If you want to get started with Gunpla, there are so many amazing, affordable and easy-to-build model kits that will showcase the best of what the hobby has to offer really quickly.
Whilst the most common entry points are Entry Grade and SD Gundam, and most people build a classic RX-78-2 Gundam mobile suit as a first build, Bandai Namco have increasingly looked for a wider range of entry points into the fun of model building.
The most recent of these is the 30 Minutes Fantasy range, part of the wider 30 Minutes Missions range of model kits.
They are roughly High Grade scale (1:144), but are designed to not only be very easy to build in 30 minutes or less, but are also created to be customised, modified and personalised to make wildly different models without needing to resort to kitbashing.
This is possible through the 3 cm (or 30 mm, which is a rather clever touch) peg-and-whole system, which means that additional parts can simply be added or removed at will.
Whilst previous 30 Minutes Missions lines have focused on original mecha or tie-ins with Armored Core VI, 30 Minutes Fantasy is an original series of figures based around Maximilia, machine life forms that can be customised based on element cores, as well as the weapons and armour equipped to their bodies.
The biggest and most exciting feature they have is Armour Cross, a system where sets of armour are added to a figure to create custom or expanded job classes.
Because all of the parts are cross-compatible, you can combine armour pieces from different classes, or even pieces from different 30MM series entirely, such as 30 Minutes Sisters.
This allows for limitless possibilities and scope for creativity and cross-compatibility throughout the whole of the 30 Minute Missions line.
The only question mark that remains, given the newness of the line, is whether there will be scope for a 30MM equivalent of Master Grade or Perfect Grade, or if the greater detail and gimmick requirements would undermine the basis of the range.
