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Post by faelon on Oct 29, 2016 22:24:04 GMT -5
For SOC's I have roughly 25. With another 18 related but not quite SOC's such as SPEC or other oddballs, and maybe 50 SRC's?
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Post by faelon on Oct 28, 2016 11:42:35 GMT -5
So it's officially a web shop exclusive? After releasing the two Mazingers wholesale, that's a low-blow. Hopefully, Blue Fin will pick it up. Not holding my breath, though. I see they did distribute Mazinger Z, but I don't see Great Mazinger on their website. You must be new to Bandai. This is perfectly normal for them. Just ask the SH Figuarts collectors.
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Post by faelon on Oct 28, 2016 11:39:10 GMT -5
It looks nice, but really needed something extra like the Double Spazer to make it compelling.
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Post by faelon on Oct 28, 2016 10:55:13 GMT -5
I wonder if the DX display base/case for this will be the 5 hanger base from the anime?
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Post by faelon on Oct 25, 2016 6:41:43 GMT -5
Another sketch of this God Mazinger, from the cancelled movie : Go Nagai's Dai Mazinger sketches : They say it's a " fictive version of Mazinger". Fictive, or maybe fictional or fictitious. Not sure what they mean by that. The whole paragraph is strangely phrased. Maybe they meant that it was just a few sketches; a project that never even made it to pre-production. In other words, it never really "existed". Anyway, besides the obvious "Mazinger" characteristics, Nagai's take differs quite a bit from Obari's design. It does have an "early Mazinkaiser design" look. "Fictive" in context might be better translated as "speculative" or as we clearly know "unused concept"
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Post by faelon on Oct 25, 2016 6:35:56 GMT -5
BBTS as a local North American dealer will typically get product a little after Japanese merchants. How much later will depend heavily on what channel it is going through to get here. If it is going through an official North American release via Bluefin, then it is almost always 30 days after Japanese release. And the pricing will be the same as Japan. If BBTS is having to import it directly through a third party source, such as with Japanese Exclusives, it may arrive faster but the price will be substantially higher. I think BBTS might be going through bluefin as their product description shows that it will be coming with the Voltron branded sleeve that's exclusive to western markets. But then their estimated availability shows December (same as Japanese release). Amazon.com, where I ordered from, currently shows January 31st availability which is in line if it was coming from bluefin. I'm hoping the BBTS date is correct so I don't have to wait too long. It also just makes sense that they'd have the product available in time for the holidays. That is one thing I would definitely want under the X-mas tree. This is really the first time Bandai is directly and deliberately targeting one of these not just at Japan/Asia but also straight at the North American market (Voltron vs GoLion). So they may actually be planning a simultaneous release in both regions. Also watch GX-72 and the two Toy Story combiners as they may be a sign of how Bandai is viewing North American release and distribution these days.
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Post by faelon on Oct 25, 2016 6:29:07 GMT -5
Hey philo. I want to Limit what photos program has an access to. But for instance, Picaso by Google took over my entire photo library including all the video and all the docs.... I didnt like that at all. Although RJ site liked Picaso by uploading oics without any problem, i immediately uninstall it. Although Google and Amazon seem to do what i want, RJ doesnt like them. lol I tried everything, but couldnt attatched the photo...it would just show up as t tiny line drawn square the size of type size or just as a link to the site.... i forget if the Flikr or Photo Bucket was very controlling or not.. Flickr works well for that sort of thing.even if you accidentally set your phone or PC to auto uploads pics it does so to a private area until you make things public. I've never cared for ohotobucket. To spammy and ad heavy.
