Bandai announced at the 2022 All Japan Model & Hobby Show that it will release an HG plamodel of the Huckebein Mk-II from the Super Robot Wars: Original Generation series in March 2023. The set will include the mech’s notable armaments, such as the Photon Rifle, Chakram Shooter, and G-Impact Cannon.
Huckebein Mk-II will be the fourth SRW OG mech to receive an HG plamodel adaptation. Masaki Andoh’s Cybaster was the first unit to have a plamodel released in 2021. Kyosuke Nanbu’s Alteisen and the Gespenst followed suit afterward.
The return of Huckebein has been a huge topic in the SRW user base. There was an alleged copyright issue involving the Huckebeins due to their similarities in designs with Gundams. The issue started when anime adaptations of Original Generation began appearing in the late 2000s.
The anime versions introduced the Exbein as an alternative replacement with a different head design. Huckebein figures and plamodels were also mysteriously taken down and no longer put on sale in Japanese stores during the period. Ultimately, the 2012 PS3 entry 2nd Super Robot Wars Original Generation featured one of the series’ most infamous scenes, in which Armala Burton and her Galilnagant destroyed almost all prototype Huckebeins.
The latest Original Generations game to date, The Moon Dwellers, came out for the PS3 and PS4 in 2016. However, it still only included the mass-produced Mk-II and the series derivatives, such as the Exbeins and Yon Jebana’s Pfeil III.
The Huckebeins would eventually return in the more recent non-OG titles. The original Huckebein appeared as a bonus unit in 2017’s Super Robot Wars V, while the 2021 title Super Robot Wars 30 starred a new mech called the Huckebein 30. Series fans saw these developments as a sign that the copyright issue had since been resolved, especially after Bandai Namco acquired Gundam‘s license owner, Sotsu, in 2020.
Most recently, the ongoing mobile game Super Robot Wars DD brought back the Huckebein from the OG series. The “Last of Vanishing Trooper” scenario released in March 2022 told a new story about the previously mysterious third Mk-II unit in the canon OG universe. The mech is also available as a playable unit with its test pilot Shizuki Shizukawa in the mobile game. The upcoming model kit will be designed after this unit line.
The Super Robot Wars Original Generation series’ Huckebein Mk-II HG plamodel will release in 2023 with an MSRP of 4,950 yen (~$34).
