Macross...A fading fanbase?

[calvin]

Hey all!! been awhile since I posted. found an extra hobby in the jeep world, so I got to thinking? although they"the man" would have to pry my macross collection from my cold dead hands it just kinda seems that the macross fenzy created and sustainded by the fan and manufacturer (us and yamato)and others is at a calming point?

Although I am eagerly awaiting a lot from my preorder items it just doesn't seem to that we know of any development or r & d of up coming ideas? now I know yamato doesn't speak openly to "us" alot anymore but I like the hints, spy photos, ect. that we sometimes see! I feel it keeps the blood flowin beating already released product to death can only last so long!!

calvin

[Pat S]

Well, a fanbase is driven by the shows usually, so without new shows, not much new product will be developed. Macross Zero so far only has 1 toy in development, and multiple models have been released.

A toy developer has to have some reason to think creating a new product will be profitable, so it makes sense that things are slow now, though I'm surprised no Macross Zero toys have come out yet to test the waters.

Hopefully a new TV series or OAV will be announced soon, otherwise, Macross product development will keep slowing.

[calvin]

true, I guess we will have to wait? although I fear that a new OAV or series might fizz if zero doesn't pull in some new blood and revive the old

Edited September 12, 2004 by calvin

[connor99]

Hey, CALVIN, welcome back! To tell ya guys the truth, one of the things about MACROSS that I like so much is the fact that the fanbase isn't as big as that of, let's GUNDAM or TRANSFORMERS. This appeals to me only because I get to talk to a group of people who realy loves MACROSS 'n everything about it, not just 'coz it's the cool thing to do or 'coz every single one of their friends is into it and they just want to jump the proverbial band wagon. It's funny that thinking back to when I first saw the series on TV, I still feel the same way about having to associate w/ the same folks that DO love it!

[Deadzone]

I don't think any adults jump on the band wagon of Gundam or Transformers because it's the cool thing to do. Last I checked, most of my family and friends thought I was nuts collecting toys period.

[connor99]

He-he, I did forget about the age thing, didn't I ?! Oh, and DEADZONE, your family isn't the only one who thinks yer a nut in having to collect toys. I get the same kind of treatment from my own brood ! I just tell 'em, "Hey, I missed out on having to collect 20 years ago, so I'm not gonna let a 2nd chance pass me by!" . That seems to end the arguement, thank God!

[Macross_Fanboy]

I shall be a Macross fan forever! Or else my name isn't Macross_Fanboy!

[VF-19 pilot!!!]

connor99

i have to agree with you. though it might hinder future products from being made. I do like that the fanbase is small, relatively speaking.

to be honest i really hope that macross never really explodes into popularity to much. argg!!! god forbid it we would ever become like the mindless droves that are into starwars, especially given how crappy the new movies are!!!!! somehow it makes it more peronal to me if not too many people know about it.

i really like the fact that people see my collection and say "man those look great!!!! what are those things!!!!"

I always smile and just say they are japanese sculpture.

[Graham]

I disagree that Macross's fanbase is fading. Macross has a small but very loyal and generally quite hardcore fanbase.

Unfortunately, what is true is that the fanbase is not growing by much and probably won't unless we get a new TV series that appeals to the masses (which may or may not be a good thing depending on which way you look at it).

I'd rather have quality and substance rather than flash, but flash seems to be what the masses like these days. I certainly wouldn't like to see Macross heading down the same road that Gundam has taken with endless sequels each one worse than the last and just designed to sell toys and model kits (SEED...cough, cough).

It also seems true unfortunately that the amount of new Macross merchandise is shrinking. This really doesn't have to be the case though. I wish companies like Yamato & Bandai would realize that if they made quality toys from Macross 7, M3, FB2012 etc then people would buy them. It doesn't have to be all about just SDF, DYRL & Plus.

IMO, Macross doesn't really need a new anime just to sell toys. There's certainly enough fans that would jump at the chance to buy a Full Armored VF-11C, VF-17 w/FPs and Max & Millia VF-22 and Macross 7 is 10 years old already. And let's not forget the fan-favorite the VF-4. That's what like a 19 year old design, but people still want a toy of it.

And if one more company releases a line of VF-1 toys I'm going to scream!

Graham

[Duke Togo]

Its not easy when you haven't seen squat released outside of Japan since Macross Plus.

[Daysleeper]

Well, I'm a new addition to the fanbase. And I wasn't persuaded to join the fold by any of the shows. Heck, I don't even have nostalgia as an excuse: I don't believe the Robotech series ever had a major TV-airing on Saturday-morning cartoons, over in my backwater country; I didn't grow up with it despite being an 80's kid.

What did motivate me, however, were quality collector's items. I've been a Transformers-collector for some years now - a series I do have childhood memories of - and when I ran into a bargain 1/48 Yamato VF-1J I knew I'd found a great toy, that I vaguely remembered reading was generally quite expensive.

