GG Infinite News : Serving Gundam Model & Collectibles Communities
Since 2010

More Background on GGInfiniteNews.com

GGInfiniteNews.com was a specialized hobby-news and review website created for enthusiasts of Gundam model kits, Japanese action figures, anime collectibles, and related Bandai products. Active during an important period in the growth of the Western Gunpla community, the site combined product journalism, collector news, reviews, videos, release information, and direct connections to an associated online retailer, GG Infinite.

The site's own description positioned GG Infinite as serving the "Gundam Model & Collectibles Communities Since 2010." Archived material from 2011 shows a publication already producing a steady stream of news about Gundam kits, S.H.Figuarts, D-Arts, Kamen Rider merchandise, Robot Spirits and other Japanese hobby products. It was not simply a Gundam fan site. It operated at the intersection of enthusiast media and specialty retail, helping collectors learn what was coming from Japan and, frequently, where they could purchase it.

GGInfiniteNews.com is particularly interesting in retrospect because it captures an era when information about Japanese hobby releases was much less centralized for English-speaking collectors. Social media had not yet assumed its current role in product discovery, and Japanese manufacturers' international communications were more limited. Specialist blogs and hobby sites consequently served as important bridges between Japanese manufacturers and overseas enthusiasts.

The GG Infinite Organization

GG Infinite was associated with an online hobby retailer operating from the Los Angeles area. Contemporary Gundam Guy pages identify "G.G." as a Gundam enthusiast and owner of GG Infinite, described as an online hobby retailer in Los Angeles, USA.

The commercial operation used GGInfinite.com, while GGInfiniteNews.com functioned as a content-oriented companion site. The relationship was straightforward: news and reviews attracted enthusiasts interested in particular kits and figures, and product articles could direct those readers toward merchandise available from GG Infinite.

The archived site described GG Infinite's mission as supplying the Gundam model and collectibles community with current offerings from Japanese toy and hobby manufacturer Bandai. The surviving 2011 material reinforces that positioning, with reviews of Gundam models and frequent coverage of Bandai's expanding lines of character figures and collectibles.

GG Infinite also became closely intertwined with the Gundam Guy blog. Gundam Guy's publisher identified himself as the owner of GG Infinite, and the blog repeatedly promoted GG Infinite inventory, preorders, coupons, contests and new arrivals. This relationship effectively created an enthusiast-media ecosystem: hobby news generated interest, detailed images and reviews helped readers evaluate products, and the retail operation supplied many of the products readers wanted.

What Visitors Found on GGInfiniteNews.com

The central attraction of GGInfiniteNews.com was its combination of immediacy and specificity.

A collector did not merely learn that Bandai was releasing another Gundam. Articles could identify the exact model designation, scale, release date and Japanese retail price. Similar information appeared for Kamen Rider figures, D-Arts releases and other collector products.

The surviving October 2011 archive illustrates the breadth of this approach. Among the products covered were the Figma Fireball Charming Drossel, S.I.C. Kamen Rider ZX, Super Robot Chogokin Gokaiger Goukaio, S.H.Figuarts Shinken Yellow, S.H.Figuarts Super Saiyan 3 Goku, D-Arts Persona 4 Izanagi, D-Arts Rockman Zero and multiple Kamen Rider Fourze products.

GGInfiniteNews.com also followed Japanese hobby events. One 2011 item previewed exclusives associated with Tamashii Nation 2011 in Akihabara. Another reported on the Good Smile BMW team's 2011 Super GT championship. This broader coverage illustrates how the site reached beyond Gundam kits into the interconnected worlds of anime, tokusatsu, video games, character figures and Japanese hobby culture.

The result was closer to a specialized trade publication for collectors than a conventional online store.

Gundam Model Reviews and Team GG

Original reviews gave GGInfiniteNews.com more substance than a simple release-news aggregator.

Surviving material identifies several Team GG contributors, including PatrickGrade, JosieBeara, Figure Guy and Falldog. Products reviewed included the HGUC 1/144 RGM-96X Jesta, HG 1/144 Gundam AGE-1 Normal, MG 1/100 00 Gundam Seven Sword/G, HG Master Gundam & Fuunsaiki, HG Shining Gundam, HGUC GM Cannon II and MG 00 Raiser.

