaller faction of Seedlings arising later. Gundam 00 was divisive due to its much more Super Robot-styled Gundams and the First Contact plot of the movie given that Absent Aliens has long been a hallmark of the franchise. The newest series, Gundam AGE, has caused some disagreements over its "kiddie" styling.
    • When it comes to designers, there's a very minor debate on whether Ippei Gyoubu (Gundam Reconguista in G, Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans, Moon Gundam) is worthy to become a mechanical designer for the franchise.
  • Continuity Lock Out: The main reason for the shift from the UC timeline to alternate universes.
  • Crowning Moment of Awesome: The 30th anniversary short "Gundam Perfect Mission", where the protagonist Gundams from every anime up through Unicorn work together to get the Core Fighter into space, where it forms into the original Gundam, the whole thing ending with a Yeah! Shot.
  • Deader Than Disco: Gundam Seed's success would spawn a sequel and a manga spinoff series, and even started talks that the CE timeline could become the new UC. However, Destiny didn't work out so well, and a planned movie to wrap up the saga is in Development Hell, making creators and fans give up on the saga and move on to Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Today, if you ask Gundam fans of their opinion of Seed, you will get plenty of contradicting responses, and you certainly won’t find many fans of Destiny.
    • Though the newly remastered version of Seed that's currently coming out may change that.
  • Fan Dumb: Probably one of the reasons why the Gundam's international fanbase is the worst thanks to overzealous AU fans.
  • Fandom Rivalry: Mainly between Universal Century fans and Alternate Universe fans.
  • Fanon: The fandom is quite good at creating it, given how many Alternate Continuity versions and contradictory source materials there are.
  • Foe Yay: The Hero and The Big Bad / The Rival are prone to this.
  • Hype Aversion: In general, many fans, especially older ones, are not interested in Alternate Universe installments despite the hype, with them waiting for a "proper" Universal Century TV series instead. (In fairness, most of the AUs tend to suffer from decreasing quality in most second seasons/cours.) 
  • Hypocritical Fandom:
  • Just Here for Godzilla: Why some fans enjoy the franchise despite finding the plots boring and the characters irritating. It's still got giant robots blowing each other up!
  • Magnificent Bastard: Almost every series, from the first Mobile Suit Gundam (Char) to Gundam 00 (Ribbons Almark before Villain Decay) has featured one of these as an antagonist in addition to a Complete Monster.
  • Memetic Badass:
    • In general, nearly every Gundam-type units (mainly from the latest installments) pretty much falls into this given their varying power levels, though they're usually glorified for a lot of wrong reasons.
  • Memetic Mutation: Enough to have its own page.
  • Memetic Loser:
    •  In 2020, any of the characters who had an obsessive relationship with other characters will be immediately labeled as "Simping"  (A 2020 definition for White Knighting/Stalking someone). Known examples such as:
      • Kou Uraki to Nina Purpleton (0083 Stardust Memory)
      • Riddhe Marcenas to Audrey Burne (Unicorn)
      • Riku Mikami to Sarah (Gundam Build Divers)
  • Misaimed Fandom: Yes, the Federation has corrupt leaders. Yes, Zeon has many good, moral, people who serve it. Yes, the Titans are bad. That being said, it's a little scary how many fans will knee-jerk a SIEG ZEON for a regime that murdered, not millions, but BILLIONS of people and continued to wipe out metropolitan centers every few years... FOR FREEDOM.
  • Most Wonderful Sound: The Newtype flash.
  • Never Live It Down: A fair number of international fans claimed that the franchise is long dead for good, as they pointed out the slow decline in quality of the recent Gundam shows (mainly in the mid 2010s).
  • Recycled Script: Quick, which Gundam show am I describing: the main character is a youngster who gets embroiled in the war when it shows up on his doorstep, leading to him Falling Into the Cockpit of a Gundam. He ends up reluctantly becoming an Ace Pilot, gaining both a personal enemy and a love interest among the enemy, the latter of which dies tragically. Eventually the hero participates in the war's Final Battle, helping defeat the enemy before retiring to a less martial life. Give up? It's MSG, Z, ZZ, Unicorn, V, Seed and Destiny to a lesser extent, and arguably X and Turn A as well. Whew!
