Bandai Reveals Exclusive New Gundam Wing and Gundam X Pin Badge Collections
Image by Charlotte DavisEight Mobile Suits from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and After War Gundam X are joining STRICT-G’s growing “Face Pins Collection,” with new designs based on some of the best-known Gundams from both series.
The latest release is split between five Mobile Suit Gundam Wing pins featuring Wing Gundam Zero, Gundam Deathscythe Hell, Gundam Sandrock Custom, Gundam Heavyarms Custom, and Altron Gundam, alongside three After War Gundam X designs covering Gundam X and the Frost brothers’ Gundam Virsago and Gundam Ashtaron.
The first collection focuses on Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, which follows five young Gundam pilots sent from the space colonies to Earth during Operation Meteor, with the new pins representing several of the upgraded Gundams introduced as the conflict against OZ and White Fang escalates.
Wing Gundam Zero is the most powerful predecessor to the five Operation Meteor Gundams and eventually becomes closely associated with Heero Yuy, combining its hugely destructive Twin Buster Rifle with the ZERO System and the ability to transform into its high-speed Neo Bird Mode.
The Gundam Deathscythe Hell belongs to Duo Maxwell and upgrades the original Deathscythe for improved space combat, retaining its focus on stealth and close-range attacks while adding its large Active Cloak, enhanced Hyper Jammer, and Twin Beam Scythe.
Quatre Raberba Winner’s Gundam Sandrock Custom develops his original Sandrock into a machine better suited to fighting in space, retaining its pair of curved Heat Shotels while adding equipment including a Beam Machine Gun and briefly receiving its own ZERO System during the closing stages of the series.
Trowa Barton’s Gundam Heavyarms Custom takes the already heavily armed Heavyarms and pushes its firepower further, with its Twin Beam Gatling supported by chest gatling guns and numerous homing and micro missiles hidden across the Mobile Suit’s armor.
Altron Gundam is Chang Wufei’s upgraded Shenlong Gundam and continues his preference for close-range combat, adding a second extendable Dragon Fang alongside its Twin Beam Trident and a new Twin Beam Cannon for greater ranged firepower.
The second collection turns to After War Gundam X, a series set in a devastated world recovering from the 7th Space War and centered on Garrod Ran, Tiffa Adill, and the crew of the Freeden as they become caught between surviving military powers and those seeking to exploit Newtypes.
Gundam X is the original Mobile Suit piloted by Garrod and one of the surviving Gundams developed during the previous war, with its defining Satellite Cannon drawing microwave energy transmitted from the Moon and reflector panels on its back unfolding into the X-shaped arrangement that gives the machine its name.
Gundam Virsago is piloted by Shagia Frost and serves as one of Gundam X’s recurring enemy machines, using extendable arms for unpredictable close-range attacks alongside a powerful Mega Sonic Cannon concealed within its torso.
Gundam Ashtaron belongs to Shagia’s younger brother Olba Frost and is built around a very different approach, transforming into a high-speed Mobile Armor form while using the large Atomic Scissors mounted to its backpack as both crushing weapons and beam cannons.
The Virsago and Ashtaron are regularly used together by the Frost brothers throughout the series, including sequences where the transformed Ashtaron acts as a high-speed transport platform for the Virsago, making the pair a fitting choice to appear alongside one another in the new collection.
Pre-orders for both the STRICT-G “Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Face Pins Collection” and STRICT-G “After War Gundam X Face Pins Collection,” priced at ¥990 each (approximately $6 USD / £5 GBP), are now open through Premium Bandai Japan.
For international fans looking to pick up any of the pins from the collection, it is likely that they will appear through Premium Bandai US in the near future, as most other similar pin sets have made their way onto Bandai’s official American online store shortly after the initial Japanese pre-orders began.
The pins are also being released through selected physical STRICT-G locations in Japan from September 12, including the Tokyo Odaiba and Tokyo Solamachi stores alongside the NEOPASA Shizuoka and Taga Service Area locations.
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