Article by Mr. K -- "Why are Arcadia products so expensive"

[Renato]

From the front page --

http://www.macrossworld.com/why-are-arcadia-products-so-expensive-by-mr-k/

I put up the translation just now, but it's for some reason the fourth entry down and you have to scroll past a lot of stuff, so unfortunately it might not get seen by many.

[Tochiro]

Fixed that for ya ;-)

[mickyg]

Thanks very much Renato! A fine bit of (very time consuming I'm sure) work!

Can you tell me why there are so many weird characters in the piece? Is it just me or my browser? I'm seeing a lot of marks where there should be things like a question mark, or a quotation mark, or an apostrophe. I can read around it, of course.

[spanner]

I think his reasons are fair.. I appreciate that he took the time to explain what many of us pretty much already had assumed was the case..

I want my hobby to be able to continue so if that means higher prices (and maybe not so many duplicates unless where possible of course) then that's just something I am prepared to accept and adjust my lifestyle accordingly to accommodate.

Edited September 25, 2015 by spanner76

[ArchieNov]

Thanks for the translation. I'm a little surprised at Mr. K's personality. He appears to be somewhat insecure or not very confident. I expected him to acknowledge his company's challenges, but not be so apologetic that it seems like he's a victim.

[mickyg]

I read that as being polite. And not to paint too broad a stroke with my comments, it seems a common cultural trait as well. For those who live there, would that be accurate?

By the way, the oddities in the text are only present in the article in the forums. If you go to the link on the home page, it's perfect.

Edited September 3, 2015 by mickyg

[Toonz]

in short, arcadia and mr.k need our $$$ to eat more ramen, soba, gyudon and beer

thank you for the article, let's continue to enjoy macross!

Edited September 3, 2015 by Toonz

[ArchieNov]

I read that as being polite. And not to paint too broad a stroke with my comments, it seems a common cultural trait as well. For those who live there, would that be accurate?

By the way, the oddities in the text are only present in the article in the forums. If you go to the link on the home page, it's perfect.

I do not see it as politeness. You can be polite without sounding so insecure, especially knowing that you're the project/product developer and publishing this article in a blog for the public to read. Even the way he starts off, he already refers to himself as a "struggling" product developer. Then he talks about working long hours and that he's sorry for doing so because it drives up the cost of his salary which in turn makes the product more expensive (I honestly don't think he should even bother apologizing for this because I don't think one man's salary increase due to overtime is enough to drive the cost of the product up significantly). Besides, he already said he's doing it to ensure quality.

I'm a manager myself so I feel like I know what he's going through. But if I am to talk about my personal challenges or that of my company to even just my employees (not the public, which is a more difficult audience), I can't make myself sound so defeated or insecure, because that may also affect the morale of my staff, making them lose confidence as well.

Anyway, that's just my take on it. I just wish he didn't sound so apologetic. Yes, I understand the reasons behind the costs, but it's a necessary evil in order to maintain the kind of quality product they want.

[abbadon]

Thanks for the translation! It was a very interesting read and insight to what goes on behind the scene.

[sixtybucks]

A very interesting read, thank you!

I think that rising costs in China is not as much as a factor as the huge quality requirements being specified to the factory are. And K is merely asking what the collector community is asking (and paying) for. People want more and perfectly aligned tampos, noparts misalignments, no scratches no matter how small, no big gaps, no loose parts,perfect paint applications, etc, etc. This generates huge piles of rejected toys which go straight to the sticker price.

But hey people pay for it and people raise hell if the tiniest detail is off... As long as he wants to cater that segment, prices will reflect it.

[aaajin]

Having worked in a similar field, I can relate to what he's saying.

Reminds me of the ton of works, from CAD drawing, pages upon pages of tolerance stacking (material selection & dimensions all affect the tolerance which have to be carefully selected to ensure parts fitting), prototyping, testing, tooling ... oh the agony

But I'm quite surprised with their amount of scrap (65-78%). Don't use statistical methods much (Process capability, etc2) ?

[Valkyrie addict]

I understand everything he says in there as valid points.

Except he did not addressed QC issues. In the old Yamato days, the last VF-19's and the VF-4 were pretty much QC perfect aside from some lemons. But Arcadia's are riddled with QC issues again.

If production costs of this collectibles niche items are increasing, and they know the price is much much higher than before, isn't it common sense to make sure this "knowingly expensive" items are not plagued with issues? Or are they cutting costs on QC too???

[seti88]

I wouldnt think that he would be the best person to explain the final cost but its clear they had to explain somehow why they are breaking the barrier on prices.

Its a nice read of the processes though and its not unlike many medium sized companies out there ..