  • Rooting for the Empire: For UC, Zeon has far more vocal fans than the Earth Federation. In CE, just mentioning it in reference to the Earth Alliance or ZAFT is likely to cause a Flame War over who was really the bad guy. Ditto, though to a lesser extent, for Mobile Suit Gundam 00. The same debate over whether Vagan or the Earth Federal Forces is worse in Gundam AGE is getting ugly as well.
  • The Scrappy: In several occasions, female love interests for main male characters can be considered as a major hindrance to their priorities regarding missions. For example: Quess Paraya.
  • Seinfeld Is Unfunny: Not counting a few exceptions, just about the idea of the Alternate Universe (AU) series has fallen into this.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks / It's the Same, Now It Sucks: The series often gets complaints that the Gundams all look way too similar to each other. Yet when they went with going with a very different design approach in Turn a Gundam by bringing in American Syd Mead, it was met with heavy derision from the community.
  • True Art Is Angsty: Zeta Gundam, while having one of the bleakest endings in all Gundam, is generally considered to be one of the best of them all. Gundam 0080 is similarly dark, and similarly exalted. On the other hand, Turn a Gundam is also considered to be among the best, and it's arguably the happiest Gundam series. Ditto for Crossbone Gundam another series that avoids the Kill'Em All status Tomino is infamous for. Incidentally, Tomino wrote all three series.
  • Unfortunate Implications: One criticism of Tomino's UC works is the frequency at which female pilots are killed off and turned into a driving force for the protagonist . It applies to some of the AU series as well.
  • Wangst: Happens when the protagonist takes True Art Is Angsty too far, which is depressingly frequent for people who just want to watch giant robots fighting.

Ther Merchandise in general[]

The Model Kits (Gunpla)[]

  • Americans Hate Tingle:
    • The "No-Grade" kits (and to an extent, the Full Mechanics) is greatly disliked by a number of foreign fans, mainly due to their preference to Master Grade kits.
    • Though downplayed, the 1/144 scaled kits (High Grade) is occasionally viewed as The Unfavourite for most of the foreign builders that preferred larger scaled kits. However, this was largely justified as some of the recent High Grade kits still utilize stickers on some of the areas.
    • While accessible in Japan, the Premium Bandai-exclusive kits are generally scorned by international fans due to being generally unobtainable (due to scalpers).
  • Author's Saving Throw:
    • Some of the kits (such as the current RGs, and the MGEX Unicorn Gundam) comes with solid fixed hands as opposed to the poseable hands.
  • Better Than Canon: "Third Party" Gunplas, depending on who you ask.
    • Also, unofficial Resin models.
  • Broken Base:
    • In general, there is an ongoing debate on which of the model kit grades are superior. Bonus points if said grades are High Grades and Master Grade and occasionally, Perfect Grade.
    • Katoki's RX-78-2 redesign.
    • The Reborn-One Hundred (RE/100) line: Fans view it as a needless alternative for the Master Grade line, while others think that the lineup is a cost-effective way to produce large/expensive/obscure units.
    • Which decals are better? Normal, dry-transfer, or water-slides?
  • Crosses The Line Twice:
    • Aside from reusing the figurine from the OVA release of the kit, The MGEX Unicorn Gundam also comes with an additional Cardeas Vist figurine in his "blown away" pose. Thought this was meant to recreate his final moments in the series, some fans are bemused that such figurine exists.  
  • Epileptic Trees:
    • A common joke among fans is for everyone to guess if potential model kits will be released for general retail or as webshop exclusives (specifically Premium Bandai).
    • Though impossible to happen, at least a subset of fans wishes for any other Mobile Suits, likely supporting main/other untouched mass-produced units, to receive a Perfect Grade iteration.
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Proportionally speaking, the Master Grade line of model kits sells incredibly well in most foreign countries like Australia and the US. This was very likely due to the line's plethora of gimmicks, which consists of inner frames (If you don't count even older ones), poseable fingers, excellent color separation (current kits), the usage of clear parts, etc.
  • Internet Backdraft: Mention both "Premium (or P)" and "Bandai" together, and watch the fandom burn.
