HG and BW reach an agreement (Link included)

[Mommar]

11 hours ago, treatment said:

Of course, if true, the Macross anime-titles will now be officially available again outside of Japan, tho I reckon most (if not all) Macross fans already have either downloaded and/or imported the japanese dvd's and bd's throughout the years.

I very much doubt the the pricing will be lower than what we importers have gotten from the various regular import-shops (including the current covid-expensive shipping-fees). What's the current P-Bandai USA for available SOCs or Gundam Metal Builds pricing, anyway?

I don't own most of it, the Japanese charge way too much for media.

The prices for US P-Bandai stuff is pretty good, actually.  Especially because shipping is so much cheaper.  

[terry the lone wolf]

I think HG keeping rights to Macross characters is more or less for the live action movie.. It seems more likely we will see Macross designs in that project.. Hopefully they can get Shoji Kawamori attached as an executive producer.. 

It sounds like H.G. (maybe Funimation-Sony) will move Macross product in the west.. It's a plethora of material but they have to REINTRODUCE the Space War 1 characters in a big way.. Bandai-Sunrise has a twenty year plus lead on them with Gundam but I don't think it's insurmountable.. They will have to copy Bandai with have their own streaming channel spotlighting Macross series that weren't released in the states..

Now they have to start with that great white whale.. The Moby Dick of Anime.. Macross: Do You Remember Love with all new English dub and high-rez transfer..

Next they have to either release Macross Zero as both a full OVA and edited movie with new scenes.. Mac Zero could be a preamble to DYRL.. Have them set firmly in the same universe.. 

Finally, the Macross the First manga and the Macross PS2 game.. Macross the First MUST be licensed in the states maybe through VIZ or even Titan Comics.. Mac the First could expand the events of SW1.. SDF Macross PS2 video game be available in the PS store..

With SW1's story set firmly then we  can jump ahead to Macross Frontier with the full TV series on Cartoon  Network or Sci-Fi.. Then the release of the two theatrical movies..

[Mommar]

9 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

It'd be nice.

I suspect our best bet are probably the Bandai plamodels, since various retailers here in the states like GameStop and Barnes & Noble already carry gunpla.

Target carries them too.  You can pick up an MG 1/100 Gundam Barabatos in the toy section now.

[Mommar]

9 hours ago, treatment said:

 

If things go through, P-Bandai USA will gladly sell you a DX Chogokin Macross Valk for, i dunno, US$350? (plus local taxes) for a:

• VF-31F
• VF-31E (original head)
• SV-262

Maybe they'll be generous enough to also offer them Lil Drakens pack for an additional US$150.

And that's about it, I'm guessing.

It'll be really interesting if the DX VF-1 variants and/or the DX YF-19 will be offered at all...

 

What are you talking about?  B-Pandai US have NOT been over-charging for merchandise.

[Alex GS]

I hope Bandai, Arcadia give us some news soon regarding Macross brand going world wide now.

[Dynaman]

When I can legally stream DYRL and the latest Macross series for a reasonable fee I'll be happy (preferably with a good english dub of all but the songs).  Till then...

[Bolt]

1 hour ago, Mommar said:

I disagree, we didn't win.  They're still going to keep getting paid.

This>>

[Einherjar]

3 hours ago, Marzan said:

No, my point was worrying about how Harmony Gold might interpret the agreement when it comes to SDFM characters that appear in other Macross shows. For example, Maximilian Jenius and Miria? You cannot have M7 without them. Focker in Zero? II, Plus, Frontier and Delta have no issues of this kind.

If the recent comic books is a sign of this new era, they probably have their own plans for the characters moving forward.  So far though I don’t think those ideas were received well.  For instance, they somehow made Max and Miria be unpleasant to see again.  Something about Max getting another girl pregnant and Miria embracing her Meltradi heritage to uncomfortable levels.  Think Macross 7 versions of them with very little chance for them to reconcile.  Add in HG’s tendency to recruit artists who at best can come up with questionable approximations of these characters and writers forcing them to do and say a lot of dumb things, I really don’t think of it as an issue unless it’s your childhood memories of Robotech getting ruined.

[vladykins]

Macross Youtube channel is no longer region locked.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKeM8HXpwR0qc0RtH0GKyMg

[wrylac]

Finally, next is world peace.

[DYRL VF-1S]

10 hours ago, jenius said:

Origin of Valkyrie 2.0!

Yes please!!!!!!!

10 hours ago, treatment said:

 

One can only hope the Valks most want will be.

For some perspectives, I believe those Wing Gundam GFFMCs and Metal Builds were rather quite difficult to get from P-Bandai USA/Bluefin. 

 

 

Totally. I mean, this doesn't solve all of our collector problems by any stretch of the imagination. Just look at the Evangelion Metal Builds, Gundam, etc. Sold on P-Bandai US/Bluefin and still sold out quickly. And really not any cheaper. And still jacked up prices on eBay in the aftermarket.

