Actually, Yamato don't necessarily make a ton of money on the 1/48 or any toy, unless they sell sufficiently large quantities.
One thing to remember, is just because the retail price of a 1/48 is say ¥14,800, that doesn't mean that Yamato is getting back ¥14,800 for each 1/48 they sell.
Between Yamato and the final customer (you), there is a usually a couple of layers of middle-man that the toy passes through first, with each one adding their own mark-up, e.g. from Yamato to distributor, from distributor to toy store, from toy store to final customer.
The actual price that Yamato sells each 1/48 for is not that high probably less than half the recommended retail price. When you deduct the production cost from this selling price, the actual profit per toy is pretty small.
Graham
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That was what I intended to say previously...thanks Graham for clarifying that up...and sorry for anyone who feels offended in any ways by my ''improper' use of words.