Hi, I just wanted to share how my Gunpla passion started. Back in the 90’s when I was a few years old (around 10 years old I estimate), I already loved building or assembling things. I enjoyed Legos, they were one of my first toys that I truly enjoyed aside from miniature die cast metal toy cars and Power Rangers transformable robots like the Megazord. Legos are one of the best toys a kid could have in my opinion because it can develop creativity and imagination but they are expensive in my country, yet they were the catalyst in developing my desire to build and assemble structures.

Reminiscing my childhood days makes me nostalgic. Anyway, then came a time when Gundam Wing anime series was aired on our local television channel and I was immediately hooked to the concept of mobile suits. Never thought that some company would be manufacturing scale models of the mobile suits that were featured in the anime series back when I was kid, but there were! And I saw one at a local mall, the first Gunpla kit I ever saw in my life was an HG 1/144 Gundam X. Even though Gundam X was not related to the aired Gundam series that I was watching, I noticed the similarities in design and I wanted to have that kit. So I asked my mom at that time to buy me that kit, and when my mom asked the merchant how much the kit was, she was shocked to hear the price of the kit! The merchant were describing to me and my mom what the kit was all about, he explained that it needs assembling and he showed how tall it would come out after assembling. My mom was overwhelmed that such a small toy that still needs assembling costs so much!

My mom asked if I really wanted the kit and had me choose whether to buy that single kit or buy multiple toys that is equal to the price of the kit. Of course I was a kid back then and what we kids want, we really want I suppose. So I opted to buy the kit instead of buying multiple toys. I think my mom was afraid that once I opened and started assembling the kit, I would not finish it due to its complexity (for my age) and the toy will go to waste.

She did not have to be afraid because when I got home, I immediately opened the box, found the instructions manual (all in Japanese), and started building! I pulled the pieces using my bare hands and followed the Japanese instructions the best that I can and viola! After an hour or so, I have completed my first Gunpla kit! He was small but he looked so cool! I enjoyed every bit of assembling the kit and I wanted more!

But the kits were really expensive and we could not afford to buy them anymore seeing how small the output is, so I was stuck with my Legos (still enjoyed them) and other toys. As I matured and grew older, my desire to build another Gunpla was never gone. I took up Computer Engineering in college and you can already guess why. I enjoyed building things from Legos to furniture, give me an IKEA furniture that needs assembling and I would gladly assemble it for you free of charge! I attended toy conventions and similiar events during college and everytime I see Gunpla kits on display, my heart would race. But my main problem was funds, they were still expensive that I could not afford to buy a kit with my allowance.

I started to save some money to buy myself a Gunpla kit, It took me long enough to save and buy myself a Gunpla kit. This was back in 2007 when the latest Gundam series was 00 Gundam, so the kit that I bough was an HG 1/144 00 Raiser. This time instead of my bare hands, I used some diagonal cutting plies that I was using in my college electronics course in cutting the parts from the runners. Once again, I enjoyed every moment I was building 00 Raiser and I yearned for more after assembling him. But time and again, money problems was the obstacle.

To ease my desire for Gunpla, I went looking for websites and blogs about Gunpla and through reading and visiting various Gunpla blogs and websites, I planned that once I am a working citizen of my country, Gunpla will be my main hobby. And so it was! I was excited to graduate from college and find a job and a monthly salary that I can budget and have a portion dedicated to my hobby.

Building and collecting Gunpla is one thing, sharing them is another. Along with my first job started my Gunpla collecting and along with that my passion for Gunpla photography and blogging. Seeing Gunpla blogs and their photos inspired me to start my own Gunpla blog and share my experiences. I started this blog around December of 2011 and I plan to continue this passion of Gunpla collecting/building and photography for the years to come and hope to develop my modeling skills further as well as my photography skills.

How about you? How did your Gunpla craze start about?