The reviews were not confined to text. Some were explicitly presented as video reviews or unboxing videos, an increasingly important format as hobby audiences migrated toward multimedia content.

There is independent evidence that these reviews circulated outside GGInfiniteNews.com itself. OtakuRevolution, for example, published a 2011 item directing its readers to Falldog's full Shining Gundam review at GG Infinite News. The excerpt discussed the model as a building experience rather than merely listing specifications, commenting on its simplicity, construction and poseability.

This kind of cross-site circulation is significant. It shows GG Infinite News participating in a larger network of hobby bloggers rather than functioning only as advertising for its store.

The Wider Gundam Guy Community

The site's community cannot be separated easily from Gundam Guy and Team GG.

By April 2012, Gundam Guy was approaching five million visitor hits and publicly thanked Team GG contributors PatrickGrade, Adam, Dan, Kemn and Falldog, along with readers who supplied news links through the site's chatbox. A giveaway celebrating the milestone offered Gundam kits and 50 GG Infinite discount coupons.

Five million visits to the related blog do not establish an equivalent traffic figure for GGInfiniteNews.com, and surviving evidence does not provide reliable independent visitor statistics for the news domain itself. Nevertheless, the number demonstrates that the media-and-retail ecosystem surrounding GG Infinite had acquired substantial visibility within its niche.

The community was geographically broad as well. Giveaway winner lists included names suggesting participation from many different countries and regions, while contests accepted submissions electronically. This mattered for a hobby built around Japanese products whose enthusiasts were dispersed internationally.

Contests, Giveaways and Participatory Hobby Culture

GG Infinite did more than publish product announcements. Contests and giveaways turned passive readers into participants.

An especially revealing example was the 2013 GG Infinite color-scheme contest. Participants were invited to create color designs for Gundam mobile suits using Photoshop, markers, colored pencils, crayons or other methods. The competition received 211 entries, with judging based on creativity, use of artistic elements and overall response to the work. Prizes included Master Grade Gundam kits and GG Infinite coupons.

That type of event reflects an important characteristic of Gunpla culture. Gundam models are products, but the hobby is fundamentally participatory. Builders assemble, paint, modify, photograph and reinterpret them. A retailer or publication that encouraged creative customization therefore became part of the hobby rather than simply a vendor to it.

GG Infinite also ran purchase-linked promotions. In late 2013, customers placing orders during an October-to-December period were entered into a holiday drawing, with announced prizes including a Tamashii Web Exclusive Metal Build 00 Raiser Special Marking Version.

Earlier giveaways similarly combined community-building and merchandising. An August 2012 promotion awarded Gundam kits, exclusive collectibles and coupons, while the accompanying announcement discussed the expansion of Gundam Guy's Facebook presence after an earlier Facebook account reached its 5,000-person capacity.

These activities show how GG Infinite blended publishing, social media, retail and community participation well before that combination became routine in online specialty commerce.

The Product Mix: More Than Gunpla

Although Gundam was the central identity, GGInfiniteNews.com covered a much broader Japanese collectibles market.

Bandai's S.H.Figuarts line was especially prominent, with Kamen Rider characters appearing frequently. D-Arts brought video-game properties such as Mega Man/Rockman and Persona into the site's coverage. Super Robot Chogokin, Robot Spirits, S.I.C. and Figure-rise products expanded the audience further.

This product mix made sense commercially and culturally. A Gundam collector might also follow Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Dragon Ball, Mega Man or other Japanese franchises. The overlap between anime fans, tokusatsu enthusiasts, model builders and action-figure collectors gave a specialty operation like GG Infinite an opportunity to serve several related communities simultaneously.

The news site therefore provided discovery as well as information. Someone arriving to read about a Master Grade Gundam could encounter a newly announced S.H.Figuarts release or a D-Arts figure that might otherwise have escaped notice.

