Best PG Gundam Kits

How this list of PG Gundam kits was built

Every kit here is listed as Perfect Grade, or PG, on its Amazon US listing or box. That's the entry test. The rule then sorts by stated piece count, biggest first.

For the record: none of these 15 listings gives a piece count in our data. So the order in the table is the order the data hands us, not a ranking. I'd rather leave a blank than fill it with a guess.

Here's what the data does hold. The grade, on every listing. The 1/60 scale, in nearly every title. And for one kit, the PG Unleashed Nu Gundam, a listed height of 15 in. Ages aren't in our data for any of the 15. Check the box before you buy for a teenager.

All 15 are Bandai kits, because Bandai makes the Gunpla grades. More on the maker is on the Bandai page. Kits from every grade, not only PG, live on the Gundam model kits page.

Gunpla grades, from Bandai's own timeline

Gunpla is short for Gundam plastic models. Bandai Spirits, the Bandai company that makes them, keeps a public timeline. It dates the first Gunpla to July 1980. The grades came later, and the timeline gives each one a month, a year and a scale.

• HG (High Grade): March 1990, 1/144, which Bandai calls its standard Gunpla brand
• MG (Master Grade): July 1995, 1/100, called an advanced brand
• PG (Perfect Grade): November 1998, 1/60, called the highest-grade brand
• RG (Real Grade): July 2010, 1/144, built to look realistic
• EG (Entry Grade): September 2020, described as easy to assemble
• PG Unleashed: December 2020, a newer line inside PG that began with the RX-78-2

Look at the dates. They don't run in grade order. RG arrived after PG and went back down to 1/144. EG arrived last and sits on the bottom rung. So a grade name tells you what kind of build to expect, not how old the line is.

Scale is the plain part. Scale means how much smaller the model is than the thing it shows. A 1/60 kit is one-sixtieth of full size. The same design at 1/144 is 2.4 times smaller, because 144 divided by 60 is 2.4. Bigger parts leave room for more inside the model: an inner frame, panels that open, lights. That is the practical reason PG sits at the top.

I survey land for the county. A ratio printed on the front of a box is the one claim in this hobby I can check without opening anything. (I checked the four ratios on that list. They close.)

Snap-fit is a real way into Perfect Grade Gunpla

My one strong opinion in this section: snap-fit kits are a real way into the hobby, not a lesser one. Snap-fit means the parts press together and hold without glue. Some modelers file it under "starter kits" and move on. Bandai's own record points the other way.

Here's the checkable part. Bandai's timeline dates its snap-fit method, which lets a model go together without adhesive, to December 1987. Every grade on the list above launched after that date, the highest grade included. When Bandai announced the PG Unleashed RX-78-2 in 2020, its developer said PG is often thought of as complicated. He said the kit was designed so anyone could enjoy building it.

That doesn't make a PG small, quick or simple. It makes it a big kit with a long manual. So here's the condition. If you can follow numbered steps and keep parts sorted, then a PG is a question of time and table space. It is not a test of some skill you're missing.

For the record: our data doesn't record glue or paint for these 15 listings. Check the box or the manual for the kit you pick. Paint is an extra, and so is panel lining, which means running thin paint into the panel grooves so the details stand out. If that road interests you later, the airbrush kits page is where it starts.

No glue does not mean no parts tray. I have one per kit, and each one has a label. The labels have been audited.

The PG Gundam kits on this list, by kit

Several kits show up more than once, under slightly different titles. Our data doesn't say how two same-name listings differ. Compare the box photos and the listing details before you pick one.

RX-78-2 Gundam: standard PG and PG Unleashed

Three listings carry the RX-78-2. The RX-78-2 Gundam Perfect Grade 1:60 is the standard PG version. The RX-78-2 Gundam PG Unleashed 1/60 and the Perfect Grade 1/60 Unleashed RX-78-2 Gundam both carry the Unleashed name in the title.

Bandai's 2020 press release for the Unleashed RX-78-2 gives the most detail of any kit on this page. It lists a height of about 300 mm, roughly 11.8 in. It counts 662 parts, not including metal parts. The build runs in five phases: inner frame, mechanical parts, truss frame, outer armor, then finishing details. Each phase names the runners it uses, so you can clear spent runners off the table as you go. The release lists the age as 15 and up.

That kit also has lights. Per the same release, its LED unit runs on a BR435 pin battery, with a test battery included, plus two LR41 button cells sold separately. Plan for those before you reach the last phase.

A five-phase manual with its own runner list is a build that respects a cleared table. I approve of it on paper, which is where I approve of most things.

