Bandai and Gundam: a quick history

[@bravo0105]

The advances Bandai has made in manufacturing engineering have been astounding. They can mold assembled movable joints and multi-plastic lay-ups on a single sprue. It’s insane!

[@hedgehog3180]

And it costs like 10 dollars too.

[@robolizard222]

That’s why I wish they did military kits again. Imagine being able to manipulate flaps on a wing? Or realistic suspension?

[@gundamdunham7479]

Gundam is a powerhouse franchise! It's been going 4 more 41 years & counting.

[@tytrehalf5354]

You have been on a roll, cranking out this great model company history vids. Great Job.

[@Specsp421]

In a somewhat similar vein as gundam (but without all the toyetic anime aspects) is SF3D/Maschinen Krieger line. Which started out as a bunch of scratch built power armors and mechs made by Kow Yokoyama, which later got picked up by Nito and Wave. The designs are super unique and creative, I highly recommend them

[@maxsmodels]

I am working in Nitto. Not much info outside of scaelemates

[@Specsp421]

@@maxsmodels maschinenkrueger.com has a lot of info on the lore of SF3D as well as an archive of a lot of kits

[@Quantarum]

A young friend of my put down $200 on one of the big Gundam kits at a con a few years back, he spent a lot of time doing research and took eight months to build it, but he was so proud of the results. I love seeing the hobby thrive in all its forms.

[@garfieldsmith332]

I saw one in our local hobby/toy store for almost $500 Canadian dollars. The sucker was in a HUGE box.

[@Iskelderon]

That choice of music is even more spot on when you do a deep dive into anime culture and how that song relates. Densha Otoko, Daicon, Gainax, Evangelion, mecha renaissance of the 90s, Macross sequels, Harmony Gold, ...

[@PsychoStreak]

To give you an idea of how big Gunpla has become globally, there's a World Championship, where you got through local, regional and nationals, and the finalists get flow to Japan for the awards ceremony. The work and passion people put into it is astonishing. Their current big project, for the 40th anniversary of Gunpla, is building a full sized Gundam that moves on it's own. The status update videos are very entertaining. Imagine growing up with a show, building the models, getting inspired to go into engineering or other careers, then getting a call asking if you want to help build a real, full sized, working Gundam. How cool is that? Oh, and they have made Gundam pinball machines. Is that old school enough? :)

[@Donleecartoons]

The Bandai story sounds like the story of the plastic modeling hobby in general -- the games take over. On a happier note, I have fond memories of the Bandai 1:48 military kits, particularly the WWII German stuff. They were available at K-Mart when I was a kid in the early 70s and cheap enough the folks would let me get one now and again. They were WAY over my skill level at the time and I remember thinking that each part on the real thing was represented by a separate (tiny) part on the model. For some reason I remember diorama instructions that came with one of the kits, probably the BMW motorbike with sidecar, that included directions for making a poncho from glue and toilet paper for one of the figures.

[@Ranalcus]

And with this vid you get me as a subscriber. Thank you for making this fine and cozy hobby channel.

[@zonegamma8197]

Those Master Grade Gundam are incredible

[@bizophone]

Just to add, the USA Gundam Store is an independently owned store. They are excellent though and if you're interested in any modern Bandai kits, their pricing and service is great.

[@N-Scale]

The Bandi 1/12 1966 Indy Turbine usually sells for around 1500.00 for unmolested

[@rapscallion3506]

The $1,000 Bandai Yamato Space Battleship in 1/350 scale is THE most expensive model kit I have ever splurged on.

[@MartintheTinman]

That is expensive. My most expensive kit is the Vintage Fighter Series P-40 at $660

[@garfieldsmith332]

Awesome. It must be an amazing kit. My most expensive is the Vosper MTB 74 St. Nazaire Raid at $ 175. CDN; peanuts compared to your kit. I saw a die cast Yamato pace Battleship the was fully functional, motorized moving parts and lights.. never did find out the cost. Would be too expensive for me.

[@Reuben-ny3]

That is a marvelous looking battleship.

[@SegwayBossk]

My most expensive was the Gundam Deep Striker at $200 lol

[@austinreed7343]

The only expensive kits I’ve really done were Master Grades, and some P-Bandai stuff.

[@stryderprime]

From a Gunpla builder who has been building Gundam Models on my channel for over 12 years now thank you for doing this short but excellent documentary

[@toolazy4names302]

I have a 5 bandai full interior military vehicle kits and I love how well detailed that all are.

