S.H. Figuarts Star Wars

[Rogerbee]

I see, it looks like I was just unlucky. I did find it unusual as the package was way under $100. It'd be nice if it was another error and I got a refund like last time this happened (I got charged £67 when it should have been $67!), but I'm not holding my breath. Figuarts are just affordable for me, but not if I get hit like this they're not.

 

[Big Deano]

The Uks customs are alot stricter than most. I think the highest value declared before charges can be £26 or something like that. You can ask the sellers to declare tha value low and as a gift to get around it (nippon do) but some dont want to because it goes back on them if they are caught doing so.

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[Rogerbee]

So have you been hit for a Figuarts or similar? From what you say I should have been hit many times over as the vast majority of stuff I've bought over the years has been in the £30 - £60 range and I've tried to steer clear of stuff from the US as that's where I've always been hit and mainly on items over $100. It takes the edge off getting a great price when customs claw back what you've saved.

I bought Luke from a Kombini listing priced in Euros, but, the PayPal receipt was in USD, oh well, just have to cross my fingers. I'm sure it was a different depot that hit me than it was on others where I've been hit. I do wonder if the Brexit will make this situation better or far worse....

 

[Big Deano]

Oh yeah, ive been hit a few times, mostly from ebay sellers. Some on ebay will actually ADD to the value to protect themselves if it goes missing since they get more money back that way.

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[Rogerbee]

Now you tell me! LOL! It's an occupational hazard I guess. You can go for ages not being hit and then you get a rash of them. I've been hit 3 times this year. It's not going to put me off though, it's just a shame we can't get these from anyone in the UK. Ok, we might have to pay a little more, but, we'd get them quicker and the costs will have already been taken care of. I'm sure Bandai have their reasons though.

 

[Big Deano]

Now you tell me! LOL! It's an occupational hazard I guess. You can go for ages not being hit and then you get a rash of them. I've been hit 3 times this year. It's not going to put me off though, it's just a shame we can't get these from anyone in the UK. Ok, we might have to pay a little more, but, we'd get them quicker and the costs will have already been taken care of. I'm sure Bandai have their reasons though.

Sorry man [emoji14]

Tamashii do actually, they are selling figuarts through cosmic group in the Uk, its just Star Wars they cant touch here since Hasbro has the European/ American license for the Star Wars property, but yeah, Forbidden Planet sells figuarts now aswell as other stores that buy them in.

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[Rogerbee]

I just looked on Forbidden Planet and the Figuarts prices aren't bad, but, I guess you're not factoring in postage, so that could increase things a bit. I think it's a real shame that Bandai can't sort out a deal for the UK and Europe as it would see a massive boost in sales. C'est la vie! We'll just have to take our chances.....

 

[ZE_501]

It's a darn shame Figuarts is so hung up on the PT.

Especially AOTC.

I was in a similar discussion recently. The designs make great toys. I've long been a PT hater (sorry, fans) but time has given me some perspective. I still find the films nearly unwatchable -- -- but the art direction and design -- for the most part, I feel -- is the apotheosis of Lucas's original Saturday morning serial, Buck Rogers-style vibe.

This style is fully realized in the Clone Wars animated series -- it doesn't take itself too seriously most of the time, and swashbuckles shamelessly. I only recently started watching it as a guilty pleasure, and I'm tempted to buy hapless battle droids and heroic clone troopers. Uh-oh...

 

[Kunanuk]

I was in a similar discussion recently. The designs make great toys. I've long been a PT hater (sorry, fans) but time has given me some perspective. I still find the films nearly unwatchable -- -- but the art direction and design -- for the most part, I feel -- is the apotheosis of Lucas's original Saturday morning serial, Buck Rogers-style vibe.

This style is fully realized in the Clone Wars animated series -- it doesn't take itself too seriously most of the time, and swashbuckles shamelessly. I only recently started watching it as a guilty pleasure, and I'm tempted to buy hapless battle droids and heroic clone troopers. Uh-oh...

Making prequel figures at the beginning of the line is a smart plan by Bandai. If they give us the most popular stuff (OT), they would never have a chance to sell us the less-popular stuff (PT). So, this is the way to enlarge the business. In other way, the ST stuff will be limited to the close months of movie releases.
So, I bet this will be a very laaaarge collecting formula. Perhaps we'll see the main 12 characters of ANH in the year 2025. Until then, Jedis, Clones, Battle Droids, Jangos, Grievous, etc.