[brouken]

Thank you Renato for posting this. And a big arigatou-gozaimasu too to Kawamori-san for taking the time out to address this issue openly. It really puts things in perspective in terms of how complicated running a niche toy company is, and striking a good balance between quality and cost of a product.

I'm currently my office's administrative officer, so I have some idea of how complicated managing resources (both human and material) can be.

Sometimes, I forget that there are real people who worked very hard to make the toys and/or hobbies that I have. I guess it has something to do with the fact that my toys and hobbies are my form of escape from the oftentimes harsh realities of living in our modern world: a world that is increasingly becoming more fast-paced, highly-competitive, and stressful.

I read somewhere that because of the pressures of modern living, we modern humans tend to take our R&R very seriously. When we go on a break, we want it to be as big of a break as possible right? So why would I want to be reminded of logistical problems when all I want to do is to just play with a well-designed toy that I can afford with the salary I work my a$$ off to earn?

But hey, that's life. And life is hard. All we can do is to learn to be loving and compassionate to each other so that we can make life more bearable for one another. We need to remember that we are all riding on the backs of other people who worked hard to bring to us the things we oftentimes take for granted in our lives today: the food that we eat, the clothes we're wearing, the houses that we're living in...and yes, even the toys we play with. Let us not forget that there's a story of human struggle and triumph behind every product.

Kawamori-san, if you are reading this, allow me to just express my appreciation for your passion in bringing your Valkyrie designs to life in toy-form, so that people like me can enjoy them in our free time. I may not always be able to afford them, but I'm grateful for the fact that I've been blessed to have the income to do so now, considering that many of the factory workers in your company probably could not even afford to buy one. I know that because I live in a part of the world where the minimum (official) monthly wage is about two-thirds the price of an Arcadia Valk (and I know that a lot of my own countrymen works for even lower than that, just so that they can earn a living).

Sometimes, a reality-check is all I need in order to tell myself: "Be still my greedy heart, and know that you are blessed."

[barurutor]

^ Mr K (Arcadia) isn't Kawamori (Big West)

[barurutor]

I read that as being polite. And not to paint too broad a stroke with my comments, it seems a common cultural trait as well. For those who live there, would that be accurate?

By the way, the oddities in the text are only present in the article in the forums. If you go to the link on the home page, it's perfect.

It's a Japanese blog entry for a mainly Japanese audience/customers, I'd say the politeness/humility is par for the course.

[brouken]

^ Mr K (Arcadia) isn't Kawamori (Big West)

Wow, I stand humbly corrected. I always thought that Mr. K was Shoji Kawamori himself.

Mr. K, if you're reading this, my post above was really meant for you.

[neoexcaliber]

I can't help but feel Mr. K is very passionate about his work and the toys he designs...

...but he could at least make them the proper colour.

Edited September 3, 2015 by neoexcaliber

[Valk-1S]

I think one of the biggest factor is the Yen weakening against most currencies. If you look at the Yen against the Yuan in the last 5 years, the Yen has devalued by over 30%, and if the cost is being charged in Yuan to Arcadia, then yes they are being hit hard with rising costs, maybe a bit with the increase in prices in the factories in China, but more in the devaluation of the Yen.

[wolfx]

Thanks Renato for the translation.

I'm not sure if the article is supposed to be an Arcadia PR article to address customer's concerns on Arcadia's prices. The prices are why I have not owned an Arcadia product. I was hoping that I could've gotten some insight on why the costs of Yamato (then) and Bandai (now) are lower than Arcadia's prices. Especially when Bandai doesn't necessarily do things at a lower quality than Arcadia. And with the booming 3rd party toy scene that has seen some very high quality, small production run with affordable pricing transforming toys with comparable parts counts, i still don't see why Arcadia's products are expensive.

The only thing i got from the article was:

1.) Things then and things now are different. (not sure what exactly the things are other than the factory costs)

2.) Manufacturing costs are expensive due to the factory being used. Unable to change factory due to expensive costs of moving manufacturing to a new one.

[abbadon]

It's a Japanese blog entry for a mainly Japanese audience/customers, I'd say the politeness/humility is par for the course.

+1

[charger69]

I can't help but feel Mr. K is very passionate about his work and the toys he designs...

...but he could at least make them the proper colour.

He is saying that long working hours occur while color selection process...

I would be happy if he picks colors early in the morning with a fresh mind!

Edited September 3, 2015 by charger69

[Moosey]

Someone should turn Mr Ks life/job/stuggle into a short form anime to be shown in conjunction with the next Macross series.

Personally, I'd like to buy him a Kirin/Sapporo/Asahi (delete as appropriate) and make sure his next project is a renewal Nora/Ivanov SV!