I took it out of the box, toyed around with it.. and here I am. Now I've been watching the old series on DVD and video (and am really digging the storylines), got a super & strike parts set, bought a second 1/48, purchased display stands, commissioned Devin for a custom decal-set, am considering getting a Q-Rau for my Valks to face, and am eagerly looking forward to the release of the VF-0 and VB-6 Koenig Monster.

I'd say Macross drew me in hook, line, sinker, rod, and boat. By sheer virtue of the toys it has inspired. But then, I was already a toy-collecting nutter to begin with, of course.. but there are quite a lot of toy-collecting nutters out there, and the ones I know were all pretty impressed by the valks.

Just my two euro-cents ($0.0245670 USD)

[The Teaser]

i'ma new to the fanbase too - i came the transformers -> macross route - 'growing up' i call it - especially as the cost increases!

[Wabbit]

It's growing, veeeery slowly.

[HG Blows]

The fan base is hybernating until some actual news is released or something actually comes out. Like all things it's a cycle. Ups and downs. Pork and beans...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[calvin]

cool, I'm always able to get good opinions around here glad I checked back in anyway I too like a smaller less flashy fan base, although I don't like the way the "company's" read that as less popular! but I also don't want it to become TF or gundamit as those toy/anime lines lost the purity that made them different anyway I hope that the new products keep coming for a long time! but in the consumer world it's always about how much they can get out(and profit) and when it slows it can mean profits are down demand is gone and product shows on ebay for

more money than most can afford!

-calvin

[Final Vegeta]

When people collect together because they hate something, the group can last long because common hatred feeds it. When people collect together because they love something, they usually find some other people in the same group loathsome, because all people have flaws.

I think it's good to be a relatively small group, because the love for Macross (even considering the chapter Macross 7) is bigger than rivalries between fans. Some other fanbases like Dragon Ball's had more troubles because it was really huge, and some fans were more obnoxious than the entertainment the anime gave.

FV

[Edward28]

I've found that the fan products have saturated the market and made the franchise loose some luster. Yamato is issuing so much the eyes water. (but that's a good thing too)

In fact I was shocked to see an armored super valk by Takatoku sell for only $220. Toy support ($) is down, but I agree that fans are probably hybernating.

We want new shows

Ed

Robot-Japan.com

Edited September 12, 2004 by Edward28

[MrDisco]

personally i'm completely bored with macross. i'm sick of VF-1 mechs ad naseusm and i wouldn't raise much of an eyebrow if yamato stopped making valks altogether.

[Nightbat]

Even Bell-bottoms and platform shoes returned

(Ironically, this came to me just after Mr. Disco's reply )

[Commander McBride]

I personally find myself less interested in Macross these days. I think it's just gotten to the point where, as has been said, there's nothing new. I find myself spending much more time on Airsoft and my car than I do on Macross these days.

[Agent ONE]

Macross it toast, we are a dying breed. It s just an 80's thing.

I am sure there is a Rambo website that is currently debating their shrinking fanbase.

[eugimon]

i think in the states, as long as there is HG lording over the macross rights, macross will never establish itself... it just isn't worth the legal fights to get macross here, when it's so much easier to get anime that doesn't have licensing battles and air in on TV or cable...

in this way, robotech, might be macross' only hope... if the new robotech series does well, I'm sure the new fans will want to see the old stuff, and hopefully through that, we can get them to come over and enjoy macross...

[Guppy]

And if one more company releases a line of VF-1 toys I'm going to scream!

lol, 5 years ago, could you ever imagine saying that you would be saying that now?

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

There is still hope that a new group of fans who have had a chance to be exposed to an official release of the original macross tv series will defect from the robotech ranks and fan support grows from there. I for one loved the fact that toys are at least being made since I had like a 10 year break from anything to do with the aging franchise. It's like the aliens series, where provided there are books, comics, toys and video games to live off of, there is a chance for new movies. The thing that keeps interest in macross is the timeless nature of the Variable fighters. It's a concept that is memorable after 20years no matter how sick the jaded collectors have gotten of the same mech being made.

I think macross plus also helped to regenerate interest because at the time, I think it was one of the coolest anime to be released. (I only recently bought these on dvd, both ova and movie versions and still love them.) They didn't need to be aimed at a mass audience imo or to compete with other scfi fi series to gain attention and "steal" fans from other series, they just had to be true to themselves and fans would just gravitate towards them based on taste.

The real problem for me is the fact that before the release of the dvd box set of the tv series I had no interest in trying to find info on macross series, the various toys that were out etc as I assumed it was a one-off thing that was dead. (I did have a short interest in gundam model kits but I'm not as much a fan of those mechs)

I think it would be cool if they just remade the whole tv series, added smooth cg aimation, and retold the story again linking everything nicely with macross zero. If you think about it, little kids of today, won't be interested in buying toys of Qrau, battle pods, destroid mechs etc if they don't even know what those things are. Maybe they could even upgrade the look of the vf1 slightly for today and relase new vf1 types. jk I would love to see celshaded macross series (in the style of zoids cartoons) with the same intensity of mac+ and mac 0 dog fights.

