Possibility of Arcadia VF-1 V3?

[Jyhnc]

Bandai had made a few improvements in their Dx Chogokin VF1 (compared to the old 1:48 Yamato VF1). While its one amazing figure, I would much prefer it in 1:60 scale. Perhaps Bandai will release it for 1:60 as well (but how would they 'brand it'? Hmmm) ?

While I am not sure on how well Arcadia is doing financial-wise.. I hope they keep it up and release a version 3 of their wonderful VF1 figures. What do you guys think? Is this possible in 3 years time ?

 

[seti88]

Welcome to MWF!

Arcadia taking on the mighty bandai? Not unless they can sort out their tampo/pricing combo to be more competitive in the process...

[DewPoint]

It would probably take at least that long to see all the durability issues with the Bandai 1/48.  I fear VF-0 pricing though.  A lot of members have posted their wish lists of what features/gimmicks they would like to see in a Arcadia V3 VF-1 in various posts over the years.   Honestly, like others, I can do without the air brake, wing flaps and waist swivel.  

[Sandman]

If Arcadia made a v3 vf-1, they would charge $400.

[Sanity is Optional]

Zero realistic possibility.

Much better to make something that doesn't have competition from Bandai, and all the existing 1/60 VF-1 figures already out there.

Add on top of that the costs of entirely new molds and design work, plus competing directly with Bandai that has a much lower cost to produce. Honestly? They'd be insane, and it'd probably end up bankrupting the company.

The short answer is that they cannot compete financially with Bandai, any V3 VF-1 they make would be retailing up past $300 for them to see a profit, and good luck getting people to buy those.

[Jyhnc]

It does seem Arcadia's pricing is always a bit higher than Bandai for item with similar quality.. Still, Arcadia's product have a greater chance of getting re-issue and therefore price is more reasonable and less likely getting inflated. As a collector, I find its much easier to deal with 

Edit:

It might work nicely if Arcadia use KickStarter for their figures so they could plan product release knowing the interest level.

Edited February 2, 2019 by Jyhnc

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I think if Arcadia were to make an all new 1/60 VF-1 they would've and should've, done so by now.

I think it's more likely that Arcadia won't renew their 1/60 VF-1 license and that Bandai will swoop in and get the 1/60 license to make a DX VF-1 in 1/60 scale based on their current 1/48 but simplified.

[Firefox]

If I were Arcadia and if I wanted to do a 1/48, I'll do the VF-1D, VT-1 and VE-1 now. By the look of the way Bandai designs the seat with its current DX VF-1J, VF-1D is a great possibility, and may be even VT-1 and VE-1. If Arcadia don't do it now, then don't bother at all. They ain't going to compete with Bandai.

[Jyhnc]

21 hours ago, Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 said:

I think if Arcadia were to make an all new 1/60 VF-1 they would've and should've, done so by now.

I think it's more likely that Arcadia won't renew their 1/60 VF-1 license and that Bandai will swoop in and get the 1/60 license to make a DX VF-1 in 1/60 scale based on their current 1/48 but simplified.

Bandai not releasing VF-1 in 1:60 in the first place makes me wonder, it kind of feel like foreplay :P

As for Arcadia, I don't know the state of their licensing, still, I think it would be easier to improve their VF1 1:60 V2 with a few changes and people would be buying them again  

Either way, I really like to see more competition in this market. It would not be a good thing if one company dominate it all.

[Sanity is Optional]

Bandai seems to care more for making their figures a similar size, rather than a similar scale.

[arrow]

Arcadia should just release every VF-1 livery/variant/color scheme at a lower price.

& It would be cool if they redo the 1/48 with the promise of what the DX should have had. Opening panels / internals that can be seen or LED lights.

[Slave IV]

3 hours ago, arrow said:

Arcadia should just release every VF-1 livery/variant/color scheme at a lower price.