[@robertboyd7458]

I built a full interior 1/48 Bandai Tiger Ii in the late 1970s, thought it was so cool. I like that scale, too.

[@1QU1CK1]

Ah Bandai, I still have a dozen or so of the 1/48 armor and figure kits and a 1/350 Godzilla perfect for a naval diorama. But Gundam, that brings up hobby store memories! America's kids can run any pipeline dry in a week, so when the Gundam craze hit all the kits disappeared-but not the demand. Everything that said Gundam was gone and Bandai was not in any special hurry to supply more. My secret weapon was the fact that many of the kits we sold were not in English but they were in the computer. The ones that no one could read were labelled Bandai or Gundam kit and they all had product numbers. So I kept my store in Gundams for months while everyone else was out. The tech on some Gundams must be seen to be believed. I sold one for like $300 that had 32 colors of plastic (and 7 kinds of plating) and parts molded on the tree in three colors! Kids didn't know they were glue kits, they fit so well they could be built like a snap together. Incredible.

[@johnashley-smith4987]

Thanks for another informative video on kit manufacturers. I had a couple of the Bandai 1/48th scale armour kits back around 1980-81 and they were quite good for their era, often with interior parts such as gun breeches and engines, and figures that appeared to be directly scaled down versions of Tamiya's early 1/35 scale figures. The tracks were usually the weakest point of the kits. The instruction sheets usually had tons of photos and drawings of diorama ideas, showing off other kits in the range. Sadly, they were very rare and hard to find, only one long since closed hobby shop in my area carried a limited number of them. As for the sci-fi and Gundam stuff, I have built numerous mecha and spacecraft models by Bandai, and depending on their age, they are generally excellent, and go together well. The drawback of the pre-poly-cap mecha kits is the move able limbs etc loosen up over time, leading to " floppy robot syndrome", necessitating gluing key joints in the interest of standing up! Anyway, sorry to ramble so, thanks for the video!

[@starcityofva]

Great cover of Mr roboto always enjoy your videos thanks for making them

[@csj9619]

Very high quality model kits, I've built several of 'em.

[@LanikinMalachite]

Has Max ever built a Gundam? Should I send him one to take on and customize? I'd like to see his take on it personally. :D

[@larrydee8859]

Great Bandai documentary, Max! !! Great model selection! I remember building their 1/48 scale armor, back in ,1974. Thanks for sharing!

[@Reuben-ny3]

Great video! Thanks for a good series on these model making companies.

[@genebohannon8820]

Not a lot of classic modelers would have any knowledge in this video. Great job Max

[@billballbuster7186]

Loved their 1/48 armour kits, the detail was really good for their day.

[@rapscallion3506]

Another stellar production!

[@Jack2Japan]

What a great episode. Your “brief” overviews always have plenty of good material that most of us didn’t know.

[@maxsmodels]

Thanks

[@guillermopelaez5859]

My goodness, I had that blue monopost racing car with the wired controller when I was a kid...! Didn't know it was a Bandai product... so many memories from your videos! Thanks! Talking about robots and universes, Maschinen Krieger could be a good subject for research to address in a future video. I know Hasegawa are producing them now.

[@sugarhillsrr]

Thanks again Max, great job keeping us model nerds entertained !!!!!!!!!!

[@ronbyrd1616]

Surprised you didn't mention the UPC connection (Universal Powermaster Corp.) And their awesome 1/16 Ford models - GT40 , Lola , Brabham etc . !

[@gustavoantonelli]

Wow! Great music! And totally agree about power rangers!

[@rogerhinman5427]

I LOVED the UFO tv series. No idea Bandai made kits of the series. Thank you for another great video.

[@danf321]

I have purchased and built many Bandai models and I have many unbuilt or partially built robot models waiting. Love them!

[@haytdotexe]

Great job love series.

[@williamporter7596]

Another very informative video history, thanks. I'me not into Gunpla but do have a few of the Pacific Rim kits, a lot of the Star Wars kits and really wish I had that Bandai Skydiver from UFO.

[@norikotakaya14292]

LOL! I've actually got two of those UFO Interceptor kits, but one of them is a kit put out by their rival company Imai. I'm a big UFO and Space: 1999 fan. Keep up the good work on these vids. I'm really enjoying them!

[@maxsmodels]

Do me a favor, open the boxes and compare them. The Bandai kit may be an Imai kit made on contract. I know Imai made their 1/24 scale N1K Shinden fighter plane.

