![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1IMG_4744-800x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
CSULB alum Joaquin Alonzo holds up the two “backlogs” he brought to ASI’s “Build & Chill: Gundam” event \u2013 High Grade Gundam model kits gMS-\u03a9 GQuuuuuuX (left) and gMS-\u03b1 Red Gundam (right) on Nov. 6. Joseph Lee | Long Beach Current<\/p>\n
Over 100 eager Long Beach State students wrapped around the entrance of Peterson Hall on Nov. 6, spilling out from the hallway to the steps, leading into the walkway.<\/p>\n
The line was for\u00a0the Associated Students, Inc. Beach Pride \u201cBuild & Chill: Gundam<\/a>\u201d event, which featured giveaways of plastic model kits for students to build Gundam figures, eat snacks and mingle in an open space.<\/p>\n Gundam<\/a>, the immensely popular mecha anime, is a staple of its genre of giant robots, from its anime series to its model figures.<\/p>\n A long line of students wraps around Peterson Hall 1 as attendees wait for a chance to claim a free Gundam model kit during ASI Beach Pride\u2019s \u201cBuild & Chill: Gundam\u201d event on Nov. 6. Joseph Lee | Long Beach Current<\/p>\n Along with the giveaway, the event also featured an opportunity drawing, offering students who signed in a chance to win another model kit, regardless of whether they had received one already.<\/p>\n Students who RSVP\u2019D signaled first dibs on the coveted Gunpla model kits.<\/p>\n Within the first 20 minutes of the event, the 56 model kits whittled down to a few, leaving only those in the front of the non-RSVP line, some of whom had waited nearly an hour, with a chance to receive one.<\/p>\n Upon receiving a kit, students were invited to sit and build in the hall as a continuous montage of scenes from various Gundam series were projected on a screen.\u00a0<\/p>\n Students lucky enough to receive a kit were treated to an Entry Grade RX-78-2 Gundam kit,<\/a> the main mobile suit featured in the 1979 original \u201cMobile Suit Gundam\u201d series.<\/p>\n An Entry Grade RX-78-2 Gundam, the reward given to the first 56 students who attended ASI\u2019s \u201cBuild & Chill: Gundam\u201d event. Joseph Lee | Long Beach Current<\/p>\n Even luckier than the 56 students who received an entry grade kit was fifth-year French international student Prosper Wang, who won the opportunity drawing and a High Grade XVX-016 Gundam Aerial kit.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe person in front of me [in line] got the last [RX-78-2] kit, so I went in there and I was like, \u2018Man, I must be so unlucky today,\u2019\u201d Wang said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Joseph Bass, a third-year business marketing major and event coordinator for Beach Pride Events, had been working on organizing the event since February 2024, as a personal love letter to his anime hobby.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat really inspired me to do this event is my own personal enjoyment of building these kits,\u201d Bass said. \u201cIt was something I wanted to bring to campus. By hosting events like this, we can make the hobby more affordable and accessible for students.\u201d<\/p>\n Students build Gundam kits and enjoy snacks while a montage of scenes from the various Gundam anime series plays on the projector screen in Peterson Hall 1, Room 141 during ASI\u2019s \u201cBuild & Chill: Gundam\u201d event on Nov. 6. Joseph Lee | Long Beach Current<\/p>\n To compensate for the limited amount of kits, event advertising also encouraged students to bring their own kits to build. While not many listened, at least one did.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-IMG_4736-900x675.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3-IMG_4738-900x675.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4-IMG_4737-900x675.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5-IMG_4745-900x675.jpg\")
<\/p>\n