MG Liberty Astray Red Frame: Dec. 2026, US $92.99 to $94.95

Bandai has not given a day for this kit, only December 2026 in Japan. If you want the MG Liberty Astray Red Frame from a US shop, plan for 2027: Gundam Planet estimates January and USA Gundam Store the first quarter. The strangest line is on Bandai's own English page, where one of the two swords is called "Tiger Earrings". Newtype's listing uses the same words.

As of Nov 1, 2026: Bandai's price and month and the four shop listings as shown that day. Bandai and the shops may change both; we recheck weekly until the kit ships in Japan.

Overview: MG Liberty Astray Red Frame release month, price and status

Neither page carries a Tentative name or a changed-month note. The English page gives the before-tax price; the Japanese page gives ¥8,250 with Japan's 10% tax. Both say only December. It is the one MG on the December 2026 Gunpla list, filed under Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM.

It did not start with this name. BANDAI HOBBY announced the kit's first display on X on Oct 17, 2025, at the All Japan Model & Hobby Show. Inside-games reported the label then as "MG 1/100 新アストレイレッドフレーム（仮）", a Tentative name that reads "New Astray Red Frame", with details, price and timing still undecided.

*Post: BANDAI HOBBY公式（BANDAI SPIRITS） (@HobbySite) on X (official), embedded.*

The post says the kit comes from the manga serialized in Monthly Gundam Ace. The final name, month and price came at the Shizuoka Hobby Show trade days in May 2026, per GUNDAM Official's photo report.

Diagram: PlamoDesk. Sources: BANDAI HOBBY on X, GUNDAM Official news, Bandai Hobby Site item and news pages, Gundam Planet and USA Gundam Store, read Nov 1.

What comes in the box, per Bandai's item page

Bandai's list is short: the Gerbera Straight, the second sword, a shield, one beam rifle, two beam sabers, a set of hands, a set of joint parts, a foil sticker sheet and a waterslide decal sheet. The page adds three claims for the build. The new frame gives "top-level articulation". It has "the most synchronized gimmicks in MG history". And both swords mount on the rifle, with a wrist part that holds the sheath.

The second sword is the odd line. The English accessory list says "Tiger Earrings", while the feature list two lines up says "Tiger Piercing". Bandai's Japanese page says it first: タイガー・ピアス, which reads as Tiger Pierce. The English page carries Bandai's own warning: "This website uses auto-translation". Gundam Planet's description says Tiger Pierce; Newtype's box contents say Tiger Earrings. Same sword.

The decal sheet is the waterslide kind, not stickers only. Our guide to Gunpla water decals covers Bandai's steps for applying one.

A US listing promises more than Bandai does. USA Gundam Store's product text lists a display stand, "dual beam rifles" and an "articulated wing unit", plus a height of about 18 cm. None of the four is on Bandai's list. Bandai's page counts one beam rifle and no stand, and it gives no height. Buy as if the box holds what Bandai lists.

GODEEPER: Which Bandai Action Base US shops sell for 1/100 kits, and what each costs. Gunpla Stands: Action Base 1 to 8 →

Analysis: MG Liberty Astray Red Frame vs the MG Red Frame Kai

The obvious alternative is already on US shelves. The MG 1/100 Gundam Astray Red Frame Kai came out in Japan in February 2010. Bandai's English page calls it "Astray Red Frame Revise". It lists at ¥5,400 before tax, ¥5,940 with tax (Official images).

Diagram: PlamoDesk. Source: our copy of Bandai's Japanese item list, read Nov 1; Japan prices with tax as listed that day.

Desk note: Our copy of Bandai's Japanese item list (6,504 items, read Nov 1) has 10 MG 1/100 entries named Red Frame, Turn Red or Red Dragon. Only two are general retail: the Red Frame Kai at ¥5,940 and the Liberty at ¥8,250 with tax. The other eight are Premium Bandai, Gundam Base or event items. For a US builder, the Kai is the one older MG Red Frame sold through regular retail.

The two kits are not the same package. The Kai's page lists Tactical Arms II, which turns into a flight mode and a bow-and-arrow mode, with the same two swords. The Liberty's page lists a new shield and a new beam rifle instead, and spends its words on the frame and the linked gimmicks.

The price gap holds on both sides of the Pacific. In Japan the Liberty costs ¥2,310 more with tax, about 39% more. On Nov 1, USA Gundam Store had the Kai in stock at $66.99 against $92.99 for the Liberty preorder, also about 39% more. Gundam Planet listed $68.95 against $94.95, about 38% more. That is $26.00 at both shops.

One more number from the same list: only two MG 1/100 kits dated 2026 carry no exclusive tag. They are the MG Full Armor ZZ Gundam Ver.Ka in February (¥12,540 with tax) and this one. Our Ver.Ka guide explains that label. If the $26 is the question, our HG vs RG vs MG comparison shows what the MG grade adds over cheaper grades.

When the MG Liberty Astray Red Frame reaches US shops

Not in December. Both US shops with open preorders give a 2027 estimate, and neither gives a day. That rules it out as a Christmas gift; our Gunpla gift guide lists seven picks, each in stock at a US shop when checked in late October.

Diagram: PlamoDesk. Sources: the four shops' product pages, Nov 1.

The two US preorders are $1.96 apart. Neither moved recently: USA Gundam Store showed the same $92.99 and Q1 2027 on Oct 11, and Gundam Planet the same $94.95 and January on Oct 31. Gundam Planet's page says the month is the North American distributor's estimate: "It is possible this date will be delayed." It also holds a whole order until every item in it is available.

