Round2 Acquires Star Wars License

[Hunk a Junk]

one thing that has never been done is a destroyer droid as far as I know of at least. Theres a ton of prequel stuff they could do.

No one would love that more than I would, but I think that ship has sailed. Disney has no incentive to promote 20-year-old prequel movies and there just isn't as big of fan demand for it as there is for the "classic" stuff from the OT. On the other hand, the new Andor and Obi-Wan shows are both set between the PT and OT, so maybe some PT stuff will show up that can be turned into kits.

 

[janglesworthy]

No one would love that more than I would, but I think that ship has sailed. Disney has no incentive to promote 20-year-old prequel movies and there just isn't as big of fan demand for it as there is for the "classic" stuff from the OT. On the other hand, the new Andor and Obi-Wan shows are both set between the PT and OT, so maybe some PT stuff will show up that can be turned into kits.

I'll be devils avocado and say maybe they can look at how well the bandai prequel model kits and new hot toys prequel figures sold and change their mind.

at least the amt stuff is still cheap on ebay

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Revell Germany announced one.

I was excited for a minute. Then the realization of the 2009 Enterprise model hit me.

This will cost $150.00 to get here in the states.

 

[Metaluna mutant]

one thing that has never been done is a destroyer droid as far as I know of at least. Theres a ton of prequel stuff they could do.

TBH Almost none of the PT ships interest me. I think it's because most of them are specifically created as "earlier versions" of the extant OT ships with only a few exceptions that are original designs. There's early Walkers, early Star Destroyers, early x-wings, early corvettes etc. Only the Naboo ships and the p-38 I found very original.

The droids, however, I liked from the start - especially the Destroyers, Vulture droids , and tri-fighters. I'd love a proper sized Vulture droid kit.

 

[Analyzer]

They did do 1/48 Vulture Droids in addition to the 1/48 Naboo Starfighter. IIRC the 1/48 Naboo starfighter came in both a plastic kit form and a diecast version that was pre-painted/chromed

they are pretty small though even at 1/48

This person did a pretty cool standing version of one of them

Star Wars

1/48 scale model Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Droid Fighter Walker

www.spencer1984.com

 

[TazMan2000]

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

 

[joez2391]

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

what we'll get:
1:72 x-wing
1:72 y-wing
1:72 tie fighter
1:144 falcon

...loses license...another company picks up license...repeat above lol

 

[TazMan2000]

what we'll get:
1:72 x-wing
1:72 y-wing
1:72 tie fighter
1:144 falcon

...loses license...another company picks up license...repeat above lol

LOL. I'm usually the one that has the doom and gloom attitude.

But for Round 2, I have a bit more faith than some other companies. We've had the rug pulled from underneath us with FineMolds, Dragon, and some of the Revell SW stuff is just crap. I suppose with that history, its not hard to be pessimistic when another company picks up the license.
There has been little word from Bandai, during this pandemic so it's it's good to hear some positive news for a change. It's a ray of sunshine...hopefully there won't be a storm behind it.

TazMan2000

 

[anamorphicWayne]

Huh, I just noticed a heap of classic kits on eBay at reasonable prices. Coincidence?

 

[Hunk a Junk]

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.

 

[Toadmeister]

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.

Yeah, those are weak sauce choices. I probably wouldn't take those kits for free...

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Yeah, those are weak sauce choices. I probably wouldn't take those kits for free...

I’d take them for free....

They might sit on a shelf for a few years.

 

[3Dsf]

Well, making complex model kits from scratch is a really expensive endeavour. Especially when the market is now used to extremely accurate, detailed, and high-resolution products from Bandai. That's a high bar to approach.

But Round2 doesn't have its own manufacturing facilities that I'm aware of - I believe everything is contracted out to Chinese factories. So they can't hope to compete with Bandai's quality.

Where they can compete are a) nostalgia value with middle-aged buyers in the case of repops, b) size since they generally make bigger ktis than the mostly small kits that Bandai focuses on, and c) possibly subject matter, by choosing subjects nobody else has made.

But c) is tough, as most of the subjects that have never been produced haven't been produced because few people care about them.

 

[Analyzer]

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.

Really????

The small snap X-Wing no one wanted that had the guy molded into the seat as well as number of other terrible things

I would not bother with that thing even if it was free. And this from someone who willingly has bought and built the smaller Revell X-Wing

There is really no need for this kit to exist let alone be repopped

The B-Wing, while small is at least actually fairly accurate. 5 or 10 years ago this might have been a good move as it was a novelty and still kind of in demand since neither Revell, nor Fine Molds had done one, and Bandai had also not done one yet

I guess they went for the snap kits approach as apparently they felt obligated to follow Revell and Bandai in the snap together field?

I had thought the regular MPC X-Wing would have been the go to kit

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Obviously, we all knew R2 would be doing re-pops, but is this really how you show you're serious about the property? It seems way more like a "these suckers will buy anything with a Star Wars label on it" move.

 

[Analyzer]

Where they can compete are a) nostalgia value with middle-aged buyers in the case of repops, b) size since they generally make bigger ktis than the mostly small kits that Bandai focuses on, and c) possibly subject matter, by choosing subjects nobody else has made.

They could have tapped into the nostalgia with the larger original X-wing or Vader tie

I know I would have gotten either and I suspect there are others who also would have. I probably would have even bought multiples of the X-Wing

the choice of the smaller snap X-Wing kit is a real head scratcher

I don't know of anyone who might have nostalgia for that kit

 

[3Dsf]

I would have guessed the Darth Vader TIE, which wasn't a bad kit all things considered, and the cutaway Falcon as ones that might interest people. Maybe the big walker.

 

[Chrisisall]

They could have tapped into the nostalgia with the larger original X-wing or Vader tie

I know I would have gotten either and I suspect there are others who also would have. I probably would have even bought multiples of the X-Wing

the choice of the smaller snap X-Wing kit is a real head scratcher

I don't know of anyone who might have nostalgia for that kit

I have that smaller X-Wing, I bought it for my Son way back when. I have nostalgia for that (finished) kit. Would never buy it again, though...

 

[Analyzer]

I used to have the kit since it came in the triple pack with Tie Interceptor and B-Wing but gave it away

IIRC that was the kit where the guns were rotated to the wrong angle and the engine nozzles were smooth

not mine but...found some pictures

and you can't easily fix the gun angle since the things are molded into the wings in a big lump of plastic

 

[KeArn]

I used to have the kit since it came in the triple pack with Tie Interceptor and B-Wing but gave it away

IIRC that was the kit where the guns were rotated to the wrong angle and the engine nozzles were smooth

View attachment 1443805


not mine but...found some pictures

View attachment 1443807

and you can't easily fix the gun angle since the things are molded into the wings in a big lump of plastic

View attachment 1443808

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.