Thanks for the translation Renato

Edited September 3, 2015 by Moosey

[Nicaragua]

Although i understand the complexity of what is being produced there is no way that the waste figures should be that high.

It sounds to me that he needs to bite the bullet and investigate other production options because a business running like that is not sustainable.

[charger69]

Someone should turn Mr Ks life/job/stuggle into a short form anime to be shown in conjunction with the next Macross series.

Personally, I'd like to buy him a Kirin/Sapporo/Asahi (delete as appropriate) and make sure his next project is a renewal Nora/Ivanov SV!

Thanks for the translation Renato

Just imagine Mr. K's wife finds a female mecha chest piece in Mr. K's pocket! :D

Edited September 3, 2015 by charger69

[VF5SS]

in short, arcadia and mr.k need our $$$ to eat more ramen, soba, gyudon and beer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL67lfTjKwI

"All he needs is gyudon for 300 years..."

[Sildani]

Thanks Renato for the translation.

I'm not sure if the article is supposed to be an Arcadia PR article to address customer's concerns on Arcadia's prices. The prices are why I have not owned an Arcadia product. I was hoping that I could've gotten some insight on why the costs of Yamato (then) and Bandai (now) are lower than Arcadia's prices. Especially when Bandai doesn't necessarily do things at a lower quality than Arcadia. And with the booming 3rd party toy scene that has seen some very high quality, small production run with affordable pricing transforming toys with comparable parts counts, i still don't see why Arcadia's products are expensive.

The only thing i got from the article was:

1.) Things then and things now are different. (not sure what exactly the things are other than the factory costs)

2.) Manufacturing costs are expensive due to the factory being used. Unable to change factory due to expensive costs of moving manufacturing to a new one.

You missed a big point: economies of scale. Bandai makes A LOT of toys, not just Macross Valkyries. As a result, the factories are used more, so Bandai can presumably negotiate lower costs for labor. Also, since Bandai makes more product, they can pay less for the plastic and paint and metal they use, since they use more of it and can negotiate that. Finally, since Bandai makes so many things, they can spread production costs for one product across many other product lines that aren't nearly as difficult to make properly. Oh yes, Bandai probably makes more of each Valkyrie design than Arcadia does, too.

Arcadia is a small company. They simply don't have the capital, clout, or size to enjoy true economies of scale. Think of them as perhaps the largest, best funded garage kit company you've ever heard of, with access to facilities other garage kit companies would kill for, and who send you a preassembled, prepainted kit.

Better?

[jvmacross]

No mention of licensing costs and their affect on total cost...

Also...did he insinuate SV-51's are coming?

If so....they really need to get him out of the decision process for new VF products....

They should just go with a subscription type model were consumers vote on what should be made next....then pay up front, no money back....the choices offered would include the final price of the product...only the products that received consumer support would get produced...

At this point, they do not seem to be a company that can absorb one failure and still survive....I would like for Arcadia to keep making PT VFs....but they can only survive if they actually make what consumers want, not what Mr. K wants

[chyll2]

I didnt read it all but from what I understand, if mr. K wants it, he will release the villains as well but unfortunately, from the way he talks about it, he is not making the decision. (or I read it differently)

[Valkyrie addict]

Nope, Mr.K said that at the moment they are focused on the zero line and he wishes enemy mechas would be made but that desition is not up to him.

I wouldn't call Arcadia a small company, but they are not in obvious scale to Bandai. Remember Arcadia makes those creepy fetish dolls and other anime mecha line. Besides, he says costs are high but they make limited human sized gunpods and Firebomber guitar and bass replicas. I bet that isn't cheap at all. Unless they are adding thise item production costs to the valks too.

I wonder how the recent economic problems with China stock market may affect them now.

[ArchieNov]

My biggest question is why Arcadia allows their subcontracting factory to have such a high failure rate, and then make the end consumers absorb the cost. I'm even more surprised that Mr. K didn't even know about it until he asked.

While I understand that it's not easy for Arcadia to change factories, they should not be so complacent with such low quality output from the factory. Clear quality expectations should have been set with them at the beginning and if the factory fails to meet them, there should be consequences for them (e.g. Penalties, discounted rates, etc.). These should help lessen/eliminate the need for having the end consumer absorb the cost for poor factory performance.

[Kicker773]

I still want a Guitar or the Gunpod, but missed the reservation. Hopefully it will pop up. I guess Arcadia is separate from the VMF50 series.. I still have my ladies

Edited September 3, 2015 by Kicker773

[Saburo]

Ranato Thank you for posting and doing the translation, that was a very interesting read.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Interesting perspective. Thank you Renato for your time!!!

I guess the misaligned intake warnings on the VF-0D got past QC!!

[funkymonkeyjavajunky]

I will pony up funds for an Arcadia SV-51.