Jiji Press

LY to Ban High-Price Resale of New Mobile Suit Gundam Plastic Models

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
A Mobile Suit Gundam plastic model is on display at a museum in Shizuoka City in September 2025.

Jiji Press

12:36 JST, January 25, 2026

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — LY Corp., the operator of internet portal Yahoo! Japan, has announced a ban on the resale of new Mobile Suit Gundam plastic models and other popular snap-together plastic model kits at prices exceeding retail prices for a certain period on its flea market and auction platforms.

The move is aimed at preventing malicious high-price resale and hoarding.

According to Friday’s announcement, the company will prohibit listings of some new plastic model kits priced above retail prices on the Yahoo! Japan Flea Market and Yahoo! Japan Auction websites for three months after each product’s release date.

The ban targets products frequently subjected to resale and hoarding, including plastic model kits of robots from the popular anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, nicknamed “Gunpla.”

The regulation will be introduced on Feb. 6.

If violations are found, the company will take measures such as deleting the listing page.

In November last year, LY introduced a similar rule for newly released game software, banning high-price resale for a month after release. The new measure marks the second such initiative.