Gunpla, or Gundam plastic models, have captivated fans worldwide, with more than 800 million kits sold to date. On September 2, a new hands-on museum opened inside Bandai Hobby Center’s newest factory ...

There was once a time when a cracked plastic fairing would either have to be binned, or crudely ‘repaired’ with cable ties and messy resin – I’m looking at you, 1990s CB500 club racers! That isn’t the ...

Model making is a great hobby, but knowing how and where to start is another story. It can be overwhelming for novices: Injection-molded plastic models have been on the market for close to a century, ...

This photo shows a monument modeled after life-sized parts from a Gundam plastic model kit at Bandai Spirits Co.'s museum in Shizuoka on Aug. 20, 2025. (Kyodo) SHIZUOKA (Kyodo) -- Bandai Spirits Co.

Building model kits is a cherished hobby for numerous people, offering a gateway to express their creativity and a feeling of gratification after finishing the task. The traditional link between model ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Ollie Barder covers Japanese pop-culture and gaming from Tokyo. Now, we already had the initial build of Steel Haze get the 30MM ...

There’s a natural progression for most young gearheads, anxious to get their hands on totemic representation of the cars and trucks they covet, but are still too young to legally own. It usually ...

He turned his family’s lumber business into a manufacturer of model kits that won global popularity for their quality and historical accuracy. By Martin Fackler and Kiuko Notoya Reporting from Tokyo ...

In our garage right now, we have a huge tub full of plastic bottles to recycle. They accumulate pretty fast; I think that we did our most recent recycling run with them only about a month ago, and ...

Shizuoka is known for its plastic models and other hobby items. Home to manufacturers like Tamiya and Bandai, it boasts a legacy of skilled craftsmanship dating back to feudal times. We visit ...