Bandai Macross Frontier toys thread

[miriya]

LOL! You're giving me all sorts of idea's

ROTFLMAO!!!! Great job! Thanks.

[CF18]

For reference look at the Macross 7 line they produced back in the day.

And what do those Macross 7 line have to do with today's market? It was 1995, and market of premium toys for adult collector didn't exist. Bandai made the first Master Grade Gundam model that year, starting a premium model line that target adults but still friendly to kids. The Soul of Chogokin started in 1997, banking on the young money making adults grown up with the 70's mecha anime.

Personally I am happy that Bandai intead of Yamato is handling Macross F products. Yamato VFs have great sculpture but the product quality is rather random. Many people has been burned by borken pieces on the like of Garland and VF-0, and now completely avoid their products.

[Fort Max]

I can't wait to see the reasoning used around here to say "Yamato should have made these" when Bandai turns out a fantastic toy you can both afford and play with.

Seriously, I know Bandai has stiffed Macross in the past, I've seen those toys and yes they're dissapointing. But those toys were cheap, easy efforts for a licence they weren't really backing.

But this time Bandai has said they're doing a chogokin large sized Valkyrie, that won't be a cheap easy effort, it will be a fantastic toy.

[charger69]

However, I'm more than happy with my Bandai Akira Bike

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

What we have here is the big guy vs the little guy. Bandai vs Yamato. There was never any doubt in my mind that Bandai could produce a better VF-1. They just never did. With the market getting saturated a couple years back, I wasn't surprised. Now they have an opportunity to do good. Some of us wondered what it would be like if Bandai made a new valk and made it appealing to collectors, unlike the kiddified Macross 7 line. This is finally happening. Some of us wondered how another company other than Yamato would take on valk toys. This is finally happening.

If Yamato ends up making a VF-25 years later then we will have a variety of VF-25s to choose from. Its been 14 years since the airing of Macross Plus and just now we are getting a 1/60 YF-21. All of us have waited that long and yet we are still excited. Its not like anything will change. Experience has shown us that we are willing to wait years for a Yamato toy. Hell we still are.

I see this as a good thing. Its about time Bandai came back into the game. Now lets see what the big fish can do....

I agree with this. Hopefully they look at what yamato has done and try to one-up or at least match them.

Yamato has been there for the fans during the "drought of toys" but with the new show coming up, there is going to be a larger demand for toy from casual macross fans and not just the diehard collectors with loadsa money to buy multiple large scale toys.

IF bandai can show us something at least as good as what yamato can do, I don't see how this is a bad thing. But I do see bandai as a giant fighting a little guy and who in the past didn't see massive profit in macross so they decided to not care as much as the little guy who wants to please the diehard fans by listening to them. The giant can make money on other things, and casually sit on the license for years with nothing except re-releases of old toys which might turn off the fan who wanted something better than that. Whereas with the little guy: the newer stuff can get better and more detailed and give you an incentive to buy the new toys. (because they've been updated, improved, are more accurate, and more feature packed.)

After all the hype around macross F is over bandai will just go back to their gundam series, and the smaller company will be there for the fans during the drought period. (unless they make more than one season of macross and try to extend it?)

Personally I think it is nice that yamato is doing the non macross f stuff because they can then focus all their effort on these other valks. I'm looking forward to the macross plus and zero releases from them just as much as the bandai toy.

Prices I bet will probably be better for the bandai stuff, but you can't complain that there are no more toys from the 20 year old robot series anymore. I was happy when the overpriced Qrau came out, so for me just having the competition is taken as a good thing because it means more chance that mecha not made by one company is done by the other which means more choices for you as a fan. (eg revoltech macross figures: finally a super posable qrau may be possible which is what I've always wanted to display. Because of poor sales of the bigger qrau you know they won't bother with the green one, so given that there is other companys making toys you now have the chance to get a team of green revys, purple grunts from DYRL, along with both red and blue aces versions, something you wouldn't do at larger scale. Hopefully everyone buys the enemy mecha so that they continue to make more)

Edited March 1, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[badboy00z]

All this hate for Bandai and taking jabs at them is really immature IMO. I'm sure with Kawamori working closely with the team, he won't let anything that he doesn't like go into production. Bandai is already spending lots of money sponsoring the show so why would they f' it up with crappy toys and models? It's just another chance to make even more money.

