On November 17, 2021, the Plastic Model Kit Build Night returned to RESOBOX East Village.
This monthly meetup provides a chance for Plamo and Gunpla enthusiasts to come together and work on new projects, and this one was as lively as ever. About 30 people, men and women in their 20s to 40s, attended along with the Build Night coordinator, Tim Martin of Project Nutype.
The builders were racially diverse, with Caucasian, Asian, and Hispanic attendees all eagerly working on their models, offering tips to their neighbors, and talking about Gundam and other fandom-related topics and enjoying the company of fellow enthusiasts. A good time was had by all!
Gundam Planet, which specializes in selling Gundam plastic models in the United States, has a booth at each meetup. Some people spend as much as $500 (about 50,000 yen) at the event! It’s also an excellent place for people with no experience in plastic modeling to come empty-handed and enjoy, so you’re more than welcome to drop by with your friends! The next event will be held on December 15th, starting at 7:00 pm.
Appeal to audiences the world over!
We host a variety of Japanese cultural activities, including Kendama, Shogi, and Karuta. The Plamo Building Meetup was launched in January 2019 with the idea of “bringing plastic models, inspired by Japanese technology, to a wider audience,” and it is held every month except when prevented by the pandemic.
As this is the only meetup for plastic model kit enthusiasts in NYC, it is so popular that there are times when more than 50 people wish to participate and cannot fit in the venue.
While Gundam models remain the most popular, a number of people enjoy building a wider variety of models, and we feel that once more types of models are easy to come by in the U.S. the community will expand even more. If you are interested in making your products available to this group, please get in touch with us.
Creation is the key to fun!
Among Japanese fan subcultures, plastic model kits have a unique appeal. While anime and manga are mainly “passive” fandoms where people buy and enjoy seeing the products, Plamo and Gunpla are “active” fandoms where people enjoy the process of building the kits with their own hands.
In addition to assembling the parts, you can add your own special touches by sanding and painting the models, and taking photos of the finished product with a background. In this way, while the kits themselves may be identical, no two finished models are exactly alike. We will continue to expand the community and hope to bring it to the educational field in the US in the future. If your company or organization is interested, please contact us for more information.