It’s time to look back on the builds of 2025. If you’e been reading these for the last few years then you know the rules, which is that there are no rules. The format, the topics, the length, all of it can change from year to year.

This one in particular may be quite lengthy, so let’s just get into it.

The Year in Numbers

Alright, let’s add up all builds I cranked out over the year. Note that for these numbers, I deliberately chose not to count the following:

• The Action Base 7
• The Chinese New Year Figurine
• The Build Hands

Those just weren’t really builds in any meaningful way.

But as for the rest of it, here is my count:

• 22 High Grades
• 3 Haros
• 4 Accessory Packs
• 4 Master Grades
• 1 Entry Grade
• 1 Robot Spirits figure
• 2 Real Grades
• 1 SD
• 1 Reborn-One Hundred

That makes for 39 builds total. Now, just going purely on the numbers, this is 9 less than 2024, which makes it look like this was a down year. The truth is a bit more complicated than that.

In September of 2024 I built a whole bunch of the Planet Armors from Build Divers Re:Rise, most of which consisted of two kits - a High Grade containing the main armor, and an accessory pack containing weapons and stuff. This essentially doubled the number of builds for the month, to 8 instead of 4.

Then, in November of 2024 I built a whole bunch of stuff I got from the Gundam Base Tour. Most of these kits required little to no extra work (no panel lining, topcoating, etc), which meant that I could crank them out very quickly. By my count, that month alone consisted of a staggering 11 builds.

Indeed, if you were to halve the numbers for September November 2024 - from 8 & 11 to 4 & 6 - the final tally for the year would be 38, which is the exact same number as 2025.

All of which is to say that while 2024 was technically more productive, the “true” numbers were actually much closer than they looked at first glance.

I Made Some Graphs

I tried to make some bar graphs that broke down my productivity month by month, going all the way back to 2023. I’m not going to show them to you though, not only because it would make this post too long, but also because there’s nothing really meaningful to glean from them.

Okay, so there was one thing to glean, which is that I expected there to be a pattern in the data that turned out not to exist.

I could have sworn that I had gotten into a certain yearly cadence, where I was more productive in the spring and fall, and less productive in the dead of winter and summer. But the graphs revealed to me that hasn’t ever been the case. There were some years where I was less productive in winter, but then there were others where I wasn’t. Same for summer too. Every year has turned out to be fairly different from the others.

The Year of G Gundam

I built four G Gundam kits this year, which is quite a lot of models to build from a single show in a single calendar year. But that’s just the way things worked out; two of them released this year, one was already on the backlog, and one just happened to show up on the shelf one day.

I’m very happy with how they all turned out (notwithstanding my issues with Shining Gundam), though sadly only one of them was genuinely fun to pose. Who would have thought that marital arts-based mobile suits are harder to deal with when they have less than stellar articulation? /s

I ❤ Master Grades

Between 2012 - 2023, I built a total of three Master Grades. Three.

Since June of 2024 - just a year and a half ago - I’ve built seven, including four this year.

I think it’s safe to say that after being indifferent to them for over a decade, I’ve warmed up to them quite a bit. Well, mostly. I’m still not convinced that every mobile suit is going to benefit a ton from getting the Master Grade treatment, but now I can at least recognize that some of them do, and when they do, it’s a significant upgrade.

Just from looking at my backlog, you expect more MG’s in the future.

I ❤ Decals (for now)

It’s in my blood to make a cheesy, T-Swift related Dad joke, so forgive me when I say that I’m in my Decal Era right now.

I won’t build an RG or MG anymore without having a full sheet of accompanying waterslides, and I’ve even gone as far as to buy full sheets for certain High Grades as well. And for other High Grades, I’ll try to add numbers and logos (and occasionally other markings) when possible.

I can already imagine a future in which I grow out of this and go back to simpler, cleaner builds. But it hasn’t happened yet, so for now I’m just going to ride the wave.

Update on Shelf Space

In 2024 I worried about running out of space for my models. I’m still generally worried about that, but maybe not quite as much as before.

Firstly, I added two big new shelves for all my Master Grades. That gives me some significant breathing room. Second, I’ve been adding more and more of these clear plastic risers, which allow me to display several rows of models on a single shelf:

I won’t say I’ve bought myself a ton of extra space, but it’s definitely helped. And when I finally do get to the point where the shelves are full, I’m just going to take some of the models off and put them into storage. You can store quite a lot of HG’s in a large storage container, and as long as you wrap them up properly they’re at low risk of being damaged.

Slowing Down?

Eventually I’m going to start slowing down. It may not be in 2026, but I do think it will happen sooner rather than later.

And if it does happen, it could be for a number of reasons. It may be due to me running out of space, or it may be due to me spending more time working on each build. It could even just be that my interest in the hobby scales back a bit.

But I do think it is going to happen, and I’m curious as to how it might play out.

Build Highlights

Okay, enough speculation. It’s time to look at the best, worst, and noteable builds of 2025.

This time around I picked out Best and Worst builds. Don’t expect to always see this, but it made sense to me this year.

Gunpla of the Year - Real Grade God Gundam

This was the complete package. It was fun to build, it looks phenomenal, and the articulation is insanely good. I had so much fun with this from top to bottom, and it really doesn’t have any major flaws (I guess the head falls off easily, but I wouldn’t consider that “major”)

This was by far my best build overall, and I’m so happy to have it as part of my collection.