Would you yamato fanboys still worship them regardless if their products still contain loads of QC problems?

[GGemini]

I agree with 1/1LVL. I think we need to wait until the VF-25 (or at least the prototype) is released before jumping to any conclusions. Basing the possible quality of a product on what a person wears to work is ridiculous IMO.

We do need to be grateful that Yamato was there when there were no other releases, also for possibly setting the 1/60 scale standard for the Macross F toys and last but not least, because apparently we'll have a decent VF-25 just months after the series is released and not 25 years later. The only "dangerous" situation for Yamato could be if the Macross F toys sell well (esp. the 1/60 ones)... then Bandai will want to release a broader spectrum of Macross toys. Then again, that means that the competition will be based in a quality / cost-benefit level, and I don't think that's bad for us as customers.

Regarding all the different scales, that's nothing new... Takatoku did the same thing with Macross, so what's the surprise?

[warpaint22]

Well lets just hand Yamato everything to do with Macross and let them charge $1000.00 for the next valk as they won't have any compition great idea guy's, that's just a great idea for all of us. Ummm I got to love all the comment that bandai has made a hash of macross before and well they have but Yamato is not far behind. If the Yamato 1/60 VF-1 was so good why do we now get a PT 1/60 line, so what this isn't Yamato screwing money out of everybody again, oh and don't for get the shoulder problem on the VF-0 the BP-8 problem and the list goes on. Well the rest of you might feel good paying what ever Yamato want's you to pay but I'm not I hope bandia come out with something better and cheaper which makes Yamato have to bring thier prices more into line.

No compition is a really bad thing and that's the position that Yamato is in right now and the fact that Bandia can probably produce toys from all the macross shows I bet Yamato is feelling a little trickle down one leg at the moment as thier profit margine is in danger from another company that's more well known and with more cash behind them than Yamato can only dream about.

As for calling the Bandai guy's dicks for wearing Gundam clothes, which makes sence considering that it's bandai's No.1 line, well why don't the Yamato guy's wear Macross clothing and show thier devotion to thier No.1 line. I go to work and wear a uniform with logo's plastered all over it so what's the difference, I notice that some of the clothes have Bandai logo's on them so it could be classed as a bandai uniform.

Some of you act like no one can ever build a better macross valk than Yamato, well I'm sorry but everything can be improved always, but the main thing I can see is that how many people are worried that bandai might just better Yamato forcing them either out of the market or making them cut back production. And well one thing no one can ignore is that if it wasn't for bandai we might never have Macross F, so I don't get the idea of dissing the company that is bringing us this show, isn't that like biting the hand that feeds you.

As for SK I don't think I've ever seen him in a picture yet that doesn't look like he's sucked on a lemon, maybe he's sitting thier thinking " Holy crap these guys have it togeather, look at all these pictures and prototypes. Oh and where can I get some of them gundam clothes I'm a big fan you know."

All in all compitition is great for us, I for one will never just be loyal to one brand that's just stupid IMO. Bring on as many companies as you can to produce macross I say and let the price war begin.

[eugimon]

okay guys, you're right. Bandai is the bestest company ever and they've never made a toy with sloppy paint application, or joints that shatter and all their toys are priced for under 40 dollars and I see now how bandai loves macross and single handedly saved it from obscurity! All hail bandai!

Seriously though, how exactly is having every Macross Frontier toy and model made by bandai competition? All I see is typical big business here. They see a market other people have been feeding and then they sweep in and bury them to squelch competition. You want to see comptetion, look at the mospeada line where 4 different companies are producing different versions of the cyclone. That's called competition, this is called shutting out the little guys.

