With the announcement of the RG Nu Gundam and the very near release of the RG Crossbone X-1, we can all get on the massive hype train, but where does that hype train end? Or rather where do we transfer to? Why are we taking trains? Why can't I ever win at Mini Metro?
We need more Asymmetry
Trains aside the RG Nu Gundam is radical looking. A truly great companion to what some call the pinnacle of the RG line, The RG Sazabi. With this announcement we are nearly done rounding out the main line UC Gundams and their counterparts. We still have the Alex, the Kempfer, the Zaku 2 Kai, the GP-02, the Narrative, Sinaju Stein, the Phenex and if we want to expand that we can look the F-91, V and V2. You'll notice there were no other Crossbone suits in there, we all know in some form, we will get the X-2 and X-3 at least. That being said, there aren't many UC kits left to design. Thus we have to start looking at some of the alternative universes.
Maybe in the next 5 years you'll be able to complete the 3 piece
Even within that we have a few already made. The Strike, the Strike Rouge, the Freedom, the Justice, the Destiny, the Strike Freedom, the Red Frame Astray, the Gold Frame Astray, the Exia, the 00 Raiser, the 00 Quant, the Wing Zero, the Wing EW, the Tallgoose EW, the Build Strike and many other special editions. We have a lot of a little bit from most of the big alternative universes, but there are still a lot neglected series. Here are a few examples.
Although not the least likely to happen, G Gundam is pretty far down the list of likely candidates. Borrowing tech from the Unicorn could make the transformation possible and we could get P-Bandai of the Gold forms of the Shining & God Gundams, but the Master Gundam would be the only counterpart. I would love the whole shuffle alliance, but let's be real, we don't even have good HG's at the moment. There could be a little reuse in the Build Fighters/Divers relm but only for a manga kit and a lot of new parts.As radical as a RG Tequila Gundam would be, there are a few more likely options.
Maybe One Day Old Friend
AGE may not be even mid tier for most people, but it did have some really strong designs. We see some possible Build Fighters/Divers reuse and some carry over from popular MG's. The MG Age 1 being affordable and a really solid build makes it a possible contender. The draw back is there is no real good counterpart for the Age 1. The Age 2 would make a much better transition if they left out the transformation or made it a parts former. The MG suffered a fair amount due to the transformation and the RG line has a troubled past with fighter transformations. We are looking at you RG Zeta. Not only could we see an Age 2 Magnum, but also P-Bandai of the other forms, such as the Sparrow, Titus, Swordia, the Double Bullet, an all white Special Forces colors Age 2 and the Dark Hound. Even going this far, there isn't a really solid counterpart for either the Age 1 or Age 2. With the Vagan suits being so radically different, I don't know if Zeheart would get a nice little RG to pilot.
If we got both this and the Dark Hound, You could smash them together.
An underdog that could still kinda tie into the UC would be the Turn A & Turn X Gundams. Both having a fairly large following and the new nano skin MG's coming out, this could be a good time to bring these to life. With solid MG's already existing, this could stand to be the next big RG. Both lend themselves to a good amount of surface detail and movable gimmicky parts, they'd fit right in. We could even get little metal chains for the Gundam Hammers. There is a lot of possibilities with these two, but that would really be it. Unless we got a "new" Zaku 2, Turn A edition.
Probably the most likely of the underdogs to get attention would be the X Gundam from, you guessed it, X Gundam. What a plot twist. A fairly popular design from a less than fan favorite series. A RG X Gundam could lead to some usage for the Build Fighters series as well. The satellite canon chest receiver and the wings would look stellar with the RG treatment. If the could do what they did with the Tallgoose and Sazabi, basically shrink the MG's and retool some things, they'd have a really solid kit. I mean it has worked for arguably the two best RG's to date, plus the NU and X-1 Crossbone are following the same trend. Maybe even some P-Bandai G Bits, or an X Divider. That would lead to the potential of the Double X, something I am less excited to think about, and the other main suits like the Virsago, Airmaster and Leopard.
I mean who wouldn't love this piece of 90's edge
The super unlikely pick would be Iron Blooded Orphans series. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see what the RG level of detail would look like with all the tubes, hoses and pistons, but they don't have MG's yet. If you want to talk about P-Bandai hell, this is your spot. The Barbatos had some many different iterations, we'd be lucky to see 2 normal releases. The first form and the Lupus Rex would be the main two, with everything else being locked away behind those monotone boxes. We'd possibly see a Bael and the Kimaris Vidar as well, but no real Vidar or Grimgerde.
I'll at least note that I hope we see the rest of the Endless Waltz kits and even some show versions, but I am not holding my breath. At the moment I feel like the Wing line has seen all it will see for a good long while. With all the Geese coming out, maybe we'll get an Epyon but still no Taurus for your boy.
This is Bandai's response to my constant commenting about the Taurus
Of course I can't forget about our lord and Savior, the G Savior. Super unlikely but maybe with a new live action Gundam movie well see a return to our roots. Our Canadian B film roots.
To expand on the 2nd most filled out universe, the Cosmic Era, we could see the rest of the GAT- Boys. We typically see the rival suit as well and we are missing the Aegis still. We did get the Justice but still the Strike is lonely. Kira needs his boy Athrun. I mean it is the next logical universe to fill out. It is the 2nd most in terms of content and for a while popularity. That may not be fair to say, since Destiny exists and there is more content than any other alternative universe, however business is rarely fair. I think the rest of the GAT boy band would be fantastic and a pretty popular decision. Following their MG's lead and making at least one P-Bandai would be the most likely occurrence, if not three ending up in the P-Bandai prison. The Strike and Aegis being normal releases and slating the Duel, Buster and Blitz for P-Bandai could work out fairly well. As long as the Aegis doesn't transform. They could re-release the Freedom Gundam along with the Savior and the Impulse series if all went well, thus finishing out the Cosmic Era suits. Kinda.
00 would be next on the content list, but outside of filling out the main Gundams, the only thing we have to look at would be counterparts. I would love to see Graham's Over Flag, and it might be the first to pull off a decent fighter transformation. A fairly simple design and transformation could make this a solid release.Hell even pull a Zaku 2 with it, make the Over Flag and the regular Flags. Maybe even through everyone's favorite cameo character some love. Patrick Colasour deserves to have a RG to get wrecked in. The GN-X's could also have a lot of reuse potential, between color swaps and minor changes to customs. Yes the MG Dynames is out and yes that is a possibility, but how long did it take us to get that? Plus the RG line doesn't really like to show love to the rest of the boy band.
Look at that face and tell me he doesn't deserve an RG
To round us out I wanted to conclude with the RG Build Fighters/Divers line. I have brought it up a lot, mainly because it is a cheap way for Bandai to make money and give us things we wouldn't have other wise. If Bandai wants to give us an Age 2 Magnum, I ain't going to complain. Reuse those molds and give us some more sweet, bank draining plastic. I still need my RG Wing Fenice and a mini Ricardo Felini.
My money is on a Turn A or X Gundam being the next big things. I case you thought I forgot about G-Reko, I didn't, I ignored it on purpose.
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