Osaka’s Life-Size Gundam Set to Be Broken Apart as Bandai Reveals Its New Home
Image by Charlotte DavisBandai has revealed major new details about Osaka’s first permanent Gundam Base, including plans to bring part of the life-size Gundam from Expo 2025 back to the city as a permanent attraction alongside the new store.
The head of the RX-78F00/E Gundam will go on display inside LUCUA South before “THE GUNDAM BASE OSAKA” opens one floor above, while new concept images have also revealed more about the store’s exhibition areas, Gunpla workshop and Osaka-inspired interior.
Plans for THE GUNDAM BASE OSAKA were first announced in September, confirming that the approximately 1,229-square-meter location would become Osaka’s first permanent store in Bandai’s dedicated Gundam retail network and one of the largest in western Japan.
When it opens, the Gundam Base will combine extensive Gunpla selections and limited-edition kits with official merchandise, exhibitions and model-building activities from its location on the 11th floor of LUCUA South directly above JR Osaka Station.
Bandai’s latest update now reveals that visitors will encounter a major piece of recent Gundam history before they even reach the store.
The approximately 2.2-meter-tall head from the life-size RX-78F00/E Gundam displayed outside the GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION at Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025 will be installed on LUCUA South’s 10th floor inside a dedicated area called “GUNDAM HEAD LAB”.
Weighing around 370 kg, the head measures approximately two meters wide and 2.3 meters deep, allowing fans to see one of the life-size statue’s most recognizable sections at much closer range than was possible during the Expo.
The RX-78F00/E itself was created using the life-size Gundam previously displayed at GUNDAM FACTORY YOKOHAMA, with the machine modified for its new appearance at Expo 2025 before standing outside Bandai Namco’s pavilion throughout the six-month event.
Following the Expo’s closure, the future of the full statue became a major talking point, with Izumisano City previously proposing to acquire and relocate the RX-78F00/E as a new tourist attraction.
With the Gundam’s head now set to become part of the permanent GUNDAM HEAD LAB display, it is currently unclear what will happen to the rest of the life-size RX-78F00/E statue.
The new Gundam Base directly above it will continue the Expo connection with its own dedicated GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE PAVILION exhibition area.
That display will include an approximately two-meter-tall RX-78F00/E Gundam statue alongside an enormous recreation of the hand from the MSN-X17 Zeong Type MA seen in the pavilion’s “GUNDAM: Next Universal Century” presentation.
Visitors will also be able to revisit elements of the Expo attraction itself, extending the pavilion’s presence beyond its original home on Yumeshima Island.
Bandai is giving the rest of the store a distinctly Osaka-focused identity, with newly revealed concept images showing themed displays and a diorama inspired by the city.
A dedicated workshop area will host Gunpla-building experiences and other activities, accompanied by an exclusive “Talking Takoyaki Haro” that will speak to participants during events.
The combination gives the Osaka location a stronger experiential focus alongside its retail space, building on the original promise that visitors would be able to experience Gundam through “buying, viewing and building”.
LUCUA South is also becoming a wider destination for Gundam merchandise, with several specialist Bandai stores opening around the new Gundam Base.
STRICT-G will open its first Osaka store on November 24, followed by TAMASHII NATIONS STORE OSAKA on December 2 and a permanent Gundam Card Game Official Shop on December 4.
The life-size RX-78F00/E Gundam head will go on display at “GUNDAM HEAD LAB” on the 10th floor of LUCUA South from December 4, 2026, with no closing date currently announced.
THE GUNDAM BASE OSAKA is scheduled to open directly above it on the 11th floor in February 2027, with Bandai yet to confirm the store’s exact opening date or launch merchandise.
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