what i find more ridiculous than anything is that $42 dollar price tag. yikes.

Which is why I went with the Japanese release of Red Hawk as opposed to getting the US release.


Even though I haven't used all the Penultimate powers yet, without it it feels…missing

Honestly, the Akibaranger stuff isn't as inticing this time around IMO. The Chinaman head was hilarious and great and sold me on getting Ryuuranger. The A Kibaranger is cute, but it's not worth middleman prices to get IMO. The Powerful Ranger stuff was amusing, but I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get that(and since they aren't selling out it should be easy enough to go back and get them in you want to). As for Hurricanger, I haven't seen it of the Akibaranger episode they were in yet so I don't really have attachment to that stuff. Overall, these bonuses just don't feel as awesome as the Penultimate Cannon stuff was.

Wait Red Hawk got a US release?
WHY!?

A few reasons:

One, the box art is supposed to be different. People don't know (or in some cases know but don't want to know) Sentai. Therefore, Akibaranger accessories and the like are worthless to them.

Another thing is, by supporting Bluefin, it opens up opportunities to give us releases of exclusives we might not get without paying an arm and a leg for.

Another reason is, some people just don't feel comfortable (or allowed by their parents) to shop online at places that aren't reputable. Ami-ami is great, but to the casual fan it's a no-name store and even more so to a parent who is edgy about online purchases anyway.

I don't really see the big deal, it's just trying to get the same toys (minus an accessory or two that wouldn't really matter in the end) to a broader audience. More purchases usually mean more future releases, especially with Figuarts.



And 42 bucks isn't bad. If you've ever played with any Figuart, you'd know why the price was so high and for most, worth it.

Actually, it might have something to do with licensing issues rather then lack of interest.

If that were the case they would not have bothered releasing Red Hawk and Black Condor in North America at all. I mean whom in America outside of Sentai fans will know who they are?

Thing is…I think a majority of people that follow Bluefin and buy Figuarts from them already know what Sentai and Toku is.

When was there news of new box-art outside of the Zyurangers? I must've missed that, but that doesn't mean you're not getting less.

Also, could somebody verify to an Australian how Bluefin releases these guys? From my understanding the only ones that were in toy stores were ShinkenRed and Gold, the other Bluefin releases aren't common to people who aren't looking for them. I think the collectors that will go for Figuarts wouldn't be ignorant of the existence of Sentai and even if they were, if they know the Power Ranger enough to buy a high-end collectable of them, they'll be able to tell by the box who it is.

That's fair enough.

What? Amiami is one of, if not THE, most popular, famous and reputable stores for Japanese collectables. It's hardly "no-name" to fans interested in import items.

I think I have enough Figuarts to know that, because most of us, including myself, pay far more then that for the exclusives and rarer figures. I never said it wasn't worth it.

Also, I'm talking about us: who know of both Sentai and Power Rangers, making the conscious decision to choose a neutered release over a release that costs pretty much the same and you get it earlier, with everything its meant to come with. Obviously, when I said "choose Bluefin over the Japanese release" I meant people that knew both existed. Otherwise, they wouldn't be choosing anything over anything, because they wouldn't know about the Japan-release. I understand supporting Bluefin, but I think it'd be better if they brought over the figure for you in its entirety, I just hate knowingly missing out on stuff, but other people are different. I'm not saying its a bad thing or a "big deal", I just, personally, don't see why people make that choice if they know how easily accessible the un-neutered release is.

That'd explain that pretty well.

So with all these Bluefin announcements, can we just assume all the posts will be "Cool, but I'll get it from Japan" Blah blah blah?

Infact, why don't we just throw a link to Bluefin through Twitter with all the threads and just be like "Thanks but no thanks. In fact, just go out of business already"

That's all anyone on here says anyways.

It just depends. For someone that doesn't care about that odd accessory, it's not less to them.

I said casual fan or parent who pays for online purchases. Fans who are "interested" in import items wouldn't know about Ami-ami if they're getting the same Figuarts from Amazon. I'm not discrediting Ami-ami, but I've seen people on other forums, and this one as well, stating they aren't sure they trust overseas merchants for whatever reason and would rather order from someone they know, like the aforementioned Amazon. Parents feel the same way. "Mom, can I get a figure from a website using your credit card?" "What's the site?" "Ami-ami, a Japanese based webstore" "Eh... does Walmart have it?" "No, but Amazon does" "Oh, I know Amazon, let's go with that."

That wasn't directed at you, just in general. I must have not properly copied and pasted the other guy's quote that I was referencing however.

Again, people may know about it, but not everyone is in charge of making such purchases. People will go with what they know over what they don't.

If that's what you meant, and the opportunities are available to purchase it yourself and there was a choice, myself, I'd go the cheaper route everytime, regardless if an item was "neutered" or not, unless that item was so important to me that I had to have it.

Bitch bitch bitch.

Moan Moan Moan.

Where's my damn Amazon preorder. I give no fucks about fanfic armor.