Bandai Reveals First Look at Gundam Base's Exclusive New PG UNLEASHED RX-78-2 Gunpla Kit

Bandai has revealed the first look at a new Gundam Base exclusive version of the PG Unleashed RX-78-2 Gundam, giving its original high-end 1/60 scale Gunpla kit a completely new color scheme.

The “PG UNLEASHED 1/60 RX-78-2 Gundam [Gundam Base Color]” takes the kit that originally launched Bandai’s PG UNLEASHED line and reworks its exterior around the blue and white colors associated with the official Gundam Base stores.

The new kit was displayed at the 64th All Japan Model & Hobby Show, which was held at Tokyo Big Sight from October 2 through October 4.

The RX-78-2 Gundam originates from the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam anime and is piloted by Amuro Ray during the Earth Federation’s war against the Principality of Zeon.

Its red, white, blue and yellow appearance established many of the visual traits that would define Gundam’s lead Mobile Suits for decades, with the RX-78-2 subsequently becoming the most frequently revisited machine across Bandai’s Gunpla ranges.

The original PG UNLEASHED RX-78-2 Gundam was released in December 2020 as one of the flagship products celebrating the 40th anniversary of Gunpla and became the first model produced under the new Perfect Grade Unleashed branding.

Rather than simply increasing the number of parts found in a conventional Perfect Grade, Bandai designed the kit around a staged building process intended to recreate the construction of a Mobile Suit from its internal skeleton outward.

Its internal frame can be completed early in the assembly process before additional mechanical details and exterior armor are progressively attached, allowing builders to see increasingly complete layers of the Gundam as the project develops.

More than 90 points of articulation are incorporated throughout the completed kit, including 40 within its Core Block-based torso structure, alongside working pistons and sliding mechanisms that move with its joints.

Bandai also uses multiple finishes across the internal frame, combining metallic molded parts with silver, matte gold and chrome plating, metal components and etched details to emphasize the mechanical structure beneath the armor.

The exterior includes an extensive series of opening armor hatches that can expose those internal components after construction, allowing the finished Gundam to be displayed in either a fully armored state or with much of its internal engineering visible.

Lighting forms another major part of the PG UNLEASHED design, with an RGB LED unit used to illuminate areas around the head and body and a separate miniature lighting unit allowing one of its beam sabers to glow from inside the weapon.

The original kit also includes the RX-78-2’s Beam Rifle, shield and Core Fighter alongside its beam sabers, giving builders the equipment needed to recreate many of Amuro’s most familiar configurations from the anime.

The new Gundam Base edition retains that underlying PG Unleashed construction but replaces the standard RX-78-2 colors with a Gundam Base-themed treatment built around white and the vivid blue used across the retailer’s exclusive releases.

PG UNLEASHED 1 60 RX 78 2 Gundam [Gundam Base Color] 1

Bandai has already applied the same Gundam Base Color concept to several other versions of the RX-78-2, including the MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.3.0 and the more recent RG 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.2.0.

MG 1100 THE GUNDAM BASE LIMITED RX78 2 GUNDAM Ver.3.0 [THE GUNDAM BASE COLOR] 0

The original 1980 Gunpla has even received the treatment, with Bandai releasing the “Gundam Base Limited Best Mecha Collection 1/144 RX-78-2 Gundam (REVIVAL Ver.) [Gundam Base Color]” earlier in 2026 as a modern recreation of the model kit that started the entire Gunpla brand.

The new Gundam Base exclusive kit returns attention to the first PG UNLEASHED mobile suit shortly after the range expanded with the much larger RX-93 ν Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack, which became only the second Gundam to receive a full PG Unleashed kit.

Bandai has since expanded that ν Gundam release with a separate Fin Funnel and Clear Color Body set, adding six additional Fin Funnels and transparent exterior parts for builders who want to expose more of its internal construction.

Several other new Gunpla have also been displayed at the 64th All Japan Model & Hobby Show, including the first Master Grade Gundam X Divider and the long-awaited MG Superbia Jinx from Gundam 00V.

Bandai also used the event to reveal the first dedicated HG 1/144 G-Line Assault Armor, finally turning the heavily armored Mobile Suit from the 2009 PlayStation 3 game Mobile Suit Gundam: Battlefield Record U.C. 0081 into its own High Grade kit.

The “PG UNLEASHED 1/60 RX-78-2 Gundam [Gundam Base Color]” will be priced at ¥30,800 (approximately $195 / £147) and will be released first in Japan as a Gundam Base limited kit in February 2027.

PG UNLEASHED 1 60 RX 78 2 Gundam [Gundam Base Color] 2

Bandai has not announced a US release, although many Gundam Base limited kits have periodically received temporary online availability through Premium Bandai US during special sales events.