About Us

newtype [nootahyp, nyootahyp]

noun

1. a person who has reached a new stage of human evolution in the Gundam universe. The theory behind this minor but groundbreaking metamorphosis is: in order to adapt to life in space, the human body evolved with heightened mental awareness. *
2. the largest online Gunpla/hobby store on the West Coast, located in Redwood City, California and known for providing the most diverse selection of quality products with the highest level of service.
   • Examples: My haul from Newtype just came in! Newtype has everything I need.

Our Mission Statement

To build the future in any scale.

Our Story

From our founder:

During the summer of 2018, I was on a family trip in Japan, when I ran across Gundam models kits. I had a little prior knowledge of these kits but of course, my two young sons urged me to bring a few kits home. Prior to Gunpla, the last time I built a scale model was when I was a teenager. Being a child of the 80s, military aircraft was my jam, even so much that I made entering my local county fair modeling competition a regular occurrence. When my sons and I finished our first Gunpla kits, we were hooked. Colored plastic and articulating joints opened the doors of creativity and imagination. These weren't the plastic model kits of my earlier years.

As with all hobbies, I dove headfirst into the deep end, tracking down local hobby stores and scouring the internet for all things Gunpla. After being a consumer of this market for a few months (and amassing a massive backlog), I always felt something lacking in the scale and service provided by the market. Being someone who can't leave well enough alone, I sought to remedy this by building it myself and in January 2019, I founded Newtype.

In general, hobby shops tend to be "lifestyle" businesses, which tend to focus less on scale and customer service. Using my background to apply a growth mindset, I set out to build the opposite with the following goals:

1. Get everyone back to building and making things with their hands.
2. Provide a better customer experience to the Gunpla/hobby market.
3. Provide a massive selection of products in one location.
4. Grow the Gunpla/hobby market.

Because of our laser focus on our mission and goals, Newtype has gone on to become:

• The fastest-growing Gunpla retailer in the US
• The largest Gunpla retailer on the West Coast and one of the largest Gunpla retailers in the US

We live in an increasingly digitized world where information and communication are at our fingertips. Having built the platforms to enable this, I understand the benefits and what is lost through these innovations. With more and more digital distractions, hands-on skills like drawing, woodworking, painting, etc. are becoming a lost art. I believe model making is a path to recapturing the joy and excitement that comes from creating something from your own hands. Let's build the future together.

- Harry