Official Bandai (Japan) Thread 2.0

[LSD Jellyfish]

I do wonder if '65 will get a latter reissue that will be available more widely at a lower cost. Not sure on Jirass, though.

I don’t think they have ever taken something that is Premium Bandai and re-issued it. They’ve done enhanced/altered versions of other stuff as premium Bandai, but never the reverse. And besides, how would you make it distinctive for this one?

Here’s a question: who would rather this be the standard MMS, and the dancing figure be premium Bandai? I’m unsure of my own position, because I think honestly the dancing one is more exciting as a figure to own.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Edit: Oh wow, I now noticed it doesn't come out until March 2026! Dang, well I guess I'll keep these pre-ordered till then.

When I checked, it seems like they ship within Japan in January. There’s about a month to order them from Premium Bandai, and then they’re made, so that timeframe makes sense. If BBTS is buying these, march makes total sense.

[Gojirasaur]

I do wonder if '65 will get a latter reissue that will be available more widely at a lower cost. Not sure on Jirass, though.

I don’t think they have ever taken something that is Premium Bandai and re-issued it. They’ve done enhanced/altered versions of other stuff as premium Bandai, but never the reverse. And besides, how would you make it distinctive for this one?

True enough. Still, a slight color variant might be possible. If the sales on this tank as some of the reactions I'm seeing elsewhere might indicate, who knows.

Here’s a question: who would rather this be the standard MMS, and the dancing figure be premium Bandai? I’m unsure of my own position, because I think honestly the dancing one is more exciting as a figure to own.

I get that, but yes, I would reverse their release method. Technically, the dancing '65 is in a subline even if available as widely as a standard MMS. It's not as if they really ought to be pitted against each other for distribution.

[ShyGuyPal101]

When I checked, it seems like they ship within Japan in January. There’s about a month to order them from Premium Bandai, and then they’re made, so that timeframe makes sense. If BBTS is buying these, march makes total sense.

Ohhh, thank you! January 2026 will get here sooner than I expect anyways I'm sure!

Here’s a question: who would rather this be the standard MMS, and the dancing figure be premium Bandai? I’m unsure of my own position, because I think honestly the dancing one is more exciting as a figure to own.

I think the Dancing '65 is more special to me. I was surprised that wasn't a Godzilla Store exclusive. It has a lot positive reception, so I'm really happy it was released as a retail release.
I think it makes more sense to have '65 be a Godzilla Store exclusive in response to this. I suspect the P-Bandai thing was because somewhere somehow licensing dictated Jirass be a P-Bandai release and they wanted to release a normal '65 figure too. Therefore it made sense to not rock the boat and release them both as P-Bandai figures instead of working through some weird licensining/agreements. I'll be complaining about P-Bandai till the cows come home, but shoot I'll jump through whatever hoops they throw at me to get me that '65 Godzilla!

[Mechagigan]

Could it not just be because G'65 is a fairly niche incarnation?

Here’s a question: who would rather this be the standard MMS, and the dancing figure be premium Bandai? I’m unsure of my own position, because I think honestly the dancing one is more exciting as a figure to own.

IMO, I'd rather have this, for sure. Dancing G is cool for what it is but it's definitely a fanservice-y variant, whereas this is just straight-up G'65. Not much interest in a dancing Godzilla personally when the rest of my MMS are normal. It's like if nasty gape-mouth purple Shin Godzilla was the wide release, and standard Shin was some odd exclusive

[Titanus_Rodan]

If the sales on this tank as some of the reactions I'm seeing elsewhere might indicate,

I’m sorry what? Why would sales tank on this figure?

[Legion1979]

If the sales on this tank as some of the reactions I'm seeing elsewhere might indicate,

I’m sorry what? Why would sales tank on this figure?

Yeah, arent the Premium figures made to order?

[Gojirasaur]

I'm seeing negative reactions to the pricing on other platforms, so I'm not going to assume the best here. Folks just don't seem to like P-Bandai.

Also, if made to order, then wouldn't BBTS be gambling on committing to whatever amount they agreed to order? Perhaps that's what's being considered in their pricing as well.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Folks in America don’t like Bandai Premium, but remember officially no one is buying them there. Bandai doesn’t care about sales outside of Japan because they aren’t happening. What buyers in Japan think is relevant, the the made to order model circumvents any cost issues.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Could it not just be because G'65 is a fairly niche incarnation?

Probably this more than anything else. In my mind, the big Showa designs are:
53, 62, 64, 68, and then some variation on the 73/74/75.

65 is a very transitional design.

[Titanus_Rodan]

I'm seeing negative reactions to the pricing on other platforms, so I'm not going to assume the best here. Folks just don't seem to like P-Bandai.

Also, if made to order, then wouldn't BBTS be gambling on committing to whatever amount they agreed to order? Perhaps that's what's being considered in their pricing as well.

I’m going to let you in on a secret…most of the people you see complaining probably weren’t going to buy it anyways. A lot of fans are either cheapskates or just like to complain for the sake of complaining.

As for BBTS they only order a certain amount and once that sells out, and they do, that’s it.

