Colonel Sanders leads Robotech into 2004!

[Isamu Atreides 86]

But I'm assuming we'll see Macross Saga era characters, so it'll take major re-writing, especially if Tat/HG don't give them Sentinels style make-overs.

True. I hadn't considered Rick & Co. making a comeback, but I guess anything's possible. Let's hope that those Sentinels make-overs remain in whatever hell spawned them.

And 1BRD, it turns out that my old "Henshin Robo" Ride Armor refers to the Invid in the story capsule on the back of the box, engrish be damned.

what, you didn't like the whole flock of seagulls look some of the characters got in sentinels? the 80's ARE making a come back afterall..

[Wes]

But I'm assuming we'll see Macross Saga era characters, so it'll take major re-writing, especially if Tat/HG don't give them Sentinels style make-overs.

True. I hadn't considered Rick & Co. making a comeback, but I guess anything's possible. Let's hope that those Sentinels make-overs remain in whatever hell spawned them.

And 1BRD, it turns out that my old "Henshin Robo" Ride Armor refers to the Invid in the story capsule on the back of the box, engrish be damned.

what, you didn't like the whole flock of seagulls look some of the characters got in sentinels? the 80's ARE making a come back afterall..

All mention of Sentinels hairstyles is forbidden!

[lebhead]

Well look what we have here......

They tweaked the VF-X-4 and gave it a new transformation after all. VF-4's (or whatever they call it) and Alphas in the same show, huh.

© 2001?

not again...

this has already been discussed to death. search the old forums for answers.

[91WhiskeyM6]

Stop being anime elitists for once.

And surrender to HG? I don't think so.

[91WhiskeyM6]

Cyc, you really don't think Tatsunuko wouldn't want to market RT2K4 in Japan as some kind of Mospeada sequel? It's not as if they'd be able to broadcast it as a Robotech sequel. Couldn't they just rewrite the script and replace the words "Invid" with "Inbit" and replace "Protoculture" with "HBT?"

BTW, did you ever notice just how much they liked saying the words "HBT" in Mospeada? Seriously, every time it was mentioned it was like:

Stig: "We need more HBT."

Fuke: "HBT?"

Jim: "HBT?"

Stig: "Yes, HBT."

Yeah, well it's better than hearing "Protoculture" referenced as fuel.

[yellowlightman]

Stop being anime elitists for once.

And surrender to HG? I don't think so.

Yeah, don't surrender... because HG is out to kill you.

Some people take cartoons waaaay too seriously.

I'm wondering who they're gonna get to write this new series, if it's Yune and his cronies my expectations are definately lowered. As it is, HG has a hard enough time putting together a legitimate comic book, god forbid a Tv series.

Wasn't Tatsunoko involved int he planning and story of The Sentinenls? I remember Carl Macek in Robotech Art III complaining about them wanting to focus too much on the newer characters rather than Rick, Max and Lisa.

[1st Border Red Devil]

I'm wondering who they're gonna get to write this new series, if it's Yune and his cronies my expectations are definately lowered. As it is, HG has a hard enough time putting together a legitimate comic book, god forbid a Tv series.

Wasn't Tatsunoko involved int he planning and story of The Sentinenls? I remember Carl Macek in Robotech Art III complaining about them wanting to focus too much on the newer characters rather than Rick, Max and Lisa.

I dont think its Tommy that actually wrote the new series. I know that Tom is the continuity guy (cause I have chats with him all the time about various bits of dialogue and other minutiae) and that Tommy is the Creative Director....not a staff writer per se. His job would be more like that held by Carl Macek for Robotech (not The Sentinels). A story is only as good as the writers. Tommy could probably claim to have laid out his vision for Robotech 04....that doesn't necessarily mean he wrote it.

Tatsunoko did the production of The Sentinels. From conversations with people like Tom and Dennis Bateman...I got the impression that one of the major factors that doomed The Sentinels storywise was the lack of preproduction (reasons why the storyline was so full of continuity holes and other crap). By comparison...we know that Robotech 04 has had more than a year and a half of preproduction (like most anime tv series).

And yes...the Tats people wanted to shift the focus away from the Macross characters....something Macek couldnt understand. However bizarre it is to think this way, the people at Tatsunoko understood the direction The Sentinels should have taken character-wise better than Macek.

[ogami]

I wonder what kind of budget needed for Tatsunuko to create new Robotech...?

Japanese Animation doesn't come cheap...

