stopeverything
Well-Known Member
Ditto.
Attention: BANDAI will stop selling kits outside Japan
- Thread starter spinner 44
- Start date
Reelo
Sr Member
Statement Revell and Bandai
We are massively confronted with the accusation that Revell invited Disney as licensor of the Star Wars license to prohibit Bandai selling Star Wars licensed products outside of Japan. This claim is plain wrong because we haven’t and won’t at no time take influence to the business matters of other manufacturers!
The truth is rather that each licensee, whether Revell or Bandai, is only be entitled to sell its licensed products under its own license contract and the countries agreed upon. These license contracts are concluded solely between the licensor Disney and the various licensees. We as Revell GmbH therefore aren’t allowed to sell our Star Wars products in Japan. On the other hand it is not possible for Bandai to sell its Star Wars products in the US and Europe, if these regions are not part of the contract.
Apart from that, we are convinced that a license like Star Wars lives from the wide variety of products and thus inspires young and old. Therefore we see the model kits of the company Bandai not as competition but as a supplement on the market for Star Wars model kits.
So Revell is not allowed to sell SW kits in Japan. Who should I believe, you or my lying eyes?:
http://hlj.com/product/REV06675/Sci
It seems, some animals are more equal than others.
Updated with Japanese site link (hat tip to sqbiedoo):
http://hlj.co.jp/product/REV06675/Sci
http://hlj.com/product/REV06675/Sci
It seems, some animals are more equal than others.
Updated with Japanese site link (hat tip to sqbiedoo):
http://hlj.co.jp/product/REV06675/Sci
Last edited:
dbarnblatt
New Member
I prefer “horse hockey” to describe my comments… what I’m saying is that, instigated by Revell or not, Disney not only has an interest but is itself put at risk by Bandai’s actions. Disney watches closely who sells what where, because they have so many deals in place.
Disney would have put the hammer down either way.
Do you think Bandai would have backed out if they didn't do anything wrong... I doubt it. So there is no "supposed breach of contract." They breached it. They are now playing by the rules they signed up for.
Last edited by a moderator:
Hunk a Junk
Sr Member
Damage control and PR excuses. I don't buy it (literally). The timing is a smoking gun. For a year and a half Bandai kits were available without anyone saying boo. Then Force Friday arrives and Revell reveals their kits to the world. The modeling community sees their offerings and gives a collective sigh of disappointment. Then Bandai announces THEIR line up and the same modeling community celebrates. It's clear to anyone with a brain that the Bandai kits are better and cheaper -- and almost all of us expressed anticipation of buying the Bandai kits. Then, apparently by divine intervention, if Revell is to be believed, an embargo is ordered on Bandai kits. If Revell truly doesn't consider Bandai kits competition, then this wouldn't be happening. Period. Disney likes to make money and they wouldn't jump in to enforce a license agreement unless one of the parties was crying foul. That's just how the world works.
sqbiedoo
Well-Known Member
Bandai cannot fight and win. They signed a contract and misunderstood the overarching terms. That contract is being enforced. Simple as that
To say that there was no news about this for a year and a half isn't true.
When the 1/48 X-Wing came out, some suppliers (see starship modeler) were already making comments that their distributors were being told that the bandai kits weren't to be imported anymore.
So this has been slowly happening for months now. It's just with the sudden mass release of product with TFA that the pin has dropped and everything has been banned.
Personally I managed to secure my T-70 kits and a 1/144 Falcon for a friend through sources I have.. I had to pay a small commission fee but it was worth it.
When the 1/48 X-Wing came out, some suppliers (see starship modeler) were already making comments that their distributors were being told that the bandai kits weren't to be imported anymore.
So this has been slowly happening for months now. It's just with the sudden mass release of product with TFA that the pin has dropped and everything has been banned.
Personally I managed to secure my T-70 kits and a 1/144 Falcon for a friend through sources I have.. I had to pay a small commission fee but it was worth it.
You certainly don't know that, any more than I know the opposite. Is Bandai responsible for who retailers in Japan sell their items to? Most likely not. However, Disney has the muscle power to get what they want, whether they are right or not. Bandai probably just determined it wasn't worth fighting for.
I think that sums things up decently. People's frustration is getting the better of them and lots of wild accusations being thrown around as fact
Obviously I'd prefer it if Revell issued the quality kits that Bandai did, but they don't. Who wouldn't
However I am looking forward to the level 2 kit simply because it is /150 which is close enough to 1/48 so I can show it with my other 1/48 stuff. Bandai has a 1/72 version.
Both kits fill a needed void for me in scales.
Frankly product-wise, both companies product could easily co-exist in the same market due to the target audiences being different
I just hope Revell is not our only hope in the future. The ideal for me would be to have Revell repackage and distribute the Bandai kits like with the Fine Molds kits and Moebius Galactica kits for their more discerning modelers
Hunk a Junk
Sr Member
Bandai has nothing to do with this. They just make the kits. It's the third party distributors like HobbyLink Japan who are being told to stop. And for a year and a half no one bothered to stop them or care until the moment Revell put their kits up for sale. Yes, the licensing deals that everyone signed are simply being enforced. Revell paid for the exclusive right to sell its kits in the U.S. It's business. Fair enough. But it's frustrating nonetheless that we consumers can see with our own eyes that Revell's offerings are lacking in quality and value compared to Bandai's. And instead of competing in terms of quality and price, competition is nullified by pieces of paper.
Honestly, I don't blame Revell as much as I blame Disney. They should be interested in offering quality products to its consumers. Hopefully, someone somewhere is taking notes and telling Revell, "Our customers are demanding better products than this. If you want to keep your license, throw some Bandai kits in front of your creative team and tell them, 'We're getting out butts kicked and we need to do BETTER!'"
That's not true, back as early as late April / early May John mentioned in the Starship Modeler threads that "They may be the last ones I can get .... apparently, Bandai is being forced to take "steps" to ensure "Japan-only" licensed goods stay in Japan."
Things seemed to cool down for a while as places like HLJ etc... said they wouldn't be effected since they were Japanese based but obviously this has bubbled up again to the point where we are today. This has been brewing for some time.
That would be awesome. Hopefully Revell does take note from all this. After all they seem to have started to take some steps in this direction with aquiring the Fine Molds stuff.
It's both funny and sad though. Think how praised Fine Molds was two years ago. They were the pinnacle of commerical Star Wars kits. How times change
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't want to get embroiled in this exciting conversation too much, but I think it's worth mentioning that Revell is likely making a sound business decision by making toy like models, however much I may dislike it. Flip through an issue of Fine Scale Modeler, what do you see? 99% military models, with the very occasional sci-fi kit thrown in. Look through an issue of Hobby Japan. What do you see? Glossy beautiful sci-fi stuff, lots of it, every month. Check out your LHS if you happen to have one. What do you see? Cars, planes, tanks, and like 5 sci-fi kits. This is what the large percentage of the US market wants. We are small but noisy. I think we're better off blaming video games and the Internet frankly.
Pinousse
Sr Member
Finger crossed again for ours Falcon?
sqbiedoo
Well-Known Member
You again LoL:lol
Pinousse
Sr Member
Of course
Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan
Is this possibility on the table still? As far as possibilities go this one seems to make the most sense to me.
Is this possibility on the table still? As far as possibilities go this one seems to make the most sense to me.
Similar threads
