Why is Bandai making a lot of P-Bandai Gunpla kits?

[CMagno_Freedom]

This forum post would like to try to understand as to why Bandai is making a lot of products P-Bandai lately. This forum post will be written in english just in case you would like to share this post to non-filipino speakers and just in case a non-filipino speaker would come across this post from searching google or whatever. This forum post would also mostly talk about Gundam Plastic Model Kits or Gunpla as I am a Gundam fan.

Obviously, the reason for P-Bandai's existence is money. As you may or may not know, the Anime Industry is facing a crisis. Anime might be becoming more popular and slowly becoming mainstream, but they aren't really making enough profit to survive. I have made a previous forum post about the anime industry dying (http://pinoyps.com/viewtopic.php?f=236& ... 3#p2251873), so please check it out if you don't know the situation the anime industry is currently in.

The main source of profit for the Gundam franchise is Gunpla. Bandai's current strategy with the Gundam franchise is to depend on Gunpla because the other sources of profit aren't really doing well, like DVDs and Blu-rays because of piracy. That's why they just upload some of the Gundam series on their YouTube channel, free to watch, and just add some Gunpla commercials in the episodes. They want you to get excited with the Gundams and eventually buy a kit because they are awesome and cool and the story is also cool.

With the emergence of bootleg kits, some people just buy those instead because they are cheaper. What people don't realize about buying official merchandise is that it's not only about the profit, it's also supporting the creators and a way of saying "Thank you for your amazing work, you have my support". The people who create the amazing content we enjoy also have problems and bills to pay.

Bandai is heavily depending on the die hard fans to keep buying exclusive Gundam kits to keep the franchise making profit. An advantage of P-Bandai is that they know how much they need to make and they know that profit is secured because every single one of these kits was already paid before production. With mass production kits, Bandai makes a large numbers of them just in case someone wants to buy one and stores will always have them in stock. But not all of them gets sold. They still profit from them, but sometimes they only breakeven from manufacturing costs and R&D for the kit. That is also the reason why not all kits get an MG or RG treatment. As much as possible, buy authentic Bandai kits and merchandise to support these content creators who are working really hard for our entertainment.

These are only my thoughts on why I think there are a lot of P-Bandai kits lately. These are only my opinions and no one elses. I am not affiliated with Bandai.

Comment below as I would like to know your thoughts on P-Bandai and why do you think there are a lot of P-Bandai stuff recently. If you have any constructive criticism about how I write forum posts, please do comment as I would like to improve myself. Thank you for reading this long forum post and I hope you would read more of my posts in the future.

[nayj]

Correct me if I'm wrong. Are P-Bandai kits (Premium Bandai) are those that are limited editions, and sometimes are just re-release with some modifications on them? If so, perhaps those that are branded as P-Bandai kits are just excess stocks that can't be release, and in order to sell them, they created this new product line. Why? because of bootlegs. Not much of a reactive response against bootlegs, but more of a plan B for those extra stocks. Bootlegs will always be there.

I used to buy GunPlas back then, but due to pricing I find it expensive to maintain. Did not resolve to bootlegs though. Those things are hard to build, and some parts are very inaccurate. Still I keep watch on authentic releases, and if there's a really nice MG out there, I might buy it.

[deathzero23]

^Excess stock? I don' think so. Why MG Gundam Nataku EW became a P-Bandai?
It's more of exclusivity which sucks. G-Wing collectors have no choice but to bite the bullet.
Bandai is slowly turning into a Hasbro/Mattel.

[nayj]

Might be excess stock? Rather than selling on a discounted price, they probably preferred to put it on a limited release in order for them to earn profit, instead of just having to get the cost for production, etc.. Bootlegs dealt a massive blow on them. Back then, bootlegs are very limited and sometimes are custom kits. Now, mainstream Gundams are being bootlegged.

I maybe over thinking these things. But I can't help but look at it on a different perspective.

[mkmcarlos]

I can only think of one reason... Bootlegs. I haven't seen any P-Bandai kits that has a bootleg counterpart. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

[deathzero23]

Yeah. Probably.. Bootlegs.. Dragon Momoko is hurting Bandai much. Their PG Strike Gundam beat Bandai's version. It's not a direct copy of Bandai's but DM made a major improvements to the kit. My issue with DM is plastic quality. It's not soft but not as tough as Bandai's. But that's given. Their plastic quality is next to Bandai's.

Bandai is not the only one having a bootleg problem too.
Hasbro/Takara Tomy as well.

Technical term is 3rd party but common term used to their bootleggers with improvements with Hasbro/Tak-Tom's molds but still they are considered bootlegs. Has-Tak's drive to produce the new Combiners are the 3rd party products made superior than their own.

[CMagno_Freedom]

May chance kaya na magka P-Bandai PH? Kasi meron P-Bandai HK at P-Bandai Taiwan? At mabenta naman Gunpla dito satin kahit sa mga Toy Kingdom at Toys R Us.

[darkpaladin]

Sa kahit anung hobby sakit sa ulo lagi ang mga peke. Marami rin talagang kuntento na sa peke kaya dapat ang unang supilin dito ay ang mga gumagawa ng peke.

[deathzero23]

May chance kaya na magka P-Bandai PH? Kasi meron P-Bandai HK at P-Bandai Taiwan? At mabenta naman Gunpla dito satin kahit sa mga Toy Kingdom at Toys R Us.

^Don't count on it too much. Sa laki ng patong ng BanKee Phils.sa Gunpla kits locally baka wala bumili ng P-Bandai kung magkaroon. Kung meron limited numbers or better yet, ipa-raffle na lang nila sa isang sponsored contest.

Here's the math I discovered Gunplas on Malls vs Hobbyshops:
- If ever TK or TRU put a Sale/Introductory prices on their Gunplas, it's always 150 to 250php difference vs Hobbyshops' SRP.
- One of the example is HGBF Tryon 3 or HGBF Hi-Nu VRabe kit. TK/TRU is selling it around 1800 to 2000php. You can get that kit around 1000 to 1350php on Hobbyshops. RG kit is another example. it can fetch to 2000 on Malls, in Hobbyshops it's just 1200-1300php.
- I only buy in the malls if the sale price vs hobbyshops srp is 150-200php difference.

I can't blame BanKee Phils. (local distributor of Bandai Products) coz they're paying the ff expenses:
- Shipping, tax, delivery (gasoline), manpower, shelf spaces on TK/TRU
- Aside from that may implemented sales quota yata sila sa mga tao nila sa toy stores per month.

Hobbyshops on the other hand is just paying for the ff:
- Shipping & Delivery, Rent Space (if they have a branch like in greenhills), salary on their sales personnel, Business permits / Tax (if the store is a known & established, it will be tax mapped)
- On online sellers, they're pretty safe on budget. That's why I always purchased most of my kits from online sellers

[nayj]

Sa kahit anung hobby sakit sa ulo lagi ang mga peke. Marami rin talagang kuntento na sa peke kaya dapat ang unang supilin dito ay ang mga gumagawa ng peke.

Yup. Sad thing is, it is nearly impossible to stop them.

[mkmcarlos]

deathzero23 is correct. Gunpla kits at TK / TRU are expensive compared to Hobby Stores or online sellers. Nakakainis lang sa P-Bandai kasi halos mga U.C master race units yung mga nandun. Hay...