Release Dates, Japanese Prices and Exclusive Merchandise

One of the most practical functions of GGInfiniteNews.com was translating the Japanese release cycle into information useful to overseas collectors.

Archived articles frequently supplied prices in yen and projected Japanese release dates. This was particularly useful for collectors interested in exclusives.

Premium Bandai and Tamashii Web Shop products presented a challenge to overseas buyers because many were not distributed internationally in the same manner as ordinary retail kits. GG Infinite built part of its retail identity around making such merchandise available to American and international buyers.

Years after the news site's 2011 period, collectors were still discussing GG Infinite as one of the possible sources for Premium Bandai products. A GameFAQs discussion about obtaining limited Gundam merchandise named GG Infinite alongside other specialty sellers, while another discussion described it as a viable choice for Gunpla and new releases.

That specialty availability was an important competitive advantage in the pre-globalized Gunpla retail environment.

Connection to Los Angeles and Anime Expo

GG Infinite's Los Angeles location placed it near one of North America's most important centers of anime fandom.

The Los Angeles Convention Center hosts Anime Expo, and Team GG was actively covering the convention by 2014. Gundam Guy posts from Anime Expo 2014 included photographs taken by Team GG at the Bluefin booth of upcoming models such as the MG Hi-Nu Gundam Ver. Ka and Gundam Exia Amazing. Those posts simultaneously supplied product information and linked the products to GG Infinite ordering.

This illustrates the advantages of GG Infinite's location. Southern California has long had a large Asian-American population, numerous specialty hobby retailers and major anime conventions, while Los Angeles serves as an important gateway for entertainment and merchandise from Asia.

GG Infinite could therefore participate both digitally and physically in a particularly active American market for Japanese popular culture.

Popularity and Reach

There are no reliable surviving public analytics establishing the exact traffic of GGInfiniteNews.com, so claims about its audience size should be treated cautiously.

The stronger evidence concerns the broader network around it. Gundam Guy's five-million-hit celebration in 2012 demonstrates significant traffic for the associated publication. Its Facebook presence had also reached the 5,000-person limit referenced by the site before a separate page was developed. Contests could attract hundreds of entries, including 211 submissions for the 2013 color-scheme competition.

These are meaningful numbers for an early-2010s specialist hobby community.

The longevity of the associated Gundam Guy operation is also notable. Posts promoting GG Infinite products remained visible years later. A May 2016 Gundam Guy article about the RG 1/144 00 Qan[T], for example, still included a GG Infinite ordering reference.

Thus, even though GGInfiniteNews.com itself is best documented through its earlier material, the GG Infinite/Gundam Guy ecosystem persisted well beyond 2011.

Customer Reviews and a Mixed Retail Reputation

GG Infinite's reputation as a retailer was more complicated than its enthusiast-media presence.

Online discussions show customers praising certain aspects of the business while criticizing others. Some collectors considered GG Infinite a good source for new releases and hard-to-find Premium Bandai merchandise. In one later GameFAQs discussion, participants described GG Infinite as a reasonable or legitimate choice, particularly for certain products.

Other customers complained about communication, shipping costs and customer service. A 2013 GameFAQs discussion included criticism of unanswered emails and shipping charges, while a later Mecha Talk discussion characterized the company's reputation as mixed, noting its usefulness for web-exclusive merchandise but also reporting difficulties involving pending orders and customer service.

These comments are anecdotal rather than independently verified assessments, and they should not be treated as definitive findings about the company. They are nevertheless useful evidence of how customers perceived GG Infinite at different stages of its operation.

Later forum discussions became more negative and included unverified allegations about fulfillment problems. Because those statements were posted by individual forum users and were not substantiated by authoritative reporting in the sources reviewed, they are better understood as evidence of deteriorating community sentiment than as established facts.

Awards and Recognition

No credible evidence was found that GGInfiniteNews.com itself received major formal publishing, retail or industry awards.

Its recognition was primarily community-based. Reviews were linked by other hobby sites, Team GG contributors developed recognizable identities, associated sites accumulated substantial readership, and GG Infinite's contests drew meaningful participation.

