A Price Analysis of Perfect Grade Gunpla model kits

Welcome to what is already the fourth edition of our price analysis blog series, in which we conduct a deep dive into the pricing of Gunpla model kits. After our editions on High Grade, Real Grade, and Master Grade kits, it seemed like a good time to focus on the pinnacle of Gunpla: the Perfect Grade.

As always, we’ll take a look at our dataset first. For starters, the dataset used for this deep dive consists of 229 Perfect Grade offerings spread across 21 USA Gunpla vendors. The number of PG kits that have been released is significantly smaller than those of any other grade of Gunpla. Excluding P-Bandai kits and other rarities, this dataset covers 29 kits. For illustrative purposes: we track approximately 40 RG, 150 MG, and 400 HG models on our website alone. This by itself indicates how rare Perfect Grade kits are.

Anyhow, let’s move on. To kick things off, the average price of a Perfect Grade model kit is exactly $220. And the price of a typical PG kit, what we’d call the mean in statistical terms, is also $220. This is something that we didn’t see before in our prior deep dives. In fact, we commonly observed a highly skewed distribution of prices, whereas a small number of kits were significantly more expensive. As may be expected of Perfect Grade, however, all of them are pretty much similarly expensive.

This doesn’t mean, however, that all PG kits are created – or at least priced – equally. The Perfect Grade edition of the appropriately named Perfect Strike Gundam (from Gundam SEED) features the highest average kit price at just over $300. In second place comes the PG Unleashed version of the classic RX-78-2 with an average price of about $297. And the third most expensive kit is the iconic 00 Raiser introduced during the second season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, coming in at approximately $294.

Nonetheless, aside from the PG Unleashed RX-78-2, we do have some good news for fans of the OG Gundam models. When we exclude add-on items such as the PG LED units, the three (relatively) cheapest kits are the vanilla PG RX-78-2, the MS-06S Zaku II piloted by Char Aznable, and the MS-06F Zaku II in iconic green. The average price of these kits ranges between $131 and $143. However, one should be aware of the fact that these kits are noticeably older than the other PG kits available. As such, they may offer a proper nostalgic feel for longtime Gunpla fans but are probably not the smoothest build for those newer to the hobby.

Considering the hefty price tag of the PG line of Gunpla, we are glad to say that our website will offer your wallet some welcome relief. When we compare the average price of kits to their cheapest prices, we find that the average savings potential ranges between $22 and $30. Relatively, one can save between 10% and about 13.5% by doing a quick comparison of vendors. And let’s say you had a streak of bad luck in the past and just happened to keep getting the worst deal, the average difference between the cheapest and most expensive offer is almost $50! So, if you’re a frequent Gunpla buyer, especially of the more hedonistic kits like these, that means you could get between 1 and 3 more HG kits for your collection with a quick price comparison.

For now, let’s end with that positive note. The next article in this series will probably focus on the Full Mechanics line of Gunpla, so keep an eye out on our socials if that’s your cup of tea or if you’re just into Gundam trivia. Thanks for reading and until next time!