Whats next for Arcadia?

[jenius]

Back in the heyday of Yamato would their products just sit for months and months?

Yes, it was so bad the company went out of business. Everyone pretty much stopped preordering and started waiting for the deep discount bins. If you bought your V2 VF-1 toy for more than $100 you paid too much.

I'm still pretty sure the reason you aren't seeing Arcadia VF-1 toys is because they no longer have the license. It makes no sense otherwise.

[seti88]

Yes, it was so bad the company went out of business. Everyone pretty much stopped preordering and started waiting for the deep discount bins. If you bought your V2 VF-1 toy for more than $100 you paid too much.

I'm still pretty sure the reason you aren't seeing Arcadia VF-1 toys is because they no longer have the license. It makes no sense otherwise.

If Arcadia doesn't hv it, who might have it? Of course talking abt the 1/60s..I can only thk of bandai but they are bz with the hmr's...maybe one of the lesser known brands?

Edited April 6, 2016 by seti88

[no3Ljm]

If Arcadia doesn't hv it, who might have it? Of course talking abt the 1/60s..I can only thk of bandai but they are bz with the hmr's...maybe one of the lesser known brands?

Evolution Toys!

[seti88]

hahaha yes with improved hip swing bar mechanisms! All new tooling!

[jenius]

If Arcadia doesn't hv it, who might have it? Of course talking abt the 1/60s..I can only thk of bandai but they are bz with the hmr's...maybe one of the lesser known brands?

Last time this conversation happened all the folks that very much wanted Arcadia reissues were very angry that I continued to discuss the rumor going around that BW had pulled the license and was having all licenses rebid as sort of standard operating procedure leading up to the release of a new show. The story was that Arcadia was told before the release of the GBP that it would be their last SDF Macross licensed product until new licenses were issued. Really though, the options come down to 2 companies. Arcadia either secured the license again OR Bandai secured the license. It wouldn't be anyone else and if Bandai wanted it they would have easily outbid Arcadia. I guess the third option would be that the license went non-exclusive. At the end of the day, we won't know until someone starts selling some VF-1 product in a deluxe scale.

The one thing that makes the rumor at all suspect in my mind is Arcadia's YF-19 reissue. If all licenses were yanked for rebidding would Bandai really let Arcadia win the Mac+ license if they could easily issue a repaint of the 19Advance as a YF-19? I mean, I guess they could have if the new licenses are only issued for fairly short durations and Bandai knows they'll be too busy with Delta and the HMR line to bother with Mac+ so they'll wait a couple years and come back to it? I dunno, but I stand by the notion that it's way too much of a slam dunk for Arcadia to be printing VF-1 reissues so their absence is proof of some sort of a restriction or inability.

[seti88]

Yeah i remember there was quite a bit of discussion on the ins and outs of licensing before. Not a topic i would want to step into.

Needless to say anyone holding the SDFM/M+/M0 licensing would only serve to keep competition out of macross space and maintain market presense. And i can only thk that it would only serve bandai's purposes to do that.

On the YF-19, bandai did a shot over arcadia's bow with the yf-19 prototype last Oct. And then arcadia responded with re-issue. It could be arcadia's last ditch attemp to block bandai at dominating the macross market, probably at the very end of the license.

So i can probably conclude as well that any macross licenses floating around, would more than likely be held by bandai.

Hmm...so i guess this thread may look like going for a short hiatus on the macross front, until something changes which disproves things..

[anime52k8]

Yes, it was so bad the company went out of business. Everyone pretty much stopped preordering and started waiting for the deep discount bins. If you bought your V2 VF-1 toy for more than $100 you paid too much.

I'm still pretty sure the reason you aren't seeing Arcadia VF-1 toys is because they no longer have the license. It makes no sense otherwise.

you guys are funny sometimes.

"Why did Yamato go out of business?"

"Because they made WAY too many VF-1's and over-saturated the market into oblivion."

"Why isn't Arcadia making more VF-1's? They must not have the license anymore!"

Edited April 6, 2016 by anime52k8

[Garfinkel]

On the VF-1 front i am sure i saw a picture on the macross world facebook page of them using VF1 as trainers in Delta. That may muddy any licence issues for the VF-1 likeness.

Saturation wise, yes Yamato over saturated the market, Arcadia hasn't and people are observing that there is room for VF-1 releases with only 1 in the last 12 months and nothing on the horizon.

Personally I want Max and Kaki tv 1A reissues along with the usual list of rare valks

[Ignacio Ocamica]

The one thing that makes the rumor at all suspect in my mind is Arcadia's YF-19 reissue. If all licenses were yanked for rebidding would Bandai really let Arcadia win the Mac+ license if they could easily issue a repaint of the 19Advance as a YF-19? I mean, I guess they could have if the new licenses are only issued for fairly short durations and Bandai knows they'll be too busy with Delta and the HMR line to bother with Mac+ so they'll wait a couple years and come back to it? I dunno, but I stand by the notion that it's way too much of a slam dunk for Arcadia to be printing VF-1 reissues so their absence is proof of some sort of a restriction or inability.

