Does anyone else out there think there would be enough interest in Revell’s 1980’s line of Robotech kits to offer a limited reissue? I’d probably buy every one of the kits if they made more! The collector’s prices on ebay often go much higher than I’d like, so there must be at least SOME interest!
-Mark
I think that there is a real interest in them, but I don’t know if it’s enough to get them re-issued. I would also like to “reclaim” some of the older kits I had as a younger lad, specifically Tritoch and Nero. They were some very cool kits, but they aren’t going for as much as I thought they would. Until they may be re-released, evilbay it is to get the fix.
demono69
You should look for them under thier proper japanese names.
The first batch of Robotech models were entirely Dougram subjects. They were re-released last year and HLJ probably still has them.
The later ones were Macross and Orguss of course. There are a few Macross kits released this year but many of the great kits distributed under the Robotech monicer have never been re-released for thier original titles. The SDF-1 kits come to mind.
The stuff is abundant on Ebay. But I don’t think there is enough interest to get them re-released here in the states.
Plus if I remember correctly they weren’t hot sellers for Revell back then. I remember lots of them being greatly discounted at places that stores that sold them.
They came out when I was in college. I bought everyone I ran across. Still have several badly built ones, Commando, Aqualo, a few spider-like ones, a dual bladed helicopter transport and one that is still unbuilt is the Robot Recovery Unit, a flat bed truck used to haul broken robots.
Cool! i was never able to get the robot recovery unit. I recall there was even a factory/repair base available as depicted on the box but I never saw it in the stores. However the the fighter planes are easier to get under the Japanese names. I run across the Macross Veri-tech fighters all the time at anime conventions and they sometimes turn up at comic book stores. Actually some comic shops can order them for you.
cobywan, I have picked up several Dougram kits over the last year such as the Bromry Recovery Unit, Crabgunner, Desert Gunner and a few others. I realized early on that they were the same kits as Robotech and in much nicer boxes. There are still some very rare ones out there that I haven’t been able to get yet. For example, tonight I was seriously outbid on ebay for the “Instead” tank. I had no idea it would sell for as much as it did. The final price was $39.00.
I looked at Hobby Link Japan for Dougram kits but came up dry. Did Takara do the reissue you mentioned or did someone else pick up the license?
-Mark
I think I saw it once and bought it on the spot. It had been discounted and it was much cheaper than the times I came accross it’s Japanese packed equivalent. From what I was told even the original Japanese packed kit was actually a kit from some other mecha series that had 1/100 Destroid Tomohawk and armored battroid kits thown in to sell it under the Macross name.
The factory was re-released by Takara.
It was a limited run and still can be found on “evil-bay.” (thats too funny! I’ve picked up some really old kits pretty cheap out there on E-bay—you just gotta be patient!)
The Factory was an original Imai kit for ‘Macross’. It included a Tomahawk and Armored VF-1J. The Revell kit was simple repackage of that kit.
Imai also released a single section of the factory that did not include any mecha.
http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/models/imai/im1310-97f.jpg
http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/models/imai/im1257-69f.jpg
Takara did the ‘Dougram’, ‘Crusher Joe’, and ‘Votoms’ series.
Takara did re-release some of the Dougram line not too long ago, (You’ll note WWW. address on the newer boxes.)
Check out the models section of http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/models/models.htm to see a list of kits. Gundamhead linked to it earlier. Hasegawa has recently released some non-transformable kits in Japan on both fighter:
http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/models/hasegawa/ha65703-3b.jpg
and battroid/battloid modes
http://www.valkyrie-exchange.com/Icons/Hasegawa/hsg14.jpg
…in 1/72. If you’re a fan of the series, these are nice kits. In spite of the fact that they aren’t transformable, they are better than the old Imai/Revell kits, in my opinion.
There are some good references to the kits you’re referring to here (for nostalgia’s sake [:)]):
The japanese version(original) of the Revel Robotech and similar Kits tend to be re-released on a fairly regular basis in Japan(every 1~2 yrs).
This of course does NOT include the old IMAI Kit since the Company went bust, not sure who and if anybody bought the licenses and moulds for those Kits.
If you have a contact in Japan ask them to keep an eye open at the 2nd-hand kit shops like (Magic Box and Mandarake), also a lot of those Kits (major Robots) are still available in their Resin version or similar.
Many other shops also stock older Kits that are still marked at the original or lower price.
Got a 1/48 Terquila Gunner, 1/48 Grabgunner, 1/72 Soltic H8 & 1/72 Dougran recently via a contact of mine.
As for re-issue of those kits on a wider scale international I somehow doubt it, as Revell would have to negotiate new licences with the licence holders in Japan.
Best Option would be to get hold of some of the re-issues and than look out for the rest on online auctions and similar.
As a side-note I heard a lot of the old Lazyner Kits been recently re-issued by Bandai.
