Bandai release schedule

I'm actually ok with only one or two kits per year, especially if they are things like the Star Destroyer and PG Falcon.

If for example we got a 1/72 Tie Bomber and a 1/144 Shuttle in a year I would be quite pleased

At this point I do not believe there are any scheduled movie releases so slowing down a bit and pumping out restocks of kits makes sense and may help fund those other projects

Plus it will be easier on my wallet :lol:
 
Still have some already released 1:72 kits on my wish list, most I have are yet to be built so I'm good for a while.
I would love to see the TIE variants filled out for completeness- the Bomber, the Solo TIE/rb heavy starfighter, TIE/Reaper and such...
 
I'm also fine if they slow down and release one maybe two new kits per year for the next couple of years. TIE bomber and Lambda shuttle -- sure. Already the next year I'm looking to get the Round 2 Eagle Lab Pod kit, the Galileo, and the Moebius Aries when they are released. That pretty much blows my new model budget with a kid in college.
 
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Now looking into it further, this is of course news from the internet, so take with a grain of salt

It is said that the Star Wars licensing is one of the highest cost ones "with licensing fees of at least 20% plus some exorbitant minimum guarantees"

Using the Hasbro licensing as an example
greencardback.wordpress.com

Hasbro and the Star Wars License - Green Card Back

Is Hasbro Building an Empire… or Replacing One? Updated 22/02/20: Hasbro and Disney announce a license renewal – details here.… Continue reading
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  • The licensing fee costs at least 20%.
  • As well as the fee Hasbro needs to pay a minimum guarantee to Lucasfilm/Disney (over the past two decades that guarantee has amounted to at least $730 million).
  • Hasbro also has to pay royalties at the rate of 20% of net sales (Hasbro’s operating margin is usually between 11-15%).
  • Lucasfilm/Disney is the owner of everything Hasbro designs and creates for Star Wars.
  • The current deal expires in late 2020.
Disney’s high fees for Star Wars are an outlier in the world of licensed merchandise – and once upon a time the brand may have warranted it. But as Thomas’ research shows, Disney’s current deal may not be giving Hasbro the best bang for their buck:

  • In 2006 Star Wars accounted for 16% of Hasbro’s revenue; in 2018 that figure fell to less than 4%.
  • Star Wars revenue in 2018 was the lowest since at least 2004 – even unadjusted for inflation.



Considering the demands Disney made to theaters when releasing the Last Jedi, I can see how they basically kill the desire for a license

www.wsj.com

Disney Lays Down the Law for Theaters on ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’

U.S. theater operators say the studio’s top-secret terms for the release of the next ‘Star Wars’ installment are the most onerous they have ever seen. But with falling ticket sales, many plan to play by Disney’s strict rules.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com

Before exhibitors can begin screening “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” this December, they must first commit to a set of top-secret terms that numerous theater owners say are the most onerous they have ever seen. Disney will receive about 65% of ticket revenue from the film, a new high for a Hollywood studio. Disney is also requiring theaters to show the movie in their largest auditorium for at least four weeks.
Click to expand...

If toy licensing is anything like that crap I can see why companies like Bandai might have second thoughts about continuing to jump through hoops for a franchise that has been under performing.

I'm not sure Disney "has the muscle" to back up their demands anymore as Star Wars no longer seems to be the sure fire juggernaut money maker in terms of merchandising

rz5uq3xYlwyaN829JBHgP_xcfaSHqQIAbPsb0LdxmptqMrUrj8.jpg


I guess it remains to be seen whether there is enough money in OT subjects and restocks.

I sure hope there is
 
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Analyzer said:
(...)
I guess it remains to be seen whether there is enough money in OT subjects and restocks.
Click to expand...
that's exactly why I'm worried - not because I need 10 SW kits a year, but because designing only one per year might not be worth it and they may give up entirely. Also, giving up is way easier decision when you're doing only one kit a year than when compared to the situation when you have ten models from the line in the queue. Oh well, I still hope we'll get that Bomber on may the 4th. TIE Droid/Defender/Crawler would also be nice, if wee need more TIE variants.
 
