RavenHawk
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Everything posted by RavenHawk
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I don't disagree with you as to the facts (i.e. no mention of this on HG's websites, BBTS is selling the Stig, HG does not appear to be blocking any of the Japanese sellers from shipping orders outside of Japan). That said, HG's rights to MOSPEADA appear to include derivative works, which this would likely fall under (based on their recent arbitration with Tatsunoko). So, in my opinion, it seems like either: 1) This isn't on HG's radar yet (or, at least the ability to get it shipped outside of Japan isn't); 2) HG gave approval but hasn't worked out their own distribution deal outside of Japan yet and thus hasn't announced anything; 3) HG took a cash payment for the license which excluded getting their name slapped on the box; 4) The arbitrator's decision, as quoted by the judge in the arbitration enforcement award, may have been slightly out of context. What I mean by that is that the decision gives HG rights to the copyrights of the shows and source material (minus visual representations of some Macross characters), including derivative works. The only specific cutout that Tatsunoko maintained was merchandising rights within Japan. The decision writes of this in regards to all three series (Macross, Southern Cross, and MOSPEADA), so the only way I see that HG would not have rights here would be if the quote was out of context and somehow Tatsunoko retained merchandising rights to derivative works on MOSPEADA... but this seems highly unlikely, based purely on the rest of the decree; 5) HG is aware of this, but doesn't have the cash to enforce the less direct issue of "We have merchandising rights to the shows, we have rights to derivative works, and these are merchandising rights to derivative works, thus this is also covered;" or 6) Tatsunoko did this behind HG's back, which is a contract violation. However, we now that their contract requires going to arbitration, which may be going on right now. The selling of these is not likely to support "irreparable harm" to HG, thus they have not been able to get an injunction while awaiting arbitration (or decided not to spend the money trying to).
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Why do you say that? Or should we leave that discussion for a different thread?
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Harmony Gold's too, most likely.
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The Unrustable Bastards bike is not a redesign of Kaneda's bike. It is a completely unrelated toy that offered a red version (and the above image) as a stretch goal for their Kickstarter campaign as an homage to Akira (or, rather, for funders who had contacted them and asked for a red version that they could customize for that purpose). To me, there's a world of difference between redesigning someone else's work (i.e. suggesting you can do it better) and this. (As a side note, I came across a DeviantArt artist recently who is posting pictures of his "redesigns" of MOSPEADA, though he's actually just redrawing concept art from pre-production of the show and claiming it as his own)
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I think the post from before suggesting that the Rey might be so close to the Stig because they're running the majority of the parts in the same production wrong is probably on the money. Still, part of me is wary when a second product is on order before there is a single review or in-hand of the first one. Who am I kidding? I'm still going to pre-order it when it hits BBTS...
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I'm not really familiar with Figma, but they seem to be focused on figures, and not mecha (for the most part) or vehicles. It seems surprising to license MOSPEADA and Bubblegum Crisis, two properties really known to a large degree for transforming bikes, and NOT include transformation.
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I disagree. If the armor folds from the front and from the back, you don't need the helmet to pass through any hole. If you have the tank split, slide down, and fold around, then it doesn't need to go through the rider's abdomen. It just takes more creativity. I did a rough mock up of it in CAD just to prove it to myself. When I have free time, I'll detail it up and 3D print it.
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I'm not a fan of that either, though that is true to the MOSPEADA book redesign. Still, Aramaki spent enough time commuting on a motorcycle where you'd think he'd appreciate a matching rear splash guard, for symmetry. Might have to 3D print one.
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Or until someone more creative comes along... who actually cares about this particular old anime... and sees enough potential financial benefit to make it worth their while. Which isn't the most likely thing in the world.
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I see it in that animation, but I don't think any other animation showed it that way. I think Aramaki's idea was basically 1) Gauntlets separate from front wheel/suspension, while still held in place by (redundant) shocks/steering column 2) Cowl separate down the middle 3) Seat and pillion fold up behind rider, taking wheels and engine with them 4) Gas tank and windscreen somehow magically fold under and back with the items from 3) 5) Cowl slides back onto rider's chest, which magically still has the armor there that was in front of the engine, even though it should have gone with the gas tank and windscreen. Magic!
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Oh, I get it. I just want a ride armor that folds up in front and in back without the rider having to get off the bike for it to transform. Maybe the Sentinel will be the one, even if that gas tank transformation looks odd.
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This step here (attached below) is where I find the Sentinel diagram confusing. It looks like the "gas tank" (not that it really is one in MOSPEADA or Robotech) seems to fold up, and then somehow flip over the rider's head, along with the windscreen? This part of the transformation is actually what bugs me most about ALL the MOSPEADA toys over the years. Be it the old Gakken (big one and 1:20, both), the CMs, the Megahouse, or the Beagle/Toynami, they all have the rider essentially have to get off or out of the way so that the seat and pillion can flip up and into the gas tank, and then the rider has to get UNDER the gas tank, and then the cowl flips down onto the rider's shoulders. None of this is anime accurate. In the anime, the cowl basically just rotates back onto the rider's chest, and the gas tank kind of (anime magic) disappears/flips under the rider along with the engine. That said, I don't REALLY care about being anime accurate, but I don't like the rider having to get off the bike to transform it.
