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P-Bandai, short for “Premium Bandai”, is a label applied to Bandai products available exclusively on the official Bandai online store.
This has existed since 2009 and is open for Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and recently for the United States.
It is therefore not possible to obtain them officially in France.
The name is quite misleading because the kits are no more qualitative than the “standard” releases.
The boxes are quite easily recognized by a monochrome box, although some kits do not respect this rule.
These are products that are (normally) only entitled to one edition.
Productions (or batches in English) are limited in time, and work by pre-order. When the number of pre-orders reaches that of the number of kits planned for production, they are closed. If demand is really strong, Bandai will launch one or more new batches in the following months.
Once the initial production period has expired and stocks are exhausted, P-Bandai are in principle no longer released, although reissues are becoming more and more frequent.
We can therefore describe them as “limited” editions.
This does not only concern Gundam, but all the brands owned by Bandai (Digimon, Kamen Rider etc.).
Although the label has evolved enormously in more than 10 years, it aimed to offer certain types of products.
Indeed, in Gundam, it is not uncommon to see “alternative” versions of the mobile suits of the universe.
We can take for example the different versions of Zaku like the “black tri-stars or Shin Matsunaga.
It is also under this label that we find a large part of the kits having a different “finish”, such as Titanium Finish, Clear Color etc.
Simply requiring another manufacturing procedure, they are quite quick and easy to make for the brand.
Over time, it has also made it possible to offer expansion sets for existing kits, such as the one which allows you to make the 6 shapes of the MG Barbatos.
This allows you to avoid taking out certain “duplicate” kits just for a few additional accessories.
We can therefore see that these are often quite specific kits for a “niche” audience.
However, we can notice that more and more kits no longer respect these rules and are often completely “unpublished” kits coming from other media, such as Manga, Light Novel etc.
The problem is that these are often quite popular kits, but whose production and ease of access are quite complex, especially for a European customer.
We can find for example the vast majority of “Advance Of Zeta” kits or even the “Gundam Wing: Glory Of The Loosers” manga.
![Bandai Limited HGUC Rx 124 Gundam TR 6 [Woundwort]](http://www.xmodeltoys.com/photo/1406-1.jpg)
The goal of this label, when created, was quite logical.
It makes it possible to avoid releasing a kit that would potentially be a commercial failure and to control production.
On top of that, there are a lot of sprues that are recycled from other kits, which also reduces design time.
However, it is obvious that over time, Bandai also sees this as an opportunity to bring “rarity” to the hobby and allow the community to speculate.
This ultimately creates even more demand when a “reissue” is announced.
We can add that with the current health context, it is obvious that it is simpler for the brand to be able to fully manage the flow of customer demand.
We have therefore clearly seen that officially, it is impossible to buy them because the P-Bandai site is not available on the old continent.
However, it is still possible to obtain it.
There are of course international resale sites like Ebay. However, you must pay attention to the region where the item comes from and especially the price! Indeed, with the “scalping” effect that we are currently experiencing, many resellers are taking advantage of it to sell certain kits at indecent prices!
It is also possible to use “proxies” which act as intermediaries between the site and the client. However, this option is quite expensive and above all quite complicated for an uninitiated person.
You can also buy some from our store!
Indeed, thanks to an international network, we have the possibility of regularly providing you with P-bandai!
Of course, we cannot offer prices equivalent to the P-bandai site, because we have transport costs, customs and of course a margin so that the store can continue to exist.
We strongly recommend pre-ordering the P-bandai kits if you are interested! It is still quite rare to see them in stock on our site.
Do not hesitate to take a look at our dedicated page: https://riseofgunpla.com/categorie-produit/gunpla/p-bandai
All our items in stock are shipped from France, which guarantees fast delivery and no customs fees for the entire European Union.
No longer hesitate about a kit thanks to a more flexible purchasing experience: split payment and deferred payments of up to 30 days.
Secure payments thanks to Paypal and Payplug with attractive prices!
Payments in several installments possible via Alma and Paypal
Offer valid only in mainland France.
International delivery possible.
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