Official Bandai (Japan) Thread 2.0

[Petezilla]

I think that maybe the Gamera/Kadokawa licenses are just cheaper than the Godzilla/Toho ones, which leaves room for a better product for a similar price...

[Fermix]

I believe that the license holders, at least here in the US, have final say on the production versions. It could be that Kadokawa have higher standards on how the figures are made.

[Creature22]

I’m also gonna echo a few others in that I think the rights for Gamera are overall cheaper than what Toho asks for Godzilla. I remember inquiring with the guy who runs Marusan about the monster rights and he commented that he had to stop offering international releases because Toho kept increasing the cost, but that different eras also have their own fees and rules. So he was able to do Showa stuff but couldn’t do Heisei or Millenium for a long time.

Obviously, Bandai has a lot more money and priority, but to my knowledge it isn’t as complex or expensive to use Gamera. So they likely have more budget to work with and can put a lot of effort into less characters.

[G1985]

I remember inquiring with the guy who runs Marusan about the monster rights and he commented that he had to stop offering international releases because Toho kept increasing the cost, but that different eras also have their own fees and rules. So he was able to do Showa stuff but couldn’t do Heisei or Millenium for a long time.

I recall interviews (I believe with Randy Stradley at Dark Horse) around the late 90s / early 2000s, explaining that this or that knockoff kaiju was made because every variation of every kaiju had its own license, and the licensee could only afford Godzilla himself. If I recall, the reasoning offered was that Toho did so out of respect for each kaiju's creator (as if each retained the copyright for the design) despite Toho holding the master license itself. So Ghidorah 1964 would have a separate license than Ghidorah 1991, MG74 a separate license than MG75. etc. If designer X didn't want toys made of his / her kaiju, Toho could refuse (or punatively raise the price of) that particular license. This may not be the case any longer, but that's what I read at the time.

[Creature22]

I remember inquiring with the guy who runs Marusan about the monster rights and he commented that he had to stop offering international releases because Toho kept increasing the cost, but that different eras also have their own fees and rules. So he was able to do Showa stuff but couldn’t do Heisei or Millenium for a long time.

I recall interviews (some with Randy Stradley at Dark Horse) around the late 90s / early 2000s, in which every variation of every kaiju had its own license. If I recall, the reasoning offered was that Toho did so out of respect for each kaiju's creator (as if each retained the copyright for the design) despite Toho holding the master license itself. So Ghidorah 1964 would have a separate license than Ghidorah 1991, MG74 a separate license than MG75. etc. If designer X didn't want toys made of his / her kaiju, Toho could refuse (or punatively raise the price of) that particular license. This may not be the case any longer, but that's what I read at the time.

Yeah; I think it might be a bit of both. Maybe starting by era and then broken down further by character. At the time I talked with Marusan it was when they were just getting the rights to do the 1989 Godzilla and Biollante, which they were excited about. They also expressed interest in a Destroy All Monsters anniversary, which was approaching its 50th at the time, but I don't think that ever panned out. I missed my chance to say "The fans really really want a Manda"

International rights are apparently pricier than domestic, and increased even more after the Legendary film, which is why a lot of the smaller-run companies don't even bother with selling outside of Japan. Although maybe that has changed since then as well; all of this is nearing 5 years ago and a lot has changed since then.

[Legion1979]

The golden age of getting a TON of different monsters was easily the Marmit/M-1/Gigabrain/Marusan heyday from 1997 to 2008, but really ramping up during the middle of that time period. The sheer volume of monsters we got was absolutely insane. Varans. Ebirahs. Mandas. Kumongas. Titanosaurus. There was something new every single month.

While we still get a lot of stuff now, it's very different from how it was. The volume is coming from Bandai, Xplus and American companies, while the specially vinyl has really fallen off.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Varan has now been fully restocked on the Godzilla store an avaiable to purchase once again. I'll probably get it in a week or two. Meanwhile, Gigan Rex is sold out. Who knows if that'll get restocked (I hope they make more after seeing how popular the short is), but as I feared that might be the harder figure to purchase. Don't take this message as any sort of serious consideration, but I'm just reporting what I'm seeing.

In regards to the conversation above, I miss missing out on being able to purchase a wide variety of monsters from 10-20 years ago from Marmit and others. I recently got a Meganulon Marmit and it makes me wish I could have an obscure variety of Dogora, Maguma and others. As much as the Hedorah collection is fun, it's interesting how that's become the vinyl monster.

[Creature22]

In regards to the conversation above, I miss missing out on being able to purchase a wide variety of monsters from 10-20 years ago from Marmit and others. I recently got a Meganulon Marmit and it makes me wish I could have an obscure variety of Dogora, Maguma and others. As much as the Hedorah collection is fun, it's interesting how that's become the vinyl monster.

My memory is that they were more affordable but harder to find (if you didn’t know where to look). I didn’t have access to HLJ, Mandarake or Buyee and had to rely on whatever domestic sellers or eBay shops were carrying.

