November 11 marks Pocky & Pretz Day in Japan, but it is also the perfect excuse to dig up some truly unexpected collaborations. Gundam history account UC HISTORY celebrated this year by spotlighting a limited-edition product released in December 2006: the Pocky Gunpla Pack. Stuffing Pocky and a Gunpla kit into the same box, it instantly took veteran fans back to the surreal sight of these sets sitting on supermarket shelves.
Ezaki Glico also marked November 11 with an official Pocky & Pretz Day post, inviting fans to share their snacks using the hashtag #ポッキープリッツの日. Social media fills up with snack photos and creative displays every year, but the rediscovered Pocky Gunpla Pack brought an extra dose of Gundam model nostalgia to the occasion.
The Pocky Gunpla Pack came in three versions featuring Gundam, Char's Zaku II, and a standard Zaku II. Alongside the Pocky itself, each box included model parts and instructions, plus a special hand piece that allowed the Gundam or Zaku II to hold a Pocky stick. Turning a snack into a model kit accessory still feels like the kind of gloriously bold crossover concept that could only have come from that era.
Once the post went live, fans who had actually bought the sets back in the day quickly joined the conversation. One collector showed off all three versions, complete with the original packaging, parts, and instructions. The Pocky, naturally, had been eaten long ago. The model kits were what survived.
Other fans revealed that they still had sets at home, including one collector who had kept an entire box unopened. Another recalled how difficult the products were to find at the time, requiring visits to several supermarkets before finally tracking one down. One fan said their box was eventually crushed after years in storage, prompting them to open and build the kit. No photos of the finished model remain, but the memory of bringing it home certainly does.
A box of Pocky bundled with a Gunpla kit might now look like a brilliantly inventive retro collaboration, but for the people who bought one in 2006, it was clearly much more than a disposable snack freebie.
Nearly 20 years later, the complete packaging, unassembled parts, and collecting stories are resurfacing once again, making the Pocky Gunpla Pack one of the most distinctly Gundam-flavored highlights of this year's November 11 celebrations.