jenius

Dear Toynami executive(s), There is demand for an SDF-1 toy of true masterpiece quality at a reasonable price point. Spend $2000, buy this kit, then simplify it, change it slightly, make a toy out of it. Clearly you don't care if people think all your company does is rip off existing designs so why stop now?

Well, if Yamato decided to do this rather than scrap the project entirely then I think that's cool of them. I wish Beagle would have done something similar with their Fuke toy.

See, if they hadn't even bothered assembling it and put it in a plain brown box it would have definitely been even cheaper. It seems like this is not an exclusive, the advertisement there says Shop Yahoo so it's a winning situation for everyone. Cheaper valk + no "finders fee" mark up = win for everyone who wants one.

Then, next year, will be the newest version that comes with unpainted Hikaru with unpainted Minmay on lap.... then the next version will be the damaged one.

So does this mean there will be one version sold in December 2009 and another version (hopefully cheaper) sold later? For $2000 I'll enjoy another holiday in Japan before I'd buy a quasi-toy.

Got a new post up: Mostly information I'm sure you all expect but with a few pics you may like. Go to www.anymoon.com

I don't think you can say Bobby was influenced by the hairdresser in MacII because the hairdressing aspect of both characters is playing up on an existing stereotype.

Hey, the Sentinels may suck, but that scene where the Regent walks into a room of captured Tirolians and then rewards them with a bomb that kills them all was pretty sweet. That was a very bad bug man.

Well yes, if we move my idea of a partially assembled toy aside, and instead consider an "arctic VF-1S" completely made and finished toy, there's no doubt that would cost a ton more as a web exclusive than as a regular release. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we see that really happen. I still think it'd be more likely Yamato will just release a completely finished all white valk as a regular release and make customizers pay full retail.

No one would be able to sell my fake valk at a huge mark-up because everyone would do what you're saying you would do. Why would you or anyone pay MORE for this blank valk then you would a completely finished valk? It doesn't make sense. So, the customizers in Japan could get the toy on the cheap and the people who would usually mark-up these web exclusives will quickly find that they can't mark them up very much at all. Inevitably some customizer in Japan who does things for their passion of customizing would help people outside of Japan get these toys for a much more modest mark-up just to cover everyone's costs. The same thing goes for Yamato's own asking price. Yamato couldn't possibly ask the same MSRP for an unfinished valk that they charge for their polished final product. People would line up in droves to pay full MSRP on finished toys, no one would line up to pay full MSRP on some unfinished toy thrown in a plain brown box. It doesn't make sense. They would HAVE to lower the asking price. I think the $70 mark makes sense because that tends to be the sale price of completed Yamato v2 toys (so honestly, it's probably a little high for what the unfinished toy would cost). There's no way that you have to worry that Yamato would go to a completely web-based purchase system. It makes no economic sense. Exclusives are good for selling toys that appeal to a tiny fraction of the fanbase (like unfinished toys in a plain brown box). Exclusives are TERRIBLE for selling toys with broad appeal. There's a good reason stores exist and it's not just because they existed before the Internet.

It's not that I'm arguing FOR Yamato, I'm arguing for the existence of the toy. I don't think the toy could sale at the volume necessary for non-exclusive retail sales. Since Yamato couldn't possible sale this blank and not totally assembled toy for the same price as a fully assembled toy (because potential consumers have the option of buying fully assembled toys and would typically choose those over a blank unassembled toy) the web exclusive price would probably be at most 70% of a standard release available at your local supplier. So, to you, in the end, since you're outside of Japan you'd still end up paying about the same price as a traditional release. This means your argument that you would have bought more as a traditional retail item doesn't really make sense (unless you see a large amount of value added by having Yamato finish the toy and use a fancy box). I'm sure the majority of customizers for macross products live within Japan so it's not a big loss to you (since you'd be essentially paying the same price) and it's a bigger benefit to the majority. Here's the math: Yamato Exclusive "Customizer Edition" partially assembled all blank valk at Yamato members price $70 Mark up for finders fee: $20-$30 Shipping: $20? You pay: $110-$120 Yamato Retail "Arctic Edition" fully assembled white VF-1 $90 Shipping: $20? You pay: $110 So, the "web exclusive" route would be about the same price but wouldn't come in a cool box, would not be fully assembled, would allow Yamato to make much fewer and still have it be a viable product, and would cost the Yamato's major market $25 less then standard releases.

I understand the gripe with the common website exclusive. If it's a product that could be sold successfully through retail channels then making it a website exclusive does seem like a money grab when the manufacturer goes the direct sales route. It makes matters much worse for people outside of Japan because they then pay the mark-up and two shipping fees. The only reason I would argue FOR the website exclusive on the unfinished pure white valk is because I can't see it ever being a successful toy through standard retail channels. Retailers wouldn't want to stock this model-like toy (outside of the mega model/toy retailers) and as such the orders to Yamato would be tiny. If Yamato gets rid of those retailers and keeps the mark-up themselves then they can theoretically stay profitable while producing roughly HALF the number of units through the exclusive channel. Since I don't live in Japan the exclusive channel would only benefit me in that I would rather see this happen and be an exclusive (even if after 'finders fees' the toy costs about the same as a finished VF-1 for non-residents) then not be made at all. Again, Yamato could complete the toy, put it in a fancy box, and charge full MSRP. Price-wise you'd definitely have to pay full MSRP and then take the toy apart. It's kind of a six of one, half a dozen of the other argument with me saying that I just think in the six of one approach there's more likelihood of it actually happening.

