Bandai planning to re-release more classic IMAI kits

[AcroRay]

The box for the Monster kit is gorgeous. Might even frame mine... I think I still have the box from my 1980s one, but the background is green/blue, iirc.

Edited December 4, 2010 by AcroRay

[AcroRay]

Anyone's kits show up yet? Mine are traveling SAL, so I it could be a couple of weeks before I see them first-hand...

[big F]

Mine are also SAL so no show as yet. Good idea about the box art I may frame mine too.

[AcroRay]

My Regult and Destroid Monster arrived yesterday - Whoo Hoo! Pretty close to being exact duplicates of the original Imai releases. The boxes are thicker, glossier paper & printing, and there are none of the neat little illustrated spacers that the 1980s kits had, and no flyer featuring other kits.

The inner surfaces of some parts seem to show some tooling cavity damage on the Monster that I don't recall from the 1980s, but overall the exposed surfaces, fine details and plastic seem to be Bandai's usual high-quality of manufacturing. Proof will be in how well the parts fit together, but the package feels much better than the manufacturing on the Revell Robotech editions of Imai and Takara's kits, by way of comparison. No shirking evident here. Even all the box text and fonts is painstakingly re-done, with only some minor grain in the kits' paintings and the color Macross logo.

Opening these on a snowy December day was a serious flashback to the Christmas in 1985 when my grandma let me get about $100 worth of Macross, Mospeada and Orguss kits from Galactic Trade Commission as my Christmas present... *sniff*

For the approximately $18 each one cost me, plus about $11 SAL shipping, these are an absolute steal.

Edited December 15, 2010 by AcroRay

[TSP]

I bought an old Imai kit quite cheap for restoration 2 months ago but don't have time to finish it. Haven't tounched it in a month and sadly I won't have time for it these holidays. So if anyone need some suggestions for improvements feel free to adapt some of mine or use it for inspiration.

My 10 steps Monster work out...which didn't worked out at all.

[MechTech]

Galactic Trade Commission was Da Bomb for mailorder stuff!!! I STILL have one of the monsters I got from them (and a whole lotta other stuff).

We got our kits in the mail a couple of weeks ago. When I called my wife and she told me the 2 regults and the Monster came in, she asked me, "now which one(s) are for your son and which one is for you :^)

I gotta say it, there's no school like the old school! I do love the new kits too, but the classics are when the whole Macross thing was in it's infancy. - MT

[microbry]

I'll note that according to a friend of mine who built and still owns a vintage Imai 1/72 Regult kit the eye is made to accept a grain-of-wheat bulb so it can light up, and the back hatch opens to allow access for a battery and electronics! No electronic elements were included with the kit, but the structural elements are there, and there's no detail inside of the pod's hull for the hatch to reveal.

Apparently lighting wasn't noted in the instructions as he recalls, but there's a light pipe in the inside portion of the red plastic eye that fits a bulb (similar to Bandai's light-up SPACE CRUISER YAMATO EDF Andromeda kit). The effect is that the eye seems to follow you as you walk around it.

So, I hope this feature is still part of Bandai's re-issue of the kit, and that they might expand on the directions for the feature, or even included some parts.

Hello, said friend here. I dusted off my old kit he mentioned and took some pics with the light feature:

regultliteye2 by MicroBry, on Flickr

I didn't have a tripod handy and couldn't get the LED bulb to show with flash photos, so the incandescent-lit pics are slightly blurred.

And without it:

dyrlregult2 by MicroBry, on Flickr

From my email discussion with Ray earlier about the kit:

The Regult has an insane amount of articulation in it, perhaps a bit too much so. Not only does every joint work on the legs and feet (including at least one or two unexpected ones), but the the tiny verniers are on fragile ball joints on the backs of the calves, the main thrusters slide up and down on their rotating modules, the rear turret spins and its guns are ball-jointed, the hatch opens, and the two main guns are on rotating hinges. Only the chin lasers are non-posable. The result is the legs will need some sanding and a strong bonding glue. Some joints will likely be still slightly tight or slightly loose so a lot of test fitting and tweaking is recommended. All this is exacerbated trying to work with the chromed special edition I used. Fortunately I had previously built a chromed Arii Valkyrie fighter that was a total disaster, so I knew what things to look out for more or less (and another reason I decided to do the overcoat--the straight chrome mirror finish magnifies every smallest blemish).

The opening under the hatch is too small to accommodate the 9-volt battery I used, originally I had spliced longer wires to it so the battery could sit nearby. I rushed for these pics though, so I just held the battery up with a clamp. Ideally though, especially now with modern LEDs, you should be able to work something out to fit inside the hatch, say something powered by watch batteries, and with a switch without it getting too top-heavy (as it would be with the 9v).

While the kit is fairly fragile, it's held up fairly well since I built it in the mid-80's while in high school.

[AcroRay]

I asked one of my collector friends in Japan how Bandai's Imai reissue quartet sold, and how popular they were. He reports that they were very popular with collectors and builders - especially those who were fans back when the kits were originally released - and sold out at many shops. So they were a success, apparently.

Here's hoping Bandai will give us a few more sometime soon! Has anyone heard any news about them?

[big F]

I keep checking HLJ to see if there are any early birds or just straight out releases. So far . Come on Bandai.

[Guest sh002]

please reissue the 1/72 glaug.

[macrossnake]

please reissue the 1/72 glaug.

Although, I already have one, that would be awesome. I love to get one or 2 more...

[Noyhauser]

Arise Thread!

So I bought a Bandai 1/72 Spartan for 800 yen (it was a choice between it and the Regult which were both on sale). Pretty awesome price... does anybody have any links for very good buildups (besides the model graphics one in this thread)? I'd like to do some extra detailing and would love some ideas (especially on how to improve the legs)

Edited May 20, 2013 by Noyhauser