Back from Japan, got a low-viz for cheap

[NewTypeShop]

I recently returned from a business trip out to Japan and did a little toy hunting..

To my amazement.. I was able to pickup the 1/48 Macross Zero VF-1A Low Viz for 10,000 yen at below retail, roughly around $97 at the exchange rates that time.

I asked the toy store if he had anymore, he said that was the last one and it sat there for awhile.. He said they don't carry much Macross toys because they are not very popular in Japan. Which is true, I've visited 1/2 dozen toy stores and find only 2 had various Macross toys but nothing I couldn't get off ebay cheaply.

Wish I had more time and dig up more Low-viz cheap..

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

whoa awesome dude./ If its your first one jsut remember not to push the backpack up anymore than it can go in battroid mode.

AWESOME price and find! I been itching to get a low viz(damn it college tuition freaking SUCKS) but for now I gotta stik to my sole 1/48 Vf-1S hikaru.

I really hopen yamato realizes the low viz kicks mucho ass and makes another low viz(not the same one but mayube VF-1J with paint variation)

CONGRADULATIONS and have fun with your toy! that price absolutely kicks ass.

[fifbeat]

Wow. Macross toys aren't popular in Japan? That's funny.

So a big chunk of Yamato's business has to be America then...

So much for all that "their target audience is in Japan, so don't think you're doing them a favor by buying their toys" bullshit. I mean, if it is their target, then Yamato needs a better marketing strategy. If they did what Toynami does, then they'd have the market and they'd be making more volumes and more money; AND the prices would drop.

However, I don't read those toy magazines on a reg. basis, so I don't know what kind of import advertising Yamato does. But I have seen lots of Toynami ads here and there....

But then again... I'm not 100% on my Harmony Gold/Robotech/Macross politics, either. I just know it's all a fiasco....

Edited March 11, 2004 by fifbeat

[UN Spacy]

Wow. Macross toys aren't popular in Japan? That's funny.

It's pretty sad but also very true. It reminds me of that TRU Japan thread that someone posted a couple of weeks ago. In almost every picture you could see isles among isles of Gundam products. When it came time to show the Macross stuff it was kinda pathetic. ONE measley area of shelf space for a couple of 1:48 Yammies (I believe it was a Maximillian Jenius).

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

dude yamato cant sell here domestically remembner? we only get yamato macross because etailers carry them.

[fifbeat]

That's insane.

Isn't Macross "Star Wars"-like over there? Or is "Gundamn" the in-thing? (and yes, I'm aware that Gundamn has been around for awhile)...

[fifbeat]

dude yamato cant sell here domestically remembner? we only get yamato macross because etailers carry them.

Like i said above, I don't know the politcs well. My bad; and now I feel stupid :/

But I didn't mean "Yamato" opening a food chain where you get a burger, onion rings and a 1/600 VF; I simply meant that maybe they need a serious 3rd party distributor or something. A local distribution company can do advertising for them.... kinda like what Ikea does with all that furniture that comes from God-knows-where.

But all of this is because of HG, right?

Edited March 11, 2004 by fifbeat

[JsARCLIGHT]

Gundam is the "Star Wars" of Japan, much like the energizer bunny it keeps going and going and going and going.

I'd compare Macross to Battlestar Galactica in that they both gained most of their fans in the 1980s, sort of petered out and then got a rebirth, have had a few toy lines made that were not all that uber popular but still sell for high dollars on the aftermarket and sport a rabid fanbase of diehards.

You also need to factor in the "5 minute rule" of anime in Japan: once the show has been out for 5 minutes and everyone has seen it they want nothing more to do with it and they move on to the next thing... unless it is Gundam.

[macrossworks]

I heard the same too

GUNDAM was 'star wars" but MACROSS isnt...

i wonder why....GUNDAM seems too saturated...too much stuff..

i dontknow it's weird...

But i still think MACROSS is like STAR WARS dudes...& dudettes...

[fifbeat]

man, this is shocking news. Thanks for the info.

Yes, Macross is my Star Wars, that's for sure.

[LePoseur]

Battlestar! Man JsARCLIGHT, no need to get dirty. But yeah, you're pretty much spot on.

