Never Thought I'd See the Day

[Zinjo]

I never thought I'd see the day when Amazon would sell Bandai toys of Macross...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DIMOWA/ref=dra_a_cs_mr_hn_it_P1400_1000?tag=dradisplay-20&ascsubtag=4a251a2ef9bbf4ccc35f97aba2c9cbda

I guess when you have two heavy hitters like Amazon and Bandai selling the product an insect like HG can't really stop you...

Keep in mind that they product is shipped directly from Japan...

Edited November 19, 2014 by Zinjo

[Mr March]

I know I've said this before when it was another company, but it bear repeating. Please, oh gawd please...let HG try to sue Amazon. Let that world become reality

[SchizophrenicMC]

To be fair, Amazon is just hosting a listing for COOL JAPAN TOKYO, who is the actual seller, and who is also fulfilling shipping.

That said, this is me wishing HG would:

[jvmacross]

For a moment I thought you meant distributed via Amazon directly...plenty of Japanese shops have been selling Macross stuff for a while on Amazon USA...

[Nekko Basara]

While all of the Macross listings I could find are importers listing via Amazon, not all are shipping direct from Japan. A fair number are using Amazon to fulfill the orders and offer prime shipping - which means they must already have inventory stateside. It's a step in the right direction, at least.

Also, Amazon does sell Gundam kits directly, so they have some sort of relationship with Bandai/Bluefin. Maybe that day will come...

[Jefuemon]

I wonder if they really are coming from Japan, since it stated to me when I looked that they won't ship to Sapporo.

[isamu]

Amazon to start selling Macross DVDs and BluRays in the US CONFIRMED!

[CoreyD]

I picked up a set of VF-25S Armor Parts not too long ago off of Amazon. The set came from California. Domestic shipping all the way.

[TheLoneWolf]

I never thought I'd see the day when Amazon would sell Bandai toys of Macross...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DIMOWA/ref=dra_a_cs_mr_hn_it_P1400_1000?tag=dradisplay-20&ascsubtag=4a251a2ef9bbf4ccc35f97aba2c9cbda

I guess when you have two heavy hitters like Amazon and Bandai selling the product an insect like HG can't really stop you...

Nothing to see hear.

Those model kits are being sold by a private seller, not by Amazon directly. It'd be no different if I sold Macross kits through my personal eBay account.

[Zinjo]

Nothing to see hear.

Those model kits are being sold by a private seller, not by Amazon directly. It'd be no different if I sold Macross kits through my personal eBay account.

But you are not a commercial distributor.

HG was targeting any commercial distributor who dared to offer Japanese Macross items for sale for a long while. Judging by the shipping costs, Amazon has local stock on hand for order fulfillment otherwise shipping would be much more. Perhaps there is something in the import law that insulates them from any HG legal action?

Edited November 19, 2014 by Zinjo

[azrael]

Gonna agree with TheLoneWolf. Nothing to see here. When you buy items sold by other distributors/sellers thru Amazon, you are doing the equivalent of hitting the "Buy Now" button on eBay. There are legit sellers on both eBay and Amazon. They are just using those sites as a vehicle to sell their goods. Just as sellers here sell items to other members on MW, that's what's happening there.

[Cdr Fokker]

Those model kits are being sold by a private seller, not by Amazon directly. It'd be no different if I sold Macross kits through my personal eBay account.

Ah, but then there are things like this:

http://www.amazon.com/DX-Chogokin-Macross-Messiah-Valkyrie/dp/B0058LT9GC/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1416632137&sr=1-1&keywords=vf-25f

I don't know how long that will be valid, but it's a VF-25F renewal eligible for Prime, being "fulfilled by Amazon", meaning that Amazon is actually involved with shipping/distribution and not just a storefront.

I found a number of these recently - Prime-eligible current-production Macross items, which mean they are more than just your typical "marketplace" sellers like we've had for years.

ETA - Initially overlooked Nekko's post above mentioning the same. The Prime-eligible stuff being fulfilled by Amazon is a fairly recent turn of events, and cool, but it's not something that just happened overnight, and I very much doubt anything is really going to come of this one way or another.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Cdr Fokker

[Nekko Basara]

Ah, but then there are things like this:

http://www.amazon.com/DX-Chogokin-Macross-Messiah-Valkyrie/dp/B0058LT9GC/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1416632137&sr=1-1&keywords=vf-25f

I don't know how long that will be valid, but it's a VF-25F renewal eligible for Prime, being "fulfilled by Amazon", meaning that Amazon is actually involved with shipping/distribution and not just a storefront.

I found a number of these recently - Prime-eligible current-production Macross items, which mean they are more than just your typical "marketplace" sellers like we've had for years.

Yeah, that's what I was talking about. That's an importer, but the fulfillment via Amazon - with Prime available - means that they must have inventory stateside, presumably in Amazon's warehouse system (I don't claim to understand the details of Amazon fulfillment). It's not the same as Amazon actually being the seller, but it seems like a step in that direction. Either it's not a big enough step to bother HG, or HG hasn't noticed (unlikely, because there are loads of these sellers), or HG isn't dumb enough to tangle with Amazon.

[skullmilitia]

HG gave C&D letters for distributing in the US to BBTS, and BBTS stopped selling anything "Macross" related.

They will only buy "vintage" toys that say it.
So yes HG is still a class act, but they don't have even a company worth of money to attempt to bully Amazon.

[azrael]

Yeah, that's what I was talking about. That's an importer, but the fulfillment via Amazon - with Prime available - means that they must have inventory stateside, presumably in Amazon's warehouse system (I don't claim to understand the details of Amazon fulfillment). It's not the same as Amazon actually being the seller, but it seems like a step in that direction. Either it's not a big enough step to bother HG, or HG hasn't noticed (unlikely, because there are loads of these sellers), or HG isn't dumb enough to tangle with Amazon.

"Fulfilled by Amazon" means:

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products.

Instead of the seller packing, sending, and replacing returns, Amazon does it on behalf of the seller. The seller pays Amazon for storage and handle the customer service for them. So if you need to return an item, you can return it to an Amazon warehouse instead of to the seller, and then Amazon ships you the replacement from the seller's stock at Amazon's warehouse. So the transaction is still essentially with the seller. Amazon is essentially doing the "last mile" of the transaction between you and the seller.

[Nekko Basara]

"Fulfilled by Amazon" means:

"Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products."

Instead of the seller packing, sending, and replacing returns, Amazon does it on behalf of the seller. The seller pays Amazon for storage and handle the customer service for them. So if you need to return an item, you can return it to an Amazon warehouse instead of to the seller, and then Amazon ships you the replacement from the seller's stock at Amazon's warehouse. So the transaction is still essentially with the seller. Amazon is essentially doing the "last mile" of the transaction between you and the seller.

Argh, FAQs - my only weakness!

What you characterize as "last mile" might also be called "distribution." Amazon is doing everything except importing the product and setting the price. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that HG might take legitimate issue with that.

[azrael]

Argh, FAQs - my only weakness!

What you characterize as "last mile" might also be called "distribution." Amazon is doing everything except importing the product and setting the price. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that HG might take legitimate issue with that.

But is it worth it? The seller could then drop FBA-service. The seller then reduces their costs using Amazon. They'll still sell through Amazon, but handle the distribution by themselves.