After shipping from Genteikits, it ends up being twice as much. Look at, for instance, the Tallgeese 2 - HLJ has the Tallgeese 1 listed at 3800 yen retail price. Gentei has the 2 at 6300 right off the bat. IIRC, the online stuff that's just repaints doesn't differ in price too much from the mass release. That 6300 is BEFORE shipping, which can sometimes end up being as much or more than the cost of the kit itself. I did use Gentei when I bought the X2 (the ONLY Exclusive I've bothered purchasing), and it ended up being just shy of $100 - and that was with the cheapest shipping method available.
Oh really you mean like G.G. Chargeing over $70 for the johnny ridden zaku s type. Even with shipping Gentei is still cheaper. I placed a order with G.G. Played express shipping and it took a week before my order was even shipped out. Id rather pay for gentei's shipping compared too G.G. horrible customer service. Not to mention the face every kit I bought from gentei I got at least a week b4 G.G. Recieved his orders.
as usual, Bandai is going for the 'fuck Crossbone fans' route.. damnit, X-2 as an exclusive was unforgivable, and they made X-3 exclusive too.. sure, they're available at retails here, but at TWICE the yen price just because P-Bandai is slapped on.. this is really getting out of hand, they're pretty much abusing the word exclusive now
genteikits.com doesn't charge twice the price ;) its around 10% -25% more than retail that I have seen and ordered from. :D I have never bought from GG cause prices and shipping are way to high for me :(
if you don't have the money for online exclusives, then don't buy it, bandai is not begging you to buy their products.yes, online exclusives if not are almost the same as other kits but they have their own target market..
Sorry to burst your bubble, AZN Pride, but X-3 is not just a color variation; the main difference are the Head (different mouth cover, longer V-fin, and scars), Hands (I-Field generators), Weapon (Muramasa Blaster).
Gee it's almost as if Bandai is a near bankrupt company on the brink of going out of business...begging for any kind of hand out to stay afloat...that or they're a big greedy company that wants every since penny or yen out it can get out of everything they release....which one do you think it is?
Well let's start placing bets everyone...how long will it take before they Release the X-0 Ghost as an online Premium? Guessing how it took a few months after the release of the X-2 to announce this...I'm saying May....anyone want to take this bet?
If Bandai is a bear bankrupt company, they wouldn't rely on online exclusives. Releasing a kit in the regular line actually yields more profit compared to an online exclusive PROVIDED it sells well.
Bandai just didn't have a guarantee this kit will sell well, and they have the sales figures of the X-2 to back it up.
I don't honestly think Bandai would have taken this route if the sales of Crossbone outweighs that of Seed, Unicorn or even Zeta series.
Whilst we might be seeing a X2 kai as another online exclusive and even X1 Patchwork, I won't be too shocked to see why they'd chose such a route. I doubt any companies would want to have that much of an excess stock leftover from trying to sell something to whiners who couldn't be bothered to buy it regardless it a normal release or not.
Everyone is so quick to accuse Bandai of being nothing but overly greedy thieves but I wonder how many people have considered the whole situation.
Obviously there's an associated cost with designing and producing these scale models. I think the majority of the cost is in the engineering design as the cost of the plastic and molding can't be much(relatively) when considering economies of scale. This is why Bandai releases variations of MS to try and maximize the value of their engineering $s.
Also obvious is that the suits that Bandai decides to release must be sufficiently popular to have a reasonable expectation of sales to recoup the design and production costs as well as make a profit. But this leads to fans of more obscure suits/series feeling slighted as their favored suits are skipped over again and again.
So Bandai's online premium is their answer to this problem. They are willing to put in the money to design and produce the somewhat less popular suits but they'll charge a little more for each model because I'm sure they expect to sell less volume of these models. Additionally they sell them through their own outlets rather than go through distributors so that 100% of the revenue goes directly back to them without the distributor/reseller taking a cut.
Don't get me wrong, I'm trying saying Bandai is a self-less company here, obviously they see an opportunity to make more money by serving a market demand and they took it. Die hard fans of these slightly less popular suits will be willing to pay more for them and so Bandai are free to charge the rate the market will bear.
If you are highly opposed to this model of doing business, the best way to make your voice heard is to simply abstain from buying. If sales of premium bandai kits are poor, they'll likely discontinue the practice but don't kid yourselves into thinking that those suits will find their way to main stream releases; likely they simply won't be made.
wow less popular? how sure are you, bro? then how about the action figure SHFiguarts or SIC line? or D-Arts line?
