Calibre Wings 1/72 F-14D Diecast Macross Custom

[seti88]

So, does this mean there are licensing possibilities for Macross zero valks from Calwings now?
Hmmm....VF-0B??

 

 

[DWN013]

Hold up, is calibre wings now free of HG's vile tentacles and partnering with Big West??  If not, can't Big West stop them from selling Macross Zero merch?  

On 5/13/2020 at 7:25 PM, sh9000 said:

Interesting, they put a GU-11 on what looks like the centerline.  (tankbusting, I guess?)  Still wish these things had proper AIM-9 / 54 paint schemes.

[derex3592]

I'm sorry but that's SEXY AF!!! 

[Knight26]

I like that is has the gunpod, but that's about it.  The lack of pilots is a detractos.  Also, why paint on the nose verniers?  Are they just trying to milk the mold?

[Sanity is Optional]

11 minutes ago, Knight26 said:

I like that is has the gunpod, but that's about it.  The lack of pilots is a detractos.  Also, why paint on the nose verniers?  Are they just trying to milk the mold?

It comes with painted pilot figures.

[seti88]

2 hours ago, DWN013 said:

Hold up, is calibre wings now free of HG's vile tentacles and partnering with Big West??  If not, can't Big West stop them from selling Macross Zero merch?  

Interesting, they put a GU-11 on what looks like the centerline.  (tankbusting, I guess?)  Still wish these things had proper AIM-9 / 54 paint schemes.

its a thin line, maybe as long as its ....1. not a valkyrie and 2. not something the M0 licensors would ever release, (since a non transformable F14 may not be exactly sellable...)

its ok for cal wings to go M0?

The VF-0B scheme isnt in the anime as well, and is just an illustration for hasegawa if i recall.

[jenius]

53 minutes ago, seti88 said:

its a thin line, maybe as long as its ....1. not a valkyrie and 2. not something the M0 licensors would ever release, (since a non transformable F14 may not be exactly sellable...)

its ok for cal wings to go M0?

The VF-0B scheme isnt in the anime as well, and is just an illustration for hasegawa if i recall.

This won't be an official Macross good and won't be sold in BigWest territory. I think it's going to attempt to fly under the radar... which is something an F-14 should be capable of.

[Seto Kaiba]

4 hours ago, DWN013 said:

Hold up, is calibre wings now free of HG's vile tentacles and partnering with Big West??

Profoundly unlikely... but not entirely impossible.

There are, however, a number of reasons that I suspect this is less than legitimate.

 

First and foremost, there's nothing news-wise that I can find on official Japanese Macross channels that suggests CalibresModels is an official Macross licensee.

Second, the Macross Zero footage used in this teaser video is of suspiciously poor quality despite CalibreWings posting their video at 720p60.  If this were an official product, there'd be no obstacle to sampling the video from a HD source to make their advert look good.  Instead, this was clearly sampled from a much lower quality source... my guess would be its origin was someone's AMV or fansub they found on YouTube or a similar video-sharing site.

Third, the music isn't from Macross Zero.  As important as music is to Macross, an official product would almost certainly use music from the Macross series the product is for.  This is "Get Free", the opening theme for Macross VF-X2.

 

The only detail that would make the idea that this is a legitimate Macross product even slightly plausible-sounding is that this is only available in direct sales from the company in China... since selling through a US-based licensee would be impossible.  Still, it's China... one of the epicentres of intellectual property crimes... so IMO it's odds-on this is bootleg, from a Harmony Gold licensee that doesn't realize Harmony Gold doesn't own the rights to Macross sequels.

 

4 hours ago, DWN013 said:

If not, can't Big West stop them from selling Macross Zero merch?  

Yes.  Big West could take them to court for copyright and trademark infringement.

Where this gets REALLY interesting is the possibility that this is being done under license from Harmony Gold... if there's anything to suggest that Harmony Gold signed off on this at any point, it could be the start of a lawsuit that'd bring Robotech down once and for all.

 

4 hours ago, DWN013 said:

Interesting, they put a GU-11 on what looks like the centerline.  (tankbusting, I guess?)  Still wish these things had proper AIM-9 / 54 paint schemes.

The F-14A++ Super Tomcat didn't support a GU-11 in-series.

Maybe they mean it to be a GPU-9?  But even then it doesn't quite work.

 

1 hour ago, seti88 said:

its a thin line, maybe as long as its ....1. not a valkyrie and 2. not something the M0 licensors would ever release, (since a non transformable F14 may not be exactly sellable...)

Nope... if they advertise it as a Macross Zero product and they don't have a license to Macross Zero, that's trademark infringement even if there was nothing Macross about it.

