We have some more data on the recently revealed figures in the Ensemble and Senshi Forte figure series. As such this update does not introduce much in the way of news but the
official blog post has a couple of interesting details. Instead of trying to translate the entire article I do recommend running it through Google Translate yourself. Suffice it to say here, that MS Ensemble part 13 will be a Jurassic Park-style "spared no expense" one-off allowed to go deep in the red, apparently since the recent Ensemble EX figures have been performing quite well.
The most bizarre reveal of this set is that both the S-Gundam and the Xeku Eins figures were actually found to be
too large to fit in the standard Ensemble capsules. Instead, these two will come in upsized 75 mm capsules instead of the traditional 68 mm sized capsules. May I just say that could we please just get rid of the capsules altogether? I'm so tired of bent parts coming out of these bubbles and it hurts other figure lines even more. If the fancy and expensive Lunamaria and Meyrin figures from GashaPortraits will come in the regular capsules you can expect a good deal of them to have legs bent beyond salvage. I understand the nostalgia trip but pick up the cardboard box editions whenever you can...
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| The Re-GZ and the Z'Gok are planned for the Senshi Forte #11 line-up. Looking gooooood... |
Things are high stakes also in Senshi Forte. If you have followed Bandai's reveals you know that Senshi Forte #11 will feature revised skeletal structures of these figures, and you also know that they have consistently underperformed financially. While the series apparently sells like hot cake - Bandai even points out that it is popular abroad - the figures have become too advanced for their 300 yen price point. As such, the same blog entry discusses the challenges of keeping the series alive.
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| Senshi Forte Re-GZ and Hyaku-Shiki budget appearances and a reveal of the AGE-1 which is coming to Ensemble vol.14. |
The above images of the Re-GZ and the old SF #05 Hyaku-Shiki give an idea of what to expect if the Senshi Forte figures were indeed produced with a strict production cost concern in mind. The application of extra paint detail to reach the standard we've come to expect out of Senshi Forte is the main challenge in keeping the figures from becoming too expensive. However, the development lead mentions that dumbing down the palette is not an option so then the second effort would instead be to bump the price from 300 to 400+ yen, an effort they are also not willing to make just yet. The lead even admits that Senshi Forte should never have been allowed to continue when Gashapon Warrior DASH folded and it is pretty much allowed to exist for the sake of keeping the SD figure line alive. I guess no one wants to be the one to axe this long running and popular figure line.
If Bandai took a closer look at how much overseas customers are regularly willing to pay per Forte figure, I think that they'd quickly realize that Gundam collectors would happily swallow a price increase in exchange for securing the line's longevity. I don't know how it is in Japan, but I don't think I've ever had someone not react incredulously after I told them that these things have a ~$3USD MSRP. At that price point, Americans have come to expect little more than McDonalds Happy Meal toy quality.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention how many multiples I would have liked to buy if only I could get my hands on some extra Jegans, Geara Dogas, Rick Dias, GINN, etc. The way they sell Gashapon figures in sets seems to be calculated to make casual buyers spend more than they really want to. Imagine if you could just get the figures you wanted directly without all this random crap, I can't think they would go wrong there.
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