[TokuChris]

Oh you kids and your lack of a business model understanding

Power Rangers popularity in the United States is booming again because of Power Rangers Samurai and to an extent Power Rangers Megaforce. Add in a nostalgia boom with the popularity of Jason David Frank and his massive advertising of his upcoming cameo, and I'd dare say that the "Mega War" could be the most watched episode in Power Rangers since the 90's.

S.H. Figuarts are created as "high-end action figures". The whole idea is that you have a figure with as much humanistic movements as possible. Just about any position you can put yourself in to, you can put that figure in to. The "Kamen Rider" SH Figuarts sell decently depending on the popularity of the character. Obviously, current Kamen Riders are not near as popular as the older ones (shoot, even going back to OOO there's plenty of "sold-outs").

Let's move to "Super Sentai". The first releases were Shinkenger, which was a very popular Super Sentai show both in Japan AND overseas with the aid of fansubs. Don't kid yourself, many Western people put Shinkenger near the top of their "Favorite Sentai" shows. What happens? Everything but the 483503498 versions of ShinkenRed are sold out and go for ridiculous amounts on Ebay.

Now let's look at something else. DekaRed. He's actually not as easy to find as you might think. DekaBlue and DekaGreen are available but for close to the $100 mark which many state just isn't worth it. DekaPink and DekaYellow are still pre-orders at various places. Why is this important to note? Because Dekaranger was SPD, which has a cult following to it.

Jetman. Another popular Super Sentai but not very watched because of lack of decent fansubs. What's the result? Red and Black often in discount bins because they're not selling.

Boukenger still pre-order so we'll see how that goes.

But don't kid yourself - SH Figuarts Zyuranger was done specifically to target the Western audience during the 20th Anniversary of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The more the retailers want these figures to sell, the more guaranteed money is given to BoJ. Remember - BoJ doesn't get your money if you buy the figure. They get their money if the retailer orders the item for re-sale at their store. So the more demand the retailers have, the more "successful" it will be seen from BoJ.

Bluefin is simply a Western distributor. They were smart and gobbled up the Western rights on this. The Zyuranger releases were intentional. To think that BoJ simply went "lalala HEY RIGHT NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO RELEASE SOMETHING WITH NO ANNIVERSARY IMPLICATIONS FOR US AND WE'LL DO THE WHOLE TEAM AND LET'S THROW IN KIBARANGER FOR S'S AND G'S!" is simply blinding yourself to the pessimistic belief that a Western audience has no influence on an Eastern-made product.