And BTW, just because I'm not excited that Bandai is taking over Macross doesn't mean i think yamato can do no wrong. i don't subscribe to dualism here. Just because option A sucks, doesn't mean option B doesn't also suck. Simply calling people who don't like Bandai for their past and present offerings yamato fanboys as a way of sweeping our valid concerns over their treatment of the macross franchise doesn't change the facts. And the facts are, bandai has historically not given a crap about macross

bandai has taken the license for every level of toy and model, thereby killing any compeition for macross frontier

and, despite some wishful thinking here, bandai toys, even their vaunted SOC and chogokin lines have released toys with poor materials and poor build quality, including sloppy paint application.

Edited March 2, 2008 by eugimon

[Sumdumgai]

Yamato is looking up on the QC from what I understand. Yamato can F*** up, I am quite aware of it (VF-0A shoulder breakage, grrr). Yamato does have a history of releasing some badass valkyrie toys.

Bandai can put out good stuff, and mediocre stuff. They have a history of not putting any effort into Macross. It's that history that has a number of us waiting with crossed arms and dubious looks on our faces.

As Eugimon brought up, Bandai having the Macross Frontier license isn't really competition. They're releasing Macross Frontier stuff, not SDF Macross, DYRL, Macross Plus, and Macross Zero stuff. If you want a VF-25, Bandai is the only game in town. And if it sucks... Well no one else can get the license for a while.

I'm not cursing Bandai. I'm going to wait and see what they put out. If the 1/60 VF-25 turns out to be a chunky monkey, I'm gonna throw up.

[kensei]

Those guys wearing Gundam jackets doesn't make them dicks, just nerds. Cause the dress code is really casual over there, I would be wearing something else. In terms of fashion, Japan is pretty up to date. Give me Hugo boss and Armani jackets any day over anime fanfare.

[Nani?!]

Bandai has sole rights to the frontier line...

Correct, it's not direct competition....

But they're in yamato territory for sure by stepping into macross.

That's competition enough to basically have enough points of comparison for yamato to step up in potentially several, and in the least, a couple of areas.

- If they stack up a good array of accessories for the same price for example, it will in turn put pressure on yamato to reciprocate.

- If they make the same quality valk for 5%, 10%, 20%, of however less, that will again pressure yamato...

- If they include "No duh, why didn't yamato think of that?" features to it, it will in turn give yamato a shot to improve and generate more ideas...

- If they package the bloody thing better, again a dial up in pressure for yamato to do the same.

- Etc Etc.

All they have to do is not make the valk suck like toynami has... they just have to make it comparable....

If they're really smart, they'll even make it in the yamato style but minus the QC issues...

I take it that bandai CAN be that smart... and in the end... it'll in turn only make yamato better...

I understand people's sentiment about the David & Goliath situation here, but in macross territory, Yamato is Goliath.

In the end if Bandai does a good job... we're the one's who benefit.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

You want to see comptetion, look at the mospeada line where 4 different companies are producing different versions of the cyclone. That's called competition, this is called shutting out the little guys.

At last some common sense

I bet the 1/60 VF-25 DX chogokin will cost between U$S 170/200. Forget about the idea of a Bandai equally detailed 1/60 VF like the SV-51 for U$S 40. I hope Bandai proves me wrong so I can shut my mouth.

Macross mecha is not about connecting bricks like SOC Godmarz. I'd like to see an "indestructible accurate to the lineart not chunky monkey VF-25" made by Bandai.

All the tiny joints of the Yamato SV-51 were a disaster waiting to happen yet it has proven to be a very solid release.

Just my 0.02 cents for what it's worth.

[Nani?!]

At last some common sense

I bet the 1/60 VF-25 DX chogokin will cost between U$S 170/200. Forget about the idea of a Bandai equally detailed 1/60 VF like the SV-51 for U$S 40. I hope Bandai proves me wrong so I can shut my mouth.

Macross mecha is not about connecting bricks like SOC Godmarz. I'd like to see an "indestructible accurate to the lineart not chunky monkey VF-25" made by Bandai.