I really sure the toys got lots of demand especially from Kamen Rider.. Leave this alone to toys and figures line and stop make online exclusive for goddamn sake
I would care less if the model kit get Expo or GFT exclusive but please not make regular model kit as P-Bandai Online Exclusive
Which is more popular(in general, not just to you)?
X3 vs Unicorn. X3 vs Strike/Strike Freedom etc. X3 vs vs Wing (in all its various iterations/variations) X3 vs Zeta . . . I'm sure X3 has its sizeable fan base of die hard fans but those numbers probably pale in comparison to the other suits mentioned above which, for better or worse have a vast amount of main stream appeal.
@anon 11:49 SHF, D-Arts, SIC are product line which released by Tamashii Nation, not Bandai Hobby Division. Sure they're below Bandai's flag, but they have their own method for selling their product. And I can say, Bandai Hobby still tamer for their premium release tha Tamashii Nation. I don't like this online exclusive too, but economy condition nowadays make them cannot produce items as same as past years. This is about efficiency and profit after all.
It isn't just die hard friends in NA or western countries. P-Bandai totally hurt any Gundam fans OUTSIDE Japan. They need to make P-Bandai international instead of just Japan. They are just shutting themselves in a hole. HK, TW, CN all have hobbyshows/conventions, it makes no sense to have P-Bandai exclusive to Japan while making everyone else to pay extra and at the mercy of middlemen.
If international order is that 'exotic' for Bandai, they can easily afford a 5 men crew to fill up the orders and still profit from it.
How are they shutting themselves in a hole? There's a reason for pre orders. The kit production probably works one of 2 ways. 1 The distributors place a order with bandai based on their pre orders or 2 bandai pumps out a certain # of kits and the pre orders are just to reserve them. But I don't see how bandai is getting shut out when they are selling these kit. Yes the 3rd party retailers are making a little money. But you have to remember the high price is do to their shipping cost and the minimum 10% markup retailers charge. Even if there was a crew employed by bandai it doesn't mean these kit will be that much cheaper because everyone will need to pay for the internation shipping. The only way these kit would be sold to the general public at retail price would be if these kit are a general production model kit and they got rid of the online exclusive.
The only ones making a huge profit on online exclusives are the middlemen that sell to any/everyone outside Japan. Bandai should stop being roosters and just sell the kits to everyone. I don't see how a kit that only japanese can buy makes Bandai more money than one everyone can buy. They have to make the kits anyways, why not let everyone get a shot at them? If they sell out, then they know it's popular, and can make more.
But the Japanese IS Bandai's target consumer. They couldn't be bothered with the demographics outside their country because it's too risky and too expensive for them that way. The Crossbone series does have a following in Japan, but it's not at the same level as other countries. Especially when you compare it to giants like the SEED series or UC. While Crossbone is technically still UC, it's sort of at the "fringes" of it.
I hope Hong Li, or any other Chinese brand will clone/copy/pirate the shit of all of the on-line exclusive kits and sell them to the mass at 1/5 of the regular price. Ha ha.
Great. The only other Crossbone aside from the Full Cloth that'd I'd buy and it's exclusive? Ya know, I'm just gonna paint a Full Cloth in X-3 colors that way I get more accessories. Not sure why THIS suit of all MS's that haven't been released would be a exclusive. Eh. Obvious pass on this guy like the Tallgeese II before it.
well I'm Super stoked for this, love the X3. Glad to see it happening.
ReplyDeletepretty much fucked up if everything is exclusive now
ReplyDeletehere, take my middle finger Bandai
DAMMIT Bandai... stop with the awesome online exclusives. I hate HATE paying twice the yen price for these stupid things.
ReplyDeleteThen don't. If you're paying twice the price it's because you're stupid
DeleteNop, its cause he/she doesn´t lives in japan.....
DeleteIts because he is not using gentei kits.com where they only charge like 10%-20% over retail and great shipping as well.
DeleteAfter shipping from Genteikits, it ends up being twice as much. Look at, for instance, the Tallgeese 2 - HLJ has the Tallgeese 1 listed at 3800 yen retail price. Gentei has the 2 at 6300 right off the bat. IIRC, the online stuff that's just repaints doesn't differ in price too much from the mass release. That 6300 is BEFORE shipping, which can sometimes end up being as much or more than the cost of the kit itself. I did use Gentei when I bought the X2 (the ONLY Exclusive I've bothered purchasing), and it ended up being just shy of $100 - and that was with the cheapest shipping method available.