[@norikotakaya14292]

@@maxsmodels No problem! It may take a bit. I've got quite a bit of my stash in storage in my old room at my mother's place and she lives in Florida. I live in Maryland. I'm due to visit her in a few months. I'll take some pictures of both kits and the boxes and let you know here when I have them.

[@kennyswonger5227]

Thanks for showing about other models.I've never heard much about.but I do have a collection of some older Tonka trucks.in storage boxes.even jeeps.thanks again.

[@dmikulec]

The 1/48th scale armor kits were great. I learned a log about tank interiors when I was a kid.

[@Wild-Dad]

Another interesting video. I have/had several Bandai kits in my collection, several of their new Star Wars kits. I have also have a series of small scale "Battleship Yamato" ships (from the original anime series), the original Thunderbird 2 pod equipnent sets and a few of the Macross kits. I had the UFO Interceptor once - I gave to a new home that I knew would build it long before I would. I also had the SKY 1 model as well. I gave that to the same home as the Interceptor. My friend then went and scratch built the "Diver" portion of the model. He gave it to me when he moved because at that time, he didn't have the room to display it in his new home. If I get a chance I'll send a photo of it. Right now it is in my brother's basement with the rest of the models i was earlier telling you about.

[@johnkleptz6261]

Thanks Max. But did you know the 1/48 full interior military kits Bandai produced were licensed by Monogram for production? The molds were lost at sea when the transport sank.

[@maxsmodels]

WOW, I had no idea.

[@fistofthetiger1591]

I remember the commercials for the Gunpla back in th late 90s/early 2000's. They made it sound cool to build them and even then they were pretty intricate.

[@gaborgenda9225]

From Australia: Keep up all the good videos, man, I love them !!

[@MirehManuh]

should've mentioned the gundam builders world cup which is an international contest where there are junior and senior divisions on building, detailing, customizing the models on dioramas and being judged annually.

[@mbryson2899]

I loved looking through their catalogs. I'm pretty sure I built a couple of their 1/48 planes. Perfect music, BTW!

[@denniskristos3800]

Correction: The original Godzilla (Japanese title "Gojira") directed by Ishiro Honda was released in 1954, not 1953. The Americanized/re-edited version of Godzilla with additional Raymond Burr scenes, "Godzilla: King Of The Monsters!", was released in 1956.

[@maxsmodels]

Oops, you are right. I keep mixing the dates up with War of the Worlds.

[@denniskristos3800]

@@maxsmodels George Pal's "War of the Worlds" is finally getting the Blu-ray treatment from Criterion. 2.0 mono uncompressed audio and a 5.1 mix from Star Wars' Ben Burtt. Lots of other extras as well --some from the '05 DVD release Release in early July.

[@maxsmodels]

At least I got it right in the 'credits' 11:54

[@maxsmodels]

@@denniskristos3800 great

[@SCSuperheavy114]

Awesome Star Wars kits!

[@bravobob1]

Love the music !

[@mr.gunzaku437]

Thanks for this video, I was always curious how and when this giant got started. Gunpla makes up the vast majority of my collection but it's mostly the Zeonic designs from the older series like 0079, 0083, 08th MS Team, etc. Because I love that old school look. The Gundams, though I have a few, just don't really do it for me as their look is pretty toyish. The Zaku 2 looks more like a machine of war.

[@abnerdoon4902]

Nice, another Zaku fan. I have about five of them now and 4 other Zeon mobile suits.

[@austinreed7343]

I’m trying to collect as many Zaku variants as possible in the 1/144 scale. I have the Origin and 0079 Char Zakus, plus the Zaku 1, Zaku 1 Sniper, Stardust Memory Zaku…

[@PearComputingDevices]

Progressive rock forever! I had a lamp when I was a kid with with one of their robots nailed to it. Whoever made it did a fantastic job, because it looked real.

[@MartintheTinman]

I have a 1/24 Ban Dai Mustang. It has markings for an A number R.A.A.F. aircraft

[@garfieldsmith332]

I did not realize that they were that big and so diversified. I remember having some of their military and sci-fi kits. A lot of motorization and other things that made them more like toys than models. I wonder if anyone has all 2,000 Gundam kits in their stash. As for the 1953 film Gojira, yes it is a very dark film. I prefer it over the "Americanized" version. All of the dialogue and scenes referring to he atomic bombs dropped on Japan were remove.