& It would be cool if they redo the 1/48 with the promise of what the DX should have had. Opening panels / internals that can be seen or LED lights.

All at a lower price? Even if it might mean they go out of business because of it?

[arrow]

30 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

All at a lower price? Even if it might mean they go out of business because of it?

anything they do at this point is a gamble for them. at their pace now, bandai seems to be encroaching all their lines

[Firefox]

43 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

All at a lower price? Even if it might mean they go out of business because of it?

Low enough for them to stay in business and more people can afford, and thus they can grow. Price at $330 and they sell 10 a month, price at $260 and they might sell 15. I don't believe the cost of making the valks different too much between the two companies. Bandai may have better market reach but if they starts selling $400 a pop, I don't think they can sell that many too. By the same token, if they can't make a profit selling at current prices, I don't think they bother to sell any valks. So I don't see Arcadia pricing has anything to do with the size of the company, but more about the marketing strategy they employ. If they disregard the overseas demand and focus only on domestic, then, yes, they need the high prices to survive, but this also limit their reach.

Anyway with their current price and competition from Bandai, good chances they will go out soon or later unless or until Bandai really starts selling the valks $400 a pop, which in turn is very possible, judging the prices of VF-31A.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Firefox

[Sanity is Optional]

Eh, their PF Elintseeker and VF-1 Super/Strike packs are about the same cost as the Bandai YF-19 full set pack. They end up being more expensive, since Arcadia's PFs (priot to VE-1) only got sold via Arcadia's website or grey market, and had a similar markup to P-Bandai because of it.

[Slave IV]

I have a feeling that Arcadia's cost to make a Valk is absolutely higher than Bandai's. I agree selling more at a lower cost sounds good but I also think most Macross fans overestimate the immediate demand for these things. Sure, eventually supply runs dry and prices almost always go up but that sometimes takes years, which could be death for a company that mostly just makes Macross toys and doesn't have multiple lines of much more profitable properties to sustain it.

[F360]

4 hours ago, arrow said:

Arcadia should just release every VF-1 livery/variant/color scheme at a lower price.

& It would be cool if they redo the 1/48 with the promise of what the DX should have had. Opening panels / internals that can be seen or LED lights.

Looks like you want what happened to Yamato to happen to Arcadia too .  

[F360]

1 hour ago, Firefox said:

Low enough for them to stay in business and more people can afford, and thus they can grow. Price at $330 and they sell 10 a month, price at $260 and they might sell 15. I don't believe the cost of making the valks different too much between the two companies. Bandai may have better market reach but if they starts selling $400 a pop, I don't think they can sell that many too. By the same token, if they can't make a profit selling at current prices, I don't think they bother to sell any valks. So I don't see Arcadia pricing has anything to do with the size of the company, but more about the marketing strategy they employ. If they disregard the overseas demand and focus only on domestic, then, yes, they need the high prices to survive, but this also limit their reach.

Anyway with their current price and competition from Bandai, good chances they will go out soon or later unless or until Bandai really starts selling the valks $400 a pop, which in turn is very possible, judging the prices of VF-31A.

Earning just enough to stay in business means you have no extra money for growth. 

Bandai is much bigger than Arcadia, so much that they have more power to demand a lower price per unit from manufacturer plans.  You can not just look at Macross item , Bandai have many other products , just Gundam products alone is enough to tempt any factory to lower the per unit price of Macross item if they get some Gundam contract too.  Also they are one of the few companies that took their copyright claims in China with results of closing down and arresting to big name KO Gundam companies .   I’m sure they need money and power for that .

The msrp of the Vf-31a is under $250.   The current market price doesn’t mean much and is not a good judging price for any future Valks from Bandai .   You don’t use flowers price on valentine days to judge how much they will increase next week. 

[Ignacio Ocamica]

I wonder how Arcadia manages to stay in bussiness. 

You have to pay bills and employees every month. Don't know how supply and restock to retailers works with valk toys. But Arcadia doesn't have multiple lines of other profitable properties.

