The latest Gashapon news...

Alongside Converge, Mobile Suit Ensemble continues to stand strong. We have several new announcements on the Gashapon blog today. First out is the reissue of the very first retail set, which should be a welcome announcements for people who jumped on the train along the road. While you can still find some of the figures on the secondary market occasionally they are currently priced in the 2500-3000 yen bracket. Considering also that you may want to get a couple of the RX-78 figures to build and display the various G-P.A.R.T.S. configurations that you can build from the set. I expect these to sell like hot cake. The lead designer writes on the blog [as translated through Google]:

"イベント会場での限定販売でもない一般商品で行列ができるなんて普通あり得ないですからね・・・。5年たった今、シリーズが続いていることも、同じ値段で展開していることもすごいことですが、それだけこのシリーズが多くの人に愛されているという証拠でもありますね。この10年で値上げ・タイトル変更・仕切り直しなどがないシリーズはこれだけじゃないでしょうか？ちなみに、このシリーズ、もともと人気高かったですがシリーズがある程度円熟してきているにもかかわらず13弾以降ずっと伸び続けているちょっと異例なシリーズなので、まだまだ成長中という恐ろしいコンテンツだったりもします。"

"It's usually not possible to have a line with general products that aren't limited to sale at the event venue. Five years later, it's amazing that the series continues and that it's available at the same price, but that's proof that this series is loved by many people. Isn't this the only series that hasn't had price increases, title changes, or repartitions in the last 10 years? By the way, this series was originally popular, but even though the series has matured to some extent, it is a little unusual series that has continued to grow since the 13th bullet, so it may be a scary content that is still growing."


What follows next is a really strange paragraph where the corporate claws come out for all to see. Consider the following statement:

"ここで、少しだけネガティブな話もしておきたいのですが、モビルスーツアンサンブルは弾を追うごとに伸びているまだまだ成長期！なブランドです。最近は出荷もかなり増えてきており、ユーザーもどんどん増えてきている状況で海外でも大人気になってきており、ブームと言ってもいいくらいの非常によい状況ではあるのですが転売等々の的になったり、それに伴うトラブルもちょこちょこ見受けられるようになってきております。一部状況に関してはそろそろ看過できないなという部分もあるのでそのあたりに触れておきたいと思います。

MOBILE SUIT ENSEMBLEはカプセルは大量生産、高価格品もPBでなるべくご予約いただいた方すべての方が手に入るように生産キャパをしっかりとって～という形で転売等がなるべく成立しない生産環境を整えて展開しております。その中で通常弾のマシンによるカプセル販売以外の転売（詰め替えによるセットや袋単位での転売）が非常に目立ってきており、それによるトラブルも増えてきております。

バンダイとしての通常弾の公式な商品は「ガシャポンマシンによるカプセル販売」「箱売り商品のネット・店頭販売」のみとなっております。カプセルに関してはカプセルマシンでの販売品として各版権元より権利許諾を得て販売しており、商品卸先の代理店様へもマシンでのカプセル展開のみで販売をお願いしております。中身をばらして販売したり、セットにする、袋にまとめて売るといった弊社の想定・許諾外の販売とそれに付随したトラブルが増えているため、ここでアナウンスさせていただきます。

ここで、少しだけネガティブな話もしておきたいのですが、モビルスーツアンサンブルは弾を追うごとに伸びているまだまだ成長期！なブランドです。最近は出荷もかなり増えてきており、ユーザーもどんどん増えてきている状況で海外でも大人気になってきており、ブームと言ってもいいくらいの非常によい状況ではあるのですが転売等々の的になったり、それに伴うトラブルもちょこちょこ見受けられるようになってきております。一部状況に関してはそろそろ看過できないなという部分もあるのでそのあたりに触れておきたいと思います。

MOBILE SUIT ENSEMBLEはカプセルは大量生産、高価格品もPBでなるべくご予約いただいた方すべての方が手に入るように生産キャパをしっかりとって～という形で転売等がなるべく成立しない生産環境を整えて展開しております。その中で通常弾のマシンによるカプセル販売以外の転売（詰め替えによるセットや袋単位での転売）が非常に目立ってきており、それによるトラブルも増えてきております。

