SHF Star Wars

EnigmaticClarity said:
Right now shipping from Japan is costing about as much as the figures themselves so I'm hoping Yoda gets delayed. BBTS and EE never listed him as far as I know we're all probably just screwed on getting Yoda. 😭

Anyone know why all of the SHF figure releases recently are all Japan exclusives? Some sort of licensing issue perhaps? I mean, it's quite strange because Bandai is making English-language specific versions of the figures with packaging and instructions in English, but then they're only selling them from Japan. So they're planning for a foreign audience that it seems like they're not actually supposed to be selling to, but they know that audience buys directly from Japan to get them.

And somehow BBTS has been selling these "excliusive" figures after release anyway. I always wonder how they're getting them--are they just buying a ton from the Japanese retailers and selling them here? I really don't get it at all.

I'm now afraid I won't be able to get General Grievous when he releases, although I guess we can always wait and see what BBTS manages to get their hands on.
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I believe Bandai is blocked from selling and advertising Star Wars figures (outside of Movie Realizations which is their own scale and interpretation of the IP) within the US, but they may be able to sell them in other countries, including English speaking ones.

SHF never displays their SW figures at US comic cons because of this.

I think it was back in 2018 or 19, they were going big on displaying prototypes at their international cons. Speculation was that they were trying to get into the US market, so they were really showing off what they could do. The license was up for renegotiation around 2020 apparently, so it would make sense. Hasbro was able to secure the license again though and almost immediately after SHF's Star Wars output dried up to absolute crumbs. Whether this was because they were shut out from the US again, or because the franchise itself has had some hits and misses, is anyone's guess.

There was a brief time they tried to get around Hasbro's block with Marvel by releasing deluxe sets of MCU figures in the US. For instance, they packaged Doctor Strange with a giant fire flame effect and sold him at Barnes and Nobles past the $100 mark. But it wasn't a hit. I think there is something about clearing the $100 mark in the license, where you are outside of a compete clause. I was reminded of this with Mondo's Ghostbuster figures.

As for how does BBTS get away with selling them? I'm not entirely sure. They seem to be the only US store that sells them. My guess is they are a loss leader and that they sell them for little no profit, in exchange for getting people in their ecosystem. But this is conjecture.
 
So SHF Yoda is in stock at most Japanese retailers now. I have him pre-ordered from 2024 at both Amazon Japan and AmiAmi, but neither of them have contacted me at all about my pre-orders.

I get that with AmiAmi, sorta. They still have US shipments shut down, but I would have still thought they'd contact me to say they're holding him until they resume shipping since that's what the announcement on their home page says they're doing for US buyers. With Amazon Japan I have no idea what's going on. I don't know if they're shipping, and they've told me nothing about my order.
 
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The hands are a bitch to move around. They either fall out or feel like they're too tight and going to break. The walking stick is keyed to fit into his hand only one way and it's so tiny that I can't tell what way that is.
End of complaints.
The cloak shouldn't work, but it does. It's the perfect material with just-right gauge wires. It's fluffy out of the box but I got it to lay naturally without much trouble. The sleeves are maybe 2-3 threads too long, but that's being pedantic.
Articulation in the lower half is great. Arm articulation is fine, probably as good as could be reasonably expected. Ball-jointed hands and feet with the ball being on the hand/foot and not the leg/arm. Good range of movement on the hands and feet. I don't know if it's because of that design or in spite of it.
I wish he had an unlit saber hilt.
 
BumblebeeScuba said:
Amazon JP must be paying the duties on old preorders.

Similar numbers on my invoice: 7,555 subtotal; 3,119 shipping; 10,674 total
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I was curious so I tested it since he's in stock on Amazon Japan right now shipped from and sold by Amazon Japan. The price is 7317 JPY with a 3137 JPY shipping and a 1421 JPY cost for "import charges". That 1421 fee is about 20% of the 7317 total, so that's pretty fair without that giant overhead some of the retailers like HobbyLink Japan are charging.
 
The RotS buddies Yoda and Obi-Wan arrived today, woop. After some finagling I got Yoda's cloak hanging nicely. Weirdly, Old Ben is still somewhere in the ether. Anyway, I'll do some pics when I have time but knackered at the moment (plus Missing Link Arcee is taking up all my time because she is amazing!)
 
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