Bandai: Gunpla Kits, Tamashii Nations Figures and How the Lines Differ

What Bandai makes

Bandai is one company with a lot of names on the box. For a buyer that's the first hurdle, so let's clear it.

The hobby products on this page come from Bandai Spirits. Its English site says the company was established in 2018 and runs four kinds of business: plastic models, figures and robots, amusement prizes, and a character lottery. Each has its own brand:

• Bandai Hobby for plastic model kits, including the Gunpla series. Bandai Spirits calls it the official site for Gunpla and plastic character models.
• Tamashii Nations for figures and robots.
• Banpresto for prizes made for amusement arcades and crane games. It has its own page.

On Amazon US, the same company's products are filed under Bandai, BANDAI SPIRITS, Bandai Hobby, Bandai Namco and Tamashii Nations. We merge them into one grid so you don't have to search five times. When we pulled the data in October 2026, the grid held more than 200 listings.

The types in our data cover both sides of the company: Gunpla and other model kits (ship, aircraft, military and car kits), plus action figures, anime figures, statues and vinyl figures. Two very different hobbies. One wants nippers and a parts tray. The other wants shelf space and a steady hand for posing.

Bandai model kits: Gunpla grades explained

Most of the Bandai rows we have specs for are Gunpla, the Gundam plastic model kits. Every Gunpla title carries a grade, and the grade tells you three things at once: scale, part count and how long the build takes.

Here are the grades you'll find in the grid, with the scale the listings give:

Grade	What the letters mean	Scale in our listings
HG / HGUC	High Grade	1/144
MG	Master Grade	1/100
PG	Perfect Grade	1/60

Scale means how much smaller the model is than the real thing. A 1/60 kit is more than twice the height of a 1/144 kit of the same suit. That's simple division, and it's the first thing to check against your shelf.

HG and HGUC: the 1/144 starting point

The HG rows are where the listings tell us the most. HGUC RX-0 Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode) lists 1/144 and "snap-fit, nippers needed". HGUC Gundam F91 and HG Wing Gundam Zero both list 1/144, snap with no glue, and pre-colored plastic. HGUC RX-78-2 Gundam (Revive) lists 1/144. Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans #01 Gundam Barbatos is HG IBO at 1/144.

Snap-fit means the parts press together with no cement. Pre-colored means the plastic comes in the right colors, so a built kit looks finished without paint. Nippers are the small side cutters you use to take parts off the frame, called a runner.

Every HG kit in our grid sits in Bandai's lowest price tier. That makes HG the entry-level grade by the data, not just by reputation.

MG: 1/100 with more inside

Master Grade kits are the biggest group in our data. MG God Gundam, RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.KA, Wing Gundam Zero Version EW, MS-06J Zaku II Ver 2.0, Char's Zaku II Ver 2.0, Gundam Deathscythe EW, Gundam Epyon (EW), Gundam Sandrock (EW), Tallgeese Ver. EW, RX-0 Full Armor Unicorn Gundam Ver.Ka and Freedom Gundam (Ver. 2.0) are all MG.

The MG Gundam Heavyarms Ver. EW listing gives the full set of facts: 1/100, snap with no glue, pre-colored. Others list the grade only.

You'll see the same suit in more than one version. "Ver. 2.0", "Ver.Ka", "EW". Read those letters. They mark a different kit of the same suit, and the Heavyarms listing ties EW to the Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz series. Two MG Zaku II listings in this grid, for example, are different kits by their titles.

PG: 1/60 and a corner of the table

Perfect Grade is the largest and most complex. In the grid: MS-06F Zaku II Perfect Grade 1:60, RX-78-2 Gundam Perfect Grade 1:60, Gundam GP-01/Fb 1/60, Gundam Seed Astray Red Frame 1/60, Gundam 00 Raiser 1/60, Strike Freedom Gundam PG and PG RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 1/60.

PG kits sit in Bandai's higher price tiers in our data. They also ask for the most bench time. If you want the full list across makers, the Perfect Grade page sorts them.

Marisol, who runs the Bay Two bench, had one thing to say when she saw the PG rows: "A Perfect Grade is a project with a calendar. Write the date you opened it on the box, so you know how long it's been sitting there." She has a box with a date on it. She won't tell me the date.

