Short answers, pulled from the story.
The name Gundam was chosen to evoke the image of a powerful weapon acting like a dam to hold back enemies, creating a linguistic fusion of gun and dam. This conceptual shift occurred in 1979 when animator Yoshiyuki Tomino and the collective pseudonym Hajime Yatate steered the project away from its working title Freedom Fighter Gunboy.
The original series, Mobile Suit Gundam, premiered on the 7th of April 1979. The series ran for 43 episodes from 1979 to 1980 before being canceled after only 25 episodes due to poor ratings.
The plastic model kits known as Gunpla account for 90 percent of the Japanese character plastic model market. These models have been released since the early 1980s and range in quality from toolless-build children's toy kits to hobbyist and museum-grade models.
The Universal Century timeline is the largest and most influential continuity, which began with the original show from 1979. It serves as the foundation for countless spinoffs, movies, and OVAs while other timelines like the Cosmic Era and Anno Domini era present standalone narratives.
A survey conducted by Nikkei Entertainment on the 16th of December 2023 revealed that the fanbase of Gundam within Japan has an average age of 42 years. The demographic skews 90:10 male to female, indicating a loyal and aging audience that has grown up with the franchise.