I'm not an expert in Japanese law but in many other countries when you have a license and there is a new rebid, you have the right to see what the other company bid so you can at least match it and keep the license.

So it's still possible Arcadia has the VF-1 and Mac plus license.

Time will tell.

[jenius]

you guys are funny sometimes.

"Why did Yamato go out of business?"

"Because they made WAY too many VF-1's and over-saturated the market into oblivion."

"Why isn't Arcadia making more VF-1's? They must not have the license anymore!"

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

[raptormesh]

I may actually buy my first VF-1J if they ever re-release them.

[Omnichannel]

I think Arcadia is going under in the next two years.

[microtree33]

Yeah i remember there was quite a bit of discussion on the ins and outs of licensing before. Not a topic i would want to step into.

Needless to say anyone holding the SDFM/M+/M0 licensing would only serve to keep competition out of macross space and maintain market presense. And i can only thk that it would only serve bandai's purposes to do that.

On the YF-19, bandai did a shot over arcadia's bow with the yf-19 prototype last Oct. And then arcadia responded with re-issue. It could be arcadia's last ditch attemp to block bandai at dominating the macross market, probably at the very end of the license.

So i can probably conclude as well that any macross licenses floating around, would more than likely be held by bandai.

Hmm...so i guess this thread may look like going for a short hiatus on the macross front, until something changes which disproves things..

So the YF-19 reissue is a direct response to Bandai's YF-19 prototype? It does seem odd to reissue the YF-19 with a weathering version on the way. I don't have a 1/60 Bandai yet, so I was really hoping they were going to move forward with their YF-19. If that looks very unlikely now (even with Bandai's love of mold milk) and Arcadia fixes their joints without telling anyone as with the VF-0S it may be worth the extra $100 and tampo loss.

[Mommar]

I would much prefer borh Arcadia and Bandai would do other schemes from the standard YF-19, but then I already own both the YF and VF 19's already.

And yes, if Arcadia fixed their ankles and added some sort of stop for the swing bars I'd call the extra totally worth it.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Mommar

[Kanedas Bike]

I think Arcadia is going under in the next two years.

LOL - no. If anything they just won't deal with high-end Macross collectibles.

Regarding licensing talk, speculation, rumors - can we please not do that again.

What continues to puzzle me is that they have interest, desire and know-how to produce some really nice Macross items in 1/60 but there is an almost stubborn desire to produce obscure items, that could arguably considered fringe. And fringe items from a fringe property just seem like odd business decisions.

And what do I consider fringe? VF-19 Kai, Macross Zero (any of them, even the fan desired 0D) and especially the Reactive Armor, which I know people on the boards love but I wouldn't buy, even on discount - because it's not aesthetically pleasing to me.

At this point I'm just going to try to become an interested observer of Arcadia vs. someone that has an active desire to make the toys that I want or that I think they should make.

-b.

[Mechinyun]

Agreed with Kaneda above - they need to lay off this fringe/obscure stuff and go with a big winner.

That being the TV SDF-1, large scale.

[seti88]

So the YF-19 reissue is a direct response to Bandai's YF-19 prototype? It does seem odd to reissue the YF-19 with a weathering version on the way. I don't have a 1/60 Bandai yet, so I was really hoping they were going to move forward with their YF-19. If that looks very unlikely now (even with Bandai's love of mold milk) and Arcadia fixes their joints without telling anyone as with the VF-0S it may be worth the extra $100 and tampo loss.

M+ was released in 1995, its 25th anniversary would land it on year 2020. Although am hoping for a nice YF19, somehow am not sure if the big boys are perhaps just teasing us right now.

Oh well, at least if nothing happens, watch this space in year 2020 for M+.

Its not far fetched to say that arcadia that the only macrossy stuff coming out of arcadia would be the reactive armor for now..

[auberondreaming]

While it's sad that Arcadia is not producing Macross stuff as prolifically, I think they did get really burned during the Yamato flame out. Toward the end they started to perform better, the vf-1d with option parts was pretty quickly sold out and the option parts versions of the vf-1s weren't as over saturated. Do you remember the unpainted "kit" vf-1's? You could pick up an unpainted j or s for like $60-$80 at the end there, and I recall seeing an unpainted a go for $40. On HLJ. Hell I snatched up a cannon fodder DYRL vf-1a for $70 with shipping. There is still a sticky topic on this forum called "HLJ sale, again, the usual"!

Arcadia's first vf-1 was that...interesting... 30th anniversary tuxedo thing that sat on the shelves for a while and got back into the discount territory. That had to be terrifying. And I would bet that is what really pumped the breaks, our first vf-1 is a shelf warmer? Oh crap....