All the tiny joints of the Yamato SV-51 were a disaster waiting to happen yet it has proven to be a very solid release.

Just my 0.02 cents for what it's worth.

I don't disagree at all...

Bandai can very much blow this and I'm sure it's almost 99.9% likely that yamato's products will have superior features... but...

it's not a stretch at all to say that it can actually prove to be beneficial for us fans to have bandai and yamato look over each other's shoulders...

It's easy to take sides with whom people view the underdog, but regardless of the sides, I think their (bandai) entrance into the fray will do for macross toys what rivalries did for baseball...

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Yes, I totally agree that more companies making high end macross products is a benefit for us fans

It's a win win situation. Remember not long ago when people said macross was fading away

[eugimon]

Don't kid yourselves. If macross Frontier takes off and catapults Macross back into mainstream popularity, what makes you think Bandai is going to let anyone else produce Macross toys or models? Exactly how many other companies out there produce competing Gundam models or figures?

[warpaint22]

okay guys, you're right. Bandai is the bestest company ever and they've never made a toy with sloppy paint application, or joints that shatter and all their toys are priced for under 40 dollars and I see now how bandai loves macross and single handedly saved it from obscurity! All hail bandai!

Seriously though, how exactly is having every Macross Frontier toy and model made by bandai competition? All I see is typical big business here. They see a market other people have been feeding and then they sweep in and bury them to squelch competition. You want to see comptetion, look at the mospeada line where 4 different companies are producing different versions of the cyclone. That's called competition, this is called shutting out the little guys.

And BTW, just because I'm not excited that Bandai is taking over Macross doesn't mean i think yamato can do no wrong. i don't subscribe to dualism here. Just because option A sucks, doesn't mean option B doesn't also suck. Simply calling people who don't like Bandai for their past and present offerings yamato fanboys as a way of sweeping our valid concerns over their treatment of the macross franchise doesn't change the facts. And the facts are, bandai has historically not given a crap about macross

bandai has taken the license for every level of toy and model, thereby killing any compeition for macross frontier

and, despite some wishful thinking here, bandai toys, even their vaunted SOC and chogokin lines have released toys with poor materials and poor build quality, including sloppy paint application.

I never said that Bandai makes every or anything perfect, but they have released very nice products and so have Yamato. Never once did I say or hint that these companies are bad, I may have hinted at my problem with pricing but that's my own concern, as if I had heeps of disposable cash then that would not be of any concern for me at all. But no matter how you look at it producing any macross toy and more so valkyries is going to be compitition for Yamato or any other company that produces such toy's. If Bandai produce a really nice 1/60 valk that could out do Yamato then Yamato will be forced to step up thier game in some way, but this all is speculation as we know nothing of how good the final product will be so Yamato still rains supreme for now, and they are doing macross a great justice that Bandai have neglected I'll admit that but it's crap for those that just make unfounded claims or stupid comments that makes reading a tread boring, just like this post

As for more companies making macross toys bring it on, from the crappiest to the best companies and then everybody could have a valk of some sort, that would be awesome. I can understand that Bandai could really suck at this AGAIN but I'm not going to drive them into the dirt until I have some ammo, so far things look pretty good. The prototypes look pretty much what we would see from Yamato and they are consulting with SK so that's a plus from the start and they seem actively making progress in a short amount of time. They seem that they have targatted scales that other companies are producing (mainly I'm talking 1/60) but this could be because just because gundam uses this scale and it makes it easy for them.

I don't expect either that the Bandai items will be cheap, more so they will say " hey look everybody will pay $200US for a Yamato we should make our $250" I'm well aware that this is the trend in this type of market but hey someone has to hope as it is possible that Bandai could produce a great toy at a lesser price than Yamato's offerings. I'm a little nerves to about Bandai's past record and I would love a Yamato VF-25 as it makes perfect sence to want a valk that will look like and transform in the same manner as the other Yamato's, it gives collections a constant.