Treat any exact day you see as a placeholder. Gunpla Hangar's kit page shows "December 1, 2026". HLJ's details row shows 2026/12/31, while the note on the same page says "Dec. 2026". Bandai gives neither. On Nov 1, no item on Bandai's Japanese December schedule had a day yet.

Days do arrive late. The HG Gundam Ashtaron's Japanese page showed only November on Oct 17, then Saturday, November 28 by Oct 21, about five weeks ahead. If the Liberty follows that pattern, its day will show on the Japanese page first.

GODEEPER: How the main US shops charge preorders and ship split orders. Where to buy Gunpla in the US →

What builders say

The kit is not out, so these are r/Gunpla reactions to the announcement, read through the Arctic Shift archive. The first is from a Kai owner:

"My mg red frame kai was always a plastic grenade and at this point one of his arms is glued in place. If reviews confirm it is all fixed I'm ordering immediately." u/Dorza1 on r/Gunpla, August 2026

Another asked the question Bandai's page does not answer:

"I'm hoping the astray backpacks are still compatible with this new one" u/TechnicalScale6292 on r/Gunpla, May 2026

Not everyone is cheering. A builder who lists 3 MG, 3 RG and 14 HG Astray kits, about 10 of the HG ones customs, wrote in the same thread that "even I am sick of seeing yet another Astray come out" (u/thisisFalafel). The ten MG Red Frame entries above are the number behind that complaint.

What we don't know yet

The Japanese release day. Whether older Astray backpacks, such as the Premium Bandai Flight Unit, fit the new frame: Bandai's page does not say. The kit's height, which only USA Gundam Store states. And when Newtype opens orders.

Our take

Preorder now only if a 2027 arrival suits you; skip the Christmas plan. Both open US preorders point to 2027, and the two listings are $1.96 apart, so pick the shop by its arrival estimate. If you want an MG Red Frame on the shelf this year, the Kai was in stock at USA Gundam Store for $26 less, and it is a different package. A Japanese release day or a shop moving its estimate would change this reading. We recheck Bandai's pages and the four shops weekly until the kit ships in Japan.

How we checked this

On Nov 1 we read Bandai's English and Japanese item pages for the Liberty and the Red Frame Kai, both December schedules and Bandai's May news page, plus GUNDAM Official's news and the official X post. US prices and status come from each shop's product page and product data; HLJ from its item page. Older kit prices come from our copy of Bandai's Japanese item list. Reddit comments were read through the Arctic Shift archive, not reddit.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the MG Liberty Astray Red Frame a Premium Bandai exclusive? No. Bandai's Japanese news page of May 28 lists it under general retail releases for October to December 2026, next to the HG Virsago and HG Ashtaron. Regular US shops such as Gundam Planet and USA Gundam Store already take preorders. Exclusives sell through Bandai's own online shop instead, as our Premium Bandai guide explains.

Which manga is the Liberty Astray Red Frame from? Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM ASTRAY, serialized in KADOKAWA's Monthly Gundam Ace, manga by Kouichi Tokita and scenario by Tomohiro Chiba. Volume 2 went on sale in December 2025 at ¥792 with tax; GUNDAM Official's notice says the new Red Frame is revealed there. The film-side kits are in our SEED FREEDOM ZERO Gunpla roundup.

What is the barcode of the MG Liberty Astray Red Frame? 4580886844623. Gundam Planet and USA Gundam Store list it as the product barcode, and HLJ shows the same number as the JAN code on Nov 1. Matching the barcode on the box to a shop listing is one quick check before paying a marketplace seller; our bootleg guide lists six checks.

Is there an HG or RG Liberty Astray Red Frame? Not yet. On Nov 1 only one item in Bandai's Japanese list had Liberty in its name: this MG. Smaller Red Frames exist, such as the RG 1/144 Gundam Astray Red Frame from 2015 at ¥3,080 with tax and the HG 1/144 version from 2003 at ¥1,650 with tax.

Can I order the MG Liberty Astray Red Frame from Japan? Not from HLJ right now. On Nov 1 its page said Order Stop: preorder slots were full, release expected Dec. 2026, and more orders only at release if stock allows. HLJ listed ¥7,500 before shipping. Its cancellation deadline for earlier preorders was May 27.

Related Reading

• Gunpla Release Schedule 2026: what comes out each month of 2026, on one page.
• MGEX Mighty Strike Freedom: the other big SEED kit on Bandai's 2027 schedule, at ¥26,400 with tax.
• Gunpla Grades Explained: what MG means against HG, RG and PG, with scale and price.
• Every MG kit: release months and Japan prices for the whole Master Grade line in our data.
• SEED FREEDOM Gunpla, every kit by grade: the series list this kit is filed under.

References

• Bandai Hobby Site (English) item pages: MG 1/100 Gundam Liberty Astray Red Frame, MG 1/100 Astray Red Frame Kai
• Bandai Hobby Site (Japan): Liberty Astray item page, Red Frame Kai item page, December 2026 schedule, general retail releases, October to December 2026
• Bandai Hobby Site (English) December 2026 schedule
• BANDAI HOBBY on X: first showing, All Japan Model & Hobby Show
• GUNDAM Official: 64th Shizuoka Hobby Show photo report, October to December 2026 general releases, SEED FREEDOM ASTRAY volume 2
• Inside-games: the Tentative name at the first showing (Japanese)
• MANTANWEB: Shizuoka Hobby Show announcement
• Shops: Gundam Planet, USA Gundam Store, Newtype, HLJ; Red Frame Kai at USA Gundam Store and Gundam Planet
• Gunpla Hangar kit page (placeholder release day)