Real Life Gundam Would Cost $725 Million

Attention fellow ani-nerds:

The Japanese Science Portal has specced out and priced a giant mecha robot, the Gundam. It takes a certain mind to apply a mundane spreadsheet to something as out-and-out awesome as an 18 meter tall robot, but amongst the numbers are some great dream components. The brain, for instance, would be IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer (¥171 million or $1.6 million); 30 400KW motors would supply the movement (total cost $7.8 million), and the seven Apache helicopter engines needed to power them would be another $52 million each.

Estimated cost of Gundam parts:

ITEM	UNIT COST	QTY	COST
Aluminum alloy (honeycomb)	$1,800	43,875	$79,000,000
(+ Metal manufacturing/processing)			$240,000,000
Main computer (IBM)	$1,550,000	1	$1,550,000
Gas turbine engines (GE)	$52,000,000	7	$364,000,000
Superconductive motors (IHI)	$260,000	30	$7,800,000
Motor drivers	$260,000	30	$7,800,000
Reducers	$760,000	30	$22,800,000
Sensors			$910,000
Cockpit			$450,000
		TOTAL:	$724,310,000

via Wired