So now that Yamato is defunct.....

[Chronocidal]

Bandai's renewal Frontier toys are awesome and very competitively priced... Oh the horror of that being the future of Macross toys. I would love to see competition but Yamato ran themselves out of business so our recent boom years are the aberration not the norm.

As decent as the renewals are, Bandai can't seem to find it in their hearts to give a crap about any market other than Japan, and the way they market things reminds me of DRM applied to toys. Not to mention their continuously questionable (if not outright pants on head stupid) design decisions about stuff that should not be at all hard to figure out.

Bandai seems bound and determined to feed the scalper market at every turn with the way they run things.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Seriously if bandai get control of all the lisences i will seriously consider quiting collecting. To go through the preorder bs for every new macross release would suck balls.

Curious what the first redacted is.

I'm suprised Arcadia cant secure the macross zero lisence. Might as well start from the beginning ( chronologically ).

Same here. Bandai has a different approach than yamato had, when it comes to macross toys. I want Arcadia with the same design team that brought us the 1/60 VF-1 ver 2, the VF-19, the VF-17, the 1/3000 SDF-1, and the VF-4, period.

[Valkyrie addict]

Changing the subject, so now that Yamato is defunct, is it ok now to say perhaps, someone grabs a set of super/strike part and make recast of them?? since at the moment, the intellectual property is no more.

Edited April 27, 2013 by Valkyrie addict

[Mommar]

Seriously if bandai get control of all the lisences i will seriously consider quiting collecting. To go through the preorder bs for every new macross release would suck balls.

Curious what the first redacted is.

I'm suprised Arcadia cant secure the macross zero lisence. Might as well start from the beginning ( chronologically ).

I'm quite sure the order goes a new VF-0 but decided a new YF-19 would sell better. Could be the opposite but considering Graham kept talking about a new YF-19 and Graham and Mr. K both mentioned VF-0's in interviews it was one of those two Valks for sure. I'd imagine the YF-19 would sell exceptionally well on the back of the good will of the VF-19.

[skullmilitia]

Yah, a YF that works as well as the VF-19's would be golden.

And pretty sure people would buy multiple repaints.

[Graham]

At the moment everything is still just rumor and speculation. We don't know exactly what happened to Yamato and we don't know what will happen with Arcadia.

Yes Yamato had some very cool stuff planned, which I hope eventually may still get made, but I'm not holding my breath and I'm not overly optimistic either.

Graham

[skullmilitia]

Does anyone even know:

A) Yamato filed for Bankruptcy

B) What Bankruptcy they filled for

C) That Arcadia is not a new Yamato, but a split off of Artistic intent?

Is there any actual facts that we know of 100%

Or is this really just all Internet rumors and ASSumptions?

If Yamato is restructuring that doesn't mean auto bankruptcy and done.

Perhaps they will be too different companies?

Edited April 27, 2013 by skullmilitia

[Graham]

No, nobody knows anything firm at this point in time.

Graham

[Mommar]

Jenius seems to be in the know about a lot of things. Other than his odd praising of Bandai I'd be inclined to believe him.

[skullmilitia]

Anyone called Yamato USA and asked them what's going on?

I mean 95% of the product they sell is from Yamato JP, so someone over there would

Be aware if product was haulted forever.

Just a thought.

[raptormesh]

Bandai's valks being competitively priced doesn't mean anything if we have to resort to scalpers for every new product.

[Renato]

Bandai's valks being competitively priced doesn't mean anything if we have to resort to scalpers for every new product.

It doesn't mean anything even without the scalper issue. Now that the actual competition itself is gone, what's the incentive for Bandai to "competitively" price anything? They effectively have a monopoly on valk toys and can charge whatever they want.

[jenius]

Same here. Bandai has a different approach than yamato had, when it comes to macross toys. I want Arcadia with the same design team that brought us the 1/60 VF-1 ver 2, the VF-19, the VF-17, the 1/3000 SDF-1, and the VF-4, period.

Problem with that logic is that the same team that developed the VF-17 for Yamato developed the VF-171 for Bandai.

Jenius seems to be in the know about a lot of things. Other than his odd praising of Bandai I'd be inclined to believe him.

My sources have been wrong before so what I say shouldn't be taken as fact although I don't write it unless I believe it. Why is my praising of Bandai odd? The renewals are AWESOME and were priced at like 14,000 Yen. What isn't to like about that? The fact some people couldn't get them? Yeah, that sucks, but most those people didn't try until the toy had been out for months.

Edited April 28, 2013 by jenius

[ron5864]

Can we all put together our money and just buy the company Yamato, like a group buy? That way, we as owners can start making the awesome mecha products and less creepy looking dolls.

