Bandai DX Chogokin VF-1 Speculation Thread

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

You doubt they're planning toys for the next series?

lol no, i already posted looking forward to the new series valks in the movies/ new show thread.

im talking about a dx vf-1

[Valkyrie Magnus]

I don't think Bandai will do a VF-1 either

[jenius]

Have you guys not seen Battlestar Galactica? It has all happened before and will happen again. C'mon, the VF-1 is one of TWO proven money makers in the Macross franchise (the other being the VF-25).

[arrow]

I'd rather they do a new VF but if they want to make a new VF-1, let it be big (1/48) with panels that can open like the expensive mazinger Z DX they made.

[David Hingtgen]

Have you guys not seen Battlestar Galactica? It has all happened before and will happen again. C'mon, the VF-1 is one of TWO proven money makers in the Macross franchise (the other being the VF-25).

VF-25? No it's not. Bandai seems dead-set AGAINST making money from it (especially the Ozma one), by making as few as possible with years between reissues.

[anime52k8]

VF-25? No it's not. Bandai seems dead-set AGAINST making money from it (especially the Ozma one), by making as few as possible with years between reissues.

They sell out their entire production run of every release of the VF-25, so clearly they're not loosing money on the mold.

[Graham]

No interest in buying a Bandai VF-1, but I'd love a VF-2SS with SAP.

Graham

[DarrinG]

Agree. I would pull the trigger on a well executed VF-2SS . . .

[Brand-X]

That's something we've all been asking for forever. I've almost been tempted a few times to try my hand at a 3D printing version of one for my own collection if I could figure out what I'm doing haha.

[jenius]

Start at VF2SS thread... But it ain't gonna happen... At least in a larger scale. Too bad the Hi-metal line died.

[Scream Man]

i honestly don't know if I'd get a 2SS. i'd have to see where i am at at the time, and what the price and final toy are. Its not one i feel a great love for.

[EXO]

well we know that they have precedence for the VF-19 Advance from the Frontier movie. Is it the same with the VF-1A on top of the school? And would only be for Hikaru's 1A? Does Bandai even need precedence?

[wewe]

I hope it wouldn't be anything like their 1/72 model kit.

[chyll2]

well we know that they have precedence for the VF-19 Advance from the Frontier movie. Is it the same with the VF-1A on top of the school? And would only be for Hikaru's 1A? Does Bandai even need precedence?

how do license for this are handled though? afaik, bandai has the license to produce VF-1 in toys and kits even long before (along with VF-2SS). Does yamato/arcadia has the exclusive license to produce 1/60 and 1/48 toys

[EXO]

If Arcadia chose to pick up Yamato's 1/48 VF-1 toy license by paying for it, then Bandai can't do it. But a few people have been pointing out the fact that Bandai has been producing their valks as non-scale toys. If that's the case they can probably make a VF-1 that's more comparable to their VFs in "box" scale as someone else called it.

As horrible looking their 1/72 VF-1 model was, I think the DX designers have a better grip on how their toys look. But they do look more like toys then the Arcadia/Yamato line. With their big landing gears and shiny texture. They look great in that regard though.

[chyll2]

If Arcadia chose to pick up Yamato's 1/48 VF-1 toy license by paying for it, then Bandai can't do it. But a few people have been pointing out the fact that Bandai has been producing their valks as non-scale toys. If that's the case they can probably make a VF-1 that's more comparable to their VFs in "box" scale as someone else called it.

As horrible looking their 1/72 VF-1 model was, I think the DX designers have a better grip on how their toys look. But they do look more like toys then the Arcadia/Yamato line. With their big landing gears and shiny texture. They look great in that regard though.

Thanks, I guess the closest Bandai can do is to refresh/renew their 1/55 toys.

[jenius]

They can make it 1/60, all they need to do is wait for Arcadia to have to renew theirlicense which will happen before the next show comes out, that usually triggers renewing licenses because the publicity makes thelicensor greedy.

[eriku]

This is precisely why I prefer a one-Valk-to-rule-them-all scenario. Just make the damn thing big and expensive and most of us won't need more than one. We already have all the Yamarcadias we could want.