Since this is clearly meant to be Shin's VF-0 from Macross Zero, if they don't have a license that's copyright infringement.

They can't claim generic-ness as a defense because they put the characters names on the side of the plane.

 

1 hour ago, seti88 said:

its ok for cal wings to go M0?

Probably not, but we'll find out!

It wouldn't be the first time a Robotech licensee delved into Macross copyright infringement because they assumed HG's license to the original series meant rights to EVERYTHING.  That's why Harmony Gold will never allow most Robotech comics to be reprinted... the licensees did a LOT of infringing on copyrights back in the day.

 

1 hour ago, seti88 said:

The VF-0B scheme isnt in the anime as well, and is just an illustration for hasegawa if i recall.

Yup.  The VF-0B doesn't even appear in the OVA... only the A, D, and S types do.

 

50 minutes ago, jenius said:

This won't be an official Macross good and won't be sold in BigWest territory. I think it's going to attempt to fly under the radar... which is something an F-14 should be capable of.

It might be possible twenty years ago... but in this day in age?

[sh9000]

 

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by sh9000

[jenius]

Pretty sure, no indication of HG or BW involved. Just a fun 'what if" paint scheme. I wish them luck, would love to grab it!

[seti88]

9 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Where this gets REALLY interesting is the possibility that this is being done under license from Harmony Gold... if there's anything to suggest that Harmony Gold signed off on this at any point, it could be the start of a lawsuit that'd bring Robotech down once and for all.

If BW challenges, would it be under an international tribunal, or would it need to be in China? 
It makes me think that the latter would be what someone is thinking, should there be a defense to this. (due to lack of enforcement of IP in china)

Yes, interesting indeed to see how this plays out.

 

11 hours ago, jenius said:

 I think it's going to attempt to fly under the radar... which is something an F-14 should be capable of.

haha nice play on references. 

 

[seti88]

On the flip side, it could be that CalWings has a limited license agreement w BW, with regards to what they can slap a low viz kite on.

It would be great if so. Always welcome more macross merch...

[jenius]

Sadly, no, you do business with HG at any point, you never do business with BW.

[seti88]

Oh i didnt know that. wow. 

[TheLoneWolf]

Calibre Wings has actually done business before with Big West. Their 1/72 F-14 S and J Types were originally sold at Wonderfest in Japan, albeit on a limited basis, so they already have an existing business relationship with Big West to build upon.

As for Harmony Gold, their involvement would be stricly limited to trademark licensing, since Macross Zero designs are Big West's IP. Considering that Macross Zero is easily one of the least popular shows in the Macross franchise, it makes for a good test subject in this type of business venture. Moreover, all of Calibre Wings' models are supposedly "one-shot" releases, further minimizing Big West's exposure should things turn sour.

Also, Calibre Wings' owner, Noel Lee, has been in the merchandising and licensing business for over a decade. I'd be shocked if he began marketing a Macross Zero product before receiving tentative approval from Big West.

[Save]

31 minutes ago, TheLoneWolf said:

Calibre Wings has actually done business before with Big West. Their 1/72 F-14 S and J Types were originally sold at Wonderfest in Japan, albeit on a limited basis, so they already have an existing business relationship with Big West to build upon.

As for Harmony Gold, their involvement would be stricly limited to trademark licensing, since Macross Zero designs are Big West's IP. Considering that Macross Zero is easily one of the least popular shows in the Macross franchise, it makes for a good test subject in this type of business venture. Moreover, all of Calibre Wings' models are supposedly "one-shot" releases, further minimizing Big West's exposure should things turn sour.

Also, Calibre Wings' owner, Noel Lee, has been in the merchandising and licensing business for over a decade. I'd be shocked if he began marketing a Macross Zero product before receiving tentative approval from Big West.

Actually that was done by Black Aces/Noel (individual/amateur kit circle) and not by Calibre Wings, it's was also a one-day license which is not a direct interaction with the rights holder (BW), they are arranged on behalf of the event organizers. 

Edited July 7, 2020 by Save

[Seto Kaiba]

10 hours ago, seti88 said:

If BW challenges, would it be under an international tribunal, or would it need to be in China? 
It makes me think that the latter would be what someone is thinking, should there be a defense to this. (due to lack of enforcement of IP in china)

Since the actual point of sale appears to be in China, it'd go before the Chinese courts.

China has been trying, in a sort of halfhearted way, to crack down on intellectual property crimes in its borders... at least with respect to foreign companies that are now operating inside China.  Big West would actually have a pretty good chance of winning.

 

17 minutes ago, Save said:

Actually that was done by Black Aces/Noel (individual/amateur kit circle) and not by Calibre Wings, it's was also a one-day license which is not a direct interaction with the rights holder (BW), they are arranged on behalf of the event organizers. 

