I hope they don't. I want a new one that can wear a mantle... otherwise I sold mine for nothing.

A retool would work as well. I mean that's what they did with Ultraman, right? At least I know they retooled him to be able to hunch over some more.

As it is I am looking at an Ultraseven for about 100, which is the best price I have seen on him. And that's kinda insane... but he's Ultraseven! He's "crucial!" But that's a big chunk of change for a family man like me.

I mean, I understand why someone like Astra is so hard to find at a good price, he's a relatively minor character and all. But Ultraseven is a major character, arguably the most popular Ultra (heck, arguably the most popular Kyodai Hero), and a major player in the current Ultra stuff as the hero's father. Why the heck can't we get a nice re-release or retool of Ultraseven?

I'm happy to get Taro. VERY happy to get Taro. And I am super excited about my Leo coming in the mail. But I would have much preferred to see a revised or reissued Ultraseven than someone like Father of Ultra. As cool as Father is, Ultraseven deserves more love, I think.

No way, Ultraman is an entirely new figure.

And maybe you should look elsewhere if you want Sebun...

Where would you suggest? That's the best price I have been able to find for him. With my DVDs being delivered from Amazon today I suspect I will want an Ultraseven soon enough... ;)

Patience is a virtue. In due time we'll get a new one.

Yeah, I know. Right now I am content to have Leo in transit. Well, that and my vinyl monsters but that's another thread! :D

That was supposed to be alluding to a CERTAIN SIGNATURE which is entirely useless if I don't have him listed for sale!

I figured that was what you were alluding to, so I clicked on your signature and looked around... and then was confused, heh!

Taro is up for preorder again via amiami better grab him while he's hot!

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/det...03115&page=top

Thanks for the heads up! First preorder from Amiami for me! Woo!

Compared to the other Ultra Brothers of late, the fact that Taro hasn't been selling out nearly as fast despite being such a popular Ultraman is curious.

Is it possible that Tamashii Nations/Bandai is producing Taro in a larger number than previous Ultra Brothers? Small runs mean high prices on the secondary market, but a larger run means more yen for TN & Bandai's pockets, right?

Just a thought, anyway.

I think it's because Tamashii Nations dumped so many preorders at the same time as Taro. SHF Beast, SHF Odin, D-Arts Blastoise, D-Arts Raidou Kuzunoha, three Robot Spirits, a DX Chogokin Macross Valkyrie, SRC Grendizer... if you collect more than one of these lines your June order just ballooned considerably. I had to prioritize things myself and skip Beast and Taro for a while.

As I do not collect those other lines, I was not aware of that... good theory, sparrow. Probably more likely than mine.

Honestly though, I think about it selfishly... since it meant that yesterday I could preorder Taro with no drama (including having to register for Amiami in the process), then I say MORE ballooning orders for other collectors! More Ultra-Acts for me! :lol

That doesn't really add up.

Zoffy and Ace both had about as many releases their months as Taro does and both sold out significantly faster. Jack had significantly less mass releases than the others yet he didn't sell out faster than the other brothers (that was Zoffy). He sold out a little more slowly than Ace did.

Instead I'd buy into Bandai realizing the demand for the Ultra Brothers has been too high and bumping up production runs to keep up with the demand instead, with Taro as the newest brother benefiting the most. He's still in-stock, by the way!

Bandai shouldn't have a ton of Figuarts reissues weighing production slots down after June since the SHF 5th anniversary promotion won't be going on then, and with Ultraman and the mantle already in June, it's my hope that we see other brothers reissued in Ultra-Act after that. Zoffy and Zetton in July would be a perfect pair...

That was my thought... personally, I imagine that these high prices on the secondary market (like we were discussing with Ultraseven) for the Ultra Brothers has not gone unnoticed by Bandai. I mean, Bandai is not a company that likes to leave money on the table, and if a larger investment in the production run of Taro means they will sell more units, and make more money, I think they would do it. And Taro is a good candidate for it, as he has had a higher profile than some of the other Brothers in recent years due to his role in the films as Zero's trainer.