This statement fits nicely with my dream of having a fully transformable 1/18 scale VF-1 with a fully articulated pilot with removable helmet.

In reality, I'm sure if Bandai makes a DX VF-1 it'll be 1/60 scale and have a finish close to that of the Frontier toys. Either way I'll buy at least one because I'm a sucker for VF-1 toys.

[CoreyD]

Oh man a 1:18 VF1. I don't care how much space I'd have to clear to make room, I'd totally buy it.

[EXO]

They can make it 1/60, all they need to do is wait for Arcadia to have to renew theirlicense which will happen before the next show comes out, that usually triggers renewing licenses because the publicity makes thelicensor greedy.

do you really think there's a chance that Arcadia will let that license go? Arcadia folding up is probably closer to reality.

a 1:18 VF-1? Can you imagine how big that would be? The VF-1 nose should be right around where the front seat of the tomcat is...

I wonder if that's where anime magic will start to fall apart or would they have to make the figure slightly smaller than 1:18... lol. Let's have Kurisama design a 1:18 VF-1 just to see it in a render...

[Knight26]

A reasonably priced, even non-transforming 1:18 VF-1 I would buy, but it up with my 1:18 F-16, F-18 and WW2 birds.

[jenius]

It wouldn't be Arcadia letting it go, it would be Bandai paying more for it. In a money fight Bandai would win... If they wanted it.

[EXO]

I guess in that sense, do you really see Big West frakking Arcadia over like that?

[edstuff]

I just want new 1/55 elintseeker and super ostrich

[Vifam7]

How about 1:12 scale? Bandai afterall did at one time release a RX-78 and Zaku in 1/12 scale. I believe the cost was around USD$2000.

At 1:12 scale, we could insert our favorite Figma or SH Figuarts figure into the cockpit.

[jenius]

I guess in that sense, do you really see Big West frakking Arcadia over like that?

Absolutely... Mainly because Bandai makes more Macross happen and Arcadia doesn't do much of any thing. The fact they had Yamato licenses for a bit was probably BW's version of "hey thanks for the memories"

edit: this still assumes Bandai wants the rights, they might not.

Edited November 19, 2014 by jenius

[Scream Man]

i would buy a Tomcat marked up with Un Kites in 1/60 scale anytime. I'd LOVE to have one!

[Skull Leader]

I have one of those 1/18 scale tomcats. It's nearly 4 feet long.

Trust me, if you wanted any reasonable level of detail and sturdiness in a 1/18 valkyrie, the price would start clocking in at around $1000 once you consider shipping that behemoth from Japan. That would be a total waste of an intellectual property.

Bandai's licensing should still extend to anything from SDF or DYRL... they rereleased 1/55s until not long ago, making a VF-1 of any variety should be well within their rights.

Bandai is a hard bird to classify, and their business methods sometimes mystify me. Hard to say if they'd do it or not.

[3D-Brainx]

They can make it 1/60, all they need to do is wait for Arcadia to have to renew theirlicense which will happen before the next show comes out, that usually triggers renewing licenses because the publicity makes thelicensor greedy.

do you really think there's a chance that Arcadia will let that license go? Arcadia folding up is probably closer to reality.

It wouldn't be Arcadia letting it go, it would be Bandai paying more for it. In a money fight Bandai would win... If they wanted it.

I guess in that sense, do you really see Big West frakking Arcadia over like that?

Absolutely... Mainly because Bandai makes more Macross happen and Arcadia doesn't do much of any thing. The fact they had Yamato licenses for a bit was probably BW's version of "hey thanks for the memories"

edit: this still assumes Bandai wants the rights, they might not.

Isn't the DX line "non-scale"?? I don't think the "1/60" matters. They can just call it DX and get it done, can't they?

[jenius]

Anything is possible considering none of us are licensees with BW so we don't know their contract language but logic dictates that it probably doesn't matter that Bandai doesn't specifically state "1/60" scale. Put yourself in the shoes of Bandai or Yamato. You purchase EXCLUSIVE rights to make a toy for a particular market in a particular scale. Then,BW gives the rights to make a toy of the SAME SIZE (without specifying a scale) for that same market. You would be pissed right? So chances are BW writes their contracts specific enough to stop companies from doing something as simple as removing some numbers off a box to keep them from competing with each other.

