Bandai Namco Chinese Horse Zodiac 2026 Toy Review

 I don't deliberately collect designer toys very often, but according to Chinese astrology, 2026 is expected to be a particularly challenging year for those born under the Horse zodiac, myself included. With that in mind, I decided to embrace the once-every-twelve-years occasion and pick up a small lucky charm in the hope that it might help me get through my Tai Sui year.

That eventually led me to the large version of the 2026 Chinese Zodiac Gundam, a Horse-themed designer figure. Although it was released under the Bandai Namco label, I suspect it was actually manufactured by a Chinese company, especially since the smaller blind box versions were produced by QMSV.

Since I'm not really a designer toy collector, I don't have much of an emotional attachment to this piece beyond keeping it as a symbolic good-luck charm. Part of the reason is that its color scheme feels a little contradictory. The figure is predominantly dark brown, which doesn't quite match my expectations for the Fire Horse year, where brighter reds or warmer tones would have felt more appropriate. If I ever come across one, I might instead try my luck with the QMSV Horse Zodiac version, which I might obtain thematically more suitable variant.