Now even Mandarake has become so popular that it’s hard to find what you want in time; I think the real sweet spot was if you were on that site circa 2012 or so.

[miguelnuva]

Looks like the ride Bandai sold out again.

[Mac Daddy MM]

Looks like the ride Bandai sold out again.

Wouldn't be surprised if the last batch was the last and it fades into oblivion with all the new releases, and especially the Gemstone stuff. Once again, while I do not care for the designs much even for the Ride guys, the fact I'll be able to say I got 'em in 5-10 years is all that matters for me with them.

[Executive Hamster]

Wouldn't be surprised if the last batch was the last and it fades into oblivion with all the new releases, and especially the Gemstone stuff. Once again, while I do not care for the designs much even for the Ride guys, the fact I'll be able to say I got 'em in 5-10 years is all that matters for me with them.

Sucks for me, as someone who didnt plan on getting them until now.

[Mac Daddy MM]

Wouldn't be surprised if the last batch was the last and it fades into oblivion with all the new releases, and especially the Gemstone stuff. Once again, while I do not care for the designs much even for the Ride guys, the fact I'll be able to say I got 'em in 5-10 years is all that matters for me with them.

Sucks for me, as someone who didnt plan on getting them until now.

I'm pretty sure they still pop up on Mandrake.

[LSD Jellyfish]

My memory is that they were more affordable but harder to find (if you didn’t know where to look). I didn’t have access to HLJ, Mandarake or Buyee and had to rely on whatever domestic sellers or eBay shops were carrying.

Now even Mandarake has become so popular that it’s hard to find what you want in time; I think the real sweet spot was if you were on that site circa 2012 or so.

I only started using it in the last month or so. I agree, but it adds a layer of excitement (and anxiety) to shopping. I only go on there when I'm prepared to get a lot of things. Otherwise it feels like"buy it now" or never get it. What's frustrating though is the manga, I've been trying to get ahold of the Shin vs. Heisei Kodonsha sequel, and the few times I've seen it it's instantly sold out.

Mandarake is great for bandais though, even older stuff is sold at a nice price.

[tbeasley]

16 years since his last movie Kadokawa basically goes to companies with a sign saying, 'will license Gamera for food.'

[LSD Jellyfish]

16 years since his last movie Kadokawa basically goes to companies with a sign saying, 'will license Gamera for food.'

Kadokawa is a giant media conglomerate, so I doubt they're that starved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadokawa_Corporation

Still, no doubt they realized that they can jump in on the recent trend of monsters and figures and make sure they're done right. Ignoring the MMS stuff recently, there's also been a lot of new Gamera Gashapons as well. I do wonder why they haven't sunk their fangs into the Showa or Post-Heisei properties. Maybe because they think they'll easily sell (fair), but it would be a good way to gouge of Gamera is still a property worth keeping alive.

[tbeasley]

I was kidding, times are tough for Gamera -

[Executive Hamster]

Gamera is advertising for Shin? Damn. He really is on hard times now.

[canofhumdingers]

Man, the Godzilla Store/Buyee must’ve gotten slammed with orders on Godzilla day. I placed two orders (one for a bunch of stuff and the other for Bandai’s G’84) and the first, larger order only just now shipped from the G Store to Buyee today. A full week after the order was placed. It still has to get to Buyee’s warehouse and then ship to me.

I’ve only used Buyee a handful of times but it usually goes much faster. A day or two to make the order, another couple of days for it to ship to the Buyee warehouse. By the time it’s been a week after the initial order was placed, the package is usually halfway across the ocean on its way to me.

[Creature22]

Man, the Godzilla Store/Buyee must’ve gotten slammed with orders on Godzilla day. I placed two orders (one for a bunch of stuff and the other for Bandai’s G’84) and the first, larger order only just now shipped from the G Store to Buyee today. A full week after the order was placed. It still has to get to Buyee’s warehouse and then ship to me.

I’ve only used Buyee a handful of times but it usually goes much faster. A day or two to make the order, another couple of days for it to ship to the Buyee warehouse. By the time it’s been a week after the initial order was placed, the package is usually halfway across the ocean on its way to me.

I think with figures like Varan it's the store waiting to catch up to demand. My Varan just arrived to the warehouse. But Godzilla/Gigan Rex ad G84 aren't shipping until later this month and next month. So the order can be placed and paid but they don't have items to ship.

With Buyee, you're essentially buying from Japanese eBay so each sale and seller will differ. I've had stuff arrive at the warehouse within a week and stuff that was cancelled/refunded because the seller simply never shipped the item. That's the nature of the beast if you choose to shop via Buyee from my own experience.

[canofhumdingers]

Yeah I know how it works. (It’s not “Japanese eBay”, it’s a middle man service who places the order on your behalf, receives it, and then ships it to you).

I was just saying that its usually noticeably quicker when buying from the Godzilla Store than it has been this time. Which makes me suspect that the Godzilla Store received a whole bunch of orders all at once and it’s taking longer for them to process through them and ship them out.