Round2 Acquires Star Wars License

[Analyzer]

I can vouch for this lol.
I friend of mine put one of these in front of me a couple weeks ago... did an OOB build for him.
Despite the glaring inaccuracies, it's kind of a fun kit.

I guess I underestimated the appeal

I usually try to stay positive, so maybe there is a market. It is just not me. I mean if this lead to other things great. Just not sure this was the best option out of the gate

 

[3Dsf]

Just not sure this was the best option out of the gate

Thing is, we don't know the business reasons behind their decision. For instance, maybe the moulds for those kits, as enh as they are, are in good shape where others aren't. So they can send them to China and get results with minimal effort. Who knows?

 

[edge10]

Culttvman says R2 announced their first two kits (both re-pops):

The small scale MPC Snap X-Wing and the original MPC B-Wing.









Can you feel the excitement.








Yeah, me neither.

I get it -- they're re-pops to help fund new tool kits yada-yada... but I swear sometimes it seems like R2 is in the box making business instead of the model business.

... not!

I have to agree, much better choices available: Vader's TIE, Tydiriium, etc. Hopefully they are doing some fixes to those, before releasing them.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Hopefully they are doing some fixes to those, before releasing them.

Sure. They'll create a new decal sheet and have some updated box art with nice model build-up photos on the bottom and sides. I will predict here and now that the Snap X-Wing kit will have box art saying "As seen in The Mandalorian" and have decals for New Republic versions. These releases are all about promoting Disney's new content. I suspect season three has an B-Wing in an episode.

Even with an additional sprue added to the kits, most of these kits are really just nostalgia buys -- and I for one am over that. I have zero interest in spending any of my remaining time on Earth polishing turd kits when there are more accurate and better engineered kits available OR I can put my energy into 3D printing versions where I'm not just fixing other people's mistakes or indifference. I'm putting my money into buying an FDM printer to complement my Elegoo Mars.

 

[thud83]

I was hoping that R2 would release something that I really wanted to buy so that they could see how lucrative the Star Wars model market could be, and invest more in new kit R&D. But I built both of those back in the 80s. Here's hoping their next releases are more appealing.

 

[edge10]

Sure. They'll create a new decal sheet and have some updated box art with nice model build-up photos on the bottom and sides. I will predict here and now that the Snap X-Wing kit will have box art saying "As seen in The Mandalorian" and have decals for New Republic versions. These releases are all about promoting Disney's new content. I suspect season three has an B-Wing in an episode.

Even with an additional sprue added to the kits, most of these kits are really just nostalgia buys -- and I for one am over that. I have zero interest in spending any of my remaining time on Earth polishing turd kits when there are more accurate and better engineered kits available OR I can put my energy into 3D printing versions where I'm not just fixing other people's mistakes or indifference. I'm putting my money into buying an FDM printer to complement my Elegoo Mars.

Bitter much?

I agree. I probably won't buy any of the repops, with the possible exception of the Imperial shuttle. Show me something new and we can talk.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Bitter much?

In certain cases, absolutely!


I just hate when the hobby goes backwards. This is going backwards.

 

[edge10]

In certain cases, absolutely!


I just hate when the hobby goes backwards. This is going backwards.

I understand, but I'm just happy that someone has picked up the ball, since the great and powerful Bandai has apparently soured on the Star Wars license.

 

[Dedalus5550]

Sure. They'll create a new decal sheet and have some updated box art with nice model build-up photos on the bottom and sides. I will predict here and now that the Snap X-Wing kit will have box art saying "As seen in The Mandalorian" and have decals for New Republic versions. These releases are all about promoting Disney's new content. I suspect season three has an B-Wing in an episode.

Even with an additional sprue added to the kits, most of these kits are really just nostalgia buys -- and I for one am over that. I have zero interest in spending any of my remaining time on Earth polishing turd kits when there are more accurate and better engineered kits available OR I can put my energy into 3D printing versions where I'm not just fixing other people's mistakes or indifference. I'm putting my money into buying an FDM printer to complement my Elegoo Mars.