I'd be curious to see how Star Wars as a brand compares to, say, Star Trek and other franchises when it comes to sci-fi model kits, though. I mean, Round 2 is still actively producing Space:1999 kits (an obscure and niche franchise, at best) and Moebius is putting out 2001: A Space Odyssey kits (a 50-year-old one-off sci-fi flick). Are those licenses somehow really more valuable than Star Wars? I'm not asking to cast aspersions on anything any one is suggesting or commenting on, but we are mostly discussing assumptions and semi-educated guesses. Plus, we are in another one of those weird Star Wars moments when there are angry and active fans doing everything in their power on the Internet to try to influence the narrative in order to control of the franchise -- i.e. get Kathleen Kennedy fired. I'm no fan of TROS or TLJ, but there definitely people out there who want the franchise to fall as hard as possible to force a shake up. I'd like to weed out the facts from the noise.
 
Sent said:
that's exactly why I'm worried - not because I need 10 SW kits a year, but because designing only one per year might not be worth it and they may give up entirely. Also, giving up is way easier decision when you're doing only one kit a year than when compared to the situation when you have ten models from the line in the queue. Oh well, I still hope we'll get that Bomber on may the 4th. TIE Droid/Defender/Crawler would also be nice, if wee need more TIE variants.
Click to expand...

I guess it all depends on the licensing terms and what Disney/Lucasfilms is demanding. If, like the Hasbro license, the bit about having a minimum guarantee ox X amount may be the straw that's breaks the camel's back if you will if they do go the route of one or two new kits a year, unless they can sustain sales goals with existing kit restocks.

I guess we will just have to wait and see. I have no idea when the current license runs out.

Bandai's leveraging power to get a less strict/costly license might depend on what companies may be lined up for a model kit license that can compete with someone the size of Bandai

Hasbro? They have been taking over the 'toy" market from Bandai with other properties, but would/do they have a model kit division or even have interest in one

Would companies like Tamiya or Hasegawa even be interested in the franchise at this point?
 
Hunk a Junk said:
I'd be curious to see how Star Wars as a brand compares to, say, Star Trek and other franchises when it comes to sci-fi model kits, though. I mean, Round 2 is still actively producing Space:1999 kits (an obscure and niche franchise, at best) and Moebius is putting out 2001: A Space Odyssey kits (a 50-year-old one-off sci-fi flick). Are those licenses somehow really more valuable than Star Wars? I'm not asking to cast aspersions on anything any one is suggesting or commenting on, but we are mostly discussing assumptions and semi-educated guesses. Plus, we are in another one of those weird Star Wars moments when there are angry and active fans doing everything in their power on the Internet to try to influence the narrative in order to control of the franchise -- i.e. get Kathleen Kennedy fired. I'm no fan of TROS or TLJ, but there definitely people out there who want the franchise to fall as hard as possible to force a shake up. I'd like to weed out the facts from the noise.
Click to expand...

Unlike Star Wars, those licenses are probably dirt cheap.

The other alternative is, that Japan is just not that into SW.
 
edge10 said:
Unlike Star Wars, those licenses are probably dirt cheap.
Click to expand...

That's some of the hard data I wish we knew in discussing this. Exactly how expensive is the Star Wars model license compared to other license brands? How many Star Wars kits are sold compared to other license brands? What are the profit margins on a Star Wars kit compared to other license brand kits? Is the market for, say, Star Trek kits expanding, staying the same, or contracting compared to the Star Wars brand? Does Bandai factor in American and other international sales or do they allow the Japanese market to determine their business decisions regarding Star Wars? Do they anticipate growth potential as show like Madalorian expand in popularity and new films start to appear on the horizon. Etc.etc.etc. Unfortunately, this is hard data I doubt we'll ever know.

Personal anecdotes and speculation is all fine and good for shootin' the Shih Tzu on a model forum, but I'm also leery of the discussiion being just another part of some angry fans' agenda to make everything Star Wars seem as bad as possible. Again, not casting aspersions, but the Internet isn't exactly a rosy place for Star Wars fans at the moment.
 