[jenius]

Kickstarter!

[Chronocidal]

Problem with that logic is that the same team that developed the VF-17 for Yamato developed the VF-171 for Bandai.

My sources have been wrong before so what I say shouldn't be taken as fact although I don't write it unless I believe it. Why is my praising of Bandai odd? The renewals are AWESOME and were priced at like 14,000 Yen. What isn't to like about that? The fact some people couldn't get them? Yeah, that sucks, but most those people didn't try until the toy had been out for months.

Only on the first two releases. After that, it was what's become the classic standard sleepless night of F5 mashing, hoping to even get one at something close to retail price.

Either by decision or contract, they're pretty much ignoring the fact that there's a decent sized international market for Macross products, but whatever the reason, it's screwed a good number of people here out of ever being able to get some releases at anything approaching a reasonable price.

[raptormesh]

I have tried to pre-order their releases but with work in the way if you're late by a single day you're pretty much out of luck. The situation has become so silly that I don't doubt scalpers who has the time and opportunity have been buying up multiples just to sell them later down the road. But I don't blame them, nor would I put the entire blame on Bandai as they may have their own twisted production and marketing strategy and that is solely their own prerogative. The ideal situation would be more companies offering Macross products so collectors may have more flexibility.

Edited April 28, 2013 by raptormesh

[Tober]

Problem with that logic is that the same team that developed the VF-17 for Yamato developed the VF-171 for Bandai.

Which team is that? I've heard that T-REX have been working for BANDAI, and I've heard that the team that developed the BANDAI VF-25 model kits were involved with the renewal toys.

Given that BANDAI are now making VF-1 kits I wonder if that could evolve into a new toy line too. Probably not, but still...

Summer Wonderfest is at the end of July. Arcadia was unveiled at the last WF, so I suspect they should be there again and might provide some definitive answers.

Or maybe Save can arrange that visit to their offices he mentioned a few months ago...

[jenius]

I want to say that it was T-REX that did both the 17 and the 171 but that's not going back and checking any emails so read it with uncertainty. I don't recall anyone ever name dropping to me who worked on the renewals.

Conjecture: I've been spreading the conspiracy that Bandai was going to swoop in and grab Yamato's Macross license so they could produce a DX VF-1. I think it's pretty likely given the success of the Frontier DX toys and the ongoing popularity of the VF-1. I would love to believe the VF-1 model being built is a test bed for a future DX toy.

Along those lines, I very much hope Arcadia does enter the PT Macross toy market. I think we'd all benefit greatly from them continuing to do built-to-order super deluxe toys. The 'super deluxe' toys help keep Bandai honest. I think what you're going to see though is Arcadia being relegated to the least popular Macross series. Really itching for a VF-0D? It's my guess that or a VF-0 V2 is your best bet for where Arcadia would first jump back into the market. I also wouldn't expect a limited Arcadia Macross line is going to help convince Bandai to go crazy with their production numbers so don't expect that headache to go away.

[Gakken85]

Be manly and collect Soul of Chogokins

But seriously, if you want to cut out the middle man of scalpers... pre-order. People complain a lot about pre-orders but the renewals for the Vf-25 CF and VF-25F a few weeks ago were pretty easy to reserve. It just took a little effort. This is coming from a guy who works full time as a professional.

If you're serious about collecting it should be a priority.

I'm much more concerned with new Macross IP's and a Macross movie in America and what kind of NEW stuff we might see. Yamato was fantastic, and the entire world of transforming toys owes them a debt, but I'm ready to move on to bigger and brighter things.

You have to remember all of Yamatos quality issues, especially early on. Even the later versions had some issues.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Gakken85

[raptormesh]

I guess by VF-25 CF you meant VF-171?

It wasn't "pretty easy" to reserve a pre-order, unless you consider NY's special price a pre-order. I guess I'm not serious about collecting then if I'm putting my job and family over spamming F5 (No, I'm really not a serious collector lol compared to you guys, not trying to be snide.)

[skullmilitia]

And just because Bandai secures the VF-1 SDFM whatever license,

Doesn't mean anything good, as long as HG is around we aren't gonna get

Crap outside of Japan.

I think the doom and gloom will turn into something better than before.

Any company seeing the prices valks are going for now will quickly turn

Into the eye of profit. There's still money to be made!

[Renato]

Why is my praising of Bandai odd? The renewals are AWESOME and were priced at like 14,000 Yen. What isn't to like about that? The fact some people couldn't get them? Yeah, that sucks, but most those people didn't try until the toy had been out for months.

