Attention: BANDAI will stop selling kits outside Japan

Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

This is exactly what I meant when I was talking about "import ban". In the worst case the item is destroyed; and no, the customer is not able to get his / her money back from the retailer. A friend of mine mentioned a case where this happened to a 1:1 scale R2 kit that was imported from the US (worth: 5000 $). Money gone, item destroyed.
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

In Spain Customs Officers no longer do that when a individual is the person receiving merchandise. They simply haven't got enough people working. You present your invoice, no need to detail what items are (on top of that the customs office and the wharehouse is half a mile apart and carried by subcontractors).

My only concern is having the kits shipped to me. If hlj cuts the supplies I guess I'll find a way via ebay (the bad thing about that is that it would be hard to buy several kits at the same time or making preorders)
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Good possibility Revell is causing a fuss. They probably paid a lot to get access to the Fine Molds kits and may be trying to protect their investment. That said, let's hope it's this:

http://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/597?articleID=167271

Diamond Comics just got the exclusive distribution rights for Bandai in the U.S. Here is hoping it just has to do with this. Either way I'll pay double for a Bandai kit on eBay vs. a Revell branded Fine Molds kit.It will be really unfortunate if we're forced to pay aftermarket prices for the Bandai kits in the years to come. It's amazing how many great kits they've done in this short amount of time and I can't wait to see what they do in the years to come - so many amazing models yet to be seen!
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

stopeverything said:
So is it ALL SW kits or just TFA?
Click to expand...
All star wars kits cannot be ordered by HobbySearch and AmiAmi - since last Friday. HLJ has the order open at the moment, because there is no update of the website over the weekend.
amiami bandai star wars item list: http://slist.amiami.com/top/search/list?s_keywords=Bandai+star+wars&submit=Search&pagemax=40

Hobbysearch star wars item list:http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/1908/0/1
BR Torsten
 
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Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

haderach said:
Good possibility Revell is causing a fuss. They probably paid a lot to get access to the Fine Molds kits and may be trying to protect their investment. That said, let's hope it's this:

http://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/597?articleID=167271

Diamond Comics just got the exclusive distribution rights for Bandai in the U.S. Here is hoping it just has to do with this. Either way I'll pay double for a Bandai kit on eBay vs. a Revell branded Fine Molds kit.It will be really unfortunate if we're forced to pay aftermarket prices for the Bandai kits in the years to come. It's amazing how many great kits they've done in this short amount of time and I can't wait to see what they do in the years to come - so many amazing models yet to be seen!
Click to expand...


Good find!!!!! There is hope guys. While doesn't specifically list Star Wars kits it does make sense that Japanese retailers would be cut off. I'm guessing that there will be a gap in availability because Diamond Comic Distributors is a distributor and not a retailer. US retailers will have to pick up those kits and offer them, this means we could see them in local hobby stores. Only time will tell.
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Just placed a pre-order on eBay for a Bandai millenium Falcon, payed for it and let see how it unfolds.
Hope for the best.
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Haystack Hair said:
Well this is a bunch of balls isn't it?
I was really looking forward to buying some Bandai kits when I could afford them, of all the things to smuggle across continents.....I never thought it would have to be plastic model kits !
Click to expand...

Im in the UK aswell, Im the ElusiveRobertTheodore from facebook. I hope Parcel force and royal mail are just to undetstaffed to care about model kits. If this isnt a mirror for the empire i dont know. its like communism :(
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

There's the internet... I'm sure I can make do if I want to get one. I am definitely eyeballing the Falcon model.

I wonder what their reasoning is for this, though. Overseas sales means more money. Even if there's some licensing or copyright stuff involved with other companies selling here in the States, they're covered as long as they don't sell overseas directly... third parties can do whatever they want.
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

haderach said:
Good possibility Revell is causing a fuss.
Click to expand...
I used to work for a company producing airships. (Btw.: The picture of my Avatar was taken during a test when I was inside the envelope. Yes, inside the envelope, not the passenger gondola). Revell approached us because they wanted to do a model of the Zeppelin NT. I was in contact with them to provide the data and references and have checked the test runs.
Anyway, one time I talked to some Revell employees regarding Star Wars kits. I asked them how Revell Germany sees the fact that many people Import Fine Molds kits from Japan. They replied that they do not care. The number of kits Fine Molds produces is far to low to do any harm to Revell. In Addition Fine Molds customers do also buy Revell kits. They said that those imports have almost no Impact on Revell sales.
You might be right, maybe Revell was involved. From my experience with Revell Germany, I do not think that they are responsible.
Michael
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Once the kits are out, the other Asian sellers on ebay will have them and the prices will drop as supply and competition increase. I have ordered kits from HK on ebay at good prices. The nice thing is that they seem to ship from a private address so limited risk.

I really hope Revell is not behind this but I have a feeling they are.
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

sqbiedoo said:
Just placed a pre-order on eBay for a Bandai millenium Falcon, payed for it and let see how it unfolds.
Hope for the best.
Click to expand...

Also did it 3 days ago via ebay ☺

At 39mikumiku39 store

Hope for the best for you too And me ☺
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Pinousse said:
Also did it 3 days ago via ebay ☺

At 39mikumiku39 store

Hope for the best for you too And me ☺
Click to expand...

What a coincidence :D I got cold feet after reading this topic so I went for it so fingers crossed for both of us.
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Im going to be joining you in the crossed fingers. I just ordered 3 kits from 3 sellers on ebay. dont want to be stuck without any hope at all.
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Send an email to 39miku...Regarding our "scary Bandai" problem, just got an email back:

"Hi, I'm not too sure about that, but we can still send you the item.

Thank you very much,
Miku Store Japan."

I'm happy, oh yeah. :D
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Jedi2016 said:
There's the internet... I'm sure I can make do if I want to get one. I am definitely eyeballing the Falcon model.

I wonder what their reasoning is for this, though. Overseas sales means more money. Even if there's some licensing or copyright stuff involved with other companies selling here in the States, they're covered as long as they don't sell overseas directly... third parties can do whatever they want.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't surprise me if the legalese of the Revell license says, in the spirit of exclusivity, says other manufacturers, like Bandai/Fine Molds can't sell to retailers/distributors who then sell directly to the US. In fact, it would shock me if this wasn't included in the contract. And third parties (if you mean retailers like HLJ, etc.) cannot do whatever they want. This e-mail from the shop in Japan proves that. It's the individuals on ebay who can kinda do what they want. I mean professional sports leagues/teams seem helpless to stop all the bootleg jerseys, etc. from people who essentially run shops on ebay.
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

I think everyone is skipping over the fact that Diamond Comic Distributors has just been named Bandai's "preferred distributor" for the US. I'm really starting to believe that Revell has nothing to do with this and we'll be seeing kits from U.S. retailers soon.
 
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Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

Or maybe this is all Bandai's idea to scare us all and pushing sale up a bit LOL:lol
 
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

sqbiedoo said:
Send an email to 39miku...Regarding our "scary Bandai" problem, just got an email back:

"Hi, I'm not too sure about that, but we can still send you the item.

Thank you very much,
Miku Store Japan."

I'm happy, oh yeah. :D
Click to expand...

Same for me yesterday

39mikumiku39 (564Purple Star)

Hi, we can still ship the item to you.
Thank you very much,
Miku Store Japan.
 
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