バンダイとしての通常弾の公式な商品は「ガシャポンマシンによるカプセル販売」「箱売り商品のネット・店頭販売」のみとなっております。カプセルに関してはカプセルマシンでの販売品として各版権元より権利許諾を得て販売しており、商品卸先の代理店様へもマシンでのカプセル展開のみで販売をお願いしております。中身をばらして販売したり、セットにする、袋にまとめて売るといった弊社の想定・許諾外の販売とそれに付随したトラブルが増えているため、ここでアナウンスさせていただきます。"

"Here, I would like to make a slight negative story, but the mobile suit ensemble is still growing with each bullet! Brand. Recently, the number of shipments has increased considerably, and the number of users has been increasing, and it has become very popular overseas. It is a very good situation that can be called a boom, but it is a target for resale etc. It is becoming more and more common to see troubles associated with it. Regarding some situations, there are some parts that cannot be overlooked, so I would like to touch on that.

MOBILE SUIT ENSEMBLE mass-produces capsules, and secures production capacity so that all those who have made reservations for high-priced products as much as possible can get it. We are developing. Among them, resale other than capsule sales by normal bullet machines (resale by refilling set or bag unit) is becoming very conspicuous, and troubles due to it are increasing.

The only official products of Bandai's regular bullets are "capsule sales by Gashapon machine" and "online and over-the-counter sales of box-selling products" . Capsules are sold on capsule machines with permission from each copyright owner, and we ask distributors of product wholesalers to sell capsules only on machines. We are announcing here because there are an increasing number of unanticipated and unlicensed sales such as selling the contents separately, making them into sets, and selling them in bags, and the troubles that accompany them. Please note that Bandai cannot provide support for purchased items other than the official sales method.

There are some people who are reviewing products as if they were purchased from regular distribution, such as "wholesale sales", but each distribution sells products as products for sale on machines. There is no such sales method on the legitimate route . We do not support such products for sale.

We are receiving more and more inquiries, such as when you purchase one bag, only a few MSs are included, or because a specific lineup has been removed, so we would like you to replace it, but please understand that we cannot respond. We kindly ask that you do not purchase any resale items other than the officially sold items.

This kind of sales method has a greater impact than the act of reselling so-called over-the-counter purchases , and it clearly damages the series, sales floor, and distribution. For example, we do not allow resale, but if an individual reseller buys up, the goods sold at the store will flow to the store and then sold and digested, so profits will be generated at the retail store as well. I am. Of course, because it is profitable, retailers do not narrow down orders, but purchase and develop products after considering measures, etc., and if sales are strong, we will increase the number of purchases for expansion. On the other hand, when it comes to reselling sets and bags like capsules, it is an act of seriously rounding each sales floor and sucking up all the shares of agents and retailers who replenish the products. Yes, if this becomes rampant, each agency and retail store that is seriously developing will have to reduce the purchase quota and the expansion at the store. It will also affect the expansion to rural areas and detailed sales floors. There are some parts that we have not dealt with, and there are environments where we have not completely crushed them, but we do not accept any resale activities as Bandai, so we purchase from the official sales method so that many people can enjoy the product. I would appreciate it if you could."


I will stay my tongue this time, but I think that Bandai might do well to consider the plight of their would-be customers, especially those poor sods overseas that they do not care about... :)


Moving on, we do have a couple of interesting new releases on the horizon. First out is EX36 which is a planned double pack containing the GP02A Physalis and the Xamel. This will be a great release and I am hopeful we will see these crop up in Converge +Plus before long too. We also have a teaser picture of the Full Armor ZZ Gundam with no further comment, perhaps we can see a FAZZ too?


Stardust Memory is currently making waves across all the figure lines. While I have mixed feelings of the same figure being released more or less in parallel across Converge, Mobile Suit Ensemble and Senshi Forte I won't complain as long as the series keeps going. Speaking of Senshi Forte, turns out the series hasn't given up the ghost quite yet:

We already saw the Wing Gundam Zero and now Senshi Forte 15 will feature the Wing Gundam together with the Gundam Epyon. It will be interesting to see if they manage to squeeze in a Leo into the mix. Apparently work is already underway on Part 16 as well, so let's hope the series will stay alive.


Lastly we are reminded that pre-orders for Mobile Suit Enseble EX35 closed today... I wasn't even aware of it being a thing. I really wish you wouldn't havre to thrawl through multiple sources to find release information. The figure itself is one of those massive Advance of Zeta designs, the TR-6 Queenly. I hadn't heard of this design before but it looks to be recycling parts of the TR-1 Gigantic Arm Unit figure from last year.