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Forum - View topicNEWS: Bandai's Top Franchises: Gundam, Rangers, Dragon Ball
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BenBrown
 Posts: 46 |
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I think there's an extra zero in the figures from the first couple of paragraphs.
A 4.8 billion dollar industry from selling Gundams would be pretty rocking. Though, maybe they're real gundams :O Edit: Ah I see how, I thought the 48B (yen) was in reference to the entire holdings vs the 465B overall. So the error was in fact, in my reading it. Quite impressive numbers overall. Last edited by BenBrown on Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:40 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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クリスチャン
 Posts: 11 Location: USA |
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Gundam is Bandai's baby, so everyone would expect it to be the best of all of them. But yeah, as you mentioned for an action figure market 4.8 billion is very good. Bandai seems to set "VERY" high expectations for it though.
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Emerje
 Posts: 7424 Location: Maine |
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You don't know how much I miss being able to walk into an American Toys R Us (and to a much lesser extent, Walmart and Target) and seeing a wall of Gundam kits and figures. It'll likely never happen again, but it sure was fun while it lasted.
Emerje |
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クリスチャン
Posts: 11 Location: USA |
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I completely understand what you mean. When I was a kid I used to beg my mom to get me those action figures all the time. Then went home played when them and then they were destroyed a while later. It was fun being a kid while it lasted.
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10468 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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I always find it interesting how a single company's gross sales can sometimes outstrip some of the business areas it is involved in.
Namco Bandai's Sales*: about US$4,298,390,000 North American Anime DVD Sales: US$275-300 million Japanese Anime DVD sales: about US$890 million Worldwide sales of toys, video games, anime, etc... Likewise, Dentsu's gross sales of US$18 billion show just how small it's anime business is in comparison to the rest of it's business. (note: please don't compare the Japanese and North American anime industries based on DVD sales alone. Theatrical and TV revenue are a much more significant part of the Japanese industry than they are in America.) -t |
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Shadowrun20XX
 Posts: 1936 Location: Vegas |
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Mecha just isn't as popular as it should be,that's a wall o' fun in that pic.I'm also surprised to see Tamagotchi on the list.
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Stutz
Posts: 7 |
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Interesting to see Super Sentai as number two. Of course I have no problem seeing why. Even at 24, I still think the sentai mecha was and is one of the best toys out there.
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ZeroRyoko1974
Posts: 258 |
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interesting in that the most popular shoujo Pretty Cure, pulls in half of what the most popular Shonen Dragon Ball is.
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zetsuie
 Posts: 193 |
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dragonball 12 billion yen pretty cure 10 billion yen, and I don't think pretty cure is the most popular shoujo franchise either. man do i miss the chance of buying gundam model kits in real life. I wish i could go back in time and buy the perfect grade kit forchar's custom zakuII( so pretty and red). |
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The Unknown 24
Posts: 112 |
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Gundam models and figures will always sell. I miss the days of going to Wal-mart and seeing Gundam models and toys on the shelf too.
It took them a long time to get them here. Dragon Ball seems to stay popular. Especially with DBZ coming out in dvd box sets here in the USA with the japanese audio and eng subs(and also the english dubbed version). Super Sentai will always be popular, right along with Masked Rider. Bandai needs to import more japanese toys to the USA.  
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I really miss the Gundam shop in San Francisco which had the 1/1 Gundam F-91 head and the 1/10 Zaku. I also miss the really cool Gundam murals that covered the walls.
The big misconception about Gundam in the US is that the DVDs sell horribly. If you look at amazon's best sellers over the last couple years Gundam Seed and Destiny were amongst the top (right below Viz/Jump and Miyazaki titles) best selling titles. The big difference is the merchandising which is almost non-existent in the States. Japanese fans are willing to pay upwards to 10,000 Yen for a Master Grade kit, while MG kits would collect dust at Toys are Us since they were around $40. Gundam is not a complete failure in the US, it just isn't the monster it is in Japan due to merchandising. |
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Emerje
Posts: 7424 Location: Maine |
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I'm not, that's really the last of their big franchises, everything else they do isn't quite on scale with these five. In the US it would probably be closer to Power Rangers > Ben 10 > Tamagotchi > Digimon since they're currently doing little else. Though, by the end of the year Dragonball will likely take the number two spot. Emerje |
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Dr.G
Posts: 27 |
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I wish bandai would get off their asses and release more gundam stuff here. ZZ, Victory ect.
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Emerje
Posts: 7424 Location: Maine |
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If people bought them they would. Their last major push was with G Gundam which lingered on the shelves longer than the previous releases despite the show playing at all hours on Cartoon Network. Their last run, Gundam Seed, was doomed when the show got bumped off Toonami early on and the figures ended up getting liquidated at KB Toys. Bandai does deserve some of the blame of course, they really over did it with some of the repaints and variations on the same figures plus the Battle Scared line would have been better off as an exclusive or mail-away. No, I think it'll be a long time before Bandai considers North American Gundam release again. Emerje |
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Aresef
Posts: 918 Location: MD |
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Warms my heart to see Super Sentai and Kamen Rider on that list. Heck, even in the US kids are still buying PR toys. The only ones I've bought in years are the 15th anniversary sets.
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