[Baltan II]

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.

[ljacone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baltan II

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.

[bluesparrow]

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.

[ljacone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluesparrow

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!

[Baltan II]

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...

[ljacone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baltan II

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!

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.

Quote:

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...

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

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!

[ljacone]

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.

[Potato]

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.

[Baltan II]

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?

[Potato]

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).