The one big plus I think is that if Bandai is supported then Bandai or the "Big Fish" has plenty of muscle to flex when they want to export there products, that intern gives other smaller companies such as Yamato and Kaiyodo someone to rally behind and take a fight to HG so we will finaly be free of HG tyranny.

[eugimon]

Again, show me high end gundam toys and models from a company not Bandai and I'll buy into all this competition talk being thrown around. Until then, what I see from yamato is them trying to capitalize on the remaining time on their licenses until Bandai closes them out.

I really hope I'm wrong and Bandai does make incredible Macross toys at the same level of detail and accuracy that yamato has given us, because if Macross Frontier is a hit, bandai is all we're going to get.

[warpaint22]

Don't kid yourselves. If macross Frontier takes off and catapults Macross back into mainstream popularity, what makes you think Bandai is going to let anyone else produce Macross toys or models? Exactly how many other companies out there produce competing Gundam models or figures?

But we have companies that are producing macross and have been for some time now, so Bandai could hold onto macross F and what ever comes after but that still leaves a lot to produce for those that have licences even without the new show. But you seem to almost want macross F to fail so bandai will not bother. If macross F takes of and even goes international then expect Bandai to produce as much as they do for gundam, perhaps?

[eugimon]

But we have companies that are producing macross and have been for some time now, so Bandai could hold onto macross F and what ever comes after but that still leaves a lot to produce for those that have licences even without the new show. But you seem to almost want macross F to fail so bandai will not bother. If macross F takes of and even goes international then expect Bandai to produce as much as they do for gundam, perhaps?

Like I've said before and numerous times, I hope I'm wrong. I hope bandai makes incredible MF toys that blow yamato out of the water. I hope the changes they made to the show allow them to market this internationally and I hope Macross rides a huge wave of success and popularity. I just don't have faith in bandai that they will. I don't see them using their muscle to give MF a decent timeslot and sorry, I don't think showing up to a Macross Frontier meeting in Gundam clothes to be anything other than a slap in the face.... especially a meeting they allowed people to publish phots from. Sorry, but the Japanese people I know are just too considerate and mannered to make a gaff like that on accident. Come on, it's like if Microsoft was doing a publicity shot for the 360 and Bungie showed up all wearing PS3 shirts. How many of you would be saying that's just an innocent oversight? And I'm still refuting all this talk of competition resulting from Bandai getting involved. Again, with mospeada we have two companies producing the legioss/tread and 4 companies producing the bikes. How many companies produce gundam toys?

[CF18]

I don't think showing up to a Macross Frontier meeting in Gundam clothes to be anything other than a slap in the face.... especially a meeting they allowed people to publish phots from.

I don't know how did you come up with that crazy fanboy non-sense. That is just a company unitform. You don't wear suit to design a toy.

And Kawamori-san has been working with Bandai for more than 10 years - he designed the 0083 Gundams, on top of many other thing. He has better understand of their cooperate culture than any of us.

Again, with mospeada we have two companies producing the legioss/tread and 4 companies producing the bikes. How many companies produce gundam toys?

Actually Bandai divide their anime properties to multiple child companies, and these day there are many Gundam toy lines directly compete with each other. From their toy department they have the near-dead MSIA and Gundam Fix. From the hobby department they have the gunpla, hcm-pro and super-hcm-pro. In hobby magazines their different names are clearly listed with their products.

In rare case they also license Gundam to other company - Mega (formerly Megablock) made that LEGO-ish Gundam and Zaku.

Edited March 2, 2008 by CF18

[Nani?!]

Right, Gundam has been Bandai's schtick for all eternity...

but there are other properties that bandai had a hand in that other companies have shared and continued to share....

One biggie being the Evangelion franchise.

And it's not up to bandai nor yamato to drive this franchise into the mainstream... that's only accomplished by the japanese and hopefully in the future the international people's tastes and choices in anime. As much as bandai wouldn't care to use it's muscle to push macross into the forefront, neither does yamato even possess the muscle to do so as well.

It's likely that 95%+ of the whole MW community here got into macross because of macross, not because of yamato.

