Gashapon HG In Blister Over 100 000 000 Memorial Limited Edition

I thought we'd take a look at another really out-there special release. Just take a moment to appreciate that someone came up with that fine and catchy product name. Yes, we are indeed treated to Gashapon figures packaged in a plastic blister so I guess it is fully correct, but give me some soul! Anyway, this commemorative special release celebrates an impressive amount of plastic figurines sold. Now, before you get too impressed we must begin by pointing out that no, we are not celebrating one hundred million Gundam Gashapon figures but rather similarily sized Bandai Gashapon figures belonging to any intellectual property - of which Mobile Suit Gundam is only a tiny fraction.


The Bandai High Grade moniker you see here refers to their Gashapon capsule-size figure range that covers anything from Gundam to Ultraman, Sailor Moon, Dougram, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Lupine the 3rd, Dragonball Z and Godzilla. This is similar to how contemporary brands like Converge and Robot Spirits are also rethemed for eg. Kamen Riders, Star Wars, or Neon Genesis Evangelion. Still, in this day and age it is an impressive amount of product the like of which we are unlikely to ever see again. I would be very interested to learn more about the actual production numbers for the different eras of Gundam figures but I guess these will never be shared with the public.


The charts on the back outline the full range of Gashapon HG figures released since the series' inception in 1994. You can use a translation app to learn more aboue the various brands and released featured in the range if you wish.


There is not a whole lot more to say about this item beyond its novelty status. You get a very basic display of Char's Zaku II and the Gundam in a kneeling position, which seems like an odd combination for a see-through package like this. The explanation is that both figures are shared with the mass-produced figure range, specifically the 19th retail Gashapon HG MS Selection set "Game Edition 2nd", released in the summer of 2001 (these figures are seen above). The two were released around that time. The HG In Blister theme was also used to make similar commemorative packages for other intellectual properties, I have seen the Ultraman package myself but I assume there are several variants out there.