What's so great about it?　The Ingenuity of the Original Robot Series "30 MINUTES MISSIONS" (Hobby Industry Inside vol.55)

The "30 MINUTES MISSIONS" series of originally designed plastic robot models, which BANDAI SPIRITS Hobby Division has been developing since June 2019, has become very popular. Each of the robots, both friendly and enemy, comes in multiple colors, and by alternately replacing parts and attaching optional parts (sold separately), the series can be easily customized and enjoyed. In April 2020, a new aircraft, the "Rabiot," will join the series.
In the past, there were no plastic robot model series that were designed to be customized. However, we hear that "30 MINUTES MISSIONS" is selling very well. What is the secret behind its popularity?　We asked Mr. Naoki Saita of the Gundam Team, Hobby Division, BANDAI SPIRITS.

Has the Gunpla lineup captured the tastes of users?

─ This series started with the catchphrase "Create your own mass-produced models with unlimited customization! was the catchphrase that started the series, wasn't it?

Saita: In 2017, we released the Mobile Suit Z Gundam mobile suit Barzam under the HGUC brand. Up until then, the main lineup had been centered around the main character Gundam, and we had not released many models other than the main characters and mobile suits that played an active role in the series. In other words, mass-produced machines are popular as a "counterpart" to the main character's machine.
The following year, I was in charge of the development of the Lee-O, a mass-produced mobile suit that appeared in "New Mobile Suit Gundam W". We called it the "GUNPLA EVOLUTION PROJECT" and made it easier to assemble than conventional Gundam models by arranging the parts on the runners. As a result, what happened immediately after the release of the product was that customers were able to assemble the model immediately after purchasing it, and upload photos of the finished model, either unassembled or painted, to Twitter very quickly. Since it takes time to assemble the elaborate MG (Master Grade) and RG (Real Grade) models, it would be the next day at the earliest before we could upload photos of the completed models. However, we were able to upload the assembly review of the LEAO on the same day. There was a great deal of excitement among our customers right after the release of the product.
I thought that it would be a good idea to start a new original plastic model series based on the premise of easy assembly for customers who do not have much time to assemble them, and that was the trigger for the "30 MINUTES MISSIONS" (hereafter, 30MM) project.

─ ─ Didn't you think of trying to realize this easy assembly series within the category of conventional Gundam plastic models?

Saita: We call the easy assembly method "FINE BUILD," and the concept of FINE BUILD is inherited in every Gundam Model Kits product. However, depending on the design of the mobile suit, it may be easier or harder to achieve FINE BUILD. If that is the case, I thought it would be better to narrow down the number of parts from the beginning and create an original design based on the FINE BUILD structure.

─ ─ Using "Mobile Suit Gundam" as an analogy, you started the series with only GM and Zaku, with no Gundam as the hero, didn't you? Did you feel uneasy about that?

Saita: If we created a hero machine, we were concerned that people would be satisfied with purchasing only one hero machine. We focused on the fact that it is meaningful to have multiple mass-produced machines. The main character machine is a completed design. Rather, we wanted to create a series that allows customers to enjoy how much they can add their own flavor to the plain, bare bones of a mass-produced machine. We thought that the best way to allow for a wide range of customization, depending on the customer's taste, would be to develop only the mass-produced machines as plain bodies.

──Multiple colors of the same design have been released. Is it assumed that they will not be painted?

Saita: 30MM proposes a playful way of color coordination. When I analyze the recent plastic modeling situation, I feel that the number of users who paint their models is surprisingly small. I myself do not paint plastic models, and until I was assigned to the Hobby Division, I had never even built a Gunpla. I feel that there are not many people who are good at painting or who have an environment where they can paint. There is also the problem of where and when you can paint. Therefore, we encourage people to just replace the armor a little and play with the color combinations to enjoy the character. It is by no means that we do not want people to paint, but we have set the price range low so that people can start painting with the 30MM as a starting point.

─ ─ There are only three runners and poly caps, and one of the runners is multicolor molded, isn't it?

Saita: We have devised the arrangement of the parts so that once assembled, the second and subsequent models can be assembled without an instruction manual. The name "30MM" tends to make people think that the concept is "assembled in 30 minutes," but that would leave those who could not assemble it quickly behind. However, that would leave those who could not assemble it as quickly as possible behind. As for the name concept, our first thought was "you can be absorbed in it for 30 minutes. It is good to have each 30 minutes for painting, smudging, displaying, customizing, and assembling one more ....... We think of it not as the end of the assembly, but as a 30-minute period that allows the participants to move on to the next step. There is a term "piled plastic", but 30MM is a plastic model that does not let you pile it up.