About competition... yea.... I hear ya.

There is a chance (ever so slight) that bandai can push yamato out of macross entirely...

Mind you... I said yamato will face good competition from Bandai~

I did not say that this competition will continue on for an indefinite amount of time...

But for how ever long that time will be... we'll be seeing some awesome shiet come out of both.

And who ever is left king of macross toys in the end... no matter what bandai's monetary advantage, they wont do it making sh*t toys...

They'll have to earn it... and to that, you have to make stuff that knocks yamato's stuff out of the water...

Anyway, we're really getting ahead of ourselves if we think yamato is going to crash and burn out of macross because of bandai. Yamato has good relations with Kawamori and I'm sure they will always have a major share in Macross products.

Heck, its even likely that the people at bandai will get frustrated that macross toys actually require perfect transformation, and in turn scare them off after their stint with MF... Who knows?

[kensei]

Again, show me high end gundam toys and models from a company not Bandai and I'll buy into all this competition talk being thrown around. Until then, what I see from yamato is them trying to capitalize on the remaining time on their licenses until Bandai closes them out.

I really hope I'm wrong and Bandai does make incredible Macross toys at the same level of detail and accuracy that yamato has given us, because if Macross Frontier is a hit, bandai is all we're going to get.

I hope so too, or the licence is very short for them . Here's hoping they don't sit on the licence like they did with the M7 licence.

[eugimon]

Right, Gundam has been Bandai's schtick for all eternity...

but there are other properties that bandai had a hand in that other companies have shared and continued to share....

One biggie being the Evangelion franchise.

And it's not up to bandai nor yamato to drive this franchise into the mainstream... that's only accomplished by the japanese and hopefully in the future the international people's tastes and choices in anime. As much as bandai wouldn't care to use it's muscle to push macross into the forefront, neither does yamato even possess the muscle to do so as well.

It's likely that 95%+ of the whole MW community here got into macross because of macross, not because of yamato.

About competition... yea.... I hear ya.

There is a chance (ever so slight) that bandai can push yamato out of macross entirely...

Mind you... I said yamato will face good competition from Bandai~

I did not say that this competition will continue on for an indefinite amount of time...

But for how ever long that time will be... we'll be seeing some awesome shiet come out of both.

And who ever is left king of macross toys in the end... no matter what bandai's monetary advantage, they wont do it making sh*t toys...

They'll have to earn it... and to that, you have to make stuff that knocks yamato's stuff out of the water...

Anyway, we're really getting ahead of ourselves if we think yamato is going to crash and burn out of macross because of bandai. Yamato has good relations with Kawamori and I'm sure they will always have a major share in Macross products.

Heck, its even likely that the people at bandai will get frustrated that macross toys actually require perfect transformation, and in turn scare them off after their stint with MF... Who knows?

Evangelion doesn't count because GAINAX is a license whore and they spread the love around Paris Hilton at a New Years Eve party, not because Bandai decided to be magnanimous and let other people eat from the table.

[eugimon]

I don't know how did you come up with that crazy fanboy non-sense. That is just a company unitform. You don't wear suit to design a toy.

And Kawamori-san has been working with Bandai for more than 10 years - he designed the 0083 Gundams, on top of many other thing. He has better understand of their cooperate culture than any of us.

Actually Bandai divide their anime properties to multiple child companies, and these day there are many Gundam toy lines directly compete with each other. From their toy department they have the near-dead MSIA and Gundam Fix. From the hobby department they have the gunpla, hcm-pro and super-hcm-pro. In hobby magazines their different names are clearly listed with their products.

In rare case they also license Gundam to other company - Mega (formerly Megablock) made that LEGO-ish Gundam and Zaku.

company uniform or not, and yes, we've all seen the video of all the gundamization at the bandai plant, they still showed up for a macross publicity shoot wearing gundam uniforms. It's not like they're not wearing regular clothes under those shirts. It's called reading between the lines, not "crazy fanboy nonsense". And so what if Kawamori designed a few gundams, he's not there promoting Gundam, is he?

