I’ve built Entry Grades, High Grades, Real Grades and Master Grades. I’ve built all sorts of different types of SD’s.
But there’s one kind of model I haven’t built.
That’s right Gabby. Yet. But now it’s time to change that. I’m ready to built my first kit from the Reborn-One Hundred line. But before I do, how about a little primer on what RE/100 is all about?
About Reborn-One Hundred
Master Grade models have been so ubiquitous for so long that they have largely become synonymous with 1⁄100 scale Gunpla.
However, Bandai made 1⁄100 scale kits before Master Grades were ever a thing, and they’ve also made non-Master Grade, 1⁄100 scale kits since then too. Examples include:
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1/100 scale "No Grade" kits that don't belong to any named product line. These have been around practically forever, as seen by this 1/100 scale Mk II kit from 1985.
But even as Master Grades finally showed up in the 90's, No Grades continued to be released, such as these ones for Gundam SEED:
And most recently, the No Grade kits for Iron Blooded Orphans from 2015:
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Believe it or not, they used to make 1/100 scale High Grades, such as these ones from the late 90's made for Gundam Wing:
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In more recent years we've also seen the Full Mechanics line:
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And of course, we have the topic of today's build, the Reborn-One Hundred line:
But Why Though?
I know what you may be thinking - “What’s the purpose of these kits compared to Master Grades?”
It’s easy to forget this considering how ubiquitous Master Grades are, but the original purpose of MG’s was not to be the default for 1⁄100 models. No, Master Grades were meant to be … well … masterful. They’re supposed to be the best of the best in terms of detail, articulation, etc, second only to Perfect Grades.
In other words, they’re supposed to be premium (no, not that kind of premium). But premium quality means premium engineering, which means higher production costs and, ultimately, higher retail costs.
But what happens when you have mobile suits that you want to release in 1⁄100 scale form, but aren’t necessarily worth that premium Master Grade treatment? For example, maybe you have an obscure design that isn’t going to sell enough to justify the time and expense of making an MG version, or you have a grunt suit that doesn’t need all the extra bells and whistles that an MG confers.
This is exactly what these other product lines were made for. Historically Bandai’s used them to make models that are the same size as Master Grades, but are less intricate and detailed (and thus cheaper for us, the customers)
“Okay, that’s all well and good, but why are there so MANY different product lines? What’s the difference between, say, a Reborn-One Hundred kit and a Full Mechanics kit and an old No Grade?”
First of all, keep in mind that No Grades are seemingly a thing of the past (and 1⁄100 scale High Grades definitely are).
That just leaves two current product lines - Reborn-One Hundred, and Full Mechanics:
As far as I can tell, the lines are identical in terms of detail, quality, etc. The only difference is that RE/100 is exclusively used for mobile suits from the Universal Century, while Full Mechanics is for all of the Alternate Universes. That’s it really.
They could have very easily condensed them all under one product line instead, but I kind of like it this way. “Reborn-One Hundred” evokes the idea of taking old UC designs and giving them a new lease on life. I think that’s cool.
History - and Future? - of RE/100
The Reborn-One Hundred line first rolled out in 2014, with the release of the Nightingale. It continued to see at least one release every year through 2019.
And then things changed. Since 2019, all RE/100 releases have been exclusive to Premium Bandai. And among them, almost all of them were variants of the existing RE/100 kits.
In fact, if the Gundam Wiki is accurate, from 2019 to 2022, there was only a single brand new RE/100 design - the P-Bandai exclusive Shokew:
And then … silence. For the next three years there were no RE/100 released, P-Bandai or otherwise.
Understandably, this caused a lot of people to assume that the line was dead. But then, out of nowhere, it was thrown a lifeline with the recent release of the Den’an-Gei at the tail end of 2025:
As you can see, it’s still a P-Bandai release, but at least its a brand new design!
Still, I’m not sure how much we should read into this release. Technically speaking this means that RE/100 isn’t dead, but I’m not sure if it’s really alive either. Unless or until we see released in the near future, it’s more like it’s on life support at best.
And that really sucks, because the more I look into all the previous RE/100 kits, the more I like what I see. So many of the models are of obscure mobile suits that I adore, including quite a few from Victory Gundam and Gundam F91 (both of which I think have criminally underrated mecha designs).
I now hope that there really is still a future for the line. There are so many other obscure MS that could use the RE/100 treatment. In the meantime, the only thing I can do is vote with my wallet when the opportunity strikes, which is why I ordered the Den’an Gei.
(Well, that, and because I really like the design)
And with any luck, perhaps I’ll find some of the previous releases as reprints. But for now, it’s time to dive in and build my first Reborn-One Hundred.