Gunpla Grades Explained: Gundam HG, RG, MG, PG

I've built over 150 Gunpla kits, and the question I still get most isn't about panel lining or topcoats. It's the basic one: what do HG, RG, MG, and PG actually mean, and which Gundam model kit grade should I buy first?

"Grade" is just Bandai's label for how big, how detailed, and how hard a Gunpla kit is. Gunpla grades and Gundam model grades are the same thing. Gunpla is short for Gundam plastic model, so whether you search "Gundam grades" or "Gunpla grades," you land on the same system.

Which Gunpla grade should I start with?

Start with HG (High Grade). An HG kit is 1/144 scale, costs about $14 to $35, needs only a $15 pair of nippers, and builds in 2 to 4 hours. If you want a true no-tools test run first, grab an Entry Grade RX-78-2 for about $10. Save RG, MG, and PG until you've finished five or so HGs.

That's the short answer. The rest of this guide covers every grade, what each one costs right now, and how big it looks on a shelf.

Gunpla grades in order (easiest to hardest)

If you just want the list, here are the main Gundam kit grades ranked by difficulty, from first-kit friendly to month-long project:

1. EG (Entry Grade): 1/144, no tools needed
2. SD (Super Deformed): chibi, no fixed scale
3. HG (High Grade): 1/144, the standard starting grade
4. RE/100 (Reborn One Hundred): 1/100, simpler than MG
5. Full Mechanics (FM): 1/100, no inner frame
6. MGSD (Master Grade SD): chibi with an MG-style frame
7. MG (Master Grade): 1/100, full inner frame
8. RG (Real Grade): 1/144 with an inner frame and tiny parts
9. MGEX (Master Grade Extreme): 1/100 luxury MG
10. PG (Perfect Grade): 1/60, the big showpiece
11. PG Unleashed: 1/60, the current top of the line

RG sitting above MG surprises people. It's smaller, but the parts are tiny and the frames are fiddly, so many builders find RG harder than MG. By size alone, the order is SD, then the 1/144 grades (EG, HG, RG), then 1/100 (RE/100, FM, MG, MGEX), then 1/60 (PG, PG Unleashed), then 1/48 Mega Size.

Gunpla grade comparison chart

Here's every grade side by side. Prices are typical U.S. retail ranges I checked on October 2, 2026 at USA Gundam Store, Gundam Planet, and Amazon listings. Limited P-Bandai releases, special coatings, and third-party resellers run higher.

A note on part counts: Bandai doesn't print them on most boxes, so those ranges are rough figures from my own builds, not official numbers. The one I can point to is the Entry Grade RX-78-2, which Gundam Planet lists at 74 parts. Build hours are my own snap-build times without painting. Your first few kits will run slower, and that's normal.

Gunpla scale and size: how big is each grade?

Scale is a ratio against the "real" mobile suit. The RX-78-2 is 18 meters tall in the anime, so the math works out like this for that suit:

• 1/144 (EG, HG, RG): about 12.5 cm, or 5 inches
• 1/100 (MG, RE/100, Full Mechanics, MGEX): about 18 cm, or 7 inches
• 1/60 (PG, PG Unleashed): about 30 cm, or 12 inches
• 1/48 (Mega Size): about 37.5 cm, or 15 inches

Bigger suits scale up. A 1/144 Sazabi or Nu Gundam stands noticeably taller than a 1/144 RX-78-2. SD kits have no scale at all; they're built to a fixed chibi size, usually a few inches tall.

If you're short on shelf space, this matters more than price. Three MGs fill a shelf that holds eight HGs.

EG (Entry Grade): what it means and what it costs

EG stands for Entry Grade. It's 1/144 scale and designed to be someone's first Gunpla kit. Bandai first used the name in 2011 and relaunched the line in 2020.

The parts twist off the runners by hand, so you don't need nippers, a hobby knife, or glue. The EG RX-78-2 costs $9.95 at Gundam Planet and $9.99 for the Ecopla version at USA Gundam Store. I've seen it listed around $14.50 on Amazon. It takes under an hour.

The trade-off: limited articulation, simplified detail, no inner frame. It's a great gateway kit. It's not something you'll display next to your MG collection.

Buy it if you've never built anything and want to know whether you'll like this hobby before spending real money.