As for your child company nonsense.. give me a break. MSIA, HCM pro they all have the bandai logo stamped on the boxes. You're just arguing semantics.

[jenius]

I'm sorry, I must have missed a post, Yamato's licenses are about to run out??

[badboy00z]

Here's what I don't understand. Bandai is the major sponsor of MF and they're spending lots of money on it. If they didn't predict that the show would be a big hit, why did they sponsor it in the first place? If they're predicting a big hit, there is obvious potential to make money with toys and models. Why on earth would they disappoint the fan base with crappy merchandise?? Do you really think that they are so evil and devious that they would sponsor the show and not give their 100% in the merchandise just to tick off the fans?? Sure Bandai had the license for M7 and dicked us with the toys but did they spend as much money on it than MF?? Did Kawamori work as closely during M7 than he is now?? "Oh I don't have faith in Bandai because the M7 toys sucked." What are some toys in the era of M7 that was close to what Yamato or any other toy companies gives us now?? The old 1/72 Yamato valks doesn't look any better than Bandai's 1/55 valks IMO.

I don't see how it's possible for Bandai to f' up and not give us something equal or better than Yamato. If Yamato can do it, so can Bandai. It's not hard for them to get a 1/60 YF-19 and see how it works and then use their own engineering ingenuity and design an even better one. Kawamori is working closely with the team so there is no way in hell he'll let something less than Yamato quality go into production. And no one knows how his creations transform better than he does obviously so I have no doubt that it will be a true perfect transformation.

Bandai has made MG models besides Gundam. Patlabor is the obvious one and Dunbine was another. All of which where up to par with the Gundams. With that said, the 1/72 MF models just might be MG kits seeing how a 1/72 valk would be about the same size as a 1/100 AU Gundam.

[UN Spacy]

Wasn't Bandai a major sponsor of Eureka Seven?

They totally dropped the ball with that one.

[isamu_dyson]

I'm sorry, I must have missed a post, Yamato's licenses are about to run out??

I think you have missed an entire thread lol

the fact is that bandai will make Macross F toys and models because they have the licence. Yamato or hasegawa will have to wait.

Yamato still have the licence for other Macross products.

Edited March 2, 2008 by isamu_dyson

[badboy00z]

company uniform or not, and yes, we've all seen the video of all the gundamization at the bandai plant, they still showed up for a macross publicity shoot wearing gundam uniforms. It's not like they're not wearing regular clothes under those shirts. It's called reading between the lines, not "crazy fanboy nonsense". And so what if Kawamori designed a few gundams, he's not there promoting Gundam, is he?

As for your child company nonsense.. give me a break. MSIA, HCM pro they all have the bandai logo stamped on the boxes. You're just arguing semantics.

From what I understand, they are at the Bandai office so why wouldn't they be wearing their uniform even if it's a publicity shoot for Macross?? Doesn't make sense at all IMO. What do you expect them to wear?? Macross flight suits??

All he's saying is that Kawamori is a fan of Gundam and has designed a few mobile suits. The little thought bubbles in those pictures are stupid. Why would he bash the company that makes the models and sponsor the shows of what he is interested in?

And you're right about no other company making any products for Gundam. But I would bet that Yamato would do to same if they were the "founding father" of Macross and have the financial power to do so. Speaking from a business view point, why would you want to let other companies in on your cash cow?? You'd want to monopolize it and make all the money for yourself.

[badboy00z]

Wasn't Bandai a major sponsor of Eureka Seven?

They totally dropped the ball with that one.

Probably it didn't do as well as they predicted. And besides, that show is no where near as epic as Macross since it was a new show.

[Graham]

Heh, my comment about 'Bandai dicks' did seem to stir up a hornets nest.

The Bandai staff turning up to a meeting about Macross Frontier with Kawamori-san, who is one of the top three mecha designers in Japan (if not the world) and the main the creator of Macross, while wearing Gundam jackets is a definitely being a tad disrespectful in my opinion. I know if I had been Kawamori, I would not have been pleased.