  • It's Popular, Now It Sucks:
    • At least you can find one fan who is completely tired of Bandai repeatedly milking of several molds (MG/HG SEED Astray/Unicorn Gundam kits).
    • In some extent, the RX-78-2 Gundam counts, though the unit was supposed to be the flagship of the franchise.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • "MG (X Mobile Suit) When?"
    • To some extent, "Real Grade (RG) When?"
    • "Top 10 Betrayals in 2020" is used to describe the MG Wing Gundam Zero Custom being the next Ver. Ka instead of the G-Self.
    • "You get a P-Bandai release, He gets a P-Bandai release, EVERYONE GETS A P-BANDAI RELEASE!"
    • "I Pretend I Do Not See It"/"I'll Ignore That."[1]
    • Polycap-and Plastic Joint: Look What They Need to Mimic a Fraction of Our Power.[2]
  • Memetic Loser: When it comes to unreleased/yet-to-be made kits:
    • At least three from Gundam AGE: The MG Gafran, AGE-3 Normal, and AGE-FX, gained their notoriety as unreleased items after 10+ years of their reveal at Gunpla Expo World Tour 2012 Japan.
    • Among the census winners for GundamInfo's "Which X will be made as Y next" series, The YG-111 G-Self from Gundam: Reconguista in G ultimately takes the cake: Despite the unit winning first place in the official "Next MG Ver. Ka" census in 2017, the kit has yet to receive an MG treatment 5+ years later. While censuses regarding the potential next Gunpla generally does not guarantee potential/future production upon topping 1st place, Its reputation has worsened over the years ever since the release of the MG FAZZ Ver. Ka, and the reveal of of the Wing Custom Zero and Zeta Gundam being the next Ver. Ka iterations from their respective Bandai Hobby Next Phase events (2021 - 2022).
  • Never Live It Down
    • While Bandai Hobby actually produces model kit iterations of other obscure Mobile Suits (usually as exclusives with occasional regular releases), the already-soured and impatient fans who were waiting for HG/MG iterations of the said obscure units will always insist that the RX-78-2, Unicorn, the Astray, and/or the Wing will be released first when there's a newly announced Gunpla line and/or as variants for previous lineups.
    • According to both foreign and the Japanese Gunpla builders, Premium Bandai exclusive model kits are just unnecessarily-rare and expensive releases that could have been sold as general retail instead. This ignores how Premium Bandai is often used as a way to give mobile suits or add-ons that would otherwise be impractical for regular release (either because of the suit's popularity or release circumstances) a way to get into the market.
      • Recolors are popular for P-Bandai because most people who already bought the original release may not be interested in buying what is essentially the same kit and most new molds released through P-Bandai tend to be of very obscure mobile suits or ones that have legal issues tied to them that limit their capacity for mass production. Having a more limited production run based around how many pre-orders are made helps to make this less of a problem.
      • Even though this was averted as they finally released in the West in April 2020 via Bluefin's distribution, people are still not happy that some of the kits is still being released as an exclusives.
    • Even though GundamInfo's "Which MS will be the next Gunpla" censuses does not guarantee any potential future production upon winning, fans could only remember that the G-Self from Gundam Reconguista in G of all units, will never have it's potential Master Grade kit produced after winning the "Ver. Ka"-themed census back in 2017.
  • Poison Oak Epileptic Trees:
    • General assumptions on Bandai Hobby announcing a "new" model kit includes: A new iteration RX-78-2 Gundam (given its status as the flagship character) or even worse, another Unicorn Gundam variant and/or a Wing Gundam model kit., or; nearly all of the new announcements being relegated into P-Bandai given its general stigma to both Japanese and generally International audiences.
    • Ever since the newer releases were slowed down since 2020, fans fearfully assume that the Master Grade line will eventually end at one point.
  • Replacement Scrappy:
    • For Gunpla lines:
      • The Reborn-One Hundred line; Despite being a lineup consisting of cost-effective 1/100 kits based on large, expensive, and/or obscure units, Nearly half of the (largely international) builders consider it as an unneeded addition since the Master Grade line already existed.
