Sunwards Valkyries

[Renato]

I'm sure older members here remember the Sunwards fiasco. It was basically Yamato's attempt in the early 2000s to circumvent Harmony Gold and try to get their 1/72 VF-1 product out there without using either Macross or Robotech branding. As an interesting comparison, Bandai did just that in the early 1990s with their European version of the 1/55 Super Valkyrie reissue, with no problems.

I'm looking for any archived data on Sunwards, who was in charge, if anyone has their website saved, or even an image of the ad they took out in ToyFare, etc. Thei website is long gone and doesn't appear to be saved anywhere, and I cannot find any images, either. Most of the photos they used in their PR material are the stock Yamato photos anyway, but the phrasing they used to promote the toys I recall was very interesting.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Renato

[treatment]

Weird that MWF does not have any thing archived about Sunwards. Maybe Graham still has some promo materials of it stashed somewhere.

Also, I seem to recall it was 1/60v1 Roy rather than 1/72.

I don't seem to recall Sunwards ever promo-ing the 1/72 Plus valks.

[EXO]

[Roy Focker]

I love the copyright notice at the bottom.

Was Sunwards after or before George made a deal with HG? Always thought that was pretty shady thing.

[Mommar]

How were they expecting to get away with this???

[EXO]

It was after... George Sohn was the VP of Toycom before HG gave out the C&Ds... Toycom was the company releasing the 1/72 Macross Plus toys.

[Renato]

Thanks EXO!!

Treatment, you're right, I meant the first generation VF-1 toys, but for some reason I labelled them 1/72 in my mind. 1/60 to me is Macross toys "Now" so everything from back in those days just got jumbled up into 1/72, even though it was really only the Plus valks when I think about it. Thanks.

Mommar: They were planning to get away with it because they figured a license direct from BigWest based on the designs which were proven in court to be theirs would trump the roundabout license that HG had gotten via Tatsunoko. Maybe it would have but my understanding is HG challenged it anyway and they got cold feet.

[Graham]

Now there's a name I've not heard in a long while.

Heh, and I think I wrote the text for that flyer, apart from the copyright notice.

IIRC, the best friend of Yamato's CEO was going to be put in charge of Sunwards.

Graham

[treatment]

I don't think HG challenged it at all. I think it turns out they can't challenge it so they whined back to Tatsunoko about it.

The lawsuit between BW and Tatsunoko clarified that HG only has a sublicense...

[barurutor]

OT:

Why did that 1J have a white goggle??

[EXO]

Hikaru's 1J in the series has white goggles (though never fast packs)... people usually want the gray goggles with the GBP armor...

[barurutor]

*facepalm* you're right Exo. my bad.

[jenius]

I don't think HG challenged it at all. I think it turns out they can't challenge it so they whined back to Tatsunoko about it. The lawsuit between BW and Tatsunoko clarified that HG only has a sublicense...

Not really, the lawsuit clarified that Tatsunoko did have the exclusive right to merchandise Macross products internationally (which they licensed to HG). If Sunwards wanted to sell internationally they would have needed a license from HG. I think this lawsuit marked the moment that BW then made it part of their licensing agreement that the licensee would lose license privileges if they ever tried to sell their product internationally (which is what prevented the Bandai/Toynami chunky reboot later).

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I feel real old when I recall seeing that ad in a Toyfare magazine.

[EXO]

Sunwards was formed to become the distribution company after Toycom became Yamato (or some people would say split since Sohn left to form Toynami, since HG gave him rights to produce Robotech/Macross toys.) Sunwards disappeared when Tatsanuko won worldwide economic rights to SDFM/DYRL Macross merchandise excluding Japan, which was then licensed to HG.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=36541

[stram8777]

Not to high jack the thread, but as far as old advertisements go, I seem to remember Yamato advertising the first YF-19 in Previews the comic shop ordering magazine. I remember putting in an order and my wife being upset at the expense, of course it never came in. Does anyone else remember that?

[AlphaOne]

I remember that too! I had to go through my comic book store to place the order because you couldn't anywhere else. Then the news came that it was canceled

[Renato]

Wouldn't that have been Toycom, rather than Yamato?

[EXO]

Yes, I don't think Yamato ever had an english ad for Macross. Only Toycom and Sunwards...

[ChaoticYeti]

Holy cow. I remember seeing these ads and getting really excited. If only I knew than what I know now.