Good point Exo. That would make 4 possible variations. Red, purple and blue with only color changes, and a modified mold and color for a TV variant. Looking at one comparison of the versions it looks like a smaller more recessed head, different antenna and thicker, heavier legs.
Lone Wolf, as far as perogative being the motivating factor for Yamato, please remember that if the Q-Rau's were 50% of the cost, they would probably sell many more of them. This kind of market force is important in making many pricing decisions; while sheer greed does motivate some companies to inflate prices, most are aware that making a good comprimise between profit and price accessibility will sell more units (properly done, this leads to more net gain).
The percieved cost of an item is critical to sales. Which is the rationale behind prices like $99.99. It's almost the same as $100.00, but the psychological impact of the extra digit affects many people. I would have expected Yamato to pick Y9,800 or even Y7,800 if it had been feasible; pricing the units at Y12,800 implies that there wasn't an opportunity at under Y10,000.
Note: that at Y12,800, I'd expect costs to Yamato to run close to Y2,500 to produce each unit (including R&D, fabrication, manufacturing, Q&A, packaging, shipping and promotion). I wonder what Yamato's production yields are these days, now that they've gotten some experience with manufacturing the VF-1s for so long?
-Sandro