The Gundam Thread

Yesterday was fun. A small number of us were invited to go to one of the smaller Odeon venues to watch the 2 Hathaway movies earlier in the day. I appreciate given how much Sunrise screwed them over this was probably the most the involved UK parties could do for promotion. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the advance events for SEED Freedom and GQuuuuuuX Beginning and those had longer lead times.

Attendance was interesting. A lot of younger people which seems to be Bandai UK's current choice. Though from what I overheard a lot of attendees had no familiarity with Gundam, which kinda makes Hathaway a weird choice to drop on them. One or two watched the first movie and bailed before the second. Amusingly one seemed to twig I was an older guest (I hit 40 this year) and asked me if I'd been a Gundam fan since it started. I'm not THAT old 💀

We had an hour to do a quiz, 30 questions on Gundam trivia. Stuff like serial numbers, pilots, etc. This was something that made me further ponder the optics. I technically got every question right but these weren't questions people with no familiarity would get. So if a nerd like me wasn't present, were they shooting for anybody to get full marks or just have fun? And no, I wasn't taking it too seriously to spoil anybody's fun. Us top 3 all received a HGUC Xi Gundam (the version from the second movie).
 
I remain confused what the plan with marketing Gundam in the UK is. Back in spring we received 'A boy with Gundam', a short to mark the road to the 50th anniversary in 2029. It heavily celebrates the oldest of fans. They played it at MCM. It was before the Hathaway double bill. It's on loop at Gundam Base.

But in a practical sense, the marketing here seems to regard anyone older than 30 as bad optics. It's the crowd they engage with heavily, even when that crowd isn't interested. I mentioned on Saturday, a lot of the attendees knew nothing about Gundam and some walked out. Obviously you need to have fresh fans coming in and everyone has to start somewhere...but why this push to the detriment of existing fans, people who are clearly interested?

In the mid 2000s right as I was heading to university I was honoured to be part of a handpicked team who tested and moderatef GOUF, Bandai America's official Gundam forum. We reported to Keith Rhee, the original creator of the Gundam Project site (itself once inherited by the more famous loremaster Mark Simmons). We were chosen for a mix of our familarity with the franchise and our desire to support/grow the fanbase.

Compare that to the aforementioned idea, the current reality.

It baffles and depresses me. I know people who have paid out to do coverage on the franchise and received no acknowledgement. Meanwhile people that don't know and evidently don't care get opportunities and priority.

The two could feed into each other. Weaponise the fans who know their stuff to help bring in and support new fans of various ages. Eliminate gatekeeping by taking advantage of the inroads already made here.

They're wasting a prime resource and testing patience by telling the fans they do have we don't count, all to chase disinterested parties.
 
Umpteenth post by me in here I don't expect anyone to care about but- disappointing to see Gundam novelties Bandai America gives to EVERY fan who goes to comic con being restricted to VIP packages for the same crop of influencers by Bandai UK.

Just baffles me they think this is helping get more people involved. I've been at events in recent months and heard UK fans complain. There really needs to be a better handling of this.
 
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