Two days ago, I was in Target when I happened to pass by one of the toy aisles. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw what looked to be a number of very familiar, rectangular boxes, the kind that hold model kits.
“Naw, it can’t be”, I said to myself. “It couldn’t be.”.
Today, I had to go back to Target to get a prescription. This time I was alone, so I went to get a second look. And this is what I found.
That’s right. Somehow, someway, Target is selling Gunpla.
As you can see, the selection is (relatively) sparse, with only five different kits and a handful of prebuilt action figures. Furthermore, none of the kits are very recent. At least three of the five were released back in 2015.
But honestly, who the hell cares? We have model kits in a major big box retailer! How cool is that??!?!? Weirdly, it has always been a minor dream of mine to just walk into a store and be surprised with something like this, and somehow it came true.
I felt obligated to vote with my wallet and show my support for this development. I busted out some five dollar coupons and got myself my (now) typical pair of kits:
Neither of these were on my list of must-buys, but neither of them were a stretch either. Even if I didn’t like any of the models available, I’d still have purchased at least one kit just to show my support, but it helps that I didn’t have to force myself to get something I had zero interest in.
A few more observations about this display:
- In case you can’t tell, there are indeed five kits on the Target shelf (six if you can’t the one Star Wars kit). Two of them are the ones I got - the High Grade “Revive” version of the classic RX78-2 Gundam, and the High Grade Gundam Barbatos. There is also the High Grade Gundam Barbatos Lupus, and the High Grade Revive version of the Wing Zero from Gundam Wing. Lastly, for the high rollers there is the Master Grade version of the Barbatos. While this is not a great selection for super hardcore Gundam fans, it is an excellent selection for mainstream anime fans who may only have a passing familiarity with Gundam. Wing Zero is the most iconic MS from the most popular Gundam show in America, and the Barbatos is the most iconic MS from Iron Blooded Orphans, a show that was popular enough to broadcast on Toonami (and is not that old relatively speaking). Toss in the OG Gundam, and you have what are arguably the three most recognizable mobile suits in the country (aside from maybe some units from Gundam Seed or Gundam 00).
- It looks like someone stocked the kits in the wrong spots, as some of the prices in the photo above are mixed up. The Revive Gundam was $12, the Barbatos $13, and the Barbatos Lupus was $18. These are all extremely reasonable prices. They match up well with their original MSRP in Japan, as well as the prices of cheaper High Grades sold at Barnes and Noble. No complaints here.
- $52 Master Grade Barbatos may seem expensive, but some preliminary research suggests that the kit is so old that it is being marked up on Ebay and Amazon for $70, $80, and in some places even more. I mean look here - Target’s price is the best one by a mile:
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Something I've never before is this outer label explaining how model kits work:
"Use a nipper to build", "No glue required", etc. It makes a lot of sense to put something like that on kits sold at Target, since potential buyers might need to know these things before considering a purchase. I wonder if the label appears on the kits sold at other stores as well.
- You can’t see it in the photo of the Target shelf, but up in the corner was a set of official branded sprue cutters. This is an extremely smart move - techincally speaking, a pair of cutters is all you really need to get started, and selling them alongside the kits means that you can take them home and get started right away.
- Checking the Target app, I discovered that two of the three stores near me are selling model kits, and that they are both selling the exact same ones. This leads me to believe that they are still testing the waters with the concept.
I have no idea whether Target will continue selling model kits, or if this is just an experiment before the holiday season. What I do know is that this was an extremely pleasant - and perfectly timed - surprise (I’ve recently been jonesing for a kit to build). We will see how it plays out.
Postscript
I think I am done titling these posts as “Gunpla Chronicles”. The truth is that nowadays, I don’t like it when something uses the word “Chronicles” in order to sound cooler or more important. I think I kept using it out of habit more than anything. Furthermore, I am having trouble coming up with clever variations (like “Gunpla Chronicles OVA” or whatever). From now on, build posts are simply going to be called “Gunpla Build”. Nice and simple and easy to understand.