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Agreed. It wasn't bad, and, actually, I kind of liked it, but you had to set aside some time to do it. Even after a few times, it was like a 20 minute process to get it right. Still fun though.
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Acid Rain - new 1:18 mecha toy line.
RavenHawk replied to skullmilitia's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Base on only the one single 1:28 Acid Rain toy that I have (and "toy" is an appropriate word for it), the vehicle is pretty nice. The figure, on the other hand, has a lot of articulation but the fits are very loose. On mine, the legs and arms pop off very easily, and the hands keep sliding out of the arms (they rotate because they're inserted with a slip fit). Granted, I definitely prefer that the limbs pop off rather than breaking off, but they pop off REALLY easily (especially when trying to get the figure into the right position to ride the speeder). -
I have the Sentinel preorder with BBTS, but I have the 2 MOSPEADA Aoshima model kit re-issues on preorder with HLJ. I didn't get any email from HLJ about this... though, come to think of it, when I did the check out on those preorders, I think it might have required me to do the PayPal billing agreement. Not sure, since it was a few weeks ago.
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Acid Rain - new 1:18 mecha toy line.
RavenHawk replied to skullmilitia's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
I'd love to see some comparison pics between the two, if anyone has them. Hard to tell a difference from the pics that I've seen online so far. My 1:28 Stealth Speeder came in the mail today. It reminds me a lot of the Transformers Human Alliance line (which, admittedly, I was a big fan of). Unfortunately, here, it made me realize that I really do prefer 1:18 to 1:28. -
That's the Beagle. It's funny: that figure was so amazing compared to everything that came before it (and I still love it), but it looks so out of date compared to the pics of the Sentinel.
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I'm really hoping for a good Yellow (I missed out on the CM's one, and my dark edition Megahouse one is really disappointing, though I have the Aoshima model re-issue on preorder).
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Acid Rain - new 1:18 mecha toy line.
RavenHawk replied to skullmilitia's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Thank you. That's good to know. I'm basically trying out the 1/28 price point, to see if I want to invest in the larger scale. -
I'm heading out soon, but will take a closer look over the weekend. I did come across that thread about a week or two ago, skimmed it really briefly, and put on the youtube video of that one lawyer discussing it in the background while I worked on some other work. It was actually very frustrating to listen to. He was misunderstanding some key things in the filings, and it was clear that his knowledge of IP is very focused on one area (as I recall, he only really does cases where someone is being accused of file sharing copyright protected material). I may be misremembering though.
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I actually work in IP, which is why this interests me. I've skimmed through other threads where this has come up here and there, but it mostly seems like a lot of folks just kind of doing their best guesses, though it doesn't look like there's much for confirmed info.
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That's what I'm hoping for, and is the real reason why I'm buying this release (i.e. to help insure future releases). The Ley/Rand one, in my opinion, really showcases the differences between the new design and the old one much better. I was actually disappointed to see that this current release doesn't show the gauntlets (or whatever we should call them) looking quite as noticeably updated as on the MOSPEADA book.
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I am curious what kind of licensing fees are being paid. I'm sure they've changed over the years as the IP rights have been assigned to different companies, and they probably vary from territory to territory. However, considering that what we are talking about are (currently) defunct shows (with MOSPEADA being the only one that I think is even streaming), you would think that the licensing fees would be reasonable.
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Thanks again for the link. I read through it, and no real surprises there. I think my question as to pricing (at this point) is: Why is Arcadia so much more expensive than someone like Sentinel? I'm comparing the new MOSPEADA ride armor to the Garland. Complexity-wise and parts count-wise, they should be similar. This would make me think one of two things (and keep in mind, we're talking about something along the lines of a 60% higher price): 1) Arcadia is just small compared to Sentinel, and so they are going to be ordering fewer of these, or can afford fewer of the up-front manufacturing elements which improve costs over larger quantities. 2) There is a smaller market for the new Garland than for the new MOSPEADA ride armor, thus fewer will be made, thus more expensive per unit. I don't know which of those it is. As for the first one, Arcadia might be much smaller and less funded than Sentinel. I have no idea, but this seems like a definite possibility. As for the second one, if there is less of a market for Megazone items than MOSPEADA ones, then why are we seeing 3 companies going in on them simultaneously, as opposed to 1 for MOSPEADA (not counting the still unverified Figma)? Not criticizing any of this, just genuinely curious (and wishing the Megazone stuff was more affordable).
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Thank you