Hunk a Junk said:
That's some of the hard data I wish we knew in discussing this. Exactly how expensive is the Star Wars model license compared to other license brands? How many Star Wars kits are sold compared to other license brands? What are the profit margins on a Star Wars kit compared to other license brand kits? Is the market for, say, Star Trek kits expanding, staying the same, or contracting compared to the Star Wars brand? Does Bandai factor in American and other international sales or do they allow the Japanese market to determine their business decisions regarding Star Wars? Do they anticipate growth potential as show like Madalorian expand in popularity and new films start to appear on the horizon. Etc.etc.etc. Unfortunately, this is hard data I doubt we'll ever know.

Personal anecdotes and speculation is all fine and good for shootin' the Shih Tzu on a model forum, but I'm also leery of the discussiion being just another part of some angry fans' agenda to make everything Star Wars seem as bad as possible. Again, not casting aspersions, but the Internet isn't exactly a rosy place for Star Wars fans at the moment.
Click to expand...

This is details about the Hasbro license, but you can probably extrapolate that to other merchandise to get a feel for what is involved
www.jeditemplearchives.com

The Cost Of Hasbro’s Star Wars License - Jedi Temple Archives

Whenever you want to make a Star Wars toy, you need to have a license. This should be pretty common knowledge. Lucasfilm and Disney protect their intellectual property and whoever wants to make anything based on Star Wars needs a … Continue reading →
www.jeditemplearchives.com www.jeditemplearchives.com

"Hasbro’s Star Wars license for the past 21 years cost them a total of at least $730 million plus at first 18% and then 20% of Star Wars toys net sales.

Hasbro’s operating margin in the past years was between 11.5 – 15.5%, in 2018 it’s a little more than 12%. Which simply means one thing: first Lucasfilm and now Disney make MORE money off the Star Wars toys Hasbro makes than Hasbro themselves.

Now, a more common royalty fee in the toy industry is something like 10%. In other words: the Star Wars toy license is the most expensive toy license out there. Which is why only a big player, a global toy company such as Hasbro, is able to afford it. "
 
What other toy company would want the license? Especially with the uninteresting ship designs that we see lately. If Hasbro drops it, nobody else may pick it up, especially under the wild conditions that Disney has set.

TazMan2000
 
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Casuir said:
So Hasbro didnt drop it
Click to expand...

I wonder if Disney used the Marvel stuff as the dangling carrot and forced them to bundle in the Star Wars stuff and whether Hasbro got a better deal on the Star Wars stuff this time around

I'm sure the "baby Yoda" frenzy and overall positive reaction to the Mandalorian helped as well as the a new season of Clone Wars.

of course most of that would be figure stuff plushies etc... vs models

Hopefully Bandai follows suit
 
So it looks like there will be Bandai kits at the very least distributed by Revell this year. This isn't necessarily confirmation Bandai has retained the license since they did the same thing with the Fine Molds stuff after Fine Molds lost the license to Bandai but it is promising to see the Bandai logo so prominent

They are repopping a bunch of their ESB related kits with the 40th anniversary branding. This includes the 1/29 Snowspeeder and 1/88 Slave-1 which now have scales listed on the box. I can say the 1/88 is pretty accurate for the Slave-1 since I have that kit. It is also one their better kits

Downside is, I believe these are only European releases so getting them in the States or elsewhere could be even more expensive and elusive without resorting to eBay

I think this could be a good reason for Bandai to keep going for at least a few years as well. The 40th anniversary of ESB and ROTJ will be coming up in the next few years so what better time to be releasing a Tie Bomber, Imperial Shuttle, larger AT-AT etc...

Revell was showing these off at the UK Toy Fair a few weeks ago which. Although Revell was selling the Fold Molds tooling after Fine Molds lost/dropped the license

It also looks like they are doing a lighting/sound kit version of the 1/2700 Zvedza Star Destroyer?

revell_uktf2020_2.jpg

revell_uktf2020_01.jpg
 
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Well, I am still shocked Bandai hasn't put out a Tydirium shuttle. That would sale for sure. I can always 3d model and print my own I guess.
 

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