Large anime robots are touchdown within the Seattle space.
Bandai Namco is opening an official Gundam Base retail retailer at Westfield Southcenter mall in Tukwila, Wash., this fall, giving Pacific Northwest anime and model-kit followers a everlasting flagship vacation spot for all issues Gunpla.
For the uninitiated, Gundam isn’t only a nostalgic cartoon; it’s a large, multibillion-dollar international media franchise that revolutionized Japanese animation when the unique “Cell Go well with Gundam” collection debuted in 1979.
Owned by Tokyo-based leisure large Bandai Namco, the IP spans many years of TV reveals, video video games, and flicks, however its greatest money cow is “Gunpla” — a portmanteau of “Gundam” and “plastic mannequin.”
Not like commonplace pre-assembled motion figures, Gunpla kits are snap-together, extremely engineered mechanical puzzles that followers clip off plastic runners and assemble by hand, starting from entry-level builds to ultra-intricate fashions with 1000’s of items.
Bandai Namco says the brand new Southcenter location might be constructed round 4 core pillars for guests: “watch, purchase, construct, and study.”
Quite than functioning as a typical retail store, the flagship is designed as an experiential vacation spot. Customers can anticipate life-sized mecha statues and immersive themed environments for photograph ops, alongside shows that includes absolutely painted grasp builds spanning 45-plus years of Gundam lore.
The shop will carry mannequin kits catering to each ability degree — from beginner-friendly “Entry Grade” units to advanced “Excellent Grade” builds — together with unique, store-only Gunpla kits and limited-edition merchandise. The situation will even characteristic group areas internet hosting constructing workshops, particular activations, and hands-on steerage from workers.
The Tukwila retailer is a part of a broader U.S. brick-and-mortar push by Bandai Namco. Alongside the Southcenter opening, the corporate is launching a location on the Mall of America in Minneapolis this fall. Each observe the late-2025 debut of The Gundam Base Chicago at Style Shops of Chicago — the leisure large’s first everlasting retail footprint in North America.
Watch a video tour from the Chicago retailer:
