by the fans for the fans

I talked to a friend of mine who owns a collectible toy and comic book store in San Francisco and he updated me on the status of the Light Artillery Battlepod. Seems its release is now "indefinite" as there is no longer a release date or even a projected release date. Why? Lack of enough preorders to justify production. Guess enemy mecha really isn't popular and repaints are even less popular. Hopefully, this won't affect the Officer's pod or the new VF-1 variants which still also lack a release date.

Remember that huge clearance sale Bigbadtoystore.com had on Macross toys last? Seems that sale was due to getting slapped with a C & D by HG and the site no longer carries Macross imports.

Thus, with the Mospeada line failing in Japan and unless a company in Japan is willing to cut a deal with HG for distribution rights, looks like our wallets are getting a big break. Thanks HG

ps99041 wrote:

I talked to a friend of mine who owns a collectible toy and comic book store in San Francisco and he updated me on the status of the Light Artillery Battlepod. Seems its release is now "indefinite" as there is no longer a release date or even a projected release date. Why? Lack of enough preorders to justify production.

thats a bummer.

ps99041 wrote:

I talked to a friend of mine who owns a collectible toy and comic book store in San Francisco and he updated me on the status of the Light Artillery Battlepod. Seems its release is now "indefinite" as there is no longer a release date or even a projected release date. Why? Lack of enough preorders to justify production. Guess enemy mecha really isn't popular and repaints are even less popular. Hopefully, this won't affect the Officer's pod or the new VF-1 variants which still also lack a release date.

That sucks. I had kinda already figured this was going to happen and the money I had planned to spend on the Officer's Pod went to something else.
Wonder if this will push up the price of the Matchbox Officer Pods which occasionally show up on ebay.
IMO, Toynami is too greedy, they should have sold a very limited number of each battlepod variant then put their big push into a basic and DYRL battlepod with an interchangeable weapons pack for each one.
What's up with all of the VF-1 variants? I understand the ones based on main character mecha and some unique mecha like the elintseeker and super ostrich, but the stealth and low visibility vf's? And do all the DYRL versions really sell enough to justify producing them?

Remember that huge clearance sale Bigbadtoystore.com had on Macross toys last? Seems that sale was due to getting slapped with a C & D by HG and the site no longer carries Macross imports.

Don't they carry Mospeada imports as well, what about them? I'd say something else about this but the thread would probably get a visit from the delete button.
Did anyone notice that it looks like bigbadtoystore.com won't be carrying the Toynami Betas anymore?

My wife thinks HG and their licensees want Robotech stuff to fail so they can keep using it as a tax write-off.

Here's the way I see it. Without anything really keeping Robotech in the limelight then the interest for toys is nill. Yes people can announce a LAM but until something actualy happens, no one other than fanboy/ladies will care. Given the age of Robotech without anything new, fans tend to scew older. All this combines to make a small if not profitable market for RT toys. Further complicating the matter is that the Macross issues have caused the Macross fandom to dwindle. Yes there are vocal people on all sides and in the middle, however without "true" access to macross stuff that is not imported, and without something to keep Robotech fresh in peoples minds.....the market for both franchises dwindles a little more every day until, in a few years people move on to other things. Nostalgia only works when it is capitalized on.

Comics are a shrinking medium, downloadable books such as sci-fi and by extension Robotech have been bought by everyone who will buy them already (mostly) and are niche, collectible toys are too. Next time you go to Wal-Mart and walk the isles, notice all the toys (for boys) are things that are current. Transformers has a new show, G.I.JOE has a new show, Power Rangers never ends, Marvel toys because of shows and movies. To prove this point notice how many fewer D.C. comics based toys are on shelves compared to Marvel.....aside from maybe Batman.

Robotech toys are not viable now nor will they be UNLESS the franchise is made viable again. Only way for that to happen is to air a new series either a continuation or a remake. if it is in a western style like Voltron character designs....a lot of people will only feed the negativity.

This is why I can't understand why McKeever says they're making money off Robotech toys as obviously they profit from the licensing fees but if you can't get enough preorder interest to produce a product how profitable is it? And then you have certain fans saying "Robotech is Back!" but you can't find it unless you look really hard.

BUMMER TOO.

COULD GO ON AND ON.. BUT ECONOMY REALLY HURTING A LOT OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND.

Richardmvela wrote:

Further complicating the matter is that the Macross issues have caused the Macross fandom to dwindle.

Huh? Really?

Gubaba wrote:

Richardmvela wrote:

Further complicating the matter is that the Macross issues have caused the Macross fandom to dwindle.

Huh? Really?

I think he's referring to Macross fans in the US as the number of fans in Japan, for example are dramatically increasing with each release. I don't think I'd say the number of US Macross fans are decreasing though the number isn't becoming dramatically larger due to lack of access; not everyone is gonna go online to find stuff.

I am referring to stateside fandoms only. Just because Macross fan communities are vocal, without an influx of legitimate material the fan bases here don't grow. Yes there are people who will pay for imports and who are will to pay $100 plus for items in shop however the common anime fan is not. Without any exposure the fanbases grow older and smaller over time.

Even if you're referring only to U.S. fans, I can state pretty confidently that Frontier brought in quite a number of new fans. The Macross fandom is significantly larger now than it was, say, five years ago.

What'll happen now that Frontier's over, though, is anybody's guess.