Bandai release schedule

Just a reminder - Bandai is a company based in Japan, primarily focused on the Japanese market. Living space in Japan is tight, so it's in Bandai's best interests to produce smaller kits for their target consumer base. My guess is that the smaller 1/144 scale kits sell better than 1/72 and 1/48 scale kits in Japan for this reason, but I have no evidence to support that.

Think of it this way--Zvezda's Star Destroyer kit, at nearly 2' long, is impressive, but a Japanese modeler can put 10 Bandai kits in that same amount of shelf space.
They seem to mostly choose the scale of the ships to keep the footprint of the model fairly consistent. Larger ships get a smaller scale. Smaller ships get a larger scale. Most fighters are 1/72 except the snowspeeder because it is a smaller ship.

Unfortunately that probably means an AT-AT will be a smaller scale than 1/48 so it will be out of scale with the snowspeeder and AT-ST.

Even most of the large figures probably don't take up more shelf space than the 1/72 ships, but they are much taller.

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Let speculation on this one begin too...

Either Kylo or Krennic's shuttle perhaps?

There aren't that many I can think of that would make sense right now other than smaller versions of the 1:72 fighters.

How about the dual classic TIE fighter set?
 
Let speculation on this one begin too...

Either Kylo or Krennic's shuttle perhaps?

There aren't that many I can think of that would make sense right now other than smaller versions of the 1:72 fighters.

By my calculations, 1/144 would be a reasonable size for an AT-AT or an Imperial Shuttle.
 
Hi I've been lurking these boards and a few others for over a year, always forgetting to register. I'm affiliated with Bluefin, the company that Bandai uses to distribute the Star Wars products to U.S. retailers. I am not from Bandai Japan itself, but I am in constant communication and reporting with their departments on a daily basis. I am a model enthusiast though my subject material is often not dedicated to firm accuracy, but instead what new creative interpretations that could be inserted into that source material. More or less I'm a big airplane and sci-fi fan.


I just wanted to update on the following U.S. schedule that Disney/Lucas has authorized Bandai Japan to put into the U.S. thus far. These will be available at u.s. local hobby shops as well as online stores.

Dec 2016
1/72 & 1/144 Red Squadron X-wing Starfighter Special Set

Jan 2017
1/72 A-Wing
1/72 Poe's X-Wing
1/72 TIE Interceptor
1/72 TIE Striker

Feb 2017
1/144 U-Wing & Tie Striker
1/72 X-wing
1/72 TIE Fighter
1/72 TIE Advanced X1
1/48 Snowspeeder

Mar 2017
1/144 NEW item that will be up for pre-order in about a week
1/144 Millennium Falcon (The Force Awakens version)
1/48 AT-ST
1/72 Y-Wing

Will update this again after more information is confirmed. The reason it only goes to March is because that's when the fiscal year ends for Japanese companies. I can assure you there is a large item coming out in the summer months though. Hopefully Star Wars Celebration will allow us to bring the prototype of it to the U.S.
Nice to hear from someone with official information.

I haven't seen the Bandai kits locally yet. Do you know what the MSRP is for some of these?

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It could be the BB-8 unless that is considered to be a figure.

I would like a good ANH Death Star model.

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I'd love to see a bigger R2 with a one-piece dome. It would also be interesting if they started doing 1/144 dioramas. Yavin base or the Hoth trenches would be amazing.
 
A large Star Destroyer would make sense. It ties into Rogue One and the OT so should have current and long term sales interest.

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I'm curious what our forumites would prefer if we were to have a poll.
Large falcon or large Star destroyer?

(And which version of each?)

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Hi I've been lurking these boards and a few others for over a year, always forgetting to register. I'm affiliated with Bluefin, the company that Bandai uses to distribute the Star Wars products to U.S. retailers...

Thanks for posting that info and the schedule!

I remember part of the blurb mentioning stuff would be in Barnes and Noble, I've been periodically checking in the local store but haven't seen any of the kits yet. Not sure about local hobby shops since the "nearest" one is about a 50 minute drive from my house

Any plans on places like Michael's, AC Moore, Toys R Us, Hobby Lobby, Wal Mart, Target etc... to carry those kits? (we've got a plethora of those which I guess is why smaller mom and pop shops and places ilke Hobby Town USA are so scarce in my area) To some extent, they have all carried some of the Revell kits except AC Moore which doesn't have the Star Wars line, just military and car models
 
I'm curious what our forumites would prefer if we were to have a poll.
Large falcon or large Star destroyer?

(And which version of each?)

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

I'd go with large Star Destroyer since I spent years, money, and agony modifying the 1/72 FM Falcon. And Bandai's tease of their large SD is just amazeballs. That being said, if Bandai offered a 1/72 version of the ANH 5-Footer, all bets are off.

- - - Updated - - -

It could be the BB-8 unless that is considered to be a figure.

I would like a good ANH Death Star model.

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You could transform BB-8 lower ball into a Death Star. Just some paint and a super laser dish and Blammo -- Death Star. :p
 
I'm really excited for new items in the 1/144th line. While I don't have a Japan sized space, I do have very limited space for display and I prefer to have everything in the same scale as much as possible - 1/144th makes an entire fleet a possibility for me, while I'll probably only build a handful of 1/72nd ships in actuality.


That said, I would totally jump on a 1/72 Bandai Falcon, due to the amount of detail and "extras" (like comprehensive lighting) you can easily pack into that size. But I'd wager that a Star Destroyer is more likely given the tease in their manufacturing video.
 
By my calculations, 1/144 would be a reasonable size for an AT-AT or an Imperial Shuttle.

Yep & the Shuttle would also tie in as a Rogue One craft also

Sounds promising

J

I was thrilled when the Imperial Shuttle appeared in R1, even though the low-power engines looked a little strange. If Bandai does announce a 1/144 shuttle for March, I'll be over the moon. However, that Hoth image posted earlier does dampen my optimism a little. As cool as a 1/144 AT-AT would be, I want a shuttle more.
 

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