One Piece, Star Wars and other Bandai kits

Not every Bandai kit is a Gundam. The grid also holds:

• One Piece ship kits: the Going Merry Model Ship, the Thousand Sunny in the Grand Ship Collection, the Baratie, the Kuja Pirates Ship, a Marine Ship, Marshall D. Teach's Ship and the Spade Pirates ship. Most of the Grand Ship Collection rows sit in Bandai's lowest tier.
• One Piece #1 Chopper Robo (Tank), which our data files as a military-style kit.
• Star Wars kits: Darth Vader 1/12 with decals included, a TIE Fighter 1/72, a Y-Wing Starfighter 1/72 and a Star Destroyer 1/14500.
• Space Battle Ship Yamato 2199 1/1000.

These lines name only what the listing names. For scale and part details, the listings above give scale in the title for the Star Wars and Yamato kits. The One Piece ship rows don't state a scale, so we leave it blank.

Tamashii Nations: Bandai figures

On the figure side, Bandai Spirits sells under Tamashii Nations. The Tamashii site describes it as the Bandai Spirits brand for figures and robots, built mostly around tokusatsu (live-action effects shows), anime and robot characters. It names these lines:

• S.H.Figuarts, posable figures with joints and swappable hands. We have a separate page for them.
• S.H.MonsterArts, the monster line, also posable.
• Figuarts ZERO, listed under figures.
• Chogokin and ROBOT魂 under robots.
• Tamashii Stage, listed in the site's brand menu.

The Tamashii site also notes a change to the authenticity seal on its boxes: a holographic seal was used until April 2023, and a new seal design has been used since May 2023. If you're buying an older figure, the seal on the box can tell you roughly when it was packed.

Our grid also holds a Bandai vinyl figure: Godzilla Movie Monster Series Mechanic Godzilla 2004. It's a vinyl figure, not a kit, and it sits in Bandai's lowest tier.

Which half of Bandai is for you

Here's my rule for anyone standing in front of this grid. Decide what the item does after it's opened.

• It gets built. Model kits. You'll need nippers, a flat bench and a parts tray. The grade sets the time.
• It gets posed. Tamashii Nations figures. You'll need shelf room and a stand. The listing's joints and included parts set the fun.
• It gets displayed and left alone. A finished kit or a one-pose figure. Either works; measure the shelf.

My opinion, and it comes from the numbers on the boxes: with Gunpla, the grade letters are a size plan before they're a skill plan. HG is 1/144, MG is 1/100, PG is 1/60 in this grid. Before you think about whether you can build a PG, think about whether you can park one. A 1/60 kit next to two 1/144 kits doesn't look like a row. It looks like a parent walking two kids to school.

How to pick within Bandai

By skill and time

1. First build: an HG or HGUC kit at 1/144 whose listing says snap-fit and pre-colored. HGUC Gundam F91 and HG Wing Gundam Zero both say so.
2. Second or third build: an MG at 1/100. Look for a listing that states snap-fit and pre-colored, like the MG Gundam Heavyarms Ver. EW, if you don't plan to paint.
3. Big project: a PG at 1/60. Clear a table you won't need for a while.

By space

Measure the shelf before the box. A PG kit at 1/60 needs the most room. The One Piece ship listings don't state a scale or a built size, so look up the finished size on the maker's page before you plan a shelf around one.

By budget tier

HG kits and most Grand Ship Collection kits sit in Bandai's lowest tier in our data. MG kits mostly sit one or two tiers up. PG kits and the Perfect Zeong Master Grade sit near the top. We don't print prices. The Check price button on each card shows today's.

Who should skip Bandai kits

Skip the kits if nobody in the house wants to sit at a table for an evening. Even snap-fit HG kits take time, and the build is the hobby. If what you want is a finished piece on day one, a Tamashii Nations figure or a one-pose figure from the figures section fits better.

Tools and safety at the bench

Nippers are the one tool every Bandai kit in this grid asks for, by listing or by design. A hobby knife comes next for cleaning up the spot where the part met the runner. Cut away from your body on a cutting mat, and keep blades away from kids.

If you paint or use cement on any kit, work with good ventilation and follow the paint or cement maker's label for masks and gloves.

Kits and figures both have small parts: runner pieces, hands, weapons, stand pegs. Check the age label on the listing. Toys with small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3. Our garage keeps a lidded tray for each open kit, and nobody is allowed to set a coffee mug on a tray lid. That rule is written on the tray shelf in label tape.

Bandai next to other makers

For model kits, the Gundam model kits page lists every grade across our data. For other plastic kit makers, see Tamiya, Hasegawa and Kotobukiya.

For posable figures, the makers to compare against Tamashii Nations are Good Smile Company and Medicom Toy. For prize figures from the same parent company, see Banpresto.

Build it or pose it. Decide that first, and the grid gets a lot shorter.