Macross is nowhere, and I mean nowhere, near Gundam level in the public's mind. I mean, Gundam is still pretty limited when you're talking about the population as a whole, but when talking about the video-game playing/anime watching fanboy segment of the population, Gundam is king (at least in the boy world). Mentioning Macross on the other hand puts you dead center in Otaku-land

Don't think that Macross toys don't sell though. Of course, nowhere near the levels of Gundam or any other franchise aimed at kids, but enough of a nostalgia niche market for Yamato to keep making toys for a while. Yamato seems to have a pretty good handle on the size of their market (Max versions excepted ), unlike Bandai, whose reissues of the old 1/55's languished in stores for quite a while.

Edited March 11, 2004 by LePoseur

[JValk]

yep yamato probably gets most sales in the asian market - japan included, but not as rabid as gundam. probably hong kong buys alot of yamato. USA is way behind on that - including for gundams.

[Graham]

Although I've only been to Japan once, I did spend nearly the whole trip with Seichi showing Shawn, Noel and I round a great many toy, hobby and book shops and I've gotta say that I was surprised at how few Yamato and Bandai Macross toys were to be seen.

By comparison, toy and hobby shops in Hong Kong (where I live) seem to stock far more Macross toys.

Graham

[Stamen0083]

Gundam is the "Star Wars" of Japan, much like the energizer bunny it keeps going and going and going and going.

No, Gundam is the "Star Trek" of Japan. There's a huge difference because Star Wars sucks and calling Gundam Star Wars of Japan is worse than insulting.

It may seem saturated, but many people snag up Gundam merchandising like there's no tomorrow. Guess what that says for that so called saturation, eh?

To me anyways.

Moving on :-P

Edited March 11, 2004 by Stamen0083

[scand]

Wow. Macross toys aren't popular in Japan? That's funny.

It's pretty sad but also very true. It reminds me of that TRU Japan thread that someone posted a couple of weeks ago. In almost every picture you could see isles among isles of Gundam products. When it came time to show the Macross stuff it was kinda pathetic. ONE measley area of shelf space for a couple of 1:48 Yammies (I believe it was a Maximillian Jenius).

And then that was at the very bottom

[Greyryder]

Gundam is the "Star Wars" of Japan, much like the energizer bunny it keeps going and going and going and going.

No, Gundam is the "Star Trek" of Japan. There's a huge difference because Star Wars sucks and calling Gundam Star Wars of Japan is worse than insulting.

I can see Gundam being Star Trek. Always a new series coming out. Going off that analogy, that would make Macross Star Wars OT. (you know? A timeless classic.)

Would that make Macross7 the new trilogy?

[UN Spacy]

IMHO I always thought that people in Japan though of Space Cruiser Yamato as the Star Trek of Japan. Someone in there you have the classic formula but with a different crew. D'oh.....you're right Classic Formula with different technology does sound more Macross than Uchuu Senkan Yamato.

[F-ZeroOne]

Macross toys are not exactly rare in Tokyo, but theres no doubt which product line has the higher profile.

My experience may be a bit tainted as I've been fortunate enough to be in Japan at the time of release of the 1/60 VF-1A, 1/48 VF-1S and around the time of the Bandai re-issues, so Macross products were perhaps a bit thicker on the ground, but with the exception of the M & M Bandais, I had little trouble finding most Macross-related toys.

Even rarities like the Bandai E-lint Seeker aren't utterly impossible if you know which shops to try looking in.

It should also be borne in mind that many Japanese hobby shops have limited floor space and would appear to have a relatively high product turnover. Macross isn't just up against Gundam, its up against every other popular anime & manga in the country, and I'd say it gets a reasonably fair amount of exposure compared to that.

[JsARCLIGHT]

No, Gundam is the "Star Trek" of Japan. There's a huge difference because Star Wars sucks and calling Gundam Star Wars of Japan is worse than insulting.

Funny, I saw it the other way around.

The new Star Wars sucks, the old Star Wars rocks and it changed the world as we know it... trust me I was 8 when the first movie came out and it was like having your eyes opened for the first time. It was a mega-megahit that transcended time and space... while the original Star Trek got cancelled. Star Wars made it possible for them to even ressurect Star Trek as a movie as the studios now knew that a science fiction movie could mop up at the box office.

Gundam is the Star Wars of Japan. When it came out people did not catch on right away but when they did it was a genre altering thing. Gundam turned the anime industry into a robo-fest, made a multibillion dollar company out of Bandai and has sold about as many toys as Star Wars.

