Not so long ago, we reported on the fact that the Sega Saturn Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny games were getting cool action figures, and now the spiritual sequel to those games is getting its own model kit.
Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes launched in 1999 on the Sega Dreamcast, and, like the Blue Destiny games, is played from a first-person perspective within the Mobile Suit's cockpit.
Another commonality with the Saturn games is that the player character is not one of the franchises' famous 'Newtypes' (humans who reached a new stage of evolution which makes them especially adept at mech combat), but normal people using less powerful Suits than the iconic Gundam.
Set in Australia at the close of the One Year War, the player assumes the role of the leader of the White Dingo team, which, towards the end of the game, gets its hands on the powerful GM Sniper II Mobile Suit.
It's this Suit which is getting the getting the Master Grade model kit treatment (thanks, Ollie Barder). Designed by Yutaka Izubuchi, the mech has been featured elsewhere in the wider Gundam universe, but this particular model comes in White Dingo livery.
We already know this kit is going to be popular, as it's actually a reissue – Bandai is doing another batch in order to satisfy demand. Pre-orders are live in Japan and the kit launches in November. It costs 4,180 yen ($26). A Western launch is also likely.