Runner Up - MG Gundam 3.0

This was my favorite looking build of the year, but it’s also delicate and hard to pose, which is why it didn’t surpass the RG God Gundam for the top slot.

Still, this thing looks indisputably gorgeous. It is without a doubt my favorite interpretation of the Grandaddy Gundam (well, this and the original Real Grade, which looks the same). The color separation, the details, the proportions … this is perfection for me.

Worst Gunpla of the Year - High Grade Gundam Schwarzette

Even if I didn’t break the sword, this would still be the worst build of the year. It just cannot capture the majesty and craziness of this mobile suit as it was depicted on TV. It’s weapons aren’t as interesting, and it isn’t nearly glowy enough. If I weren’t a completionist who needed the full lineup of Jeturk mobile suits, I’d flat out regret this build.

“Didn’t Live up to the Hype” Award - Fawn Farsia

I was so excited for this build. It looks so unique, and I was quite impressed with its onscreen performance when I watched Gundam AGE.

But this ended up being similar to the Schwarzette, where the Gunpla version simply this lacks that … zing it needs to look as cool and as powerful as it does on TV.

In this case though, I think they could have solved the problem by simply including more (or better) accessories. Maybe a beam ribbon, or some beam effects for the flower bits. But without anything like that, the model as it stands is just kind of … there.

Runner Up - Moon Gundam

I spent so much time writing about this kit. I even spent money to buy manga for research. And in the end, I didn’t care much for it.

It’s such a shame, because it’s generally a great model. It’s got solid articulation, superb detail, and lots of accessories. It’s just a case where the sum is less than its parts.

I haven’t seen anyone on the Internet who wants to admit it, but this is basically a wish.com version of the Sazabi, with a Gundam head and a Gundam color scheme. That’s … not actually a very cool concept. And without the Sazabi’s imposing size or general panache, it doesn’t look nearly as good in action.

Noteworthy Build - Gundam Wing Master Grades

Maybe it’s cheating to lump two builds together, but in my defense, they are both Gundam Wing Master Grades, and I did build them nearly back to back. AND and they also sit together on the same shelf. In my head they’ve pretty much always been a package deal.

These are both such great reinterpretations of these two mobile suits. They’re over the top and ridiculous, but in a good way. They completely recontextualized the way I think about Gundam Wing’s mobile suit designs. In fact, I now wonder if I would have felt differently about the show when it first aired if it had used the Endless Waltz designs from the start.

Noteworthy Build - Xi Gundam

This one is noteworthy in a quite literal manner, as it’s so big that it can’t help but command your attention. But even beyond that, it has a lot going for it. While it’s still definitely a High Grade, its larger size allows it a level of detail that is slightly higher than usual.

Furthermore, the Xi is kind of the opposite of the Fawn Farsia, in that it looks way more impressive in person than it does on screen. Everything from the subtle details, to its shape, to its true size and scale are so much easier to appreciate when it’s in your hands.

I went from a Xi hater to a lover thanks to this kit, and that is definitely noteworthy.

Noteworthy Build - Astaroth Origin

This is one of those kits that really capitalizes on the potential of the IBO line. You’ve got this visible inner frame, combined with outer armor that has a ton of surface detail. And if you put in the effort to give those details some extra color and texture, the end result is stunning.

I’m not going to say it looks like a Master Grade, but it also doesn’t quite look like a High Grade. That too is noteworthy.

Noteworthy - HG Jegan ECOAS Type

I finally found a Jegan I like. That is perhaps the most noteworthy and amazing thing to happen in 2025.

Coming Soon

I’ve always tried really hard to keep future builds as a surprise, and the more I think about it, the less I’m sure as to why. It’s really not that big a deal!

So here is a sneak preview of some of the kits I hope to build early on in 2026:

Nu Gundam Ver Ka

This was the last purchase of the year (literally, I got it on New Year’s Eve). I saw it at Michael’s, which has technically been selling Gunpla for a while now, but only recently have they been in stock in my neck of the woods.

Turns out they do the usual thing that Michaels does where the retail price is marked up compared to other stores, but if you can get a coupon then you can save a bit (but just a bit) of money versus buying it elsewhere.

In the case of this model, it was a few bucks more than it’s being sold (on discount) at some online hobby shops, and I figured that by saving on shipping I still came out ahead. I don’t see myself going to Michaels all that often for my Gunpla needs, but I guess it might be worth perusing the shelves when I happen to be there.

Anyway, this looks like an interesting take on the Nu, which I’ll have more to say about when it’s build time.

Gundam Wing Real Grades

I planned on making these my last two builds of the year. In my mind it seemed so poetic; after all, I got these two mobile suits as my very first Master grades during Christmas 2016.

But I soon realized that there wasn’t enough time to get through one of them, let alone both, so I punted them to early 2026.

Which, in a way, is actually more poetic. While I got those old Master Grades for Christmas 2016, I didn’t actually build them until January/February of 2017, which is probably when I’m going to get to these two Real Grades.

High Grade R-Jarja

This one is still in the mail, so I don’t have an in-person photo of the box, but this is the one thing I got with my meager Christmas money.

I love the Neo Zeon mobile suit designs from Double Zeta. They all look like knights in crazy, over the top armor, with more weapons than they could possibly manage.

And when you add in the fact that this one is piloted by one of my favorite characters in the show, that only sweetens the pot.