[@newrandom3066]

Try googling "Dalong net" first result is the website of a Gunpla enthusiast from Korea who I think has built all that 2,000 plus Gundam kits (or at least pretty close).

[@gorrammit]

“GUNDAM!” (shows a Bandai Go-Bots figure)

[@Kamugin1]

Besides Gundam, they also produce Space Battleship Yamato models, another anime series of huge success, I have some kits of this line. Plus their Enterprise NCC-1701-A from The Wrath of Khan is one of my most cherished models.

[@FastSports-ScaleCarGarage]

So enjoyable and educational! Thanks so much, keep 'em coming!

[@jamesripley6712]

I had a couple of dozen of their 1/48 tank kits back in the mid 70s . Quite revolutionary for the time with the interiors and seperate crew and engine hatches . Their figures , like most Japanese company figures of the time ( Tamiya ) , were a little on the small size , probably basing them off of the average Japanese citizen , modern kits have a better scale look . Sure wish they would re pop their 1/48 tanks , I just loved them , and with 40 plus years of modelling under my belt I could really detail the crap out of them

[@jaimehudson7623]

Worked at Bandai America for 10 years. Most fun job I ever had, and awesome people. But Gundam kits are insane to build!

[@Iskelderon]

Gets even crazier when you add transformable Gundams to the mix, like Kyrios.

[@DickieDelouise]

Very informative video🙂 I never knew Bandai was so diverse!

[@soaringbumnm8374]

Bandai 1/48 military were my drug of choice !!!

[@stephenduffy5406]

The 1/48th German armor kits were great. Many of them had full interiors. I remember building the Tiger I , the Panzer Mark II, the Hanomag and the Hetzer. What happened to those moulds?

[@SaturnCanuck]

As a fan of Gerry Anderson ----- How many of their kits did i own. Thunderbirds, UFO, etc. And of course my Space Battle Ship Yamato.

[@thedudemeisteragain]

Got some of those Yamato 2099 small spaceships only like 4 dollars here in Japan, but great quality

[@kevinnazario1015]

Bandai is a monster. The tech and quality second to none. I startes to get in to gundam around 1995 . later i got most of the old military 1/48 kits. Even those 70' s kits were better than most revell or monogram kits of their time. Most have full or partíal interiors. And the recent star wars stuff is just brilliant.

[@cowpaca9217]

The very first Gundam show was almost canceled, but was saved because the Bandai models sold so well

[@hedgehog3180]

I think Gunpla is the single biggest line of kit models in the world. You can see why they focus so heavily on it and it seems to be a winning strategy.

[@maxsmodels]

it is a business, you make what sells

[@nigelcharlton-wright1747]

Had a very good model of a Volvo 165, I was meant to have picked up a model of what I thought was a Ford Cortina Mk3, might have been a Ford Taunus, dah when I was in Bins of Sunderland back in '72. Don't know what happened to it I think my mother chucked it in the dustbin, also had a strange model of a Bedford CA police van. Lost that one in a house move 20 years ago! By the way did Bandai make Tonka Toys later on because I had one that was made in Japan from the late '70's? Great up load.

[@ecidaho]

With you the UFO kits. Would love to have the Interceptor, Skydiver, and Mobile kits. Had the Aurora Godzilla glow in the dark kit thousand years ago. I build 1/35 armor but also alot of Gunpla as well. Take care and thanks!

[@balikolaci1]

...and they have made an 1/24 full interior N1K2-J George model back in the '70s, well before e.g. Zoukei Mura even founded.

[@maxsmodels]

That was actually an Imai kit (according to Scalemates)

[@yi_hou3092]

I still remember that Bandai still owns the Toys and the License to the Japanese version of the Go Bots, Also thanks for explaining Bandai Spirits, I was confused why bandai placed a blue color on their current Logo on selected HGs had that logo and now I see why thanks for clearing it up

[@model-man7802]

I had the Star Blazers Kits.👍

[@danf321]

When I was building Gundam robots a TV show called Tranzor Z was on. I was in 7th Heaven! Happily I have all 17 episodes of Tranzor on DVD! 👍

[@richardtallent8175]

Sure miss those 1/48 armor kits. Ahead of there time. They had interior details. Thanks.

[@SegwayBossk]

I own most of the Ultraman all model ships and vehicles. I even have the bigger non Bandai version of the Ultrahawk-3. I never saw the show or knew anything about it but the models were so cool I had to check out the show. Great details and quality for kits not much biggrr than a Hotwheels car

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

I've built quite a few Gunpla including the old ones that require glue and paint. All thanks to Gundam Wing when I first saw it.

