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Club M kits cheap


Bariaburu Faita

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One of the things I noticed at Wonderfest was the number of Club M resin kits going for below original retail. I picked up a 1/72 YF-19 for 3,000yen(originaly 16,800yen)

Checking around in Osaka I also noticed more than the usual number of Club M and Reptu kits for low prices.

While this is a good thing for the consumer, I can feel some sympathy for the guys who paid full for it originaly. And of course the guys trying to pay their big west licences.

Think this trend might hurt the chance of seeing more original Macross kits in the future?

I`ve bought some recasts myself, but recently been wondering if I should continue to do so.

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I'd say the Hasegawa valks hurt the Club-M market more than anything. Recasts of the VF-1 series were everywhere a year or so ago. But the YF-19 and 21 were never widespread. I remember a while back, I couldn't find recasts of them anywhere. But eventually I turned to Yahoo Japan Auctions and snagged a 19 and 21 for about Y5000 each :)

As for recast eithics...

Well, I don't buy too many myself. But if I were to buy, say, a recast of a Club-M VF-1, my conscience would be pretty clear. It's an old, long out of production kit. What's more, Club-M doesn't even hold a Macross liscense anymore (and I think they're pretty much over as a company too). So suffice it to say, there's little chance of them re-issuing their kits, and thus profiting from them once again.

But... the same companies that recast old kits are also recasting kits that are still in production... and that just EXTREMELY unethical. I'd never buy one of them. If it's a kit I've gotta have, I have no problem spending a few bucks more for the real deal.

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What's more, Club-M doesn't even hold a Macross liscense anymore (and I think they're pretty much over as a company too). So suffice it to say, there's little chance of them re-issuing their kits, and thus profiting from them once again.

So, you can't see a link between easily available recasts and a company no longer being viable and no longer holding a licence?

I certainly can.

Think this trend might hurt the chance of seeing more original Macross kits in the future?

Well, Duh! Surely any company trying to make money from a licence would not like to see recasts cutting into their market and thus would have pause to consider whether it was even worth developing new models.

But that is just a personal point of view.

And I am new, so what the heck do I know?

Cheers

Tony

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What's more, Club-M doesn't even hold a Macross liscense anymore (and I think they're pretty much over as a company too). So suffice it to say, there's little chance of them re-issuing their kits, and thus profiting from them once again.

So, you can't see a link between easily available recasts and a company no longer being viable and no longer holding a licence?

I certainly can.

Actually, when the the VF-1 recasts started surfacing, Club-M was already pretty much dead. Plus, the Hasegawa valks were already out at that point, so a re-release of the resin kits would be unprofitable to say the least (even the cheap recasts didn't sell particularly well, from what I could tell)

I'm not saying that recasts didn't hurt Club-M. I'm sure they did, to some degree.

But I highly doubt it's as clear-cut as you assume it is.

But the fact is, there are no more major companies in Japan making Macross resin kits any more. None. Club-M's gone, Yellow Submarine let their liscense expire (they had a Macross kit fire sale in their shops last year), and even Stufio Half-Eye seems to have abandoned us (and you can't blame that last one on recasts ;) )

The only new garage kits are coming from small groups selling their kits at WonderFest. And even those are none too frequent these days.

But very few of those have been recast either, so again, no excuse :)

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Fair enough Valkrie, and thank you for taking the time to add to my education, I really mean that.

Re-casting of kits or other items is a subject that is fraught with pitfalls, even when just discussing it and it is nice to have a civil discussion about it.

In the end, it must remain a personal decision to purchase a recast kit. The motivation, be it availability, cost or otherwise still ends up being one up to individual.

For now, I will stick to buying the Hasegawa VF kits as I can get years of cheap modelling out of them.

Cheers

Tony

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This is always such an interesting debate. On one hand, when you can get a Hasegawa kit for $25 or so it's hard to figure out why one would pay $150 for a resin kit, which is not a lot different or nicer. At the same time, as a modeler, (and not a collector) I want access too, and shared experiences on as many kits as possible. These two items lean towards cheap recasts for all. Yet...on the con side, if this happened all the time no small companies would make it and we would be left with less models. I guess, in general, some amount of ethics come into play.

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I don't think the recasts made the 19 and 21 cheaper in this particular instance, it was definately the Hase kits. I still bought the Club-M originals of these two because I thought they offered more detail

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I guess it becomes less of an issue to some if the originals offer decals, metal part (both etched and cast) and better packaging that re-casts do not.

When the re-casts offer all this plus availability and cheaper price, then I can see where the temptation comes in.

Like I said, personal choice. I would not, but I don't condemm those who do, it is up to them.

Depends how much you "have" to have a certain subject.

Cheers

Tony

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