Edited November 20, 2014 by jenius

[TheLoneWolf]

Absolutely... Mainly because Bandai makes more Macross happen and Arcadia doesn't do much of any thing. The fact they had Yamato licenses for a bit was probably BW's version of "hey thanks for the memories"

edit: this still assumes Bandai wants the rights, they might not.

I don't see Big West terminating their SDFM/DYRL 1/60 VF-1 license with Arcadia in order to sell it to Bandai. If Japanese law is anything like American law, Big West would be at fault for a breach of contract with Arcadia, and the financial penalties would most likely be severe.

Plus, after the failures of Bandai's 1/55 Origin of Valkyrie and 1/100 Hi-Metal toys, I can't see Bandai wanting to revisit old-school Macross toys. Releasing modern Macross toys is paying dividends and I see Bandai sticking with that formula for the foreseeable future.

[jenius]

Yeah, BW wouldn't be revoking the license to give it to someone else, I totally agree. However, licenses aren't granted on a forever basis and there seems to be a very good chance that Arcadia is operating in a gray area under a transition of a license from Yamato that BW allowed incredibly graciously because of the goodwill Yamato had. My understanding is that a new series sometimes triggers the expiration of licenses across the board as the licensor gets additional leverage and wants to flex it.

[skullmilitia]

There maybe some infighting right now with the DYRL and SDFM licenses, I'm interested in seeing what might change in 2015.

[3D-Brainx]

Anything is possible considering none of us are licensees with BW so we don't know their contract language but logic dictates that it probably doesn't matter that Bandai doesn't specifically state "1/60" scale. Put yourself in the shoes of Bandai or Yamato. You purchase EXCLUSIVE rights to make a toy for a particular market in a particular scale. Then,BW gives the rights to make a toy of the SAME SIZE (without specifying a scale) for that same market. You would be pissed right? So chances are BW writes their contracts specific enough to stop companies from doing something as simple as removing some numbers off a box to keep them from competing with each other.

You have a point there, but in the end is pure capitalism and the license will go to the one that can bring more money into the basket. BW allowed Arcadia to include the numbs and pegs for T-Rex to do the MF fast pack add-on and I don't think that Bandai had the vf-19 advanced planed just in the last 2 weeks. So I think someone at Bandai is pissed off. I can see a Macross Plus scenario between Arcadia and Bandai and I think Bandai will win, they are clearly bigger. Licences are sitting somewhere in a drawer in Arcadias office and they are not doing much about them releasing only one toy per year.

[eriku]

I have one of those 1/18 scale tomcats. It's nearly 4 feet long.

Trust me, if you wanted any reasonable level of detail and sturdiness in a 1/18 valkyrie, the price would start clocking in at around $1000 once you consider shipping that behemoth from Japan. That would be a total waste of an intellectual property.

Bandai's licensing should still extend to anything from SDF or DYRL... they rereleased 1/55s until not long ago, making a VF-1 of any variety should be well within their rights.

Bandai is a hard bird to classify, and their business methods sometimes mystify me. Hard to say if they'd do it or not.

A 1/18 VF-1 toy wouldn't be as big as that though since the Valkyrie is smaller than the Tomcat. It would probably be around the size of the GI Joe Skystriker. Either way, yes it would be a very large toy and one they would likely have to make in limited quantities (so as to not 'waste' the intellectual property) which would drive the price tag up even higher. I still totally want one, though.

On-topic, would you guys like to see the leg transformation system from Bandai's latest VF-1 kits implemented ion a DX VF-1?

I wonder if they would go for that, or use something similar to the Hi Metal, or maybe something new altogether. Little changes like that is one of the things that draws me to each new VF-1 toy/model that comes out. I enjoy seeing the different solutions for transformation that the designers come up with, even if they are just small variations.

Edited November 20, 2014 by eriku