SD (Super Deformed): the chibi grades

SD means Super Deformed: big head, tiny body, cartoon proportions. There's no scale. SD is really a family of lines:

• BB Senshi and SD Gundam EX-Standard: the cheap, simple ones. EX-Standard kits were $10.99 to $12.99 at USA Gundam Store and $12.95 at Gundam Planet when I checked. One to two hours each.
• SD Gundam Cross Silhouette (SDCS): adds a simple inner frame for better posing. $22.95 to $24.95 at Gundam Planet.
• MGSD (Master Grade SD): chibi proportions with real Master Grade engineering inside. The MGSD Freedom and MGSD Barbatos were both $54.95 at Gundam Planet. These are not kids' kits. Expect an evening or two.

A whole shelf of SDs looks intentional in a way a mixed shelf doesn't. They're also my favorite palate cleanser after a 20-hour MG.

HG (High Grade): the grade most builders live in

HG means High Grade. It's 1/144 scale, launched in 1990, and it's the workhorse of the hobby. If a mobile suit appeared in any Gundam series, there's probably an HG of it.

You'll see letters after HG that tell you which series it's from, not a different grade: HGUC (Universal Century), HGCE (Cosmic Era, the SEED shows), HG IBO (Iron-Blooded Orphans), HGTWFM (The Witch from Mercury). Same grade, same scale.

Prices I saw: the HG IBO Gundam Barbatos at $13.99 (USA Gundam Store) and $14.00 (Amazon), the HG Gundam Aerial at $17.99, and the HGCE Strike Freedom at $28.95. Most standard HGs land between $14 and $35. Part counts usually run 100 to 250, and build time is 2 to 4 hours.

Most HGs have no separate inner frame. The plastic pieces form the body directly, which is why they're quick and forgiving. Older HGs can have thin plastic, visible seams, and limited articulation, but anything from the last decade is a big step up.

Panel lining an HG and spraying a matte topcoat takes it from toy to display piece. That's the cheapest visual upgrade in the hobby.

This is the grade I recommend for every new builder. Your first kit should be an HG. Your second should probably be one too.

RG (Real Grade): MG detail at 1/144

RG means Real Grade. It launched in 2010 at the same 1/144 scale as HG, but with a full inner frame, higher part counts, and much more surface detail. Early RGs used Bandai's Advanced MS Joint, a frame runner that comes partly pre-assembled.

Current prices: RG RX-78-2 at $30.95 (Gundam Planet, while Amazon had it near $50), RG Strike Freedom at $43.99 to $44.95, RG Unicorn at $50.99 to $52.95, and the RG Hi-Nu at $62.95. Most RGs fall between $30 and $65.

Build time is the honest catch: 5 to 10 hours, and the parts are small. RG hands and fingers have a reputation for popping off when you pose them. It photographs beautifully, and posing it aggressively can be frustrating.

My take: RG is for builders who want MG-level detail with limited shelf space, or who love the 1/144 look. Don't start here. Build 5 to 10 HGs first so you understand how Bandai engineers a kit before you're handling tiny frame parts.

MG (Master Grade): the sweet spot

MG means Master Grade. It's 1/100 scale, launched in 1995, and if you want one grade that does everything well, it's MG.

MG kits have full inner frames. You build the skeleton, test the pose range, then cover it panel by panel with armor. That reveal at the end never gets old for me. Many MGs also include a pilot figure.

Prices I checked: the MG RX-78-2 Ver 3.0 at $60.99 (USA Gundam Store) and $59.95 (Amazon), the MG Barbatos at $60.95, and the MG Strike Freedom at $64.99. Older or simpler MGs like the MG Wing Gundam EW start around $41. Most standard MGs run $40 to $90 and take 8 to 20 hours.

MG Ver.Ka is the premium tier designed by mechanical designer Hajime Katoki. Ver.Ka kits have sharper proportions, big decal sheets, and gorgeous manuals. Prices run from $38.95 for the old MG RX-78-2 Ver.Ka up to $118.95 for the MG Sazabi Ver.Ka at Gundam Planet. You'll also see "Ver 2.0" and "Ver 3.0" on MGs. Those are re-engineered versions of the same suit, not separate grades.

MG is also where painting pays off the most. The surface area is big enough for weathering, waterslide decals, and panel lines to really show.

If you've built 10+ HGs and want to level up, MG is the answer.

