Giant anime robots are landing in the Seattle area.
Bandai Namco is opening an official Gundam Base retail store at Westfield Southcenter mall in Tukwila, Wash., this fall, giving Pacific Northwest anime and model-kit fans a permanent flagship destination for all things Gunpla.
For the uninitiated, Gundam isn’t just a nostalgic cartoon; it’s a massive, multibillion-dollar global media franchise that revolutionized Japanese animation when the original “Mobile Suit Gundam” series debuted in 1979.
Owned by Tokyo-based entertainment giant Bandai Namco, the IP spans decades of TV shows, video games, and movies, but its biggest cash cow is “Gunpla” — a portmanteau of “Gundam” and “plastic model.”
Unlike standard pre-assembled action figures, Gunpla kits are snap-together, highly engineered mechanical puzzles that fans clip off plastic runners and assemble by hand, ranging from entry-level builds to ultra-intricate models with thousands of pieces.
Bandai Namco says the new Southcenter location will be built around four core pillars for visitors: “watch, buy, build, and learn.”
Rather than functioning as a standard retail shop, the flagship is designed as an experiential destination. Shoppers can expect life-sized mecha statues and immersive themed environments for photo ops, alongside displays featuring fully painted master builds spanning 45-plus years of Gundam lore.
The store will carry model kits catering to every skill level — from beginner-friendly “Entry Grade” sets to complex “Perfect Grade” builds — along with exclusive, store-only Gunpla kits and limited-edition merchandise. The location will also feature community spaces hosting building workshops, special activations, and hands-on guidance from staff.
The Tukwila store is part of a broader U.S. brick-and-mortar push by Bandai Namco. Alongside the Southcenter opening, the company is launching a location at the Mall of America in Minneapolis this fall. Both follow the late-2025 debut of The Gundam Base Chicago at Fashion Outlets of Chicago — the entertainment giant’s first permanent retail footprint in North America.
Watch a video tour from the Chicago store:
Read the full article here