Secretlab's Mobile Suit Gundam Collaboration Is The Love Letter To Gundam Fans I've Been Waiting For

Growing up, Mobile Suit Gundam was love at first sight. As an avid Transformers fan, as well as all things Dragon Ball Z, the combo of giant mechas and anime was a match made in heaven.

My entry into the franchise began with Gundam Wing on Toonami, and quickly grew from there. My grandmother routinely bought me various compilation DVDs from a local video store, birthdays featured an assortment of figures and evenings were spent playing Battle Assault 2. So much so that the disc, which I still have, is unrecognizable.

All that is to say, Secretlab’s collaboration with Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 is right up my street. A chair with big robots on it? Sign me up.

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For its Gundam series, Secretlab has decked out its Titan EVO chairs with patterns reminiscent of Amuro Ray’s RX-78-2 Gundam and Char Aznable’s MS-06S Zaku II, plus additional ‘Skins’ based on the grunt Zaku and a reversible magnetic desk mat featuring both iconic mobile suits.

The complete chair experience starts at $664 for the regular size and $714 for the XL model. As for the Skins, it’ll run gamers $99 for either chair size. If you’re interested in some deeper thoughts on the Titan EVO as a chair, then I implore you to read my colleague Stacey Henley’s review from last year.

Welcome To Your New Standout Furniture Piece

After assembling the chair, which was a rather easy task thanks to the photo instruction guide that also doubles as a collectible poster, it’s easy to see how much love was put into making it feel like something straight from the Gundam universe.

Right off the rip, the MS-06S Zaku II edition of the chair features the striking red color that gave Char his ‘Red Comet’ nickname. It truly stands out as a piece of furniture and will no doubt attract eyes. This is a standout piece for a home office or gaming room, which is excellent for those looking to carve out their own personalized space. Those of you wanting something to blend into the background of your living room setup might be less enamored.

At the upper center of the chair, just under the included headrest, is the iconic mono-eye that makes the Zaku mobile suits so eerie, and there is faux piping throughout to simulate the look of the suit.

Red piping at the bottom replicates the tubing that the real suit has on the legs, while the upper piping simulates that of what is on the suit’s chest area. Paneling throughout mimics the various segments of the suit, helping make the chair feel as if it was ripped straight from the anime.

At the top of the chair is an embroidered Char Aznable flight tag, helping give an added touch of personalization. On the back, there is the Principality of Zeon logo, firmly woven into the fabric and in large view.

True Comfort Is The Name Of The Game

It’s not hyperbole to say that the chair looks like a great representation of the suit.

The thoughtfulness of the design is only matched by the level of comfort that the Evo series of chairs brings. Despite having worked from home since 2019, my work-from-home setup can best be described as an amalgamation of various cords, a less-than-practical desk and, previously, an office chair that had seen better days.

It’s not that I haven’t invested in my setup, it’s just that creating one to call your own is not only time-consuming but awfully expensive. In other words, it becomes easier to just settle for something patchwork or make use of what you have rather than actually committing to something nice.

After a few weeks spent with the Titan EVO, it’s clear that for the past six years I have been missing out on true comfort. The L-Adapt feature isn’t some fancy marketing gimmick; it curves neatly into your lower back region, making the chair feel as personalized as the designs it boasts.

Another thing that has really stood out so far is just how versatile it is. With a few simple pushes, I can move the armrests out of the way to build a Gunpla model kit. Or I can lean the chair back, making it a nice way to watch The Witch from Mercury or play another round of Battle Assault 2.

The breathability of the chair materials is another standout. Being a full-time resident of Southern California, where temperatures routinely hit the triple digits and staying there, sitting in a desk chair can often be an uncomfortable experience, largely because of the sweat accumulated and the sticky feeling your body begins to experience.

The Skins Lite Helps Eliminate FOMO

Prior to receiving the separate ‘Skins LITE’ in the mail, I was a little skeptical of its practicality. The Secretlab website markets the skins as a more cost-effective way to personalize an existing chair, allowing owners to swap the look of their furniture with an entirely different design for a reasonable cost.

On its own, it most certainly helps eliminate FOMO in that for any new Secretlab collaboration, you won’t need to shell out for another expensive chair. Instead, for $99, I can give my chair a Dragon Ball Z theme or one centered around Naruto’s infamous Akatsuki faction.

The website touts it as “indistinguishable” with a nifty three-minute video illustrating how easy it is to make the chair feel brand-new. The website is not wrong.

Much like how easy it was to put the chair itself together, making your chair look like a whole different beast was just as intuitive.

At no point did I feel lost or as if I were going to damage the chair, and within a few minutes, the signature Zaku red had been replaced with the striking white of the RX-78-2 Gundam.

What’s more, I can easily revert to having the base chair within that same timeframe, and if the skin were to get soiled, it’s also machine washable. I can definitely see myself buying more and more skins as time goes on, especially if the price stays consistent.

Secretlab knocked it out of the park with its Gundam collaboration. It might sound crazy saying this, but the chair is absolutely a love letter to fans of the franchise. The child version of me would not have believed that you could actually sit in something that looks like the suits from the show, but that’s exactly what Secretlab has managed.

The added comfort and versatility take things to a whole new level, while the compatibility with the Skins products allows you to stay in touch with whatever comes next. Gundam fans, this is well worth your time and money.

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