[jvmacross]

9 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Considering how much time Macek and co. spend alternately badmouthing him and blocking his work from broader distribution, he must be feeling a real sense of vindication right now.  

So I guess he is may be letting bygones be bygones.....smart move....now let us pray that he gets pulled into the "anticipated" "Robotech" planning by Sony....with more Macross and less Robotech!   His involvement would give it much needed street cred...

Edited April 9, 2021 by jvmacross

[Scyla]

I hope the agreement is more in the line of HG can continue to use Rick Hunter that has a similar hairdo, uniform and transforming fighter jet as Hikaru and create media that either follows the story of the Macross Saga of Robotech or uses it as a jump off point for other stories without BW sending out C&D letters.

Other than that I’m looking forward buying officially licensed BDs of M7, Frontier, Delta and M2 (in that order) with proper English subtitles. 

[Bolt]

@jvmacross He maybe didn't have a say in the matter..

Edited April 9, 2021 by Bolt

[vladykins]

OK, someone created this and said "Now this is possible" I had to laugh:

[Roy Focker]

What's new today?

Holy crap!

My guess is business hasn't been that good for either company and both saw that they should make a deal.   Both acknowledge that the other party has rights and will cooperate in distribution.   In other words for decades both could have been making more money but were limited in what and where they could do it.   Now they've got a deal for what happens for all those things they make that falls in that grey area of rights.

 

[jvmacross]

19 minutes ago, Bolt said:

@jvmacross He maybe didn't have a say in the matter..

 

Yes, I know this....doesn't own the franchise...blah blah blah 

But Macross without Kawamori is something we have only experienced with Macross II....Hopefully, he will still be involved for years to come and has been mentoring someone else on the ways of Macross, like Lucas did with Filoni...and we all know what happened to Star Wars when Lucas was taken out completely...

Maybe that is the same problem with Macross.....it just needs a shot of Kawamori and not the entire bottle! 

 

[Seto Kaiba]

2 hours ago, Mommar said:

I disagree, we didn't win.  They're still going to keep getting paid.

Your definition of victory is too narrow, my friend.

Harmony Gold abandoned the field.  They've signed the instrument of surrender.

It just wasn't a completely unconditional surrender.

Instead, true to the company's quasi-Italian roots, once they'd exhausted their bluster and their elaborate aggressive posturing failed to impress... they switched sides.  They decided to knuckle under and learn to love the taste of Big West's boot leather rather than lose the farm on a slow and fundamentally unwinnable battle of attrition.

Yeah, Harmony Gold will collect some small percentage of the take from Macross licensing... but that's all.  Big West gave up NOTHING in this.  NOTHING.  And they got everything they wanted.  Harmony Gold, on the other hand, effectively gave up almost everything it had for a few crumbs from Big West's table.  They withdrew their opposition to Macross's global licensing.  They'd already effectively abandoned Robotech and now apparently are giving Big West partial control over it as well.  The only thing they can cling to is the hope that Sony will green-light a Robotech movie... which, from the outset, was never going to use Big West's IP anyway and is all but guaranteed to be a failure because failing is what American anime adaptations DO.

It's not quite the complete annihilation that folks who utterly loathe Harmony Gold were hoping for, but it's INCREDIBLY close in the final analysis.

Robotech is, for all practical intents and purposes, dead.  Harmony Gold has bent the knee to Macross's owners without any significant concessions from Big West's side.  That's a win by any standard.

 

2 hours ago, terry the lone wolf said:

I think HG keeping rights to Macross characters is more or less for the live action movie.. It seems more likely we will see Macross designs in that project.. Hopefully they can get Shoji Kawamori attached as an executive producer.. 

No, it's nothing like that.

The statement about Harmony Gold's rights is basically just affirming that Harmony Gold's license agreement with Tatsunoko Production is still valid and in force... the one which only grants Harmony Gold the distribution and merchandising rights to the Super Dimension Fortress Macross animation outside Japan.  They've never been able to use Big West's intellectual property in the proposed live action movie.  (Indeed, they had announced the film with the intention of it being a "reimagining" with all-original design works.)

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by Seto Kaiba

[Kelsain]

Climate change, COVID, a lot of dormant volcanoes suddenly erupting, now this...
I’m beginning to feel concerned.

 

[vladykins]

Just not used to seeing this on FB:

[Seto Kaiba]

Just now, Kelsain said:

Climate change, COVID, a lot of dormant volcanoes suddenly erupting, now this...
I’m beginning to feel concerned.

Well, if any of our friends on the US east coast start talking about some bloke named "Dagon" or vacationing in R'lyeh, you'll know it's time to pack it in and find a new planet. 

[vladykins]

1 minute ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Well, if any of our friends on the US east coast start talking about some bloke named "Dagon" or vacationing in R'lyeh, you'll know it's time to pack it in and find a new planet. 

