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Post by xiombarg on Jun 23, 2009 12:09:12 GMT -5
I voted Konami on this because they always try to put out product that excedes expectations. Bandai is an obvious choice, but they have the resources to pump into everything they do, so I don't see them trying as hard as what we see from companies like Konami, Kotobukiya, or Fewture.
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Post by Ben-Ohki on Jun 23, 2009 12:54:42 GMT -5
Say what you will for Bandai throwing out tonnes of crap for the mass-market, but there is no arguing that they launched the whole vintage-robot revival movement thanks to a simple idea like Soul of Chogokin (and all the other Soul of series they have produced as well). If they hadn't taken that risk, then all the other gokin-makers would never have jumped on. They took a chance producing a toy aimed at the adult collectors.
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Post by quinjester on Jun 23, 2009 13:31:31 GMT -5
Considering that SHE is maybe three or four people building the transforming robots that they love and want to see made, as opposed to a sizeable company with development and sculpting teams at their disposal, I think you might be hard pressed to find a company that works harder.
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Post by xiombarg on Jun 23, 2009 13:49:45 GMT -5
That's probably true with SHE. If nothing else, the integrity of SHE's designers to accomplish perfect transformations is awesome.
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Post by tanrover on Jun 24, 2009 3:11:25 GMT -5
I was just thinking about SHE. For me- the one I consider that tries the hardest is the one who puts in the most gimmicks on the toy.
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Post by adiru on Jun 24, 2009 3:20:46 GMT -5
what did Konami do other than their GL that seem pretty much like the max gokin toy line ? to me max factory is the best company out there not only in their gokins but nearly all of their toy-lines are pretty much the best in their categories
on a side note you forget to mention AOSHIMA i know they are likely the last company that can win this but when you are talking about companies that makes robots and mentioned all of those companies you need to mention AOSHIMA too
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Post by gokinrob on Jun 24, 2009 7:15:10 GMT -5
Bandai easily (IMO) tries the hardest - look at the volume they crank out monthly. Also, the engineering is getting better. The recent GX-45 and the upcoming GX-46 and Big-O from the SOC line display that. In terms of visual artistry, I like Fewture. But Bandai is overall tops when it comes to trying the hardest.
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Post by mechamasterj on Jun 24, 2009 8:23:10 GMT -5
I gauge "hardest working" by a company that delivers the complete package, detail, QC, poseability, the works. With this in mind I had to go with Max factory. Honestly everything they pump out just screams quality. You know if MF is going to take on a product that it is just going to rock, sure its more expensive, but you get what you pay for IMO. Heck how many of you saw the MF Big O and the SOC Big O? and how many of you liked the MF Big O??
Yeah if your talking about volume, bandai takes the cake, but honestly thier level of detail is all over the place, 5 lines of gundams each excels in one aspect but they cant seem to incorporate all those into one line. This plus the fact that thier red headed step child that is banpresto, can produce some figures that blow most of thier figures out of the water at a fraction of the price. Heck I would of went for banpresto but it wasnt on the list.
SHE is great making some super complex tranforiming toys, but they arent all the most beautiful of things, full of screw holes, and the fact that most of thier products you have to build yourself. Sure they are marvelous technical achievements, and i know it takes a lot of time and skill to come up with these designs, but its just not the total package for me.
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Post by MechaShiva on Jun 24, 2009 19:28:14 GMT -5
If you're talking pure engineering with available resources, then it's S.H.E. hands down. Although I wish they'd try a little bit harder at getting more employees and trying to expand into injection plastic and diecast to be more affordable. They need to work harder at being better businessmen.
Bandai DID work the hardest at some point and although they've leveled off because of their market share you'd never know it because they're so huge. They're probably not the hardest working but it doesn't matter because they're the biggest.
In terms of relentless advertising and 24/7 HYPE I'd say it's Yamato, with CMS a close second. Those two companies will not shut the hell up about their overpriced goods. It's a good thing there's lots of clearance sales these days otherwise you wouldn't be able to get their stuff (which is otherwise very good) at a sane price.
And Max Factory? They try the robot thing like what........once every three years?! Max Watanabe's been a dirty old man for the last few years. Nothing wrong with that per se ( I like anime girls, too ) but his robot design team had so much finesse and it's a shame for it to go to waste. Or to Konami if the rumors are true.
Anyway, yeah.......S.H.E's two employees work their asses off. ;D
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Post by droutmaster on Jun 24, 2009 22:06:59 GMT -5
hmm i really cant say, most of those companies has there pros and cons, they are all trying there best to make a great figure as close as possible to the anime shows. But some figures is a bit hard to do for certain things ( example, the transformation of the figure must not interferer with the figure's articulation and same time it must almost look exactly as the real deal as possible without damaging the figure itself). I think they are all trying there best, just there doing it in a different approach.
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Post by TheMazingerZ on Jun 24, 2009 22:17:25 GMT -5
Where is AOSHIMA? AOSHIMA gave us Shin Getter, Neo Getter, Mazinkaiser, the obscure Black Getter, and the New Getter. Why is it not listed right under Bandai???
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Post by calibre on Jun 24, 2009 22:37:59 GMT -5
that's got to be Bandai. If it weren't for Bandai, there would be no OVA mazinger, Energer Z, perfect transformation Daimos. The GX line is the best super robot toy line. Hands down.
SHE tries hard, but their products are just not affordable, so I cannot endorse them too much.