Unicorn Gundam: three listings

The PG RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 1/60, the Unicorn Gundam PG 1/60 and the 1/60 PG RX-0 Unicorn Gundam Performance all list the Unicorn at Perfect Grade. Our data doesn't say what the word Performance adds to the third title. Read that listing and its box before you assume anything. If all you need is a PG Unicorn, compare all three side by side and choose by what each listing shows.

Strike Freedom Gundam: two listings

The Gundam Seed Destiny Strike Freedom Gundam PG and the PG Gundam Seed Destiny Strike Freedom Gundam 1/60 both name the Gundam SEED Destiny line and the Strike Freedom. Only the second title states 1/60, though PG kits are 1/60 by grade. Again, the data doesn't say how the two differ, so compare before you buy.

Two kits from the Gundam SEED line

The Gundam Seed Perfect Strike Gundam PG 1/60 and the Gundam Seed Astray Red Frame 1/60 Perfect Grade both come from the Gundam SEED line, per their titles. Both are standard PG kits at 1/60. Neither lists a height or a part count in our data.

Nu Gundam: the tallest stated kit here

The PG Unleashed Nu Gundam is the only listing with a height in our data: 15 in, at 1:60. Its listing names the series as Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack. Bandai's timeline says it was released in January 2026, for the 45th anniversary of Gunpla.

Bandai's own story page on this kit says it stands over 370 mm, about 14.6 in, which sits within tolerance of the listing's 15 in. It describes a layered build: a skeletal main frame, then a structural frame, then the outer armor. It mentions a hatch that opens and an optional light-up mechanism. The same page says plainly that the kit may take a long time to assemble.

Lucho asked whether a 15-inch kit counts as a figure for shelf purposes. It does not. It counts as Bay Two.

Wing Zero, 00 Raiser, GP-01/Fb and Zaku II

These four round out the list. Each is a 1/60 Perfect Grade kit per its title, and each lists only the grade in our data.

• Wing Gundam Zero (EW) PG 1/60
• Gundam 00 Raiser 1/60 Perfect Grade, from the Gundam 00 line
• Gundam GP-01/Fb Gundam 0083 1/60 Perfect Grade, from the Gundam 0083 line
• MS-06F Zaku II Perfect Grade 1:60

If one of these is the design you want, the grade and scale are settled. The open questions are the age label and the parts list, and the box answers both.

How to choose a Bandai PG kit

Read the title for standard PG or PG Unleashed

Both are Perfect Grade and both are 1/60. PG Unleashed is the newer line, and Bandai describes its two kits as anniversary releases. On this list, three titles say Unleashed: two RX-78-2 listings and the Nu Gundam. The other twelve titles don't carry the Unleashed name.

Measure the shelf before you buy the kit

A finished PG takes real space. Measure height, and measure depth, because arms, weapons and stands stick out past the body. Only one listing here states a height, so for the rest, check the box or the maker's page. Measure it, then trust it.

Decide about lights before you start

Some PG kits have LED units or room for them. The Unleashed RX-78-2 release lists a pin battery and two button cells, and the Nu Gundam page mentions an optional light-up mechanism. Lights are easier to plan at phase one than to fit at phase five.

Give it a table that can stay set up

A PG is not a one-sitting build. Pick a spot where runners, the manual and a parts tray can sit for weeks without being cleared for dinner. On our loop that's Bay Two, and the table has a label that says so.

Tools, small parts and batteries

Parts come attached to runners, the plastic frames in the box, and you cut them free. Side cutters made for plastic, often called nippers, and hobby knives are both sharp.

Hobby knives and tools: Cut away from your body on a cutting mat, and keep blades away from kids.

Small parts: A PG kit has many small parts. Toys with small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3, so keep the parts tray out of reach of little ones.

Button batteries: Button batteries can cause serious injury if swallowed. Keep spares locked away and check that battery covers are closed. If you think a child swallowed one, get medical care right away.

Cement and paint: If you add glue or solvent paint, work with good ventilation and follow the maker's label for masks and gloves.

Who should skip this list

Skip this list if the builder is a younger kid on a first kit. The one PG age label I could confirm, for the Unleashed RX-78-2, says 15 and up, and our data has no age for the rest. Start with an EG or HG kit from the Gundam model kits page instead. Skip it, too, if you want a model finished by Sunday dinner, or if your only free table is also your kitchen table. A PG needs a spot that can stay messy for a while. If you're shopping for a teen who builds across several hobbies, the gifts for teens page covers more ground.

Measure the shelf, then open the box.