My assumption:

If HG pays half and Tatsunuko pays the other half of the production cost, Tatsunuko will need to sell the new show as Mospeada sequel to make money. (I don't think HG can pay for the whole thing)

And what make money in Japan for anime? TOYS and DVDs.

Then which Japanese toy compay/anime distributor is *most related* to Tatsunuko? Bandai

Does Bandai want a piece of Mospeada sequel? Assume Yes.

Does Bandai want to sell Mospeada sequel toys only in Japan? The answer is NO. (and I don't think Bandai will make the same *only can sell Macross toy in Asia only* mistake again)

Who is larger, HG or Bandai? Bandai... (Bandai is the 3rd largest toy company in the world after Mattel and Hasbro)

If Tatsunuko and Bandai cannot make an agreement, what can Tatsunuko do? No idea

I am sorry if my assumption offended Robotech fans...

and please correct any mistakes in my assumption.

Edited January 22, 2004 by ogami

[1st Border Red Devil]

I think Toynami has the rights to distribute Mospeada toys worldwide. Now...that is assuming that the new series will include Mospeada designs (a not unreasonable assumption). I wouldnt mind seeing Bandai produce toys for the new series....but I dont think its going to happen (though I will be happy if Im wrong ).

As for making it a sequel to Mospeada...that is what a number of us told Tommy Yune in chat a couple of weeks ago. It makes perfect financial sense...at least to us. I can be distributed in Japan and the US as Mospeada II...while making an appearance on US Tv as Robotech 04. I would guess there would be a few differences between the two productions....though that is an assumption.

[ogami]

I think Toynami has the rights to distribute Mospeada toys worldwide. Now...that is assuming that the new series will include Mospeada designs (a not unreasonable assumption). I wouldnt mind seeing Bandai produce toys for the new series....but I dont think its going to happen (though I will be happy if Im wrong ).

As for making it a sequel to Mospeada...that is what a number of us told Tommy Yune in chat a couple of weeks ago. It makes perfect financial sense...at least to us. I can be distributed in Japan and the US as Mospeada II...while making an appearance on US Tv as Robotech 04. I would guess there would be a few differences between the two productions....though that is an assumption.

[off topic]

Next time if you chat with Tommy Yune, please tell him that find some better toy company to make Robotech toys or at least upgrade the quailty of it. Those MPCs are "not so good" compared to the Japanese VFs... and the Japanese VFs are only little bit more expensive than MPC.

[/off topic]

As for Mospeada II... it will be difficult to market it in Japan since Mospeada is not a *popular* series.

(Who want to watch Mospeada II when there are other more interesting anime on TV.)

My assumption:

If Tatsunuko wants Mospeada II to be successful, they need to lauch a massive marketing campaign.

Gundam SEED was successful because the ADs on TV and magazine (you can see SEED on every single issue of NewType and Denkei Hobby) plus wave after wave of toys, models and video games.

NOTE: Gundam SEED was a low budget anime...

[captain america]

Hi Ogami.

I don't think Tommy Yune would have any direct say in who gets to make RT toys. The way toy liscensing works is that you have the liscensor/franchise owner with a new "liscence", who sends out a press-pack to all the different toy companies, and in turn, these toy companies make an "offer" to the liscensor to produce toys/products and offer a certain amount in royalties.

Believe me, Harmony Gold didn't exactly have the cream of the crop beating-down their doors with the "Robotech" liscence. For all we know, Toynami were probably the only ones willing to stick their necks out for it. When HG was shopping for new liscensees roughly 3 years ago, the general consensus in the toy industry was "thanks, but no thanks."

Basically, I wouldn't worry too much about this new series either; it'll probably be a flop, just like everything else HG has tried to market. Eventually, they'll have lost enough money to no longer justify keeping the franchise alive, and it'll eventually recede into nothingness... Just like the Matchbox toys of the mid 80s

[the white drew carey]

Hi Ogami.

I don't think Tommy Yune would have any direct say in who gets to make RT toys. The way toy liscensing works is that you have the liscensor/franchise owner with a new "liscence", who sends out a press-pack to all the different toy companies, and in turn, these toy companies make an "offer" to the liscensor to produce toys/products and offer a certain amount in royalties.

Believe me, Harmony Gold didn't exactly have the cream of the crop beating-down their doors with the "Robotech" liscence. For all we know, Toynami were probably the only ones willing to stick their necks out for it. When HG was shopping for new liscensees roughly 3 years ago, the general consensus in the toy industry was "thanks, but no thanks."

