Star Wars: Bandai vs. Revell & Disney RANT
0UPDATE Jan 2017: it is now possible to buy Bandai SW vehicle kits in the US, thanks to the US distributor Bluefin. Bandai are allowed to import vehicle kits only and not figures (which is why vehicle kits have a seated pilot figure but only a silhouette for the standing figure, because they are not allowed to sell "figures or action figures"). Still no word on the rest of the world, though.
UPDATE Sept 2015: Revell have released a statement on their Facebook page (poorly written, it has to be said) saying that they DID NOT push for this territory enforcement, so it seems Disney is the cause. However, I state in my video that at the time I made it, I was following the online conversations which at that time, which all pointed to it being down to Revell. In the interests of transparency I will post the link to their statement below. However, regardless of finger-pointing, the fact still remains that these licensing restrictions mean that EU and US adult modelmakers are still faced with badly-made, poorly tooled, incorrectly scaled (box scale) children's toys unless they eventually pay highly inflated prices for Bandai kits they will only be able to get from slightly unreliable retailers. The only decent kits Revell offers are not even their own, they are Fine Molds reboxes, and even THEY are restricted to the US. The Western market for serious modelmakers is simply not catered for, and Revell needs to step up it's game and start making kits that match the quality of those that have been around from other manufacturers for decades. And Disney needs to figure out a way to get those Western model makers catered for.
Revell statement: https://www.facebook.com/Revell/posts/1016212158424219
ORIGINAL POST:
Hey ho, just a quick rant about the rumours circulating today about why Bandai and reputable retailers like Hobby Link Japan can no longer sell Star Wars kits outside of what the US refers to as the Asian market. And why, as a result, I won't be making any Bandai Star Wars kits any time in the near future. Contains some mild swears.
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