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Post by faelon on Oct 20, 2016 10:09:52 GMT -5
here is what i know from reading around and from what people told me, the production of the new KOB was finished long ago, however the license approval is what delaying the release, also they want them to release it along side the SOC, but BU want to release it earlier than that they changed to Icarus toys due to some internal dispute between the owners recently at the end bootleg or not, i honestly dont care, if the figure truly deliver then it will always winner in my book Youˊre right.As true robot fans,they donˊt care about whether it is authorized or unauthorized.They are just concerned about the product itself , including design ,transformation, articulation, material, solidity, color and so on. Everyone who play transformers are glad to see the competiton between Takara and the third party. And they donˊt have any interest in detecting transportation route or a piece of certificate. If anyone donˊt like this robot, move along please. So remind me, who are these "True Robot Fans"? Are they Madtoys, who originally designed the thing? Clearly a labor of love. Are they BU who may or may not have made some attempts to go legit with a bootleg. Likely not grasping some of the complexities involved and the shear scale of the cliff they would have to climb. How about Icarus, which would appear to have sucked up the stock and tooling at firesale pricing to distribute however they can as bootlegs for maximum profit and minimum effort. International IP Law be damned. Are they the "true robot fans"? You say they don't care about the laws, or authorization, they are just concerned about the product itself. But let me tell you, from much experience in similar industries, when the designs and tooling pass through this many hands, those for whom it was a labor of love are now long out of the picture. Whoever holds it now is just concerned with maximizing return on the tooling. Not on color quality, assembly quality etc. you don't buy bootleg tooling if those sorts of things are a concern.
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Post by faelon on Oct 20, 2016 0:35:34 GMT -5
In other words... yeah it's a Bootleg. It's still a bootleg. It will always be a bootleg. There is and never will be "Licensor Approval" And the purchase chain will always be a scary pattern of internet dealings with fly by night overseas merchants. No this is not "serious completion for SOC" by any stretch of the imagination. What this change to Icarus and "V 3" means is they have funding and distribution issues.
It doesn't matter how hard anyone claims this is a "better figure than SOC". The business side issues are such that it will at best be a crap shoot for anyone trying to get one. The change in company/distribution and version number also raises the specter of likely QC issues, just on the basis that a business situation such as we are seeing, where the product passes through so many hands and such almost always abandons solid QC review and reworking pretty early in the cycle.
As much as the V 1 is a nice figure, if you ever managed to get one, I don't see anything here to inspire confidence in the delivery or quality of any later variants.
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Post by faelon on Oct 20, 2016 0:21:32 GMT -5
Hey I have a none yellow question. Does BBTS get their stock at the same time as retailers in Japan? Or do they get it a little later? BBTS as a local North American dealer will typically get product a little after Japanese merchants. How much later will depend heavily on what channel it is going through to get here. If it is going through an official North American release via Bluefin, then it is almost always 30 days after Japanese release. And the pricing will be the same as Japan. If BBTS is having to import it directly through a third party source, such as with Japanese Exclusives, it may arrive faster but the price will be substantially higher.
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Post by faelon on Oct 20, 2016 0:14:24 GMT -5
Godsigma, Godmars, Daimos, Grendizer, Raideen, Ideon, Getter Robo, Tetsujin the classic and the 80's ver. etc.... but you know what? I'm happy for what I have so far. All what I can do is keep hunting one at a time.. That's because I only got into collecting SoC not 2 years ago. Very expensive hobby, and every year it's getting even worse lol. Of those the only one which I fear we are unlikely to see a straight up re-issue of at some point is Ideon. That one would need a few engineering tweaks to really meet modern standards. The big one being the metal to plastic pin joining in the shoulders which will eventually crack from stress. It could also use a few tweaks around the hips and the telescoping thighs to make it more stable.
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Post by faelon on Oct 18, 2016 9:16:22 GMT -5
If the parts appear physically "yellowed" to the naked eye than it means they are likely hand painted prototypes, and not vacumetalized Chrome. Most true metallic paints such as Alclad II or Testors will have some yellow toning. Actual Vacumetalized Chrome will never have that. (Or if it does it will not be subtle. Straight gold or bright colors.) For actual Chrome to show up as that "yellowish" tone it is either an effect of lighting and reflections, or photo manipulation of the brightness levels. I.e. photoshop.
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Post by faelon on Oct 15, 2016 21:55:14 GMT -5
i guess this is a very late prototype the face proportions looks way better than earlier figure the only thing that's bothering is the chrome on the lions legs its getting yellowish The yellowing on the Chrome is likely caused by photoshop tinkering. Trying to adjust exposure levels from the bright white underlighting. I think we all know that they aren't going to do gold Chrome. And silver Chrome is silver Chrome. It doesn't really do subtle shades.