My vote for the Star Trek of Japan would be as others have said: Space Cruizer Yamato.

[Jawjaw]

It's pointless to argue if Macross is Star Trek or Star Wars or Tek Wars:o or whatever. The bottom line is that Macross was popular when it was out 20 years ago but not now. If you think about it, there really hasn't been that much Macross series to win over new fans. Macross7 had a lot of episodes but was a love it or hate it kind of show. Macross Plus was cool but it was an OVA and not a series on TV. Macross0 is awesome but again, it's an OVA. Gundam, however, has countless series for over 20 years and is still going. When kids come over to me house and see my collection, the only robots they recognize are the few Gundams that are surrounded by valkyries. They have no idea where the valkyries are from. If Macross kept coming out with new series, I bet it would be very popular today.

NewTypeShot - congrats on your find. Low-viz's are getting close to $300 on ebay so you did pretty good.

[Omni Existence]

Wow. Macross toys aren't popular in Japan? That's funny.

So a big chunk of Yamato's business has to be America then...

So much for all that "their target audience is in Japan, so don't think you're doing them a favor by buying their toys" bullshit.

You really should take READING COMPREHENSION classes you know?

[bsu legato]

Gundam is the "Star Wars" of Japan, much like the energizer bunny it keeps going and going and going and going.

No, Gundam is the "Star Trek" of Japan. There's a huge difference because Star Wars sucks and calling Gundam Star Wars of Japan is worse than insulting.

You really need to shut up now.

[fifbeat]

So what is Macross Zero, then? A new series that nobody gives a crap about since it's practically "The New Battle Star Gallactica"?

I'm torn.

[DrClay]

tuna is chicken of the sea.

brown is the new black.

I am the Homer of my house.

[LePoseur]

A general rule of thumb about OVAs: Only fanboys buy them... in fact, only fanboys really know of their existance. OVA's are made (now-a-days) for an existing fan base and never with any real hopes of expanding one. If you want to expand a franchise you need to be on TV, in a new run Manga or have a popular video game, as OVA's exist well below the normal cultural radar.

Should this take away from anyone's enjoyment of Macross Zero? Yeah right! Like I should even have to answer that.

Oh, and F-ZeroOne, great points that I should have included. Thanks for bringing them up. After the end of the 1/55 reissue line, things have slowed down quite a ways, but it was crazy there for a while having a whole little "Macross section" in the hobby shops, wasn't it? Of course, a lot of people might have switched to internet/takyubin purchases like I did, but reguardless, things have slowed down noticably since then.

Edited March 11, 2004 by LePoseur

[bandit29]

A general rule of thumb about OVAs: Only fanboys buy them... in fact, only fanboys really know of their existance. OVA's are made (now-a-days) for an existing fan base and never with any real hopes of expanding one. If you want to expand a franchise you need to be on TV, in a new run Manga or have a popular video game, as OVA's exist well below the normal cultural radar.

So true. Macross Zero and the New Fist Of the North Star OVA are good examples

[bandit29]

Wow. Macross toys aren't popular in Japan? That's funny.

So a big chunk of Yamato's business has to be America then...

So much for all that "their target audience is in Japan, so don't think you're doing them a favor by buying their toys" bullshit. I mean, if it is their target, then Yamato needs a better marketing strategy. If they did what Toynami does, then they'd have the market and they'd be making more volumes and more money; AND the prices would drop.

However, I don't read those toy magazines on a reg. basis, so I don't know what kind of import advertising Yamato does. But I have seen lots of Toynami ads here and there....

But then again... I'm not 100% on my Harmony Gold/Robotech/Macross politics, either. I just know it's all a fiasco....

Well Yamato would sell in the US if they could ..legally So technically Japan is their target market, even though we all know that isn't exactly the case.

and you are right the Macross liscense issues are a complete fiasco to the point I don't care anymore.

[indigofx28]

Although I've only been to Japan once, I did spend nearly the whole trip with Seichi showing Shawn, Noel and I round a great many toy, hobby and book shops and I've gotta say that I was surprised at how few Yamato and Bandai Macross toys were to be seen.

By comparison, toy and hobby shops in Hong Kong (where I live) seem to stock far more Macross toys.