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Post by mojacko on Jun 24, 2009 23:36:28 GMT -5
BANDAI wins for me.....theyve got the most number of super robo line up.....they are now trying to improve theyre super robo line up w/ the new Mazinger ......plus the new Macross Frontier is realy a great improvement.....2nd place goes to Takkara & FUTURE for its masterpiece line up and Yamato for the valks/PVC robot...die cast stingy!!! revoltech goes for the 4th place....the very cheap alternative for the expensive robo collection!!!
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Post by adiru on Jun 25, 2009 2:31:27 GMT -5
the original poster said which company tries hardest to make "great robots" ?, i dont see BANDAI as trying the hardest to make the greatest toy robots but more like trying the hardest to get the most $$$. I still stand by my post that max factory is the company that tries the hardest in every category they go into and end up making the best products out there...Bandai is a much much bigger company it is common sense for them to make alot more stuff but thats the thing , if the OP meant trying hardest as of working the most then ya Bandai is making the most releases, but if he meant quality work max factory exceeds not only in gokin robots but in every other format
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Post by mechamasterj on Jun 25, 2009 15:14:29 GMT -5
Agreed! I think people are confused by this thread since it appears different users will interpert it different ways. Who makes the most? bandai. who puts in the most work technologically and design speaking? SHE. Who makes the most awesomest figures and mecha? MF....... IMO....
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Post by Kidchuckle on Jun 25, 2009 22:21:05 GMT -5
what no love for kaiyodo?? you have to admit. their revoltech has probably pleased the most fans of whatever genre. Old school, new school.... robots, to regular people figs. Best articulation. Great playability. and all pretty good for such a small fig.
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Post by mechamasterj on Jun 26, 2009 8:01:26 GMT -5
Wow cant believe Bandai is in the lead!! only company I know that has 10 different lines based on the same line (gundam) and the most recolors for any one model in history!! (any one know how many different RX-78s there are seesh!)
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Post by Chen on Jun 26, 2009 9:11:07 GMT -5
Well I voted for Bandai because no matter how big it is it still comes down to humans using their brains to create toys. true they do have many lines based on the same brand but they wouldn't make them if people didn't want them. Granted there are multiple versions Mazinger Z and RX-78 Gundams but they ARE two of the most iconic Japanese robots ever along with Macross VF-1's, how many toys are there of Superman, Batman, or Wolverine? But when it come to giving fans the most I still think Bandai is the best, even if you just use the SOC line as a example they give you so many little extras that no other company gives you such as little figures, bases, or weapons that maybe only showed up in one episode. Even their instructions are full color, glossy, and have great pictures. There's a reason Bandai is the largest, it's from hard work and making great products that people want.
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Post by mechamasterj on Jun 26, 2009 14:07:44 GMT -5
yeah but you see they can do that because of their size. its not that the smaller companies dont dare try they just may not be able to afford to or........ have the license to do them, bandai practically owns gundam so you wont see any other company making a legit gundam figure outside of grage kits. And many of those blow bandai's designs out of the water.
And of course, why the heck wouldnt a company go after the most popular shows to make figures out of? Why do you think there are so many evangellion toys out there, cuz that line sells in japan.
honestly bandai doesnt try very hard, especially when their sister company banpresto is capable of making cheaper and far better gundams then they have ever produced. Think im kiding? go look up SCM EX RX-78 -2 (in fact it is being rereleased in july) and compare it to any of bandai's toys!! the only one that comes close is the sHCM pro but it costs quadruple the price!
Dont get me wrong, I love bandai for the very reasons you listed, but they are in it for the money not the love. Other companies do a far better job with higher QC and better detail that makes sense for thier high prices.
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Post by Chen on Jun 26, 2009 17:18:07 GMT -5
Well to think only Bandai is in it for the money is ridiculous, all toy companies are in it for the money. But if you try and compare Bandai's position to say SHE then that's totally wrong. First off Bandai for better or worse is set or limited in what it can make and what the buyers expect, their main priority is to sell to the largest group of buyers it can while a smaller company like SHE can create incredible engineered works of marvel that can sell for $600 and not "poach" on Bandai's market. Could Bandai do the same thing, of course, but what SHE sells in one year is probably what Bandai sells in one week and Bandai as a company can't survive on making limited items with extensive R&D invested in it.
As for Gundam, yeah Bandai pretty much has that locked up but you can't compare a garage kit to a mass produced model. For one thing the garage kit didn't have to go through extensive safety testing nor does it have to sell say 50,000 units a year so they can make it intricate and detailed and sell at a higher cost since they will sell much fewer numbers. As for Banpresto and Bandai, well all toys from Banpresto were designed by or partially helped by Bandai and is infact is a video game company and the two were joined since 89' and currently Banpresto is absorbed into Namco Bandai and is only focusing on that toy gaming machines, they don't even make video games anymore. Plus there are other properties that Bandai doesn't have a strangle hold on, Macross, Mazinger, Getter Robo, Transformers, Evangelion, Gurren Lagann ect.
Look Bandai is far from perfect, but it is the largest so other companies have to find different ways to compete but in a not direct manner or find niche markets. Does that mean that a smaller company can make a high quality item that can surpass a SOC, sure, but it will never have the sales of a SOC and for comparative costs it will be more expensive since the cost per unit will be higher. How much do you think a SOC Gunbuster would cost if it came from CM's or Yamato?
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