Official Bandai (Japan) Thread 2.0

[King Dan]

We are all goofing on how cheaply made and costly these are, your question is a valid one, but unfortunately it makes too much sense nowadays. At least this isn't as insulting as the Fisher Price Manda we recently got.

[StardustGenius]

Molding it in black, with white/light grey spray paint or a dry brush over the skull details would have been the best thing to do. Pretty bad release here. I have a feeling that the molding itself is probably okay. If I were interested in the release, I'd repaint it myself.

[Legion1979]

If I ran across Rodan in the wild and the price was right I'd get it. Not touching Monster X with a ten foot pole. Unless Battra blows me away (sadly it probably wont) Showa Gamera and Gyaos might be my only Bandai purchases for the rest of the year.

[Creature22]

If I ran across Rodan in the wild and the price was right I'd get it. Not touching Monster X with a ten foot pole. Unless Battra blows me away (sadly it probably wont) Showa Gamera and Gyaos might be my only Bandai purchases for the rest of the year.

So far this year Baragon has been the only Godzilla-related character to keep me consistently impressed (as in, the only one I see myself keeping long-term). Gamera is winning the war in my house, with the Rebirth Gamera and the Mother Legion being especially impressive. It's absolutely no contest when you compare them to Monster X and see that they are larger, better quality, and cost less.

[Legion1979]

Agreed with Baragon, but I really liked Ebirah too.

[UltramanGoji]

I'm torn. Monster X doesn't look very good...but it's a 6" vinyl representation of a kaiju I really like. The only other options I really have (for 6-8" scale that is) are the old Bandai and the SHMA, both very expensive.

Ugh.

[{---HYPERZeTToN---}]

New Monster X looks like an upscaled Spark Doll/Ultra Monster 500, on top of being sold at a price way higher than it's worth

What a joke, I've waited years for a cheap, 6" scale Monster X and of course when we finally get one, it looks horrible

Thank you Bandai, very cool

[StardustGenius]

Tough place! Are you any good at adding touch ups? I think a black or grey wash could at least bring out the details in the boney parts.

[CyberZilla]

I’m still gonna defend the sculpt on this, I’ll be the devil’s advocate for that figure’s details. That aspect looks great. The minimal paint though, meh, no true defense for that one.

[Creature22]

I’m still gonna defend the sculpt on this, I’ll be the devil’s advocate for that figure’s details. That aspect looks great. The minimal paint though, meh, no true defense for that one.

I think a lot of us agree the sculpt is good. It has a cool pose and seems to have captured the “shoulder heads” pretty well. I think the main complaints seem to be aimed at the paint (or lack thereof), which don’t do anything for the sculpt, and the expensive cost.

[King Dan]

In the last two years I have been impressed with alot of the sculpting detail that Bandai has achieved, obviously some of the designs are harder to capture film accurate details, but overall the really good ones are pretty damn good, some of them a little off. And yet when something like Final Wars Manda comes along I wonder if their are two teams of people working on this stuff with different ideas how the figures should be produced from start to finish. It's inconsistent,like nobody has any quality control in place, this is where all the jokes come from,this is the frustration. And on top of all this we are paying more than we ever have I think our criticisms and our laughing out loud at some of the more glaring examples of Bandai laziness or just poor work ethic is justified.

[Legion1979]

It's not unusual for quality to shift drastically, even in the same release year. Look at 1993. The same year one of the very best Bandais of that decade was released (Gorosaurus) one their weakest also came out (King Ceasar).

[StardustGenius]

I think a lot of the quality has been spotty and inconsistent, but I don't think its work ethic or laziness. This is speculation, and I mentioned it just earlier, but its probably the unfortunate side effect of Toho having higher liscencing fees compared to Kadokawa. Compare how Hasbro has multiple 6 inch action figure lines, but the liscenced lines like Star Wars often have less accesories compared to their own home brands like GI JOE or Power Rangers. I don't think its a reach what I'm saying. Nor is it a defense, just some speculation deduced from the way the folks at Toho have been shown to work in the past.

How else could the Gamera releases be consistently good, and the Godzilla releases are 60/40 or 50/50 at BEST? It isn't like there's a Gamera or Godzilla team. Its all the same MMS series team. Notice how Godzilla characters are usually within the same wave? Probably because Godzilla waves have their budgets allocated with what the team can work with. Its how some releases are really good like Ebirah or Baragon, and some just suck like Manda. It sucks, which is why I've been pretty picky with whatever releases from this line.