My only issue with Premium Bandai is I wish we could order the Godzilla stuff off their website. Other than that I’ve got no issue with it because it’s no different than Hasbro Pulse or Mattel Creations

[ShyGuyPal101]

Folks in America don’t like Bandai Premium, but remember officially no one is buying them there.

Oh you just opened up a can of worms with my rant time! (sorry for the long message, this isn't aimed at you, just ranting why)
I don't know if its better in Japan or other countries, but man I have my grievances with P-Bandai America:
- For Gundam kits, they'll sometimes sell-out of pre-orders for very popular kits
- They'll have pre-order windows open for a month or so, but then won't let you know they are even up (leading to me having to religiously check it)
(Granted, this is probably just an issue for me because I don't check Gundam sites for news, which is probably where people learn)- My point being though, I don't get email alerts from P-Bandai when new stuff does go up for pre-order.
- They'll have listings for franchises like Digimon and Ghost in the Shell, but won't put up the same products for those franchises that they have in Japan. Sometimes they'll do a compromise like release Japanese cards in English sets though.
^ And that last point brings me to my biggest gripe: We miss out on all these cool Godzilla figures because they won't list them on the P-Bandai site itself. I have my wallet open, ready to buy these through the P-Bandai site. Why they refuse to put up Godzilla stuff there is beyond my comprehension. I would complain way less about P-Bandai if they'd just put up their Godzilla stuff on there and give us windows of opportunity to pre-order them like they do Japan. The prices I think are also a bit too high, yet I'll buy it as long as its something I want and its not too absurd. It all feels unnecessarily complicated.

[Gojirasaur]

Folks in America don’t like Bandai Premium, but remember officially no one is buying them there. Bandai doesn’t care about sales outside of Japan because they aren’t happening. What buyers in Japan think is relevant, the the made to order model circumvents any cost issues.

While the model would seem to imply that, we know that production runs accommodate foreign sales. They just do. I say that, because, despite HLJ or some other retailers not attempting it, many Japanese retailers that we know proxy such items, and have for years. Bandai could easily cut those retailers off at the knees by punitively refusing to sell to them what standard Bandai stock they carry, but they don't, and turning a blind eye to what happens to the Premium stock they produce doesn't absolve them of knowing they are doing runs to accommodate export.

For things like early-era Macross DX and Hi-Metal releases, Bandai are knowingly doing the same thing, but they could argue rights issues absolve them as they legally couldn't sell those outside Japan. With Toho, other than things like the '98 MMS, Bandai don't have that excuse with most Premium Godzilla releases.

It's that fact which annoys me, while most seem to moan about the pricing or availability. It's more the complicity there. We should be allowed to buy from their Japanese or US P-Bandai sites at least.

I’m going to let you in on a secret…most of the people you see complaining probably weren’t going to buy it anyways. A lot of fans are either cheapskates or just like to complain for the sake of complaining.

Odd, then, how many of them seem to have big collections, but I have come to learn, prior to joining platforms elsewhere, that there are some fans who like to complain, and even be known for it.

[Vortex The Complex]

Honestly I'm kinda wondering if we're ever gonna get a seperate '66 release; it was on the Dream 5 poll back in 2023 along with the '65 suit. Honestly it'd be really funny if it got made and was a Godzilla Store exclusive, making it more accessible than the more standard and popular version of the suit

Though I'm still kinda disappointed that both 65 and 03 are P Bandai, they both feel like pretty major designs to be making THIS exclusive. They could both have been easy be G Store releases imo (though that would probably mean no dead Kameobas...)

[Mechagigan]

Call me a bit slow lol but I just don't really understand what P-Bandai is? To me it translates as "you'll have to buy this from BBTS, not the Godzilla Store"





These guys look surprisingly great, especially Godzilla. It's kinda funny how dedicatedly Bandai refuses to make Destoroyah in scale, lol. He still looks nicely complex though. These figures get nicer and nicer each time

https://x.com/hobitoronn01/status/1938874055421239641

[canofhumdingers]

Is burning Godzilla the same sculpt as ‘91? Sure looks like it…

[Creature22]

Looking at the Jirass retool and reading up on the planned Ultra/Movie Monster Series stuff, I predict that Showa Baragon mold is about to see a LOT of action.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Looking at the Jirass retool and reading up on the planned Ultra/Movie Monster Series stuff, I predict that Showa Baragon mold is about to see a LOT of action.

65->Jirass is a lot simpler though. Just add a separate part, and mildly change the color scheme. On top of that, I don’t think that Baragon figure was made for that in mind.

HOWEVER, I think this is an incredibly likely situation if they ever do a quadrupedal Baragon figure. Neronga and Gabora (the ones they’d make) are mostly on all fours.

[Kagutaba]

I think it's interesting that Jirass is more accurately a remold of 1964 rather than just '65 with a frill slapped on

[Legion1979]

I think it's interesting that Jirass is more accurately a remold of 1964 rather than just '65 with a frill slapped on

Nah, its not.

It's mostly the 65 mold. The head, arms, fins, most of the body and the tail are the same. The legs are definitely different (look at the knees) and they've retooled the sternum area a bit. But mostly they're using as much of the '65 as they can.

As for Baragon, Bandai took the 1992 Baragon mold and used it to create the new Neronga figure a couple years later. If they could do it then they can do it now.