Perhaps Jenius is right about the license. I wonder if BW has a per scale license for macross? Perhaps they are simply letting demand build after years and years of being able to get almost any 1/60 vf-1 for under $100. I will be extremely sad if Arcadia gets dropped from doing 1/60 vf-1 valkyries. There is a different finish and feel compared to Bandai toys, and only having Bandai as an option would just suck to be quite frank.

[TheLoneWolf]

I'm still pretty sure the reason you aren't seeing Arcadia VF-1 toys is because they no longer have the license. It makes no sense otherwise.

My guess is that sales from Arcadia's v2 VF-1's were becoming lukewarm, so now they're working on a v3. After seeing Bandai's latest offerings and Arcadia's own VF-0 toys, the v2 is starting to show its age to me. If Arcadia were to reissue any more v2's, I wouldn't buy them. They were outstanding products for their time, but that was nearly a decade ago.

[auberondreaming]

My guess is that sales from Arcadia's v2 VF-1's were becoming lukewarm, so now they're working on a v3. After seeing Bandai's latest offerings and Arcadia's own VF-0 toys, the v2 is starting to show its age to me. If Arcadia were to reissue any more v2's, I wouldn't buy them. They were outstanding products for their time, but that was nearly a decade ago.

That's a pretty tall order though. The v2 VF-1s are amazing toys, even now. The amount of improvements needed to justify rebuying a collection would have to be huge. I honestly can't imagine what improvements would be doable to get to the level of paying to recollect all of the vf-1 valkyries. More than ab crunches and slight improvements to line art.

[Duymon]

I think a V3 might be going a little too far. It's kinda hard to imagine VF-1's being better than the V2 even.

If they need capitol they could always do a rerun of the Elint, Ostrich and M&M's....

[QEssential]

I think its about time for a V3. It looks outdated compared to the Hi-metal series.

[Mechapilot77]

I think its about time for a V3. It looks outdated compared to the Hi-metal series.

totally disagree.

[chyll2]

V3 means new set of compromise. V2 was able to get a good balance of compromise between all modes. Tbh, it s not outdated compared to hi-metal.

But of course if they can create a better vf-1. They should.

For me, I rather them focus on vf that really need revision like 11, 21/22 or a totally new mold like 3000 or 5000.

It had been said many times though, super and strike parts needs to be reissued.

[Moosey]

totally disagree.

Totally agree....with you!

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Totally agree....with you!

me too

[technoblue]

The v2 design is classic, but a v3 design that adds increased articulation and keeps the majority of the perfect transformation gimmicks would be something of a nice surprise. The only thing that I think stands in Arcadia's way with any new mold is potential QC.

[auberondreaming]

That is a really interesting opinion. I wonder if people who think that the hi metal are better than the v2 1/60 could expound on that. What makes them better? What's bad about the v2 yamatos in comparison?

[UN Spacy]

Agreed with Kaneda above - they need to lay off this fringe/obscure stuff and go with a big winner.

That being the TV SDF-1, large scale.

AGREED!

[TheLoneWolf]

I think the VF-1 v2 is still a good toy, but I also see a lot of room for improvement. Especially with the advances we've seen from Arcadia and Bandai lately.

• The backpack sits too far back in Gerwalk mode and also when equipped with Fast Packs in Fighter mode. According to the line art, it should be much closer to the cockpit.
• The wings in Battroid mode hang too far down. According to the line art, they should be able to slide further upwards.
• Move the pilot's seat further back in fighter mode, as per the line art.
• Improve the leg delivery system during transformation. The current swing bar works, but pops out too easily when posing.
• Remove the "priest collar."
• Integrated side covers for Battroid mode.
• Removable straps for the gunpod.
• While the v2 has decent posability and joint strength, the VF-19 Advance demonstrated just how much posability and joint strength technology has increased in the past decade. I love playing with the VF-19 in Battroid mode, but I can't say that about the v2.
• Improve the panel lines. They're barely visable and so thin that they make panel washes frustrating.

I'm sure that there other improvements that can be made. This is just my personal (and admittedly nitpicky) list.

[MILKAUTICO]

Someone may remember the VA-3 !!!

[mechaninac]

Someone may remember the VA-3 !!!

Most people who happen to remember the VA-3 soon wish to forget it...

I keed, I keed!...

[QEssential]

me too

Seems like many prefer the V2 Yammie sculpts. But for me I think the Hi-metal is more pleasing to the eye. It's looks more solid/beefier to me, especially around the chest. It's just got more pleasing proportions. That's just my humble opinion though.

Having said that, I must say that the V2 looks more anime accurate esp. in battroid mode.

[Lolicon]

I feel the HMR VF-1 is the weakest entry in that line, with inferior proportions to the Yamato version and questionable build quality and design choices.

[Kanedas Bike]

Well no matter one's preference, it's pretty safe to say that what's NOT next for Arcadia is a HiM-R VF-1.

-b.