        • The Full Mechanics subline introduced in 2021 since the release of IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS' Barbatos Lupus/Rex and Bael also gets a similar reaction after the reveal of The Witch Of Mercury's Gundam Aerial being the latest release for the line instead of getting an MG treatment, though MGs of the protagonist units tends to happen after 1 year later or so.
      • Though the lineup was meant to be similarly simple and affordable than most of the 2000s-2010s SD Gundam BB Senshi kits, the SD Gundam EX-Standard line is pretty much viewed as this for those who are more into the already-existing SD Cross Silhouette, largely due to it "replacing" the latter line by continuing it since December 2020.
  • Seinfeld Is Unfunny
    • Color-Correcting Foil stickers: In spite of the improvements in most modern kits regarding molded detail and color separation, Many fans are sick of some kit's uncolored details being compensated with those stickers.
      • Similarly, the normal Marking Decals (and in some extent, dry transfers) is seen as inferiors compared to waterslides.
    • C-clip connections, especially when it breaks if one handled them roughly, plus their tendencies to weaken after a lot of poses.
    • Tthe 3+1+1 poseable fingers, notably for the 1/100 (and sometimes 1/144) scale kits. Even with the molded tabs developed to secure its gripping connections, the individual fingers can easily become loose over time, permanently weakening the grip. Thankfully, recent kits opted for the swapping feature on the index-to-pinky fingers.
    • Pre-assembled inner frames, as they lower the complexity and the challenge of building them.
    • If this isn't obvious enough, the exclusivity of the kits counts as well for both the Japanese and foreign fans, especially for the latter when the items sold here cannot be delivered to some countries like the UK and Australia.
    • Depending on who you ask, The 1/100 scaled No-Grade kits, as most of them became obsolete once their MG counterparts are produced.
    • Speaking of MGs, the inner frame's simplified construction, as it lowers the fans' experience to the building complexity, and it also loses the signature gimmicks such as the working piston features.
  • The Scrappy: The High-Grade Universal Century 1/144 RX-78AN-01 Gundam AN-01 "Tristan" Gunpla from Mobile Suit Gundam Twilight Axis. In-series, the "Tristan" was built from the remains of the RX-78NT-1 Gundam NT-1 "Alex" from Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Apparently, Bandai decided to do the same with its model. The end result is a 2017 model using 2004 parts, and had the articulation to match. While it isn't uncommon for Gunpla to reuse old runners, as many of the Gundam Build Fighters-based series have done, Bandai got lazy and reused the A-Runner from the old kit. The problem is that this is the runner that defines the kit's articulation. The Tristan actually lost functionality compared to the original Alex, as it couldn't hold its beam rifle well (which is also inexplicably incorrectly colored, something Bandai can do because the HGUC Nu Gundam is identical and color-accurate), no longer had the snap-on Chobham Armor, and couldn't use the Alex's signature wrist-mounted gatlings. All this and the figure's MSRP was higher than the Alex.
  • Snark Bait:
    • Aside from the very concept of exclusives (which has fallen under the Seinfeld Is Unfunny trope at this point), the kit's cost-cutting measures in terms of detailing/color separation/parts count is considered as Bandai Hobby's usual "lack of effort". Alternately, "Cheap and Lazy" is the BEST way to describe it.
  • Tainted by the Preview:
    • Among the trivial reactions, these examples are the ones that are worth mentioning considering some of the long-time fans/builders' underwhelming reactions/disappointments to them:
      • High Grade:
        • Those who had longed for a model kit of the RGM-79S GM Spartan, one of the most known obscure Ensemble Darkhorse from the Fukuchi Mobile Suit Station series, will be very disappointed that it was relegated as a Bandai Hobby Online Shop exclusive High Grade Universal Century kit, after 33 years of not having one model kit iteration.
      • Master Grade:
        • The Bandai Hobby Next Phase Week reveals that the Wing Gundam Zero Custom of all units is confirmed to be made as to the next Ver. Ka MG instead of what the fans hoped, such as the G-Self from Gundam Reconguista in G. (Though the confirmation was likely to commemorate the show's (Gundam Wing) 15th anniversary.)