This! (Except I never plan on figuring out 3D printing.) And totally agree with the follow up comment about going backward.
Mike Todd

 

[KeArn]

I guess I underestimated the appeal

I usually try to stay positive, so maybe there is a market. It is just not me. I mean if this lead to other things great. Just not sure this was the best option out of the gate

I think that the appeal to me was based purely on nostalgia. I hadn't put my hands on one of these little X-Wing kits since I was maybe 10 years old...and even then, I sloppily glued it all together, skipped paint, and fenagled the decals on best I could. At the time, I wasn't really building a "model" to display lol, I just wanted to play with it.
This time around, it was fun to look at it with older eyes.
I don't think this kit holds a candle to any of the other X-Wing offerings out there...even the larger MPC kit.
As others have said though, it will be interesting to see what we get.

 

[Jaitea]

I’m going to chip in a bit of positivity again, we knew this was going to happen, they said at the announcement that they were going to repop a few kits before giving us something new

I’ve built 2 of the 1/48 Eagle Transporters & I have the new 1/72 version of the Eagle, I opened the box again this morning to look at the sprue trees, the parts are amazing, beautifully detailed & well engineered

A thought occurred to me, with the way they make multiple trees of all the same parts for repetitive areas,....this process would be suited for that other Eagle....the original Pirate Ship, The Blockade Runner

Round2 are fans, I think they have a good idea what we want

J

 

[Millenniumf]

Updated Round 2 wish list.

A Blockade Runner (in a larger scale)
Sandcrawler (never been done outside of a garage kit)
Y-Wing 1:48
Probe Droid
Shuttle Tydirium (accurate)
AT-AT (larger scale)
AT-ST (larger scale)
Docking bay 94? (not their usual forte, but they did do a nuclear disposal area for their Space 1999 Eagle, but I heard it wasn't a great seller).
Lars Homestead?
Slave 1 (despite there being several kits, I'm thinking there is a lot of fans out there...probably more now, with it being in the Mandalorian)
Razor Crest
R2 and C3PO (accurate)
Cloud Car
Mon Calamari ships (limited interest?)
Rebel Transport (limited interest?)
U-Wing
Vader TIE 1/48 (added edge10 idea)
Moff Gideon cruiser (so obvious, I forgot about it)
Rydonium Juggernaut
Destroyer Droid - Droideka (janglesworthy suggestion)
Super Battle Droid



TazMan2000

I gotta throw two more wishlist kits in the list:

1:72 TIE Bomber
Moldy Crow (god, I want a styrene kit of this!)

 

[Hunk a Junk]

A thought occurred to me, with the way they make multiple trees of all the same parts for repetitive areas,....this process would be suited for that other Eagle....the original Pirate Ship, The Blockade Runner

That's exactly why I think it would've been a MUCH smarter move for R2 to make it's first announced kit a new tool Blockade Runner. Yes, they said (and we all knew) they'd be doing re-pop kits. And honestly, that's fine. If there are people who still want 'em, go with gawd. But this is about perception and building excitement. The Star Wars license is still (despite JJ and some tarnish on parts of the saga) a cash cow and R2 is going to make it's money. It's not like they have to 'test the market' the way they did by re-popping old Space:1999 kits before finally delivering the 1:48 Eagle we'd all had on our wish lists. They would've earned a TON of respect and good will if they'd announced, "Hey, we're excited about getting the Star Wars license and we plan to deliver great new kits and vintage kits to fans for years to come! To prove our excitement and commitment to quality, we're announcing our first kit will be the fan favorite Blockade Runner -- the first Star Wars vehicle to grace the screen and one of its most memorable! This is a kit many fans have been waiting a lifetime to build, and R2 is thrilled to finally offer this iconic vehicle to kick off a great line of new and vintage Star Wars kits!" Damn, if they had done that instead of offering two really weak sauce re-pops our geek nipples would be poking people's eyes out!

