Guys, stop using the phrase "import ban". I have not seen anything that says they've been banned from import. They cannot be sold at retail to overseas markets. That does NOT mean they've been banned from import. If I go purchase one of these at a shop in japan once they're out, and then decide to sell it on ebay, or amazon marketplace, etc. then I have every right to.
Unfortunately your statement is just one side of the coin.
Bandai kits are only licensed for the Japanese market.
Exports:
If you want to export them from Japan as a private person without a commercial interest (= making money with them) you can do so.
If you have an commercial interest (including making some money as a private person by for example selling them on ebay) you are not allowed to export them from Japan. Without the license, you do not have the right to sell them (on ebay, amazon marketplace etc.) to foreign customers.
Imports:
The legal situation in Germany is clear and I am pretty sure that the legal situation in the US and in other countries is the same:
If you want to import these kits with a commercial interest (re-selling them) it is illegal.
If you are a private person, you can import these kits from a private person that has no commercial interest (a friend for example). In that case, you are not allowed to make the kits available to the market (= make money with it at a later time).
Even if you are a private person it is illegal to import these kits from a person / shop sitting in Japan with a commercial interest (e.g. buying on evay).
So YES, these kits are banned from import when they come from a person or shop with commercial interest.
The big question is: Why did nobody care in the past and now Disney is taking action?
To answer this question, you need to know the US licensing laws and you need to understand that this is big money.
If you are owner of a brand / license and somebody does something violating the license then everything is fine as long as you do not know about it. If you know about it you have two option: Make something against it or tolerate it. If I can proof that something was tolerated or accepted, then I and everybody else can do it too. This is equal to the owner of the brand loosing the license rights.
In our situation it means the following: If someone can proof that Disney knows about HLJ (e.g.) exporting kits (a letter to tell them is enough), everybody else can do it too. In practice, then the Japanese license has become a World Wide license without Bandai paying for it accordingly. Other manufacturers are loosing their monopole in other markets, making them pay less when renewing their license. Disney would loose big money.
I know, that Lucas Film looked away wherever they can while being very careful that this did not became public. Once a case went public, they had to act.
In the past, Bandai kits were exported in such big numbers, that Disney is no longer able to deny knowing something about it. So Disney had to act, if they do not want to loose big money. So the "evil Disney mouse" tried to find a balance between their commercial interest and to not displease us fans. (Please see the ironic tone in "evil Disney mouse", because in fact Disney acted very fair to us fans.) Obviously, an agreement was found where Disney allowed, that existing orders are fulfilled and stocks could be sold till Sept. 20th. This is good for us fans.
To prevent further sales to outside Japan, Disney took actions to prevent the export. If this does not work, because everybody is buying on ebay, then Disney must take other steps. Export is not controlled by customs, so Disney has to try to prevent imports. They have every right and the need to do so (see above). They will notify customs on the situation and then kits will be confiscated and destroyed by customs. (To do so in Germany, Disney just has to put a request to customs and renew it every year.) Loosing these paid kits will **** a lot of fans off which is exactly what Lucas Film (incl. George himself) tried to avoid in the past . The pattern of Disney´s actions is quite similar.
I know, people want to blame someone for the situation. Disney is trying to protect their financial interest and to not offend us fans, other people or other companies. But once you understand the legal situation in the US, you see that both is not possible at the same time. You do not pay US$ 4 billion for a franchise just to let your license get useless.
As long as US laws do clearly state that if you once tolerate a license violation you can kiss you license good by for good, we will have to live with the situation.
lol