My eyes have been looking a bit bulgy lately, but then I thought that was just the blood pressure.

 

[Nied]

I don't know, this looks about as close to a win-win as you can get. HG gets to make new Robotech material featuring Rick, Lisa, Minmay etc. (while giving BW a piece of the action) and BW gets to distribute Macross Plus, 7, Zero etc in the rest of the world (while giving HG a piece of the action). And they both get lots of money if that Robotech movie gets made.

 

The only loser here is our wallets.

[Atharun]

If it means we get the various Macross series released on blu with a dub, I'm happy. If it means HG is able to reboot or continue Robotech, possibly with their own designs and what not, I'm also happy. 

[treatment]

Pretty much all of what Seto said above.

The "agreement" seems to be HG gets to use to get license/royalty-fees for Macross TV/DYRL designs., officially

However, none for all the other series (MII, M+, M7, M0, MF, MD) in the franchise.

Hope Funi/Sony or whoever else gets the license can get the old Manga dubs and subs if/when they decide to release M+ BD...
 

Edited April 9, 2021 by treatment

[Bolt]

24 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Big West gave up NOTHING in this.

Except those crumbs you mentioned. And robowreck will continue.

It will be very interesting to see where this is all at a year from now..

[blackconvoy_D01]

And 2021 turns to be the year of world peace is moved forward by a few meters more!

[Seto Kaiba]

Just now, Bolt said:

Except those crumbs you mentioned.

It's nothing that any other potential Macross distribution partner wouldn't receive... it's not any kind of concession on Big West's part. 

It's just (quite literally) the cost of doing business.

 

Just now, Bolt said:

And robowreck will continue.

Will it, though?

Harmony Gold quite literally gave up on Robotech's animated series almost fifteen years ago when Robotech: the Shadow Chronicles bombed.  Robotech: Love Live Alive was a glorified DVD extra feature packaged with Shadow Chronicles to inflate sales numbers by getting fans to buy the failed OVA's only episode twice.  Robotech Academy was a Hail Mary attempt to get someone to pay for a pilot because Harmony Gold wouldn't.  The proposed live-action movie has been Coming Never since 2007.  The last original Robotech development was cancelled in 2020, and that was the widely-panned Robotech Remix.  

They have effectively zero incentive to continue Robotech at this point.  By supporting Macross instead, they can make the same (or better) money with less effort and investment on their part.  They'll take the path of least resistance because they know Robotech was, and is, a functionally dead brand.  They might still bluster a bit about Robotech and Carl Macek's alleged vision, but odds are they aren't going to bother attempting to develop Robotech any further.  

[technoblue]

Although I already own the 30th Anniversary Japanese Blu-ray of SDF:M TV, imagine if Western licensors gain access to that same remaster? Add subtitles, an improved dub track, and then include the mediocre ADV dub and the Robotech cut for completionists. Better yet, add on other well-regarded non-Japanese dub tracks to make it a true archivist's release. Yeah, I will definitely buy the series again if this ever becomes a reality.

Edited April 9, 2021 by technoblue

[Focslain]

2 hours ago, Scyla said:

Other than that I’m looking forward buying officially licensed BDs of M7, Frontier, Delta and M2 (in that order) with proper English subtitles

We technically already have proper english subs for Delta. Their just really expensive.

[Scyla]

3 minutes ago, Focslain said:

We technically already have proper english subs for Delta. Their just really expensive.

Yes, you are right. I have the Delta movie somewhere lying around here.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Scyla

[jvmacross]

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

They've never been able to use Big West's intellectual property in the proposed live action movie.  (Indeed, they had announced the film with the intention of it being a "reimagining" with all-original design works.)

With this new "agreement" and fuzzy good feelings, this movie now seems more possible....more importantly, recent "tweets" suggest that there should be nothing to stop Kawamori's involvement in any "Robotech/Macross" project now...TBH, without his name attached to any possible movie, it just won't have any Macross "street cred"...Sony needs to get Kawamori involved....at the very least, like most Macross TV shows and films after SDFM/DYRL, we would be able to look forward to all-new Kawamori-designed VF's and the Bandai toys...heck throw in some re-imagined Destroids and other mechs by Miyatake into the mix and the "Robotech" movie starts looking much more worthwhile simply for the new mechs we'll get out of it alone.....and having them designed by the original mech designers will legitimize them as worthy additions to "Macross" collectors....it's all about the merch!!

[Shawn]

When is the next Tamashi Nations web episode?

I wanna see if they still put up the placard!

[sh9000]

I love Kawamori’s pic that he posted.

[Kyp Durron]

17 minutes ago, Shawn said:

When is the next Tamashi Nations web episode?

I wanna see if they still put up the placard!

I have mine sitting on my desk as I type this, but what I want to see just as much is if they ever make a 1/60 version, even with less gimmicks I'd still take one as long as it's the same sculpt. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by Kyp Durron