OMG... Zoffy and Z-Ton in the same month. How perfect would that be?! Man, Baltan, why didn't I think of that? :lol

I'd still rather have a reissue or new version of Seven than Zoffy, but either one would be welcome thanks to the premium prices they command right now.

Let me post a question to the thread: what other Ultra Kaiju would you like to see as Ultra-Acts? Personally, I would really like a Jamila, because he's such a great monster, but I think we'd be well served to have a few others as well, such as Tyrant, Chandora, or Dorako.

I'd LOVE to get a Woo in this scale as well, but he would have to have the real rooted fur, and I don't see that happening! :lol

Well, I got a chance to open up and play with Leo last night.

Right out of the package, I have to say I am very impressed. I love the way his head and face looks. Very emotive and striking. Of course a good part of that is the design from the show, but the translation to Ultra-Act went very well. The red is a nice shade and the gold trim looks nice.

Problems set in when I went to swap hands. I go to pop off his right fist. When the fist comes off, it takes part of the ball joint with it! Argh!

BUT! It is not broken off! The swivel wrist joint has seperated, and that is why the ball joint came off. The swivel wrist is a peg and hole -- the hole part has the ball joint piece on it. The opening on the wrist "sleeve" is too small to fit the round part around the hole back in, so I get my Xacto and shave it a little bit to make it bigger. The hole pegs back in and the wrist is fixed. I shaved so little off that it is hard to tell any work was done.

Need to be careful swapping hands on that side, as the swivel joint can come off, but if it becomes a problem a drop of glue should solve it. Anyway, the other hand swaps out no problem.

So posing him with the nunchucks is a hell of a lot of fun. There's a ton of different fighting stances you can achieve with him, and because the chucks have an actual (plastic) chain connecting them, the can move and hang dynamically. Right now I have him posed with the nunchucks in his right hand, hanging backwards over his shoulder, ready to whack a monster in the head.

I have not messed with the effects pieces much because I am so enamored with the nunchucks and "kung fu hands" setup I have going right now. He's ready to kick monster butt.

Overall I am really happy with the figure. The joint coming apart sucked, but it was easily fixed and the fix has not negatively impacted the toy. He looks fantastic on display and I am glad I spent the money on him.

Hi guys! I was able to secure a Taro preorder over at amiami (ugh...what an ordeal)...does anyone know whether this "distribution rights" issue involves all of the showa characters? Seems like Blue fin has no problems importing the newer Ultramans..just the older brothers/classics.

Every Ultraman character up to Taro and his parents (Ultra Father/Mother) are off-limits to Bluefin, as are the kaiju of their respective series. Ultraman Leo and Alien Magma were able to be sold by Bluefin, as are figures from all subsequent series. If ever released, Ultraman 80, Great, Powered, and the animated characters would all be similarly possible to release in the US.

So no, you're not likely to see it show up cheaper at a US retailer after having just placed your order at AmiAmi. What made it such an ordeal, by the way?

Ahh, thanks for the clarification Baltan. The reason for the ordeal is that these figures seem to sell out right away. I noticed Amiami tend to refresh their site around 8-9pm. When Taro (and a bunch of the other Tamashii) stuff came up, it said for sale soon. As soon as it went live, they were all sold out...then a few hours later it said for sale soon again at 4pm Tokyo time. I waited...and sure enough at 4pm Tokyo, the site kind of crashed (probably due to everyone logging in). I tried snagging a DX chogokin Macross, Robot Damashii Aura Battler and other Tamashii items and it turned into a Matty Collector incident (some of you guys might know what I'm talking about regarding Matty). I'm surprised I got Taro, but everything else sold out the minute they went live.

I'm guessing they were sold out on the Japanese site prior to the English site of amiami. Same deal with HLJ and hobbyssearch...(I have no clue what time HLJ usually puts out preorders...they don't seem to have a pattern like amiami does).

Oh wow, you camped out AmiAmi for Taro. I guess you didn't realize that, until this week, Taro had actually been in-stock all this time. :lol We were just discussing the curious slow sellout of Taro, despite his status as a beloved classic Ultra. I thought you meant placing an order more recently, thus my confusion.