 

[DrewYojimbo]

Interesting thought. If that is indeed Bandai's mindset, they would definitely be in it for the long haul.

My assumption is that the prequels are popular in Japan so they are making product that would bring in the money. If it was my business that's what I would do. Why make money later when you can make more now? It's not like the lines future is set in stone with Disney or that it will forever remain popular.


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[Kunanuk]

Interesting thought. If that is indeed Bandai's mindset, they would definitely be in it for the long haul.

My assumption is that the prequels are popular in Japan so they are making product that would bring in the money. If it was my business that's what I would do. Why make money later when you can make more now? It's not like the lines future is set in stone with Disney or that it will forever remain popular.


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Yeah, that's another good theory. Maybe a mix of both is the truth.

 

[Rogerbee]

The prequels might be unpopular among us, but, we can't be among a majority in the grand scheme of things or nothing from them would ever get made. I do like the Figuarts Obi Wan, Maul and Mace and will get the figures because they are all really nice figures and were good characters despite the movies they were in.

 

[somethingbrite]

Is there anywhere in Europe selling Star Wars Figuarts or just Japan import?

 

[Rogerbee]

I don't think so, I believe Hasbro have exclusive rights in Europe where Star Wars figures are concerned. Other Figuarts can be sold in Europe, just not Star Wars.

 

[livecraig]

Based on how the monsterarts line is handled the PT is their target audience.

 

[koon]

PT prolly more popular to the kids that don't frequent forums. And those guys are just starting to get permanent jobs...

 

[Rogerbee]

To me, the PT was a moving Hasbro catalogue designed to make kids buy the figures, and, from what I can remember, it worked. The PT kids that bought them are grown up enough now to get Figuarts, so, they will be popular. What appealed to us as kids can be different to what they wanted when the PT came out and what they want now.

 

[Wally Jay Barry]

Great discussion regarding the choice of characters.

I was wondering as well why they weren't cashing in on the OT characters (Han Solo, Boba Fett) and instead doing so much PT. Good points Rogerbee & koon. I had just assumed that the OT was popular amongst everyone but I can see the rationale for the younger generation or other markets that grew up with the PT.

One thing that still convinces me that the OT is still a bigger money maker is that OT characters seem to sellout faster than the PT. Just checked amiami and HLJ and Luke is pre-sold out while Jango is still available for pre-order (I'm assuming similar production runs but could be wrong). I know Luke was released earlier than Jango but Luke still sold out relatively fast. I believe that Mace was also available throughout pre-order for a long time.

This is my first S.H. Figuarts line so I don't know what to expected, although the DBZ collectors sound like it's continuous heartache. I am crossing my fingers we get more OT characters sooner than later. Even though toy lines plan for multiple years, anything can happen and lines can be cancelled. To miss out on characters like Boba Fett and Han would be a crime. I'm also really curious how well they would do female characters (aside from Phasma of course ).

 

[Vortex]

I was in a similar discussion recently. The designs make great toys. I've long been a PT hater (sorry, fans) but time has given me some perspective. I still find the films nearly unwatchable -- -- but the art direction and design -- for the most part, I feel -- is the apotheosis of Lucas's original Saturday morning serial, Buck Rogers-style vibe.

This style is fully realized in the Clone Wars animated series -- it doesn't take itself too seriously most of the time, and swashbuckles shamelessly. I only recently started watching it as a guilty pleasure, and I'm tempted to buy hapless battle droids and heroic clone troopers. Uh-oh...

Other than AOTC, I'm not a prequel hater. For some reason I have always been able to see them as their own entity. I don't associate them with the OT at all regardless of character names. It's a separate universe as far as i'm concerned. Darth Vader is still faceless to me. His mask is his face. He is neither Hayden Christensen or Sebastian Shaw. If anything he is David Prowse under the mask.

With that said most of the designs are simply not aging into classic designs for me like the OT did.

 

[Plastic Bateman]

Wait a month for a parcel and two show up at once...

Just got Mace Windu and TR-8R. Windu's ****ing fantastic, the only thing holding him back is a very low accessory count. TR-8R, on the other hand, is a piping-hot mess of QC issues that's going back where it came from. Extremely disappointed.