A friend just pointed out that Shfiguarts Tao Pai Pai is made in Vietnam and not in China like the rest of the others.
Maybe Bandai is experimenting with other countries' factories for various reasons:
-Costs might be cheaper than China
-Vietnamese government has offered tax breaks/other incentives to manufacture there
-Bandai is trying options outside of China to get away from reliance on one country (i.e.: if something like COVID shuts down a factory, then Bandai can focus the product manufacturing to another factory)
-The third-party/bootleg market "steals" lots of molds from Chinese factories, it's possible these entities are less prolific in other countries like Vietnam
-Distrust of Chinese government to assist Bandai is exercising Property/Design Laws in China (see above with counterfeiting/bootlegging). China is notorious for just "stealing" designs.
How's Tao's quality, etc? I passed on him.