[Legion1979]

I think its a combination of things. I don't really know how true the licensing fee theory is though. Bandai has always been a major source of merchandising revenue for Toho, so intentionally hindering the releases with high licensing fees seems weird to me, especially since Bandai has been doing this for DECADES.

I still believe a lot of this has to do with the vinyl line becoming a victim of Bandai just juggling too many things these days. MonsterArts and Bandai Premium are there for the higher end adult collector, so the hype and money goes there. The Monster Movie Series are kids stuff, so they're not getting the attention they used to get when these types of toys were the only major thing Bandai did. The vinyls are just one small cog in the Godzilla merchandise machine now and the reality is that Bandai has nothing to prove anymore with this stuff. Going 100% percent with every release doesn't matter anymore.

On top of that, anyone notice the shittiest figures coming out have been stuff like Monster X, GFW Manda or Heisei Mechagodzilla, while the best of the recent releases have been monsters with the highest long-time adult collector appeal, like Varan, Baragon and Ebirah? I truly think Bandai sees a lot the general retail figures as being kids stuff, and budgets accordingly. The same thing keeps happening with Ultraman.

[Creature22]

On top of that, anyone notice the shittiest figures coming out have been stuff like Monster X, GFW Manda or Heisei Mechagodzilla, while the best of the recent releases have been monsters with the highest long-time adult collector appeal, like Varan, Baragon and Ebirah? I truly think Bandai sees a lot the general retail figures as being kids stuff, and budgets accordingly. The same thing keeps happening with Ultraman.

The emphasis on the higher quality Showa stuff makes me think they’re aware and trying to reach a middle ground (so basically appeal to both kids today and adults who grew up on Showa/want to integrate the new figures with their older ones). It would explain the large size for Varan at least.

I think on the whole their Ultraman stuff has been pretty good (Ultra 500 is what it is); the Shin Ultraman stuff has been super. But I personally think the market for Ultraman is bigger in Japan than Godzilla- he has a LOT more reach with the younger audience- so the budget on the Shin Ultra stuff might be prioritized.

[Maverick Centigrade]

After Monster X, I'm starting to think, is it even worth it to get excited for new Godzilla MMS figures anymore? If there's like a 50/50 chance of the toy being totally beautiful, or dogshit, why bother? Like I was getting excited for the possibility of Death Ghidorah and Godzilla 98, but the threat of major disappoint now looms permanently.

[King Dan]

You guys really make good points, it's interesting to talk about. So check out the Bandai premium releases, especially like the Crawling Baragon etc..and then stare at your Legendary Mothra, Super Mecha Godzilla, or Quest of King Arthur playset Castle Mote Dragon, ummm.. I mean Manda and figure out how this is the same company doing this stuff. Just seems odd,but we will buy what we like and not buy the pieces We don't. It's Kool.

[Mac Daddy MM]

Anyone wanna' take any bets on the next wave of announcements for the coming 6-12 months, not counting GxKong, Gamera: Rebirth and the new Toho Godzilla? Only thing I'm really expecting is a Chainsaw Gigan, possibly as a G-Store exclusive. I guess 2024, a new MechaGodzilla '74 and King Caesar are obvious. Really hope the KC sculpt is new and better than that Shrek of a sculpt being used since the 90s. Anguirus '68 also seems like a safe bet considering they seem to be going back to much OLDER releases and giving them new sculpts. And I somewhat expect a MMS of the reconstruction Gigan suit, and I have all my chips on an MMS based on the Shin Giant Robot thing.

[UltramanGoji]

Hoping for a Shin Japan Heroes MMS cuz the crappy looking, crappy-priced transforming one ain't cutting it for me.

New Mechagodzilla 74 and King Caesar both seem viable for next year's anniversary. I'm hoping for Zilla to happen eventually too. Maybe a new SpaceGodzilla or a 1957 Mogera too?

[Legion1979]

The safest bet is a new Space Godzilla. Bandai is plugging holes in the Heisei series of stuff that currently isn't available. Along with MOGERA, Space Godzilla is the last major Heisei monster that we haven't seen them do in a while. I guarantee we're getting a new one within the next year.

I don't think King Ceasar is the sure bet that everyone is making him out to be. Mainly because, unlike Jet Jaguar, he's not really that popular. 1974 is obviously Mechagodzilla's year but I don't think that necessarily means we're getting King Ceasar stuff.