A mobile suit's abilities don't decide a battle's outcome. I'll teach you that!
Char Aznable, Mobile Suite Gundam
Wednesday night is Date Night for my lovely wife Karli and I, a tradition that we've maintained for over a decade, and this evening we decided on dinner at Zubu Ramen in Kerrisdale.
It's a busy neighbourhood at the best of times, and it took a couple of circuits of various side streets to find a parking spot. We ended up behind what I initially thought was a Toyota dealership vehicle of some sort, until I got out of the car and took a closer look.
The truck was a rolling tribute to the concept of "if you know you know". Its impressive iconography was derived from the Mobile Suit Gundam animated series, the polystyrene models of the various mecha in the Gundam franchise manufactured by Bandai Namco, and scale modeling in general.
Let's start at the beginning. The Principality of Zeon is the villain of the Gundam series, an association of Earth colonies which goes to war against the Terran Federation. Zeon created the first combat mecha, the Zaku I and Zaku II mobile suits, which led to the Federation's development of the Gundam in response.
We also have some references to Bandai Namco, the company that manufactures the various Gunpla line of Gundam models, the Tomica cast metal model car company, and the Tamashii line of toy figures.
The rear gate references Zeon once again, along with the Tamiya model company, and the Metalbuild modeling brand, which features a combination of metal and plastic components. (Not to mention a witty 1:1 scale reference.*)
But there were also a few just random non-Gundam stickers on the cab and fenders: VISA, KFC, Sega, Marlboro - cigarettes, in this day and age? - Los Pollos Hermanos, McDonald's, Shell, and so on. It's entirely possible that they were added post-production, so to speak, and were not part of the original design, but I didn't feel comfortable taking too close a look at someone else's vehicle.
Research revealed that, in fact, there had been a marketing partnership between Toyota and Bandai Namco in 2013, but it was for a customized Auris hatchback, not a pickup, and it was nothing close to being as detailed and involved as this example.
Ultimately, I'm at a loss - the internet seems unaware of anything related to a Zeonic Toyota pickup truck, I didn't see any site links on the vehicle, and, as per my initial impression, to the casual observer it's just another branded pickup. It may well be that it's just the property of a really serious Gundam fan, in which case all I can say is well done, sir or madam, full points for proudly flying your fandom flag - I look forward to your future work.
- Sid
*Conversations with my lovely wife Karli revealed that not everyone is familiar with the conventions of scale modeling. Generally models are categorized by the ratio of model inches to real life inches. For example, when I was young, I built a lot of Airfix 1:72 tank models, which meant that one inch on the model equaled 72 inches - six feet - on the original vehicle, making a 20 foot** Sherman tank about 3 1/4 inches long.
** In the unlikely event that any WWII otaku stumble across this posting, I am aware of the minor variations in Sherman M4 and M4A sizing, with a range from 19 feet 2 inches to 20 feet 7 inches depending on the iteration. Twenty feet was simply a convenient compromise for mathematical purposes, no need to leave any angry comments.