Basically, I wouldn't worry too much about this new series either; it'll probably be a flop, just like everything else HG has tried to market. Eventually, they'll have lost enough money to no longer justify keeping the franchise alive, and it'll eventually recede into nothingness... Just like the Matchbox toys of the mid 80s

Well, don't forget that George Sohn of Toynami used to be part of Toycom, the company that was originally going to produce the M+ toys in 2000 and HG told them they can't do that.

Afterwards, George left Toycom and started Toynami. As he already had the desire to make the "perfect" valkyrie/veritech toy, I think it wasn't too hard for him and HG to come to an agreement.

[captain america]

Hi Drew.

Absolutely true. However, George went after that liscence partly because of his own personal interest in it. From a purely financial standpoint, however (which is how most companies work, sadly) the RT liscence just wasn't worth looking at.

When Robotech started rearing its plagarized head again a few years back, I actually asked a member of the Hasbro group what he thought of it, just for fun. The rolled-eyes I recieved as a response was worth a thousand words.

Basically, once a liscence "flops" in the toy industry ( Robotech/Matchbox fiasco of '86) it's VERY hard to get manufacturers to give you a credible second look. As a slightly different example, just have a look at the ROBOCOP franchise: first film was great, but almost no one had jumped onto the marketing bandwagon, deeming it too much of a gamble. R2 was made, hoping to ride the same wave to success, but didn't do too well at the box-office. R3 script comes along, and a few companies try to jump on the merchandising bandwagon; film is an utter disaster at the box-office, and the related merchandise doesn't do much better: that was the nail-in-the-coffin, and as a result, the Robocop franchise is absolutely dead in the water.

In Truth, Toynami MIGHT keep its head above water because they manufacture on the cheap and mark-up BIG (sorry, but the MPC Veritech is an otherwise $19.99 pp item, regardless of what it retails for), so even if sales start to tank, they'd still be able to liquidate without losing their shirts.

[the white drew carey]

Hi Drew.

Absolutely true. However, George went after that liscence partly because of his own personal interest in it. From a purely financial standpoint, however (which is how most companies work, sadly) the RT liscence just wasn't worth looking at.

When Robotech started rearing its plagarized head again a few years back, I actually asked a member of the Hasbro group what he thought of it, just for fun. The rolled-eyes I recieved as a response was worth a thousand words.

Basically, once a liscence "flops" in the toy industry ( Robotech/Matchbox fiasco of '86) it's VERY hard to get manufacturers to give you a credible second look. As a slightly different example, just have a look at the ROBOCOP franchise: first film was great, but almost no one had jumped onto the marketing bandwagon, deeming it too much of a gamble. R2 was made, hoping to ride the same wave to success, but didn't do too well at the box-office. R3 script comes along, and a few companies try to jump on the merchandising bandwagon; film is an utter disaster at the box-office, and the related merchandise doesn't do much better: that was the nail-in-the-coffin, and as a result, the Robocop franchise is absolutely dead in the water.

In Truth, Toynami MIGHT keep its head above water because they manufacture on the cheap and mark-up BIG (sorry, but the MPC Veritech is an otherwise $19.99 pp item, regardless of what it retails for), so even if sales start to tank, they'd still be able to liquidate without losing their shirts.

I agree with you totally. What I was trying to mention is that marketability be damned once Toynami entered the picture. HG didn't have to shop the idea around anymore once there was a potential-licensee who was yearning to create a product already.

[ogami]

Thanks for the info.

I guess I will never buy another Robotech toys. MPCs is worthless...

(At least for Bandai toys, I get what I paid for. Just look at Gundam FIX.)

I feel sad for Robotech hardcore fans.

[Lightning]

Well look what we have here......

They tweaked the VF-X-4 and gave it a new transformation after all.  VF-4's (or whatever they call it) and Alphas in the same show, huh.

© 2001?

HG MUST BURN IN HELL! THAT IS LUDICROUS! HOW DARE THEY BUTCHER THE ALMIGHTY VF-4!!!

EDIT: ok, i'm done ranting.

Edited January 23, 2004 by Lightning 06

[1st Border Red Devil]

I feel sad for Robotech hardcore fans.

Its the Southern Cross/Robotech Masters fans that have been told that we will see toys over George Sohn's dead body. <_<