Dante74, your thought balloons were hillarious. I can actually see it being true. Kawamori does enjoy a pretty good working relationship with Yamato, and while I don't know it for a fact, I'd wager that if it was up to kawamori, he'd choose Yamato to make the Frontier toys. I've heard he is extremely happy with what Yamato have been doing. And he does seem to look pretty unhappy in all the photos shown so far with the Bandai toys/staff.

While of course, I'd personally prefer Yamato made the Frontier toys and Hasegawa the models, I'm not counting Bandai out. They certainly have the technology, experience and talent to make some amazing toys and models if they chose to bring their 'A' game to the table.

However, as many others have commented, they do need to prove themselves, as except for the HCM's back in the 80s, all their other original Macross efforts have been either mediocre, to downright bad.

Graham

[CF18]

The Bandai staff turning up to a meeting about Macross Frontier with Kawamori-san, who is one of the top three mecha designers in Japan (if not the world) and the main the creator of Macross, while wearing Gundam jackets is a definitely being a tad disrespectful in my opinion. I know if I had been Kawamori, I would not have been pleased.

May be I simple don't buy into this Gundam vs Macross mentality. I am sure no one at Intel mind if someone wear a CPU promo shirt to a GPU design meeting.

And it is not like Kawamori-san is an outsider of Bandai. Looking back at his impressive profile, Bandai Visual is the backer of nearly all the anime that he played a major role. And given what we saw in Ajuna and Aquarion, he still get lots of creative freedom.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Haha I love checking this thread for bandai vs yamato argumets.

The show hasn't even started and people are scared the toys are going to suck.

About bandai/gundam jackets: it's like "HARHAR we ownzjoo!1" I didn't think about that until you brought it up. I do think it was kind of strange to see them wearing that. But then I'm now thinking: "Gee that seems a little over the top. But wait....are they trying to gloat at the fact that yamato is completely cut off from making anything from the show until bandai has milked this cash cow's teats until there is nothing left?"

Yeah although it's not obvious I am now seeing it. They might be using the photo to remind us all that if you want toys from this show you have to buy exlcusively bandai products. "Yamato you can just GTFO of our turf!"

But this doesn't necessarily mean they will not put 100% Just that without a competing company they have less incentive to try to capture the $ from the fan as there is no danger that some of those $ won't be lost to a rival making the same thing, so long as they have the exclusive rights. All we can do is hope they take this seriously and make an awesome toy.

Edited March 2, 2008 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Twoducks]

The Bandai staff turning up to a meeting about Macross Frontier with Kawamori-san, who is one of the top three mecha designers in Japan (if not the world) and the main the creator of Macross, while wearing Gundam jackets is a definitely being a tad disrespectful in my opinion. I know if I had been Kawamori, I would not have been pleased.

Nitpicking about the Bandai staff showing up in Gundam uniforms is like complaining about cops, nurses, soldiers... wearing their uniform while working. That’s their uniform.

Über weird but that’s what they wear at the office. Don't now of its obligatory or if they get extra pay for doing so but I've seen other videos and images of Bandai staff with the Gundam uniforms in their workplace before.

How the hell could Kawamori himself feel displeased when he is also part of Gundam history? Let’s not forget that he designed the two main Gundams of 0083 Stardust Memory and has done other work for Bandai.

And Macross 7's toys may have sucked... but so did almost every other toy Bandai made at the time, including Gundam. You just can’t compare their old stuff with the complex toys they do now. Bandai and other companies have come a long way in just a few years, just look how incredibly crappy the old Yamato M+ valks look compared to the new ones.

The SOC line started in 1997 and they have come a long way since them; from just action figure made of metal to wonders of engineering like the Gunbuster, Ideon of the upcoming Godmarz. Same way their current Gundam kits completely blow away the stuff they did just 5 years ago.

Looking back at all the recent progress in toy making, landing on the DX Chogokin line means we are going to have a very well engineered toy.