[HardlyNever]

1 hour ago, Ignacio Ocamica said:

I wonder how Arcadia manages to stay in bussiness. 

You have to pay bills and employees every month. Don't know how supply and restock to retailers works with valk toys. But Arcadia doesn't have multiple lines of other profitable properties.

They've said in one of their blog posts or interviews that it is more of a "hobby" for them.  There are very few (if any) full time Arcadia employees; they basically come together when they are ready to make something.

I think it is one of the posts here, but I can't remember exactly which one.

[Kanedas Bike]

16 minutes ago, HardlyNever said:

They've said in one of their blog posts or interviews that it is more of a "hobby" for them.  There are very few (if any) full time Arcadia employees; they basically come together when they are ready to make something.

I think it is one of the posts here, but I can't remember exactly which one.

That's equal parts cool (by way of a bunch of "dudes" coming together to make toys) and depressing (by way of Arcadia JUST being a bunch of "dudes" coming together to make toys).

It means that at any time, economics aside, they could decide that it's just not worth the time or effort or that they've lost the passion for it.

I remember when Yamato first came on the scene HLJ listed all of their items as "garage kits" - it seems Arcadia is very much a garage kit maker, with a fanbase that has the same type of expectations of them as we would of Bandai or a larger toy company.

I loved Yamato and want to keep supporting Arcadia but 90% of my toy budget now goes to Bandai -between the DX line, Metal Build and SH Figuarts they're pretty much all I collect these days.

Sigh

-b.

[Jyhnc]

On 2/5/2019 at 3:56 AM, HardlyNever said:

They've said in one of their blog posts or interviews that it is more of a "hobby" for them.  There are very few (if any) full time Arcadia employees; they basically come together when they are ready to make something.

I think it is one of the posts here, but I can't remember exactly which one.

The way they handle it is kind of cute and refreshing

This is a niche market and I think they should definitely reach out more and deeper into the international market, and be closer to their customers. There are options Arcadia could consider to be more efficient with their effort. Approach such as crowd funding could help them to identify demand, plan production and finally expectation/release management. It would also help bridge the gap with their customers and minimise the overstocking issue. 

 

[no3Ljm]

5 minutes ago, Jyhnc said:

The way they handle it is kind of cute and refreshing

This is a niche market and I think they should definitely reach out more and deeper into the international market, and be closer to their customers. There are options Arcadia could consider to be more efficient with their effort. Approach such as crowd funding could help them to identify demand, plan production and finally expectation/release management. It would also help bridge the gap with their customers and minimise the overstocking issue. 

International market? Let us wait until HG’s copyright expired. Until then, Macross, and I do mean Macross and not Robotech will just stay in Japan.  

 

[Jyhnc]

1 hour ago, no3Ljm said:

International market? Let us wait until HG’s copyright expired. Until then, Macross, and I do mean Macross and not Robotech will just stay in Japan.  

 

HG's license and trademark and expires 2021 and 2022 (or earlier), that is not too long to wait for

[Ridden001]

No.  I believe Arcadia will be gone in 3-4 years.

[Bolt]

On 2/4/2019 at 5:16 AM, Ignacio Ocamica said:

But Arcadia doesn't have multiple lines of other profitable properties.

Doesn’t Arcadia make profit on other stuff?!?

 

On 2/4/2019 at 6:56 AM, HardlyNever said:

They've said in one of their blog posts or interviews that it is more of a "hobby" for them.  There are very few (if any) full time Arcadia employees; they basically come together when they are ready to make something.

Avante concept. If they can afford it, why not. Just put something out that hasn’t been overdone! And how about with a price tag mere mortals can touch?

 

 

1 hour ago, Ridden001 said:

No.  I believe Arcadia will be gone in 3-4 years.

I wonder this myself , but , if the later is true, they might just surprise us with something cool..