I would agree because I've been to both counrties and macross is soo much eaiser to find in HK. However Manadrake in Japan long with the hobby japan stores stocked both macross and gundams.

Gundams have been around longer than macross at least 30 some years.... now if they made a perfect grade VF-1 I would be sold out instantly. meaning the toy/model would have to have an endoskeleton that is articulated.

Edited March 11, 2004 by indigofx28

[Stamen0083]

You really need to shut up now.

Did I piss you off? Too bad.

[Vermillion One]

Wow, didn't this thread used to be about a great deal on a Low Vis? Nice buy, congratulations.

[peter]

Yeah, I just got back from Japan a few days ago and I found some really cheap Macross stuff. At the retail level, especially the smaller stores, if they find that they're not moving the Macross stuff, they'll slash prices big time. I picked up a VF-1s hikaru type for ichi mon, that's 10,000 yen plus a strike armor set for 3,000 yen. This store had piles of them, but I only had so much space in my suitcase.

Another interesting place for Macross stuff is this store chain called "Book-off". I know, sounds weird, but people off-load their used books and magazines here, and they're usually in excellent condition. I found Macross books for 100-200 yen, that usually retailed for over 2,000 yen. Some of these locations even have entire libraries of Hobby Japan.

[Godzilla]

Congrats on finding one... now if I can get #6 I am halfway thru to my squadron. I am quite shocked to see that Macross died down. Then again, my interest has picked up.

[NewTypeShop]

Macross toys are not exactly rare in Tokyo, but theres no doubt which product line has the higher profile.

My experience may be a bit tainted as I've been fortunate enough to be in Japan at the time of release of the 1/60 VF-1A, 1/48 VF-1S and around the time of the Bandai re-issues, so Macross products were perhaps a bit thicker on the ground, but with the exception of the M & M Bandais, I had little trouble finding most Macross-related toys.

Even rarities like the Bandai E-lint Seeker aren't utterly impossible if you know which shops to try looking in.

It should also be borne in mind that many Japanese hobby shops have limited floor space and would appear to have a relatively high product turnover. Macross isn't just up against Gundam, its up against every other popular anime & manga in the country, and I'd say it gets a reasonably fair amount of exposure compared to that.

That's correct. The store guy told me that the Macross toys don't sell very well and they need to put items that sell more and faster so they don't keep many Macross item sitting around, floor space is expensive there.

As far as Macross + Gundam goes..

Gundam = Star Wars + Star Trek combined.

Macross = Matrix Trilogy.

The reason, when Macross 1st came out it was considered a very fresh design and very interesting ideas with valks that can change 3 modes and has SDF1 and then the whole Zentraedi thing.. People followed it and was excited when Macross Plus came out but the real fans hated it.. Which is very similar to Matrix Trilogy, it came and went ..

Gundam, now that's a huge franchise in Japan. From Gundam stores to just about every mech in Gundam has seen a model kit or a MSiA action figure.

Of course in America, the Gundam fad is over because we were spoiled by Gundam Wing and didn't quite absorb the UC Gundam series... Had Gundam came over at the time that the Transformers did, it would been a different story.

[NewTypeShop]

Yeah, I just got back from Japan a few days ago and I found some really cheap Macross stuff. At the retail level, especially the smaller stores, if they find that they're not moving the Macross stuff, they'll slash prices big time. I picked up a VF-1s hikaru type for ichi mon, that's 10,000 yen plus a strike armor set for 3,000 yen. This store had piles of them, but I only had so much space in my suitcase.

Another interesting place for Macross stuff is this store chain called "Book-off". I know, sounds weird, but people off-load their used books and magazines here, and they're usually in excellent condition. I found Macross books for 100-200 yen, that usually retailed for over 2,000 yen. Some of these locations even have entire libraries of Hobby Japan.

Bookoff is really cool but I didn't get a chance to find "Toyoff."

I found a lot of cheap Transformer reissues..

For some strange reason or shortage.. the Transformers Alternator Smokescreen which is a Subaru WRC car was asking for more than 7000-8000 yen in places, retails for only 3800yen. I think due to the fact that Subaru won the 2003 Rally Driver championship and that is a big thing in Japan but here the toy only is worth $50 for the Takara one.

[fifbeat]

What does OVA stand for?

I suck.