DeleteOh really you mean like G.G. Chargeing over $70 for the johnny ridden zaku s type. Even with shipping Gentei is still cheaper. I placed a order with G.G. Played express shipping and it took a week before my order was even shipped out. Id rather pay for gentei's shipping compared too G.G. horrible customer service. Not to mention the face every kit I bought from gentei I got at least a week b4 G.G. Recieved his orders.
DeleteThe day right before my birthday... Well happy early birthday, me, I know what I'm going to get!
ReplyDeleteThis is getting outta hand....they need to start making online exclusives available at regular retail at some point here
ReplyDeleteas usual, Bandai is going for the 'fuck Crossbone fans' route.. damnit, X-2 as an exclusive was unforgivable, and they made X-3 exclusive too.. sure, they're available at retails here, but at TWICE the yen price just because P-Bandai is slapped on.. this is really getting out of hand, they're pretty much abusing the word exclusive now
ReplyDeletegenteikits.com doesn't charge twice the price ;) its around 10% -25% more than retail that I have seen and ordered from. :D I have never bought from GG cause prices and shipping are way to high for me :(
DeleteAnother Online Exclusive....... I totally angry the moment it said X-2 as an exclusive.... Even Tallgeese II as online Exclusive is unforgivable.....
ReplyDeleteWell they cant come right out and say "f-u"?
ReplyDeleteOnline Exclusives. It's for the not so regular people who can actually dish out the cash because they know what "Online Exclusive" means.
ReplyDeleteStop whining.
Stop whining? hah
Deletepretty much you will have same reaction when 60% of future gunpla are online exclusive
if you don't have the money for online exclusives, then don't buy it, bandai is not begging you to buy their products.yes, online exclusives if not are almost the same as other kits but they have their own target market..
DeleteMain suits should never be online-exclusive. MS-V with minor different yes, lead MS, no.
ReplyDeleteStrike Rouge, Banshee, MK-II titan are all in same boat, yet we are seeing more release of those.
Worse is they are still using old mold of X-1 full cloth, minus the cloak and change it up a little bit.
Thats true it just a color difference at this point.
DeleteSorry to burst your bubble, AZN Pride, but X-3 is not just a color variation; the main difference are the Head (different mouth cover, longer V-fin, and scars), Hands (I-Field generators), Weapon (Muramasa Blaster).
Deletehappy it wasnt a crappy seed gundam getting mg
ReplyDeletenice
Gee it's almost as if Bandai is a near bankrupt company on the brink of going out of business...begging for any kind of hand out to stay afloat...that or they're a big greedy company that wants every since penny or yen out it can get out of everything they release....which one do you think it is?
ReplyDeleteWell let's start placing bets everyone...how long will it take before they Release the X-0 Ghost as an online Premium? Guessing how it took a few months after the release of the X-2 to announce this...I'm saying May....anyone want to take this bet?
If Bandai is a bear bankrupt company, they wouldn't rely on online exclusives. Releasing a kit in the regular line actually yields more profit compared to an online exclusive PROVIDED it sells well.
DeleteBandai just didn't have a guarantee this kit will sell well, and they have the sales figures of the X-2 to back it up.
I don't honestly think Bandai would have taken this route if the sales of Crossbone outweighs that of Seed, Unicorn or even Zeta series.
ReplyDeleteWhilst we might be seeing a X2 kai as another online exclusive and even X1 Patchwork, I won't be too shocked to see why they'd chose such a route. I doubt any companies would want to have that much of an excess stock leftover from trying to sell something to whiners who couldn't be bothered to buy it regardless it a normal release or not.
Everyone is so quick to accuse Bandai of being nothing but overly greedy thieves but I wonder how many people have considered the whole situation.
ReplyDeleteObviously there's an associated cost with designing and producing these scale models. I think the majority of the cost is in the engineering design as the cost of the plastic and molding can't be much(relatively) when considering economies of scale. This is why Bandai releases variations of MS to try and maximize the value of their engineering $s.
Also obvious is that the suits that Bandai decides to release must be sufficiently popular to have a reasonable expectation of sales to recoup the design and production costs as well as make a profit. But this leads to fans of more obscure suits/series feeling slighted as their favored suits are skipped over again and again.
So Bandai's online premium is their answer to this problem. They are willing to put in the money to design and produce the somewhat less popular suits but they'll charge a little more for each model because I'm sure they expect to sell less volume of these models. Additionally they sell them through their own outlets rather than go through distributors so that 100% of the revenue goes directly back to them without the distributor/reseller taking a cut.
