Attention: BANDAI will stop selling kits outside Japan

Where did this talk of discontinuing the 1/48 Moving Edition X-wing come from? It is still on their site:

http://bandai-hobby.net/sw/products/mc/mc05.html

Not saying it's wrong, just curious as to where this info/rumor came from?

I would love a standard edition 1/48! I bought the 1/72 in a 'panic' buy from HLJ and boy it that thing tiny! I know it is the right size for 1/72 but darn is it tiny. Did I mention it is tiny?

LOL! And I'm not going to say it's right. I picked up the idea from scanning posts # 330 & 353.
 
Fine Molds had an American distributor for their SW kits, unlike Bandai. The exclusive Disney license Revell acquired would have cut off Fine Molds' exports earlier than the domestic Japanese stock was depleted from HLJ.
Huh? HLJ was only a retailer as far as I understand.

Fine Molds had their "Star Wars" models *distributed* in America. That didn't involve HLJ, who separately exported them from Japan.
 
I just checked my open orders, and HLJ lowered my 1/72 Slave I and 1/12 Boba Fett quantity down to 1. :rolleyes

I am done with Revell. DONE.
 
So... it's over now. The kits have disappeared from the HLJ-Site. (Only Slave I and Boba Fett are still listed with Order Stop)... Has anyone a reply from Lucasfilm or Disney (because some of us sent an email to Mr. Holm)? To the new prices for the Kits on the web, Palpatine would now say: "RISE"... :cry
 
Most of what I have seen on eBay are still very reasonable. Only the newest kits are going for a bit more like the Y-Wing.
 
I have got no reply from Mr Holm. And on the German sites of eBay and Amazon, none of the Bandai kits are available. Very sad.

EDIT: Now they are on eBay.de and Amazon.de, but not the 1/48 X-Wing. The eBay prices are huge.
 
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These are the ones who have waited for the kits to "officially" disappear and now try to push the prices up to the skies. One wants 82 € for the Speeder Bike (shipping not included). :facepalm :thumbsdown
 
It's a shame, I'd loved to have the 1/48 X-Wing, but it was never in stock at HLJ when I was looking for it. I really hope I can get one at some day. There is a Snowspeeder on the way, and I have also preordered the Slave 1, but the X-Wing seems to be out of sight...
 
Fine Molds had their "Star Wars" models *distributed* in America. That didn't involve HLJ, who separately exported them from Japan.
As I said, this is the first I've heard of an American distributor. Did this company have a name?

By asking this question twice, you don't understand how import distribution for hobby dealers works. Fine Molds exported their "Star Wars" models to North American *distributors*, which would have ended in 2011. If you must have a name, the hobby distributor used in *my* region was Stevens International. It's no different than Bandai Japan currently supplying various North American hobby distributors with "Space Battleship Yamato" models with a "Star Blazers 2199" sticker slapped on them.
 
By asking this question twice, you don't understand how import distribution for hobby dealers works. Fine Molds exported their "Star Wars" models to North American *distributors*, which would have ended in 2011. If you must have a name, the hobby distributor used in *my* region was Stevens International. It's no different than Bandai Japan currently supplying various North American hobby distributors with "Space Battleship Yamato" models with a "Star Blazers 2199" sticker slapped on them.
I understand that some companies like Tamiya have their own venture in the U.S. for distribution. I understand that some companies use another company, like Stevens. But I always understood that the FM license was for Japan (and possibly more of Asia) and shops like HLJ were a kind of backdoor that was just allowed to happen until recently. The few hobby shops in my area that had FM SW stuff said they had to get it from Japanese retailers, the same as me, and that explained the crazy mark-ups on the kits. So, like I said, this is the first I've heard of about FM being using, and being able to use, a U.S.-based distributor. Am I alone in this understanding?
 
By asking this question twice, you don't understand how import distribution for hobby dealers works. Fine Molds exported their "Star Wars" models to North American *distributors*, which would have ended in 2011. If you must have a name, the hobby distributor used in *my* region was Stevens International. It's no different than Bandai Japan currently supplying various North American hobby distributors with "Space Battleship Yamato" models with a "Star Blazers 2199" sticker slapped on them.
I understand that some companies like Tamiya have their own venture in the U.S. for distribution. I understand that some companies use another company, like Stevens. But I always understood that the FM license was for Japan (and possibly more of Asia) and shops like HLJ were a kind of backdoor that was just allowed to happen until recently. The few hobby shops in my area that had FM SW stuff said they had to get it from Japanese retailers, the same as me, and that explained the crazy mark-ups on the kits. So, like I said, this is the first I've heard of about FM being using, and being able to use, a U.S.-based distributor. Am I alone in this understanding?
 
My local hobby shop has all the fine molds stuff at insane prices. The 1/144 falcon was over $100

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My local hobby shop has all the fine molds stuff at insane prices. The 1/144 falcon was over $100

There were at least three hobby shops in my area which imported them, though I purchased mine directly from HLJ. If I recall, the 1/144 MF was going for about $90, the 1/72 Y-Wing and 1/144 Slave I were $60, etc. It's the U.S. distributor compounding the Japanese shipping and commercial import duties into the wholesale prices. However, I did find one Fine Molds 1/72 X-Wing & TIE fighter a few years ago in a clearance bin for next to nothing...$10 each I think!
 
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