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Post by faelon on Oct 13, 2016 15:41:38 GMT -5
First picture of combined mode. Looks decent, but maybe there's some things mistranformed on this guy. The arms look way too long and big. The one good thing this guy does is generally concealing all of the lion legs. I tried uploading the picture, but RJ is being funky. They managed to conceal the Lion legs in Robot at the expense of them looking rather horrible, especially the rear ones, in Lion form. The ass end of the Lions look crude and almost disassembled. Kind of like a dollar store knock off Transformer.
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Post by faelon on Oct 13, 2016 15:28:43 GMT -5
So I was talking to the guy I ordered the preordered the KOB from and I asking why it was taking so long. He told me that BU/Mad Toys had finished production of both versions and was ready to release but had to wait for the license approval which was being held up because Bandai has applied pressure for them to release in December. BU of course doesn't want to do that because they will lose a ton of money releasing then head to head with Bandai using the same toy. He said that they will try to release sooner on behalf of Mad Toys and that he has actually seen the stock ready to go. Which begs the question, do they have an actual license and are waiting on final licensor sign off on the physical product? (Most licensors have a product approval and veto clause.) Or (and I suspect this is more likely) are they still waiting to have their application for a license contract approved by WEP or Toei? Something still remains weird there. It doesn't matter how good the robot or the product is, it's going to be an insanely expensive license for MT/BU for the simple reason that the IP owner/licensor will by default insist on being paid for any and all prior "bootleg" product on top of anything going forward. And neither Toei nor WEP has any reason to be generous here. It's not like this is a fallow property. They have a new show being released. They have big money players Bandai and Playmates making toys. In 2016 this is a very high value property. The licensor certainly will not piss off or in any way reduce the profit or return from the big money players Bandai, Playmates, Dreamworks, by letting this oddball sneak out ahead of any firm street date. And the December Street date is likely not Bandai. It is Dreamworks/WEP. Seeking to maximize marketing and synergy with the marketing for the second season of the new TV show. At least that's how it normally works.
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Post by faelon on Oct 10, 2016 13:42:23 GMT -5
I actually kind of like the idea of an annual "year of the..." Mazinger. If you have the patience to wait it will probably make for a kick ass display if you manage to get a full Zodiac.(assuming Bandai's doesn't wander off in another direction or reboot halfway through at another scale.) Each individually = oh gods another pointless Maz recolor! But as a whole after all the years it will probably be really impressive. Too bad I just don't have the yearly interest to get it that far.
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Post by faelon on Oct 7, 2016 11:12:12 GMT -5
They even have a Robeast!!! The ball shooter dude. Here's hoping it is in scale with the big V.
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Post by faelon on Oct 7, 2016 11:04:52 GMT -5
Oh dear, are we back to obsessive compulsive complaining about the legs not disappearing again? It was an aesthetic choice. The original Chogokin remains Popy/Bandai's single best seller. In many minds that is the authoritative look. The legs disappear in the show through anime magic to reduce animation costs. But the SOC is seeking to be the best, most perfect version of the toy you loved to destruction. So chromed Lion Legs, visible.
I'm not sure covers would be a great option either, as they would require either removing the load bearing lion legs, or the panels would need to fully cover them, thus changing the shape of the arms and legs. It would also take a lot of accessory budget to do. Granted that might be your kink, but personally I prefer to see the accessory budget spent on the more advanced lion weapons that we have rarely ever gotten before.
Of course I also predict that this guy and Daizyujin will likely be fighting to be Bandai's all time best selling SOC's. With likely multiple production runs each. There might be a niche there for an enterprising 3p provider to branch out from Transformers and make a set of add on parts.
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Post by faelon on Oct 7, 2016 10:39:53 GMT -5
I kind of liked the Monkey one. Not enough to pay for it, but the colors and design were sharp. This bare metal and grafiti funky chicken just doesn't do it for me. Better than Hello Kitty, but not on the must have list.
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Post by faelon on Oct 7, 2016 10:20:09 GMT -5
tamashii.jp/special/daizyujin/en/index.htmlA detailed page, which includes where all the diecast/articulation is located on each Zord, as well as some engineering documentation. A fun read, and it confirms that there is a waist joint. Am I alone in thinking that Daizyujin is likely in the running for best, most complex designed SOC we have yet seen? Granted we won't know for certain until we get it in hand. But damn, everything we have thus far seen looks extremely impressive. This guy looks like he will be a Masterpiece.
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