MGEX (Master Grade Extreme)

MGEX is the luxury MG line, launched in 2020. Same 1/100 scale, but with plated and metallic parts and LED features built into the design. The MGEX Strike Freedom was $182.99 at USA Gundam Store and the MGEX Mighty Strike Freedom $279.99. Only a handful of MGEX kits exist, and they're closer to a PG in cost and build time than to a normal MG.

PG (Perfect Grade): the showpiece

PG means Perfect Grade. It's 1/60 scale, launched in 1998, and a standard suit stands about 12 inches tall.

Prices have climbed. When I checked, the PG Unicorn Gundam was $259.99 at USA Gundam Store and $252.99 on Amazon, the PG 00 Raiser $298.95 at Gundam Planet, and the PG Strike Freedom $325.99. Expect $250 to $330 for a standard PG today. Lighting usually costs extra: the PG Unicorn LED unit set sells separately for $219.99 at USA Gundam Store. The PG 00 Raiser box holds 58 runners, which tells you what you're in for.

Build time is 30 to 60 hours for a straight build. Every PG I've built took multiple dedicated weekends.

Here's the story I tell everyone: my third ever kit was a PG Unicorn. I bought it because it was the most impressive thing in the shop. I was six kits in before I understood what I was looking at on those instruction pages, and the PG sat in pieces for six months before I finished it.

Don't make my mistake. PG is for builders with 10+ kits behind them. Price it out first with our build cost calculator so the hours and the money both fit.

PG Unleashed: the highest Gunpla grade

If you're asking what the highest Gunpla grade is, it's PG Unleashed. It launched in 2020 with the RX-78-2 and builds in stages, which Bandai calls the Gunpla Evolution Link System. Bandai's PG Unleashed RX-78-2 page lists metal parts, etched seals, a full-body hatch-opening gimmick, and a built-in RGB LED that runs on batteries sold separately.

The PG Unleashed Nu Gundam was $689.99 at USA Gundam Store and $689.95 at Gundam Planet, with its own LED unit set at $179.99 on top. Budget 40 to 80 hours.

RE/100, Full Mechanics, Mega Size, and the rest

These lines don't fit the main ladder neatly, but they show up in searches constantly:

RE/100 (Reborn One Hundred) is 1/100, the same scale as MG, but with no full inner frame and fewer parts. It covers more obscure suits, like the Vigna-Ghina and Jagd Doga. Most were $42.99 to $62.95 when I checked. The RE/100 Nightingale is the outlier at $96.95.

Full Mechanics (FM) is also 1/100 with no inner frame. It gets a lot of surface detail and gimmicks into a kit that builds faster than an MG. It's best known for Iron-Blooded Orphans suits like the Graze Ein, and now covers SEED and Witch from Mercury too. The FM Gundam Aerial was $53.99 to $54.95, and the FM Graze Ein $80.99 to $82.95.

Mega Size is 1/48 and huge, about 15 inches for an RX-78-2, but it's built simply, closer to an HG in difficulty. The Mega Size RX-78-2 was listed at $100.95 at Gundam Planet (out of stock). So Mega Size vs Perfect Grade comes down to this: Mega Size is bigger and easier, PG is smaller and far more detailed.

Hi-Resolution Model (HiRM) is 1/100 with a pre-built frame that uses die-cast metal parts. Most listings I found were $145 to $217 and out of stock.

First Grade (FG) is an old, very basic 1/144 line. The FG RX-78-2 was $4.99 at USA Gundam Store. It's a curiosity, not a starting point.

How I'd move up through the grades

Start with one HG for $14 to $20. The HG IBO Barbatos is my pick right now because it's cheap, aggressive looking, and well engineered. Then build five to eight more HGs. You'll learn to read instructions, cut parts cleanly, and panel line without a mess. That knowledge carries straight into every higher grade.

After that, pick your direction. If you love detail and have little space, try one RG. If you want a bigger canvas for painting, go MG. PG can wait until you've finished a few MGs.

The backlog grows faster than you build, so I log each kit's grade, price, and progress somewhere I'll actually check. Our Gunpla build tracker is built for that, and the Gunpla tracking tools roundup compares it against spreadsheets and other apps. For a full tool and supply budget, read the Gunpla starter guide and the Gunpla build cost guide.

You're not a better builder for jumping to PG faster. You're a better builder for understanding what you're doing at every step.