[@MozziMono]

I have a lot of Gobots or Machine Robo from Bandai-Tonka!

[@muskokamike127]

Tonka are the bomb.....that blue pickup is worth a small fortune if it is 100% original as new.

[@rd4in37]

I have a 1/30 Jagdpanzer iv........motorised......by Bandai....not many 1/30 scale kits around...although I do have a Nichimo Panzer iv....motorised.....to boot......

[@calvingifford9442]

Dang! I've only built about 20~25 Gundam kits and have about that many in the stash. I'm more into the classic series anyway but I had no idea they had that many! Great video!!

[@garfieldsmith332]

That leaves you with only about 1950 to get. :-)

[@claycountybrian5645]

Greetings from Clay County, Missouri! wow Great timing Max! Earlier tonight I just dug a Bandai Cutty Sark out of my garage that I'd forgotten about . Not really into boats (I know ship) but I'm that bored. Thanks again from the 59 yo kid 86 thumbs up! later cool I saw Styx with Rick Derringer, Steve Miller and Peter Frampton Summer of '77 (or was it '78?) @ Arrowhead in KC GRRRReat show from what I do remember \m/

[@jhaybz29]

Omg!! Amazing stuff sir!

[@OMEGATECH]

Awesome video once again , Bandai is definitely a Powerhouse, to bad a lot of their sci-fi kits have been discontinued like some of their futuristic space vehicles. And it still amazes me that they were able to produce kits based on the UFO TV series because to my understanding the divorce Jerry Anderson was going through basically put a lock down on everything UFO and space 1999 related.

[@rooseveltbrentwood9654]

“it’s a gundam!”

[@kenshores9900]

Just unusual. Were they manufacturers of Transformers? Yet another weird but bizarre video. Do like your endings.

[@delio2681]

one of my favourite brand toy company

[@markfrench8892]

I have one of the 1/48th scale Jeeps that I've never gotten around to building. Some day hopefully.

[@hertzair1186]

Mark French : seems their 1/48 armor/vehicle kits...as they are so scarce...go for premium on EBay. (Who else made and where else can you find 1/48 armor/vehicles)

[@richardklug822]

The only other 1/48 armor kits available then that I remember were those made by Aurora. IMO, these were not as well detailed or complete (no interiors, no engines) as Bandai ones. The 1/48 plastic armor kit market lay dormant for about 20 yrs., until Tamiya, Hobby Boss, AFV Club and a few others joined in.

[@mrains100]

Thank you very much! And just to be a pain...Accurate Miniatures was[?] made some really nice kits.

[@Spindrift-id1ez]

ULTRAMAN!!!.. I recently obtained a DvD box set of the original series.. Cool part is it had the Original Japanese language version of the episodes with American subtitles AND it contained the American released version of the episodes.. The farout part was to learn that the story dialog between the two versions was very different in what the characters where saying.

[@Paladin1873]

When I was in Japan in 1971, Ultraman was airing on their TVs.

[@kerberos7475]

Great video! I think it would be great if you could do some videos on some of the more recent brands which dont have as long of a history as many of these but create some of the highest quality molds of military kits. Just to name a few Takom, Rye Field Model and Great Wall Hobby have only existed in the last 20 years but even with that I believe there is a decent amount of interesting information. One of these that I think would really deserve a video is Wingnut Wings which is a company created 11 years ago by peter jackson that specializes in world war 1 aircraft. Wingnut by far without any doubt creates the finest detail and quality kits of biplanes and maybe in even aircraft, unfortunately very recently news have come out that they are closing down due to the virus, while no official statement has been given saying that they are permanently closing down, many sources confirm that unfortunately.

[@maxsmodels]

Great suggestions, WIngnuts is lucky to have a superlative sugar-daddy in Jackson. If I had the $$ I would create a company like that.

[@dungtrumpet5490]

Another very interesting vid on model kit history. If you haven't done it already, do you think you could do videos on Lincoln International/Kader models, and maybe a vid on Hobbycraft Canada? Just as an aside, I have put a challenge down to some online modellers I know to do a straight out-of-the-box build on any Starfix kit they choose. So far one guy has taken up the challenge and has bid on the Starfix Spitfire "Mk 21" and is raring to give it a go.

