The Olympic Gundam, a special edition plastic model related to Tokyo 2020, is still due to be released this summer despite the postponement of the Games by 12 months ©Getty Images

The Olympic Gundam, a plastic model due to be related to Tokyo 2020, will still be released this summer, despite the Olympic Games being delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gundam models, popular in Japan, are model kits depicting vehicles and characters of the Gundam series, a Japanese science fiction series featuring giant robots.

The special edition Gundam models, linked to Tokyo 2020, will come in both blue and pink colours, reports Comic Book.

Both models are expected to be on sale for $11 (£9, €10) from June 2020.

A satellite sent models of Mobile Suit Gundam anime characters into space earlier this month in celebration of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ©Tokyo 2020 One Team
A satellite sent models of Mobile Suit Gundam anime characters into space earlier this month in celebration of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ©Tokyo 2020 One Team

Japanese science fiction anime Mobile Suit Gundam was due to have multiple involvements with Tokyo 2020.

As well as the plastic models, it launched satellites into space in March.

The satellites were then due to be released into their own orbits later this month before going around the earth during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, although it is unclear whether this will still happen following the postponement of Tokyo 2020 to the summer of 2021 because of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic.

2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the Gundam plastic models, which are estimated to have sold over 500,000 million copies since first being released in 1980.