I don't know what you mean by that, I never saw a single Bandai renewal in a legit shop that wasn't a second-hand reseller (and to this day haven't, in fact).

[Duymon]

As much as I love Yamatos and their valks, they obviously weren't running a sound business because they are, you know, closed.

Bandai should appeal to the Export market? Yeah? the same one that kept Yamato alive right?

Bandai's conservative approach , while frustrating for overseas collectors, is understandable.

[raptormesh]

Seeming as even the renewals are scarce in Japan itself I think it's the production numbers vs demand that's the main issue.

[Mommar]

Problem with that logic is that the same team that developed the VF-17 for Yamato developed the VF-171 for Bandai.

My sources have been wrong before so what I say shouldn't be taken as fact although I don't write it unless I believe it. Why is my praising of Bandai odd? The renewals are AWESOME and were priced at like 14,000 Yen. What isn't to like about that? The fact some people couldn't get them? Yeah, that sucks, but most those people didn't try until the toy had been out for months.

Why is it odd? Do you recall the teeth gnashing you've made about the 171's transformation/wings? I agree they've done a good job with these new releases but they still aren't always as fun to transform. I pretty much keep my 171's and 25's in a single mode because I just don't like transforming them back and forth.

[auberondreaming]

Problem with that logic is that the same team that developed the VF-17 for Yamato developed the VF-171 for Bandai.

My sources have been wrong before so what I say shouldn't be taken as fact although I don't write it unless I believe it. Why is my praising of Bandai odd? The renewals are AWESOME and were priced at like 14,000 Yen. What isn't to like about that? The fact some people couldn't get them? Yeah, that sucks, but most those people didn't try until the toy had been out for months.

Ouch man. I tried to get in on the pre-order for the vf-25s and failed. I was trying the day after they went live, not after it had been out for months. Ditto on the reissue for the vf-25f as I came to that game late on the original release. I finally got the 30th edition of the vf-29 on its reissue. Not sure if its unpopular or Bandai felt bad about the last 5 releases they orchestrated.

The point is that I had an easier time getting a vf-4 than any of bandais actual "wide" releases, and the vf-4 was supposed to be an exclusive. If Bandai is the future of macross toy collecting then we are all in for serious pain and disappointment. Kind of callous to downplay a failing on bandais part to it being OUR fault for being "lazy."

[locidm]

this is a hobby, and we all have work and life that gets into the way. I agree with above that I hate ordering DX valks because it's just so much hard work! I got in of the first release of VF-25F renewal no problem, got the VF-25S only because I was lucky, got the VF-171 Alto because AE happened to put it on pre-order during day time my time, and the YF-29 30th probably because it was less popular than Bandai thinks. Despite keeping an active eye out on here and all websites I know of, I had to get the 25G, the RVF, and the 171 CF all at marked up prices. The weird thing was that I was happy to pay those prices because that means I can go to bed peacefully........

Also agree with above that I don't like transforming the Bandai valks......the Yamato ones are just much more fun to do. To this date I haven't put my ozma armor in fighter or gerwalk mode, and the 171 Alto never left battroid mode once transformed...... 25G has never been transformed and YF-29 30th hasn't even been opened. I did also get the YF-29 Alto, and it was the biggest pain the butt to put the shoulders back correctly.....

[Loop]

Dem shoulders....... That is the worst part about the YF-29. I have one shoulder that always goes flying during the transformation on my Alto scheme version. I think that is why I never really transformed my 30th version.

[Sandman]

I hate the shoulders on the vf-25. Worst part of it's transformation. Next to impossible to line them back up correctly in fighter mode.

[Save]

The only fact that needs to be said is that T-REX is a "Triumvirate" of three people and not just one single person. By all means return to your witch hunt.

[EXO]

The only fact that needs to be said is that T-REX is a "Triumvirate" of three people and not just one single person. By all means return to your witch hunt.

*Lights cigarette with torch*

"It's about time!"

[Duymon]

Wow, the VF-25 / YF-29 shoulders are so easy to put back in place for fighter mode. Index finger below, behind the bar for leverage while the thumb presses the shoulder into place. It works on all 3 VF-25 releases... (1/72 Model, v1, v2)

[Sandman]

Yeah i know how to do it. It just never lines up without any spaces like how it comes new in a box. It could be because i have huge hands.

[Loop]

Wow, the VF-25 / YF-29 shoulders are so easy to put back in place for fighter mode. Index finger below, behind the bar for leverage while the thumb presses the shoulder into place. It works on all 3 VF-25 releases... (1/72 Model, v1, v2)

My problem is that the pauldron pops off the shoulder on the 29, so frustrating....