Edited September 13, 2004 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[nucleartiger]

I think it would be cool if they just remade the whole tv series, added smooth cg aimation, and retold the story again linking everything nicely with macross zero. If you think about it, little kids of today, won't be interested in buying toys of Qrau, battle pods, destroid mechs etc if they don't even know what those things are. Maybe they could even upgrade the look of the vf1 slightly for today and relase new vf1 types. jk I would love to see celshaded macross series (in the style of zoids cartoons) with the same intensity of mac+ and mac 0 dog fights.

Yes, that would be pretty cool!

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Well I was thinking just as an example (I think I said it before in another thread) that with the new ninja turtles and the new he-man cartoon, and the zoids stuff essentially the same old thing: people have run out of ideas. Little kids will go with what they know. And if they never even saw a macross mech how can you sell new toys of old series? (If they see macross zero right now, not even knowing what "the macross" even is, because it hasn't been built yet, how can they get interested?)

But if a new tv series (taking place in the same timeline of the old one with retelling of events that makes sense to old jaded fans) was updated for today, they(newer non-80s fans) might watch that first, then later go to mac zero and find out what the backstory of the new tv series was all about. (like the way star wars started from ep 4 not given us any information about who these "jedi knight" people were all about, adding to the mysteriousness of the story. If you think about it if a little kid saw episodes 1 star wars before seeing episodes 4,5 and 6, it would actually *spoil* the mystery of who darth vader really was and make him less cool. As a fan you acutally reommend he see episode 4,5, & 6 of star wars FIRST before the prequel)

This way mac zero could be seen as both an ova for fans of the old macross tv series, but later on seen as an ova for new fans too. (who just got into the timeline of the series where zentreadi arrive)

They wouldn't even have to tell the new tv series in exact detail to the old one. You could introduce new characters (maybe even new mecha, alongside old ones) without upsetting the main story from the original 36 ep series in the 80s.

Edited September 13, 2004 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

It aint gonna die. Most of us were around still loving macross before macrossworld was made, and hell there are more members here now than the ones that ever left during the chunky monkey days of this board. Graham is right there is a very hardcore fanbase nad hell valk scramble only left because he was becoming a father, and remember his site? the onjly new thing it had was the 1/60 VF-1, that site was purely vintage yet it was maintained and fans all over still flocked to that site until he shut it down.

So yea market is saturated but yamato is smart, they will get us when demand is high enough and the market aint flooded, i think bandai is the same way too only a lot more cautious, they wouldnt go resculpting and tooling old molds if they werent gonna us them, them be the breaks and expensive folks, so i think they are jsut biding their time for when the license isnt " hard "

[Macross_Fanboy]

Macross it toast, we are a dying breed.  It s just an 80's thing.

I am sure there is a Rambo website that is currently debating their shrinking fanbase.

At least it won't flop as quickly as Robotech did.

Edited September 13, 2004 by Macross_Fanboy

[GreenGuy42]

*shrug* As long as it's big enough to keep Yamato producing SOMETHING for us, I'm cool....

Most of the people I expose to Macross Plus, including those with less than positive opinions of anime, seem to love it, if that's any indication. That OVA/Movie alone should keep it alive.

[RichterX]

Probably the fan base can be sorted in this way:

Original fans, the ones that saw Macross serie and DYRL when they were first shown and follow it since

Converted fans, those who saw Robotech and just liked the Macross part and converted from Robotech to Macross

The reborn fans, those who knew about Macross or Robotech and converted or renew their fan after watching Macross Plus

The next generation fans, created after watching Macross 7

I am not including Macross Zero here because it is too early to see any fan base created by it, but i believe some fans have resurface because of it.

For example i remember watching robotech for first time when I was 3 or 4yrs old and just liked the Macross part, my interest resurfaced after I watch Macross Plus and learnt about the Macross first serie, regain interest again after I learned of Macross 7 three years ago and been buying the Yamato toys for the last 2 years.

[Blaine23]

Actually we all shrink as we grow older. It's a fact.

[Macross_Fanboy]

I'm a next generation fan due to Macross Plus. It was my baptism of fire into Macross. And on the inserts of Macross Plus, it says something about it being appealing to non-Macross fans. I let some of my buddies borrow the Movie Edition, and they liked it a lot.

Edited September 13, 2004 by Macross_Fanboy

[Agent ONE]

Actually we all shrink as we grow older. It's a fact.

I don't... I get bigger.

[Nightbat]

Actually we all shrink as we grow older.  It's a fact. 

I don't... I get bigger.

I get stronger

There used to be a time I needed two hands to push it down

Nowadays, I can do this with one finger

[do not disturb]

i think a lot of has to do with people coming to the realization that toys have no value other than to themselves and/or to its future owners.

i spent grip on my macross collection and wouldn't part with it again(big mistake, still no 11B FP or 21 FP)but thats not to say someone here doesn't feel diffferently. especially now, with some of the 1/48 and all the 1/72 prices hitting an all time high, its a good time to sell if you need some extra loot. also, some members here still go to school and you know they could use the extra cash.

i've gotten away from collecting(multiples)but its not me getting away from the hobby, its more of me realizing i can spend the money on more important things.