        • The Master Grade Extreme (MGEX) Unicorn Gundam, which is another 1/100 scale iteration of the titular unit. It likely got worst as the kit also features a newly molded and somewhat half-hearted inner frame (notable points include the bicep frame connection, which is not an inner frame) to accommodate the thin LED strips and reusing at least two runners (with a single-colored V-fin) from the 2007 MG kit. Slightly averted as in-hand reviews pointed out that the frame is durable enough, and it comes with solid, non-poseable hands.
      • No-Grade 1/100s:
        • The Full Mechanics 1/100 Calamity Gundam (with Master Grade-inspired details) disappointed a few fans after its reveal, as they wanted it to be an MG kit like the GINN.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks:
    • Though the SD Gundam Cross Silhouette has won back many fans for its color separation, the lineup seems to be (largely) phased out for the revival of the SD Gundam EX Standard, which is similar to past 600 yen SD Gundam kits, but with inferior color coding and excessive usage of stickers for details.
    • Ever since the release of The Witch From Mercury kits, the High Grade iterations of the Mobile Suits has utilized C-clip jointing, which means that it will likely to get loose if excessively posed and played.
  • They Just Didn't Care: In spite of the individual kits' potential poor or successful sales, many of its builders believe that Bandai ignored any potential fan demand to materialize the other Mobile Suits as model kits.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • In general:
      • Any previously displayed/unreleased Gunplas back in the 2000's (such as the MG versions of the remaining Shuffle Alliance Mobile Fighters and Rising Gundam) count.
      • The census winners from from the "Next Gunpla treatment" polls featured in GundamInfo's Japanese site, though it was never guaranteed to be produced soon or in the future after topping 1st place. Bonus points if the massive offender is the G-Self of all units from Gundam Reconguista in G.
    • Ironically, despite their lack of popularity in Japan, BOTH the Tequila (Spike) and the Nether (Hurricane) Gundam from Mobile Fighter G Gundam is often seen as a wasted potential for becoming HG/FC (or amusingly, MG) kits due to their statuses as (Mostly Memetic) Ensemble Darkhorses outside Japan.
    • MG AGE-3 Normal AND AGE-FX.
    • Similarly, any of the hypothetical HGUC "Revive" Versions of the 0079 Mobile Suits such as the GM, Z'Gok, Gogg, Gelgoog, and many more. Especially the Dom given the usage of its runners from the High Grade Build Fighters Dom R35.

The Action Figures (Mobile Suit in Action, Robot Damashii etc.)[]

  • Tainted by the Preview:
    • While some actually understood that this was meant for the younger audience, Bandai America's Gundam Infinity figures (released in 2021, currently running in three waves as of mid 2022) has led a lot of fandom scorn due to (what the prototypes depict,) it's gashapon/candy toy-like (or alternatively: bootleg-ish/a McDonalds Happy Meal-like) build quality that is sold under the $12.99 pricepoint. While the lineup also reveals a Build-A-Figure marketing strategy (at least for wave 1), the most baffling part of the reveal is that they chose the MS-06F Zaku II, a mass-production unit of all things, as one of them.
  • Replacement Scrappy:
    • Downplayed with the Gundam Universe line; Despite being a seemingly cost effective (¥3,000/$24.99 price point) lineup than the current Robot Spirits figures with a small number of paint omissions, fans also consider it as a currently better alternative for the former line while treating as a successor for the Mobile Suit in Action line.
    • Again, generally played straight with the Gundam Infinity line; Though the lineup was meant for new and younger audiences with interchangeable gimmicks, a lot of older fans consider it as an inferior Mobile Suit in Action/Robot Spirits/Gundam Universe alternative due to its seemingly poor build quality and its mostly minimal Gashapon/Candy Toy-ish paint operations.

References[]

  1. A snowclone of the former's Emoji meme and the latter meme from Dragon Ball Super's Frieza, this was mockingly used by many Gunpla builders to point that Bandai doesn't care when it comes to listening potential fan demands on materializing the model kits of their wanted units (likely overlooked ones).
  2. Posted by a fan from a Gundam group on Facebook, this snowclone of Omni-Man's line is used to illustrate the weakness of C-clip joints in comparison to polycap-and-joint combo.
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