I don't get what middleman I'm introducing? Yamato's website is not a middleman, it's their direct sales channel. I'm going to keep this all in the context of my original suggestion which I'm not sure you're doing. Obviously it doesn't HAVE to be in a brown box... it doesn't HAVE to be made in any way. We're also talking about a toy that would NEVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS succeed in large quantities. A partially assembled all blank valk isn't the kind of thing that is going to fly off the shelves... it's something a very tiny fraction of the hobby would want for customizing. Most customizers probably wouldn't even be interested since they're usually also modelers. Soooo... Yamato could offer this tiny niche product to retailers and would likely be snubbed by the vast majority of them. "How many orders do you want of a partially assembled, no frills quasi-toy packaged in a plain brown box and aimed at .05% of the fandom? Each case comes with at least six." By keeping it a web exclusive they get to roll out tiny production runs at a time, throw them in the cheapest box possible, and dictate the price that that .05% is going to have to pay. Obviously they're competing with their already made toys that regular retailers are selling so the price they could charge would be extremely limited. The can't charge you $90 for a partially assembled toy when you can buy the fully assembled and painted toy for the same thing. The other option is to make it a regular release, completely finish it, paint the pilot, give it a nice box, and charge you the same MSRP as every other toy but make it readily available. It would probably sell pretty terribly and the customizers will have spent more money just to tear the toy apart anyway. Granted, that's the much more likely way it will go. I think the problem here is that you think a web exclusive HAS to cost YOU more money (and if you live outside of Japan, you may be right) but if you look at it from Yamato's perspective, they could easily charge much less for their Japanese customers and cut out middlemen entirely on a product that with middlemen likely is an immediate failure.

Toy companies almost never make official announcements of toy lines dying. Usually what they'll do is just allow employees to say "we don't plan on making more of those" at toy shows. There's still no "official announcement" of the Beagle Ride Armor line being dead so you can hold out hope on that too.

because it wouldn't work as a retail package. I can't imagine stores carrying incomplete toys in plain brown boxes right next to their normal toys at twice the cost... except maybe your Hobbylink Japans of the world. Also, if you introduce a middle man you introduce one more person who is going to want a take on the profit.

If they do do an all white valk, I think they should get hardcore about it. They should make it a web exclusive (hear me out). The item should cost about 50% of a normal valk, should come only partially assembled like a model kit, should have an unpainted pilot figure and gun, and should be shipped in a plain brown box, as small as possible, with paper instructions in Japanese about how to finish constructing the toy. The toy should come shipped with a TV VF-1A head with alternate heads and accessories also available through the Yamato website. Yamato should make a section of their website into the Macross Factory where you could buy all the items customizers could want. You want to buy 12 unpainted VF-1S heads? Sure. You want a bag full of different colored visors for those heads? That should be available to. Am I dreaming a bit too much? Yeah, probably.

Does this toy have the same clips to hold the fins in place that the VT-1 had? If so, and if by some chance you're not using them, you might find that those would help with keeping the backpack in place for mild handling.

It's probably the only Yamato valk Yamato themselves own. You just found the "pre-photo shop color added" pics.

For what it's worth, I updated my Toynami Beta review to include the Aoshima Tread. All the differences I found were purely superficial.

HG has a license that will never expire. Uh, HG is creating Shadow Chronicles and has licensed a movie to be made. HG is not a toy manufacturer. Much like Big West makes money for the name Macross and doesn't make toys.

I played Beatles Rock Band at a buddy's house the other night. I suspect there was either something wrong with my buddy's mic or that there's something wrong with what notes that game thinks Paul was hitting. We had to have people scream out in the shrillest tones ever to get the game to think we were singing properly. It was the most hilarious night of playing video games I think I have ever experienced. Otherwise, I prefer Rock Band 2.

As has been stated elsewhere, that's not entirely fair since every indication is that Yamato treats its customers like gold in Japan. It's the people outside of Japan that have the gripe but Yamato is not allowed, due to its licensing agreements, to do anything to help you or to encourage you to buy its products in the first place. I'm not arguing that all the broken shoulders of Yamatos past should be overlooked, I'm just saying they'd probably do a lot to help you... if they could.

I vote with my wallet. I didn't feel I got good bang for my buck out of the VF-11B and to a lesser extent the VF-22S. As such, I won't be buying any more of those toys unless they're on mega sale.

The toy is put away so I can't double-check but I didn't note anything peculiar about the wings when I was doing my review. I was also comparing the toy to my Focker so it's probably safe to say that it has the same tightness/looseness as my other 1/60V2s.

I looked at mine for gnurling when I did my review and didn't see any. I wonder if you just have the misfortune of getting a poorly put together shoulder.