Attention: BANDAI will stop selling kits outside Japan

Re: Attention: BANDAI may stop selling kits outside Japan

JLKahn said:
Is this possibility on the table still? As far as possibilities go this one seems to make the most sense to me.
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I forget who or where, but it was later posted that someone had looked into it and got confirmation that they will not be carrying any of the star wars line
 
Now we have a statement from Revell on FB:

"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."


Source: www.facebook.com/Revell/posts/1016212158424219
 
Peter H said:
Now we have a statement from Revell on FB:

"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."


Source: www.facebook.com/Revell/posts/1016212158424219
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As a modelling community, we should all leave a comment, and hopefully Disney will adjust their contracts and licensing agreements and Revell may produce a proper Star Wars kit to the standard scales and quality.
 
Well, if Revell was behind pointing out this legal technicality it doesn't seem to have had the positive effect they had hoped. Which was we'd all shrug and buy their crappy products instead. In the best of possible worlds this really is a contractual misunderstanding, Hasbro or Revell or both pointed it out to Disney who was probably rather indifferent until someone threatened to sue, and when it comes time for Bandai to renew their license they are smarter about the exact wordings of the terms,
 
blakeh1 said:
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.
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Fair enough, but clearly last week a trigger was pulled somewhere. That it happened at the exact same time both Revell and Bandai announced their TFA line-up can't be a coincidence. Again, follow the money. Things may have been bubbling all along, but Bandai's OT kits weren't really competing with Revell's OT kits because Revell's were already several years old. When Bandai offered direct competition in the form of TFA kits, however, well that's a different story. Just based on the reaction here and in other forums it was obvious that Bandai would be getting money that otherwise would be going to Revell -- and we can't have that. So bubble became boil in an instant.

But as others have said, this is more about Disney. They're the ones who made these exclusive territory deals. Consumers aren't idiots. We all know damn well that regardless of where a company has its headquarters the products are still being made in China and then shipped to their destination. We can see instantly what some countries are getting and others not. It's an outdated business model that really should end.
 
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Hunk a Junk said:
But as others have said, this is more about Disney. They're the ones who made these exclusive territory deals. Consumers aren't idiots. We all know damn well that regardless of where a company has its headquarters the products are still being made in China and then shipped to their destination. We can see instantly what some countries are getting and others not. It's an outdated business model that really should end.
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Very true. That said, instead of sending hate mail to Revell, do what I did and send a complaint to Disney's corporate office. In the end they will be the one's who decides where products will be available.
 
"As a modelling community, we should all leave a comment, and hopefully Disney will adjust their contracts and licensing agreements and Revell may produce a proper Star Wars kit to the standard scales and quality."

Careful what you say. Revell USA Facebook blocked me for commenting harshly on their lame Star Wars offerings. That actually made me feel really good and is indicative of Revell USA's attitude toward their customers. They are definitely butt hurt. But rather than buying some Preparation H and tooling better offerings, I suspect they will continue as they are. We'll see I guess.

I think that is important to note (perhaps speculate) that Bandai did NOT breach contract. They did not sell a single kit outside of Japan. I thoroughly believe that they are being strong-armed by Disney to NOW limit their IN JAPAN sales by forcing them to come down on online distribution companies with the threat of blackballing them. The crap rolls downhill. I would suspect that Bandai is feeling pretty dirty right now. Disney perhaps underestimated how popular Bandai kits would be compared to Revell garbage and the online market and are now having to muscle Bandai with various legal threats regarding their current or future licensing. And I further speculate that this is actually a pretty big chunk of bandai's market. Japan is a small country and I think that their market just got axed severely and that this will definitely have an affect on what kits they produce from here on out. I think that we can kiss our dreams of Star Destoyers, A-wings, B-wings, Tantives and AT-ATs goodbye. Bandai no longer has the market base to produce these kits and now (if it were a possibility) we will never see them.

I truly believe that the Sci-fi modeling community is larger than we give ourselves credit for. The reason that scifi kits sit on shelves is because they are garbage. I don't see high quality scifi kits sitting around the hobby shops, but Revell and amt repops sit there forever. The Moebius and Polar Lights stuff still flies off shelves. At least I can't find them locally. I saw a few Moebius kits at Hastings earlier this summer that were GONE a week later and the Revell stuff is still there today.

Revell should be taking notes rather than blocking Facebook comments. And I wouldn't rush out and buy too many of these Revell offerings. They will be laying around for a LONG time at discounted prices. If you just CANNOT boycott Revell and you just GOTTA have your Star Wars, try to hold out on them for a while. Let your patience possibly speak some fear into them and save some money because these kits will still be sitting there for you, a little dusty but probably discounted.
 
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"We as Revell GmbH therefore aren’t allowed to sell our Star Wars products in Japan".

Oh really?
http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?GenreCode2=all&Word=revell+star+wars&x=0&y=0

This makes me question the following statement.
"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!"

I think he meant to say, "won't at no time influence business matters", but his words say that Revell will not be influenced. At least that's how I interpret them.

Whoever we're all pissed at, whether it's Revell, Bandai or Disney, it is not going to change the current situation, by arguing who is at fault. Those who want Bandai kits will buy them at inflated prices at eBay or other places. Bandai will still make their money and continue to make SW kits. Revell knows that their kits are not meant for the experienced modeler, but are taking steps to improve their line by bringing in the modified FineMolds kits (Which I personally won't buy because they don't suit me).

Whoever you are upset with, allow your wallet to make a statement to the company you dislike.

TazMan2000
 
Roboted said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q96nn-pzajg

This was posted 14 hours ago by hjp on youtube. its so sad
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Its funny (in a really sad way), I was going onto HLJ to see if they had any kits for the new SW movies for up for pre-order when I learned about this whole mess. Glad I nabbed all the kits when I could. Just sad that this could bring an end to one of the seemingly most promising Star Wars product lines to come out in ages.
 
Keep buying the Bandai SW kits and all will be well. You may have to go to different retailers to find them but they will be available... for a price.
 
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.
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I think this statement is true enough. Revell was producing things for kids and wal-marts of the world, Bandai was producing for quality and the adult modeler. There products could indeed coexist and fill gaps in the markets that the others did not. To me it sounds like they are pretty much admitting that they don't see Bandai as a competitor for the audience they are marketing to the same way Hot Wheels would not be threatened by a model company making model version of their car subjects.


The downside of course, now there is nothing to fill that void that Revell seems to have stayed away from.

Hopefully that gets filled one way or another by some company
 
Does anyone know if Revell still has the rights to the PT era models? If that license has lapsed or is soon to lapse, Disney could throw us a bone by granting the license to Bandai. Sure, some people don't like the PT, but those movies are very popular in Japan and I bet Bandai could make some sweet Jedi starfighters, AT-TEs and Republic gunships -- not to mention 1/12th scale clonetrooper figure kits. I'd buy every one of them!
 
Hunk a Junk said:
Does anyone know if Revell still has the rights to the PT era models? If that license has lapsed or is soon to lapse, Disney could throw us a bone by granting the license to Bandai. Sure, some people don't like the PT, but those movies are very popular in Japan and I bet Bandai could make some sweet Jedi starfighters, AT-TEs and Republic gunships -- not to mention 1/12th scale clonetrooper figure kits. I'd buy every one of them!
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I'd be all over a gunship or AT-TE.
 
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