How does Hasegawa get such cool variants vs Arcadia/Yamato/Bandai?

[Lupin The Third]

I've been wondering why everyone always talks about how Yamato couldn't afford better variants but somehow Hasegawa can. Obviously Yamato was in bad financial shape but no one knew that until the name change, everyone just assumed they couldn't afford anything other that "stock" designs and it would seem the same for how people view Bandai's licensing (or maybe Bandai just doesn't care). Either way I've always been surprised that Hasegawa gets the best Valkyrie variants for it's models and wondered if anyone actually knows the financials of how this works? Real details please, not just your speculation. I can presume just fine for myself that a $30 model is affordable for more folks than a $300 webshop valkyrie; though alternately there's going to be more profit per unit on Yamato's VF-4G than on Hasegawa's VF-11 Thinder Seeker. I'm curious if anyone actually has knowledge of how the macross licensing works for toys and models and how Hasegawa gets amazing variants that no one else seems to be able to. Or are the "stock" valkries actually more expensive due to having more mainstream appeal and the cool variants actually cost less to license due to obscurity? Anyways, basically I'm just wondering out loud here. And damn do I wish the VF-11 Thunder Seeker was a toy, cause I'd buy at least 4 of those....

[Duymon]

Hasegawa can do it because slapping a sheet of cartograph decals to the same old kit is their m.o.

Getting new decals and a box is easier and less costly to do.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Duymon

[neoexcaliber]

Since someone mentioned that the only reason Yamato couldn't do a VF-4G Hikaru was because the battroid/gerwalk mode was never shown in the original cartoon, could it mean that the licensing cost is different for a model kit in a single, fixed configuration versus a toy that can swap between 3 modes?

Plus, Hasegawa produces a lot of variants that are not based on the original franchise/TV series. I would assume that it's cheaper to obtain a license if the source is less popular.

[CoreyD]

Licensing aside, I always thought it'd be a big hit if Yamatocadia just sold blank gray plastic assembled VF-1s with different decal or sticker sheets available separately.

[Vi-RS]

Printing various decals in a separate sheet (Hasegawa) and tempo printing on each individual part with various colors molded plastic for an assembled toy (Yamato) are 2 different businesses.