In the context of a specialist fan publication, those measures may be more revealing than conventional awards. GGInfiniteNews.com was operating in a grassroots hobby-media environment where credibility was built through frequency of updates, useful product information, photography, knowledgeable contributors and relationships with fellow enthusiasts.

Cultural Significance

GGInfiniteNews.com belongs to an important stage in the globalization of Japanese hobby culture.

Today, information about a new Gundam release can spread internationally within minutes through manufacturer social accounts, YouTube, Reddit, Discord, Instagram, specialty retailers and large hobby-news platforms. In 2010 and 2011, the information environment was considerably more fragmented.

Sites such as GG Infinite News and Gundam Guy gathered images and announcements from Japanese and Asian sources, organized product specifications, explained release schedules and presented the information in English. They effectively reduced the geographic distance between Bandai's Japanese market and Western collectors.

The model-building community also relied heavily on individual creators. A skilled builder's review or photographs could circulate from one hobby blog to another, producing a decentralized network of enthusiasts. The surviving example of Falldog's Shining Gundam review being promoted by OtakuRevolution is a small but useful illustration of this ecosystem.

GG Infinite also recognized the importance of crediting original information sources. A 2012 Gundam Guy giveaway announcement specifically thanked sources such as Gundam.Info, CyberGundam and Gtoys Blog for providing the underlying news that the site consolidated for readers.

That acknowledgement provides a revealing description of what these enthusiast sites actually did: they acted as curators and distributors within an international information network.

Why GGInfiniteNews.com Is Worth Remembering

Viewed simply as an old website, GGInfiniteNews.com can seem like a collection of product announcements for toys and model kits. Viewed historically, it is more interesting.

It documents how a specialized fandom operated online at the beginning of the 2010s. News, retail, blogging, user-generated reviews, YouTube-style video content, contests, Facebook communities and international product sourcing were beginning to merge into a single enthusiast ecosystem.

GGInfiniteNews.com occupied the editorial side of that system. GGInfinite.com supplied the commercial side, while Gundam Guy developed into the broader news and community platform.

The surviving 2011 material is particularly valuable because of its specificity. It preserves not only product names but prices, expected release dates, magazine previews, exclusives, reviews and the names of community contributors. It is effectively a snapshot of what dedicated Gundam and Japanese-collectibles fans were watching and buying at that moment.

The site also demonstrates how Gunpla helped transform model building into a global online culture. Builders did not merely purchase kits. They photographed them, reviewed them, debated them, created custom color schemes, entered competitions, exchanged information and followed Japanese events from thousands of miles away.

GG Infinite News participated directly in that transformation.

Legacy of GG Infinite News

GGInfiniteNews.com is no longer an active news destination in its original form. Its surviving pages identify themselves as historical material drawn from the site's 2011 archives and point readers toward GG Infinite's separate retail operation. The preserved material documents a site whose original purpose was closely tied to serving Gundam model and Japanese collectibles enthusiasts.

Its most lasting significance is not that it became a mainstream media property—it did not—but that it illustrates the infrastructure created by dedicated fans during Gunpla's expansion outside Japan.

GG Infinite News helped collectors identify upcoming merchandise, understand products before purchasing them and follow Japanese hobby developments. Team GG supplied original reviews and videos. Gundam Guy broadened that effort into a frequently updated enthusiast publication, while GG Infinite provided a commercial route to products that could otherwise be difficult for American buyers to obtain.

For collectors researching the history of English-language Gundam fandom, GGInfiniteNews.com therefore represents more than a defunct hobby website. It preserves a period when independent blogs, specialist online retailers and enthusiast communities played an unusually important role in connecting Western audiences with Japanese popular culture.

The names of the products alone—Jesta, 00 Raiser, Seven Sword/G, Shining Gundam, Kamen Rider Fourze, Rockman Zero, Robot Spirits and S.H.Figuarts—place the archive unmistakably in the early-2010s collector landscape. Behind those products was a community learning how to use blogs, video, social media and e-commerce together.

GGInfiniteNews.com was one small but revealing part of that evolution.