Don't get me wrong, I'm trying saying Bandai is a self-less company here, obviously they see an opportunity to make more money by serving a market demand and they took it. Die hard fans of these slightly less popular suits will be willing to pay more for them and so Bandai are free to charge the rate the market will bear.
If you are highly opposed to this model of doing business, the best way to make your voice heard is to simply abstain from buying. If sales of premium bandai kits are poor, they'll likely discontinue the practice but don't kid yourselves into thinking that those suits will find their way to main stream releases; likely they simply won't be made.
wow less popular? how sure are you, bro?
Deletethen how about the action figure SHFiguarts or SIC line? or D-Arts line?
I really sure the toys got lots of demand especially from Kamen Rider..
Leave this alone to toys and figures line and stop make online exclusive for goddamn sake
I would care less if the model kit get Expo or GFT exclusive but please not make regular model kit as P-Bandai Online Exclusive
Which is more popular(in general, not just to you)?
DeleteX3 vs Unicorn.
X3 vs Strike/Strike Freedom etc.
X3 vs vs Wing (in all its various iterations/variations)
X3 vs Zeta
.
.
.
I'm sure X3 has its sizeable fan base of die hard fans but those numbers probably pale in comparison to the other suits mentioned above which, for better or worse have a vast amount of main stream appeal.
@anon 11:49
DeleteSHF, D-Arts, SIC are product line which released by Tamashii Nation, not Bandai Hobby Division. Sure they're below Bandai's flag, but they have their own method for selling their product. And I can say, Bandai Hobby still tamer for their premium release tha Tamashii Nation. I don't like this online exclusive too, but economy condition nowadays make them cannot produce items as same as past years. This is about efficiency and profit after all.
yes, let's compare x3 with the top populars.
Deleteand rg destiny/SF wol must be very low on demand.
It isn't just die hard friends in NA or western countries. P-Bandai totally hurt any Gundam fans OUTSIDE Japan. They need to make P-Bandai international instead of just Japan. They are just shutting themselves in a hole. HK, TW, CN all have hobbyshows/conventions, it makes no sense to have P-Bandai exclusive to Japan while making everyone else to pay extra and at the mercy of middlemen.
DeleteIf international order is that 'exotic' for Bandai, they can easily afford a 5 men crew to fill up the orders and still profit from it.
HK and TW also have access to these kits via the HK premium bandai store.
DeleteTrev its not JP only, its Asia in general for the Premium Bandai stuff
DeleteAgree with anon 11:49 i feel premium bandai is getting out of hand as a shf and gunpla fan
DeleteHow are they shutting themselves in a hole? There's a reason for pre orders. The kit production probably works one of 2 ways. 1 The distributors place a order with bandai based on their pre orders or 2 bandai pumps out a certain # of kits and the pre orders are just to reserve them. But I don't see how bandai is getting shut out when they are selling these kit. Yes the 3rd party retailers are making a little money. But you have to remember the high price is do to their shipping cost and the minimum 10% markup retailers charge. Even if there was a crew employed by bandai it doesn't mean these kit will be that much cheaper because everyone will need to pay for the internation shipping. The only way these kit would be sold to the general public at retail price would be if these kit are a general production model kit and they got rid of the online exclusive.
ReplyDeleteThe only ones making a huge profit on online exclusives are the middlemen that sell to any/everyone outside Japan. Bandai should stop being roosters and just sell the kits to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how a kit that only japanese can buy makes Bandai more money than one everyone can buy. They have to make the kits anyways, why not let everyone get a shot at them? If they sell out, then they know it's popular, and can make more.
But the Japanese IS Bandai's target consumer. They couldn't be bothered with the demographics outside their country because it's too risky and too expensive for them that way. The Crossbone series does have a following in Japan, but it's not at the same level as other countries. Especially when you compare it to giants like the SEED series or UC. While Crossbone is technically still UC, it's sort of at the "fringes" of it.
DeleteI hope Hong Li, or any other Chinese brand will clone/copy/pirate the shit of all of the on-line exclusive kits and sell them to the mass at 1/5 of the regular price. Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteGreat. The only other Crossbone aside from the Full Cloth that'd I'd buy and it's exclusive? Ya know, I'm just gonna paint a Full Cloth in X-3 colors that way I get more accessories. Not sure why THIS suit of all MS's that haven't been released would be a exclusive. Eh. Obvious pass on this guy like the Tallgeese II before it.
ReplyDeletebandai : Here exclusive you cant resist
ReplyDeleteDamn it you
I like all chaineas shopping services because they provide a lot of features in small amount.
ReplyDeleteซื้อ กระดุมไม้ ในประเทศไทย