[@garfieldsmith332]

I believe Hobbycraft Canada went defunct years ago. I remember the big issue that occurred when they were re-issuing the Avro Arrow in 1/72 scale. The kit was being molded on Korea and some Canadians got riled over that. I have both the 1/72 and 1/48 Avro Arrow kits in my stash.

[@dungtrumpet5490]

@@garfieldsmith332 I did the original Hobbycraft offering of the Arrow back when it first came out and I was probably about 14 at the time. It was hugely popular in Canada because it was the first time an Arrow model kit had been for sale since Aurora's kit in the late 50s.

[@maxsmodels]

cool

[@garfieldsmith332]

@@dungtrumpet5490 Nice. I have the two current kits as I said. I also have 2 of the diecast model that was released a few years ago. I built the original Aurora kit twice in the 50's. Also did the CF-100. Too bad Aurora bit the dust. The Hobbycraft version sold out in many stores. I am Canadian and remember the Arrow story very well. Never got the chance to see it at Malton airport.

[@dungtrumpet5490]

@@garfieldsmith332 I've only ever built one Aurora kit, and that was their 1/48 Fokker D VIII monoplane that came with a display base, and I believe a figure that was to hang onto the prop in order to kick it over.

[@Habu12]

I've built 60+ of their Star Wars kits. Absolutely superb engineering. The only gripe I have is the decals suck. Otherwise, fantastic! The problem now is, the license may not be renewed. And that'll be a huge blow to the hobby.

[@leecormack2413]

Their current star wars models are fantastically good.

[@maxsmodels]

I just did the Y-wing. Awesome

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

I wish they would re-do their Lotus 47GT... I can't afford an original, now in the many hundreds...

[@Cheeseatingjunglista]

Woe, how long did it take for you to fill your Vault of Musical Weirdness? The warnings are ace.....and necessary,,,,,,,,sorry, ,know you luv em. How the hell do you find out so much about obscure model cos, and get samples of the products? Brilliant, keep it up!!

[@maxsmodels]

The internet is large and people love to talk

[@Grundag]

Good morning. I need to talk a friend out of his 1/15 Bandai Hummel one of these days since they are a vanishing thing.

[@garfieldsmith332]

Those things are priceless. Last hobby store I new that carried Bandai 1/15 wanted $ 400 CDN for them.

[@marshallwhite7324]

I think is saw Mr Roboto on that corporate organization chart!

[@DavidLee-df888]

I'm sure that I read somewhere that thanks to all the Gundam stuff as well as Star Wars, Bandai is actually the world's biggest model kit manufacturer...

[@maxsmodels]

probably

[@WatcherMovie008]

Reason why Bandai also doesn't go back to sci-fi model kit is because they have a whole other division that specifically meant for sci-fi. They may not be model kits anymore, but they still sell because how Bandai markets them.

[@yanikkunitsin1466]

In Japan they go to great lenghts to keep their buisnesses "family-run". 98% of all adoptions are of grown men, 20-30 years of age. Heads of companies "adopt" their sons-in-law if they have only daughters in the family or they don't trust their own biological sons. Hell, they even adopt their employees! Great overview of tradition on the "Insider": amp.insider.com/japanese-adoption-rates-2000-2017-children-versus-adults-2017-1

[@maxsmodels]

interesting

[@HootOwl513]

That's a tradition that goes back to the old Samurai/Daimyo clans.

[@docdeth904]

There are companies there that go back 15 to 20 generations.

[@fanatichighdesertrailroader]

I've got several space warp kits.

[@wanfaichiu3465]

Great video, shame they won't release their UFO kits. Would love to build them.

[@michaelnaven213]

Really liked their 1/48 armor.

[@maxsmodels]

stuff is expensive on Ebay

[@richardklug822]

They were ahead of everyone else, making some of the first kits in any scale with full (though often inaccurate) interiors. The level of detail on their later offerings approached contemporary Tamiya quality and they made many Allied vehicles (Valentines, M-12, M-30) not available in 1/35 at the time.

[@michaelnaven213]

maxsmodels Bandai 1/48th armor series became Fuman. I still eleven kits unbuilt and one is an old Bandai Stug. The Bandai kit has real decals but the Fuman kits has a sheet that is anything but a decal. I bought an aftermarket decals for the kits. I built the Jagdpanthers and the rest I cannot say what I will do with those. Yes, they bring a good price. I liked that they have a rudimentary interior and they go well with the 1/48 aircraft. Stay safe and healthy.