Bandai Finally Unveils Zeta Gundam’s METAL STRUCTURE Gundam Mk-II

After years of waiting, Bandai has finally fully revealed its enormous Gundam Mk-II figure, confirming the long-running prototype as the next major release in the METAL STRUCTURE KAITAI-SHOU-KI series.

The announcement ends a wait that stretches back to TAMASHII NATION 2023, where an early version of the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II was displayed as a reference exhibit without any guarantee that it would eventually reach stores.

It also makes the Gundam Mk-II the first completely new mobile suit to join METAL STRUCTURE since the Sazabi was released in December 2022, following a line that originally began with the RX-93 Nu Gundam in 2019.

METAL STRUCTURE sits at the very top end of Bandai’s completed Gundam figure ranges, using thousands of individual components, multiple materials, opening armor, internal machinery and lighting to create display pieces that focus as much on the construction of a mobile suit as its exterior appearance.

The new release recreates the AEUG version of the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, where the machine initially developed by the Titans eventually becomes one of the AEUG’s most important early mobile suits.

Bandai says the figure has been developed by examining the role of the Mk-II within mobile suit history and rebuilding that interpretation through approximately 2,500 individual parts selected from different materials depending on their position within the structure.

The completed figure stands approximately 31 cm tall and combines ABS, PVC and die-cast components across its internal frame and exterior armor.

Its standard configuration retains the familiar white, blue, red and yellow AEUG appearance of the Gundam Mk-II, but much of the appeal comes from what happens when the exterior begins to open.

Bandai has created an original “High Mobility Combat Form” in which the backpack thrusters change position while armor panels across the body open to suggest increased heat dissipation during more demanding combat.

The figure can then be taken even further into a Full Maintenance Form, opening large sections of the armor while lifting the chest structure to expose the spherical cockpit and much more of the Mk-II’s signature movable frame underneath.

The legs include extendable frame sections of their own, with movement in the internal structure linked to the opening and closing of the thruster outlets.

This extensive armor deployment reflects one of the biggest differences between the finished Mk-II and the earlier Nu Gundam, with the design relying heavily on outward-opening maintenance panels to expose its internal machinery.

Lighting is built into both the Gundam Mk-II and its dedicated display base, allowing the internal mechanical details to remain visible when the figure is presented in its maintenance configuration.

The base itself includes a central support for the mobile suit alongside articulated maintenance arms, allowing the Mk-II to be displayed as though technicians are actively working around it.

A separate catapult-inspired section can also be added to the base for launch poses, while miniature figures help emphasize the sheer scale the completed mobile suit is intended to represent.

Bandai has even carried the Mk-II’s history into areas that are normally hidden, with sections of the underside of its armor painted in the dark blue associated with the Titans version.

The shield includes a similar reference through markings that depict the Titans emblem being painted over, acknowledging the machine’s origins before it entered service with the AEUG.

Its standard equipment includes a Beam Rifle, Hyper Bazooka, Vulcan Pod System and shield, alongside two spare E-packs, an E-pack connector, spare Bazooka cartridge and multiple beam effects.

The Beam Rifle also gains METAL STRUCTURE-specific options, including the ability to attach an additional launcher or convert the weapon into a short-barrel configuration.

Bandai has recreated another detail directly from Zeta Gundam through a shared mounting system for the arm and shield, allowing the shield to be attached directly against the chest as seen in the anime.

The full reveal comes only days after Bandai teased fresh METAL STRUCTURE news, when the previously displayed Mk-II immediately became the leading candidate after remaining without a release date or price since its 2023 appearance.

The same period has also seen Bandai fully launch its new ABSOLUTE ACT Gundam figure line and confirm the first METAL ROBOT SPIRITS releases from the Gundam x hololive Production collaboration, making the Mk-II part of a particularly busy run of completed Gundam figure announcements.

Image by James Richardson

The “METAL STRUCTURE KAITAI-SHOU-KI RX-178 Gundam Mk-II [AEUG Specification]” is a general retail release priced at ¥137,500 (approx. $864 USD / £636 GBP), with pre-orders opening on August 27.

Bandai has confirmed that the figure will appear internationally, so it is likely that pre-orders will either open simultaneously through Premium Bandai US or shortly after the Japanese pre-order window begins.

The long-awaited METAL STRUCTURE Gundam Mk-II is scheduled for release in January 2027, though international release dates outside of Japan may vary.

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