 

[Metaluna mutant]

TIE Bomber and Corvette are the 2 biggest ships *never* done. And I don't count that keychain charm Corvette that Bandai made. The Corvette is really inexcusable, it's the first SW ship EVER to appear onscreen, and it appears in ANH, ESB and ROJ.

 

[Attirex]

Sadly, I don't think SW is the cash cow it was, say, 40 years ago. That ship has sailed. I suspect that what's left of the market R2 has gotten into is....us geeky middle-aged guys who are life-long SW fans.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Sadly, I don't think SW is the cash cow it was, say, 40 years ago. That ship has sailed. I suspect that what's left of the market R2 has gotten into is....us geeky middle-aged guys who are life-long SW fans.

I think that's open to debate. Disney wouldn't be sinking the capital it is into almost a dozen new Star Wars TV and movie projects if they thought the ship had sailed. I'm 55. I've seen the franchise ebb and flow. Yeah, the ST and Solo forced Disney to pull back on movie plans, but prior to TLJ (beginning of 2017) the franchise was considered "resurrected" after the PT and was "hot" again. Mandalorian and Baby Yoda have brought back (or kept) many of the fans who soured on JJ and the ST (**raises hand**). There are also those saying Bandai's lack of new announcements is evidence that they've given up on the franchise, but we don't know to what extend the pandemic has played in those decisions. The bottom line is that the franchise is forty-four years old and is still the overwhelmingly dominant sci-fi/space franchise.

 

[Attirex]

I think that's open to debate. Disney wouldn't be sinking the capital it is into almost a dozen new Star Wars TV and movie projects if they thought the ship had sailed. I'm 55. I've seen the franchise ebb and flow. Yeah, the ST and Solo forced Disney to pull back on movie plans, but prior to TLJ (beginning of 2017) the franchise was considered "resurrected" after the PT and was "hot" again. Mandalorian and Baby Yoda have brought back (or kept) many of the fans who soured on JJ and the ST (**raises hand**). There are also those saying Bandai's lack of new announcements is evidence that they've given up on the franchise, but we don't know to what extend the pandemic has played in those decisions. The bottom line is that the franchise is forty-four years old and is still the overwhelmingly dominant sci-fi/space franchise.

I should clarify--I think there is definitely still a market for SW content, ie, movies, TV shows and other streaming programming. I don't think that will change. But I'm guessing as far as merchandising goes--toys, action figures, model kits, etc--that demand has probably dropped a lot since Ye Good Olde Days. Probably a variety of reasons (that have all been discussed on RPF) including generational, other entertainment competing for kids' short attention spans (ie, video games), bad SW sequels hurting the brand, etc etc.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

True for the moment, possibly, but it was only a few years ago stores were holding "Force Fridays" and midnight toy releases. So ye good olde days were just over one presidential administration ago. Plus, I don't know if you have kids, but we have a ton of Baby Yoda merch. Hell, my WIFE has literally bought more SW merch in Baby Yoda swag in the past year and a half than I've spent on models! When women and wives are buying SW stuff, I think the franchise is okay.

 

[Attirex]

True for the moment, possibly, but it was only a few years ago stores were holding "Force Fridays" and midnight toy releases. So ye good olde days were just over one presidential administration ago. Plus, I don't know if you have kids, but we have a ton of Baby Yoda merch. Hell, my WIFE has literally bought more SW merch in Baby Yoda swag in the past year and a half than I've spent on models! When women and wives are buying SW stuff, I think the franchise is okay.

I have twin tweens so....right there with you! Baby Yoda was a hit here, too, but for whatever reason did not translate into purchases.

 

[Chrisisall]

I recently bought an old MPC big X-Wing kit off eBay & slaved over to get it just right... then I found out R2 was doing re-pops and felt like a dope because it probably would have had some much needed cool retooling...
And now I feel much better.
Seriously, that's THE kit they should be bringing back!