Japan also has a much more laid-back attitude towards small-batch amateur works like that, as long as they're not out to make a significant profit.

This CalibreWings thing, however, smacks of blatant trademark and copyright infringement... and is likely to bring the lawyers out.

[jenius]

55 minutes ago, TheLoneWolf said:

Also, Calibre Wings' owner, Noel Lee, has been in the merchandising and licensing business for over a decade. I'd be shocked if he began marketing a Macross Zero product before receiving tentative approval from Big West.

I can't speak for Noel but I've heard in the past that BW is very hard to do business with for Japanese companies and nearly impossible to do business with for foreigners. When people are like "Ugh, why is this a Harmony Gold licenese!?!" it's usually because the company tried to work with BW and gave up. On the other hand, HG, as you can imagine, is very easy to work with. Just hearsay but I believe it.

[TheLoneWolf]

9 hours ago, Save said:

Actually that was done by Black Aces/Noel (individual/amateur kit circle) and not by Calibre Wings, it's was also a one-day license which is not a direct interaction with the rights holder (BW), they are arranged on behalf of the event organizers. 

Save!! Where've you been hiding all this time, we've missed you!

Thanks for clarifying the Wonderfest licensing process. Just curious, but since the licensing goes through WF, how closely does Big West scrutinize the product?

9 hours ago, jenius said:

I can't speak for Noel but I've heard in the past that BW is very hard to do business with for Japanese companies and nearly impossible to do business with for foreigners.

I've heard the same thing too. Apparently Big West does that to ensure that their suitors are serious about the franchise and aren't simply trying to peddle rubbish.

[skullmilitia]

I'd love to see HG waste it's already shady (laundered *allegedly*) money to fight a copyright on a Grumman, much less try to say having a paint job in colors like red, white and or grey is somehow infringing on their (illegal) use of the macross name.

 

they'll fall on their ass as hard as they did when they went after Hasbro.
 

[EastwindS2k]

On 7/6/2020 at 3:06 PM, sh9000 said:

 

That’s a repaint of a Calibre Wing’s F14 right? If so good work

Edited July 11, 2020 by EastwindS2k

[Sanity is Optional]

9 minutes ago, EastwindS2k said:

That’s a repaint of a Calibre Wing’s F14 right? If so good work

It's actually an upcoming Calibre Wings release, with a Macross Zero paintjob.

[EastwindS2k]

43 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

It's actually an upcoming Calibre Wings release, with a Macross Zero paintjob.

Ah thanks. I like it, hopefully they will release the Mig 29 one day

[jvmacross]

I wonder if this was supposed to be the next WF release until Covid happened....either way I can't see that many being produced.  CalWings said they should be ready to ship by the end of the month.....hope no jackass tries to narc them out! LOL 

[Benson13]

27 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

I wonder if this was supposed to be the next WF release until Covid happened....either way I can't see that many being produced.  CalWings said they should be ready to ship by the end of the month.....hope no jackass tries to narc them out! LOL 

Yeah, that would be terrible. 

[Rogueload]

8 hours ago, jvmacross said:

I wonder if this was supposed to be the next WF release until Covid happened....either way I can't see that many being produced.  CalWings said they should be ready to ship by the end of the month.....hope no jackass tries to narc them out! LOL 

Wow release by the end of the month?!?
I just sent them an email for PO. Can’t pass up Shin’s F-14. 

[sh9000]

Damn I missed the discount deadline.  I might still pull the trigger later.  Someday I hope to own a 1/100 scale version of it since I don’t really collect anything in 1/72 scale anymore.

[kkx]

Where can I PO this?

Not in flying mule or Calibre Wings own web site. Tried BBTS tool

Edited July 11, 2020 by kkx

[sqidd]

6 hours ago, kkx said:

Where can I PO this?

Not in flying mule or Calibre Wings own web site. Tried BBTS tool

I emailed them last night and included my PP email address. I had an invoice this morning.

[funkymonkeyjavajunky]

 

[sh9000]

^Already posted.

[kkx]

Thanks @sqidd for the PO info. Will email them. Too bad I missed the 20% discount.

[sqidd]

On 7/11/2020 at 11:57 PM, kkx said:

Thanks @sqidd for the PO info. Will email them. Too bad I missed the 20% discount.

I was late and they still gave it to me. Fingers crossed for you.

[kkx]

9 hours ago, sqidd said:

I was late and they still gave it to me. Fingers crossed for you.

They just replied and have agreed to apply the 20% discount.  

[Dobber]

Crap I forgot about this and just sent an email too.

Chris