When it comes to AmiAmi's orders, you prioritize the single most important item and rush to checkout. You can combine orders after the fact - adding everything at once is beginner's folly. If you actually had the Chogokin Macross figure in your cart, you were much further than most people ever got.

actually I did just that. I had macross in my cart (only that item). When I went to check out, it gave me a message that it wasn't able to complete the check out due to insufficient amount of item. Ugh. I had no clue Taro was in stock for that long XP

Okay, good show then, sorry you didn't make it. Again, you still got further than most people.

I'm sorry you had trouble with Taro, potato. My preorder was smooth sailing; I felt a little guilty because it went so well when I have heard the horror stories from so many others here about Amiami preorders!

No worries ijacone...I ended up being able to secure one..it just seems that securing a preorder for showa ultra-acts are getting harder and harder. What's strange is that it seems to only be an online thing. I was in Tokyo a few months ago, and while Ultraman Ace was sold out everywhere online, he was everywhere in all the major brick and mortar stores.

Emphasis mine.

Question: Who on the thread would buy Ultraman Great or Ultraman Powered if they were released as Ultra-Acts?

I'd probably get Great, but I don't know about Powered. Hmmm.

I'd get both of them. I watched Great, never watched Powered...but I like both their designs..although I do find the use of spandex a little odd...

I've never seen Powered, I have seen Great. The spandex is so kooky. The first time you see Great in action, you sort of just stare at him because "something's wrong with his suit" and then it hits you. :lol

If I could get a good price on them, I'd probably end up getting both. And they are official, appearing in the movies on Planet Ultra and all that. Given enough funds I'd buy every starring Ultra Crusader and some of the secondary ones, so it not like I am not into the line or anything, heh.

I want to say that there has been a prototype of Powered displayed at some point, but I have not heard of one for Great.

I'd rather get Jack and 80 before Great or Powered, though.

EDIT: A thought. Powered would have to come with multiple heads, huh? :lol

I know many will cry blasphemy...but I'm really looking forward to Ultra-Act Noa. Never seen the movie, but I like the design. Its a bit different, but if they get the right silver, the figure will look spectacular. I love the prototype shots they've already released.

Great is what I grew up with, so I'd jump on an Ultra-Act release of him or anything else from that series. That's the primary point of nostalgia for me for Ultraman.

Great is the only series between the two that was actually aired in the United States, so I think a lot of people would be willing to purchase Great. I would.

Since Powered is obscure even in Japan, by the same token a lot of people would be iffy about him. Which I know I am.

This is my line of thinking as well. The first Ultraman I ever saw was Great, so I would be fairly likely to buy an Ultra-Act of him.

I remember reading about Powered's series, "The Ultimate Hero," in the old school fanzine The Kaiju Review. The article was not kind to the show, and what littleI have seen of it is not all that promising. Powered himself looked good, and monsters looked great though, so it's a hard call from a purely aesthetic standpoint. The changing eye color was a nice visual distinction. But yeah. The fact that Powered was in the UGMMB movie was more a testament to the inclusive nature of the film than any amount of recognition of him as a character.

I know it would never work, but a vac-metal Ultra-Act of Ultraman Noa would be amazing to behold.

Why is that? Sorry if it's already been addressed elsewhere.

Licensing and Chaiyo.

Oh, I thought that was done and over with already. Too bad.

Nope, not at all. The Ultraseven DVD set by Shout Factory is actually licensed from Chaiyo, and would be the rumored Ultra Q set.

Yeah, there was a big hoopla over that when the set was announced... how buying the set was not giving any money to Tsuburaya, and somehow buying bootlegs was better, and all this nonsense.

At least this is not the 80s and we have access to easy toy importers so it's not THAT big of a deal (really) to get these toys. Its not easy but it's not impossibe, either.

Preordered a Brother's Mantle off Amiami... yeah just the one, not going to get carried away with the capes just yet!

Ultra-Act Ultraman Jack was released in Japan today, and pictures have started to surface.

http://hima-toy.cocolog-nifty.com/bl...ra-jack-1.html

And yes, he comes with his Specium Ray effect!

I want that Jack, can't find him anywhere at the moment, though... hrrn!