[electric indigo]

Apparently Bandai has acquired a license to produce several Star Wars kits & merchandise, as shown at the current Tokyo Toy show. The kits shown are a 1/12 posable Darth Vader kit & Troopers, and 1/72 Red Five X-Wing and Advanced TIE Fighter. Oh and Samurai Vader remix.

http://www.taghobby.com/1-0/1-2/bandai-2014年秋季發售-模型-172-「star-wars-ep-iv」-x-wing-star-fighter/

 

[chiangkaishecky]

I believe FM lost the license to Bandai

Order the Star Wars Kits by Fine Molds while you can!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152640288058072.1073742222.179756328071&type=1

 

[tuco_ilbrutto]

Posable as in "action figure"?
New tooling?

 

[PixelMagic]

Hmm, I don't know about this. Those panel lines look awful wide and out of scale. The likes of the panel lines on the 1/1000 Refit. Fine molds always did a fantastic job on their Star Wars line. I hope Bandai can keep that level of quality.

 

[JediPuju]

If the engineering of bandai's Gundam kits is anything to go by then I have high hopes!
The star destroyer certainly has my interest piqued!

 

[JeffBond]

The display says the X-Wing is 1/48...and it's mentioned that the Star Destroyer is "1/1700"...er, wouldn't that make it four or five feet long?

 

[chiangkaishecky]

...and it's mentioned that the Star Destroyer is "1/1700"...er, wouldn't that make it four or five feet long?

IIRC the MPC SD is ~15" and is ~1/4200 at 1/1700 you're looking at ~37" or ~3'

 

[Steve H]

Posable as in "action figure"?
New tooling?

I think the figures are part of the S.H. Figuarts line, roughly 1/12 scale or so.

 

[Zombie_61]

I believe FM lost the license to Bandai.

According to a post on The RPF, Fine Molds has to cease production on their Star Wars line of kits at the end of the year; which is probably when their current license expires.

My guess is that this is fallout from Disney taking ownership of Lucasfilm; Bandai makes toys for Disney, so the two businesses already have a working relationship. I just hope Bandai will maintain the level of quality Fine Molds achieved with their Star Wars kits, and that they (Bandai) won't simplify whatever they produce to make them more "kid friendly".

 

[ClubTepes]

1/1700 Star Destroyer?!?!?!?!?

I'm in.

I would have happily settled for 1/2500 as its an established scale, but this is insane if completely true.

 

[electric indigo]

According to a post on The RPF, Fine Molds has to cease production on their Star Wars line of kits at the end of the year; which is probably when their current license expires.

I just snatched a cheap 1/72 Falcon at HLJ, just to be on the safe side.

 

[derric1968]

OK, I'm seeing a bit more info on this announcement today. Bandai has the Star Wars license for Japan and they've got big plans for a wide variety of merchandise. Toy, collectables, action figures, trading cards, etc., etc.

But we're primarily interested in the model kits, so here's what's been officially announced for production this Fall: 1/12 Darth Vader, 1/72 Advanced TIE, 1/72 X-Wing.

Also on display were the Star Destroyer and 1/48 X-Wing. However, those have not been officially announced for production....yet. Bandai says, "Stay tuned!"

Those posable Vader, Samurai Vader and Stormtrooper figures that electric indigo posted above are not model kits. Those are action figures from Bandai's premium S.H.Figuarts line.

So, to be clear, there will be 1/12 scale Vader model kits AND 1/12 scale Vader action figures.

As for Bandai taking over the license in Japan, I don't see this as a step down for model kits. It's more of a step sideways. Fine Molds makes great kits, but so does Bandai. Just crack open any new Gundam kit. Amazing. The engineers at Bandai are geniuses. I've seen sprue trees in Gundam kits with 5 different colors on the same tree, and fully articulated hands molded fully assembled on a tree. Just snip them of the tree and start posing them. These guys know what they're doing.

Also, this announcement significantly increases the odds that we'll get some nice kits from Episode VII. Revell's Star Wars line is a bit too toylike for my tastes. Even if they make any Episode VII kits, they wont be nearly as nice as anything Bandai will make.

 

[ClubTepes]

1/1700 Star Destroyer?!?!?!?!?

I'm in.

I would have happily settled for 1/2500 as its an established scale, but this is insane if completely true.

I was wondering why 1/1700......
Not any of the more established sci-fi scales.

But talking to a friend, Bandai did some Trek kits
The refit, NX-01 and Voyager in 1/850.

Then they did the 'E' which was a much bigger ship at twice the scale.
Which is.......... anyone, anyone? Bueller, Bueller.......
1/1,700.
So, you'll have one other sci-fi ship in the same scale to compare it to.

I just don't understand ANOTHER 1/72 X-Wing and especially a Vader TIE so close to the recently released FM kit.

I just hope they do something new.
Like a 1/350 Rebel Blockade Runner.
A good 1/72 AT-AT and AT-ST.
How about a 1/72 Sand Crawler.
etc. etc. etc.

 

[Xenodyssey]

Oh, if only they do a Blockade Runner. It's strange that no one has up to this point as a mainstream kit.

 

[robiwon]

So it seems now that the glitter has all settled, the SD and the 1/48 X-Wing were merely there to draw attention and were not announced as actual upcoming kits. So we may possibly see them at a later date. I would be willing to guess we will get the bigger X-Wing and a smaller SD at some later date.

 

[JediPuju]

:'( party pooper

 

[shabo451]

I've collected all the Fine Molds kits (and may pick up a few more), but was always disappointed they would only release one or two a year. I can understand them testing the waters with the X-Wing and Tie Advanced (which will help in comparison when they come out), since they are perennial favorites. Personally, I'd love the Star Destroyer and see more 1/48 scale kits also, even a Millennium Falcon, though it'd be a monster.

 

[ClubTepes]

For anyone interested, here is the contact info for Bandai of North America.

http://www.bandai.com/support/contact.php

If anyone has a better contact info link for Bandai of Japan, please share it.

Sending any requests in to them certainly can't hurt.

 

[chiangkaishecky]

HLJ employee says the 1/1700 SD is coming (like the Millennium Falcon maybe it's still in use during the episode 7 era)
http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewtopic.php?t=111832&start=109

 

[PixelMagic]

EDIT Apparently some pictures are already up from the Japan Hobby Show.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.709888052398856.1073741890.191554777565522&type=3

Not sure about the accuracy. It's hard to tell. Anyone who is an expert on Star Wars ships care to comment?


A new look at the Bandai Star Wars kits. It looks like they might be shown at a hobby show in Japan this weekend from what I can make of it. Japan Hobby Show 2014? Maybe we'll get new pics from the show floor.