Very well said and much needed advice for the community!!! Scalpers are ruining the hobby and newcomers are really getting shafted because of FOMO culture. Perspective is important because even the original kits from 1979-1980 are still being reprinted. People just have to remember we’re in a supply shortage, shipping logistics are a nightmare, AND demand for GunPla has never been higher. Folks just have to be patient and stop letting these fly by night, hype beast scalpers completely ruin the hobby.
Well I came from a LEGO set background prior to rejoining the Gunpla community a year ago, and if you know anything about LEGO kits, some are around for years (like the 2017 UCS Millennium Falcon), and some are only around for 6-7 months (like the 2018 Ninjago City Dockyards and Metal beards SeaCow). So I have to admit, the first couple kit purchases I had the LEGO FOMO mindset. Then I learned to relax, and just enjoy the Gunpla kits I currently have, either build or unbuilt. I could have totally got the psycho zaku verka kit I've been waiting for back in 7/2021 from a local shop here in Vegas, but I chose to get the MG EX/S 1.5 kit. Now it's a waiting game for one of the online retailers to get it.
CHRISTMAS IS COMING UP WHICH MEANS MY PARENTS WOULD PAY $300 FOR A HIGH GRADE EVEN WHEN I TELL THEM TO STOP AND DO THEIR RESEARCH BEFORE ASSUMING GUNPLA *HAS* TO BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE AND SATISFY EVERY SCALPER EVER
Thanks for making this in video format. I regularly try to explain this to people in order to save them some money. Going forward I’ll definitely be using this video.
Normally it takes about an hour depending on how their clamping system is set up the color changing takes about 20 minutes so you can be set up. While the color change being done or set up the heats on the mold will rise and would be ready to start once all the colors are set up. Bandai uses what’s called multi-color injection so you have more than one barrel and can inject multiple colors to different parts of the mold.
Great info. I'm sure there are other factors too process wise that add to a switchover of the line. Their QC seems to be great compared to some manufacturers so I have to imagine they have some more process around the switchover as well.
This is definitely very informative; especially those that are new/semi-new to the hobby. 0:48 LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW KITS ARE MADE 2:50 SOME KITS ARE NOT MADE REGULARLY A problem with the current state of Gunpla is 'FOMO'...Fear Of Missing Out. People are often faced with scalpers buying out entire stocks of kits, and selling said kits at excessively inflated prices. Some people like to resell kits; usually backlog kits that they no longer want. Resellers are fine IMO provided that their asking price is not too high. The problem is (again) scalpers and how they try to resell kits at excessively high mark up. It's fine for resellers and even scalpers to make some profit, but scalpers more often than not take this to extremes resulting in a scarcity situation outside of retail. What retailers should do is limit the number of multiples a person can buy or make a decision case by case. Of course instances where someone would attempt to buy (for example) 20x of the same kit is a pretty good indication that it would be a scalper.
For sure the FOMO is definitely real with gunpla. Then I repeat the old mantra “40 kits in the backlog, you aren’t missing anything….your life was fine before “kit X” your life will be fine after” kit X = RG Hi Nu lol
scalpers use bots to make multiple purchases at once. Look at the sneakerhead community, computer parts, etc and scalpers are going absolutely insane with how they work their programs.
Great video Nick, and thank you for it! I just want to throw in an addendum to everything you said. I've been collecting/building for 30 years, and I've visited the Gundam Base and been on a tour of the Bandai factory in Shizuoka. While demand does definitely determine what Bandai ultimately produces, there's other factors at play. The age of the kit and the mold is a major contributing factor as well. There are many older molds that Bandai just isn't proud of anymore and may be planning to tweak into a 1.5 or 2.0 release in the future, so they hold off on reprinting until those plans are finalized. Also, some older kits may have damage to the molds. While rare, there have been instances where earthquakes or other issues have damaged the mold while sitting in storage, and thus when they go to run some of that kit, they detect these flaws and have to change plans. While the molds are durable to an extent, they can wear out as well. Then there's the enormity of the kit itself that has to be taken into account. There's a finite amount of injection machines, though recently they have built another facility with more machines to help production. Perfect Grade kits are fewer, simply because it takes up more machines to make, since there's so many runners. Larger MG's like The O also fall into that category (though, they were recently reprinted for release at the Gundam Bases). Basically, it makes them more capital to print a lot of smaller kits then eat up half the production machines to make larger kits with many runners. That's why there's a much larger push for P-Bandai; smaller batches that are already paid for, as opposed to mass producing 50,000 PG Zaku II's, and hoping that retailers buy them. There's also a bit of supply chain issue right now when it comes to the raw materials for the plastic, which is why Bandai is pushing the runner recycling so hard right now. Overall though, I agree with everything you've said; there's no reason to overpay if you shop smart and are patient.
or it could be just about popularity and personal decisions at the company. they make a lot of the hg unicorn/banshee kits and they have a bunch of runners
I usually tell myself no at the 50+ range for a normal kit (I build HGs and RGs mainly). Took me a good six months having a pair of AGE-3 Orbitals on backorder from HLJ but I did eventually get them :D
P-Bandai kits get produced the same way and often do get reprints, it usually takes longer between reprint cycles, but if you wait long enough you can often get them at retail rather than paying the huge markup they can fetch on various marketplace sites.
We've just started (this is the first one, started yesterday) playing with RUclips ads and running a whole video is an option so we figured we'd try it. There is a skip button though.
We've explained it in a few other videos. For continental US we have 4 shippier tiers. You can find the full policy on how that works on our page here: mechawarehouse.com/policies/shipping-policy
Just got into gunpla and I’m looking around at prices. Very few can be purchased for about $50. You are basically handing over $80+for most MG. Anyone know when/ if prices ever drop, or what shops are best?
My grail right now is MG FAZZ Ver.Ka, MG Psycho Zaku Ver.Ka, PG Strike Freedom, PG Perfectability and the Divine expansion, PG Perfect Strike, MG Sinanju Stein Ver.Ka/Narrative Version, and MG God Gundam gold hyper mode (had the kit back in 2004, but lost it). The only two kits I've ever over paid for was MG Full Armor Unicorn Ver.Ka and MG EX/S. The ver.ka I got off Amazon for $121 last year, and the EX/S I got for $164 from a local Gunpla store here in Vegas.
Great video! Would love to learn more about distribution and acquisition of kits. I don't want to name names because I guess they're technically competition to your business but there's one store I check that always seems to have one obscure out there kit in stock that you won't see in other shops and I always wonder how they get them. Would that most likely just be them going outside of bluefin? The price is never marked up and the condition is always brand new so they're probably not just skimming eBay and reselling.
There's more than one official distributor. I've heard a shop owner say he deals with more than one precisely for this reason. Idk the name, bit there's another official distributor for Canada
Some stores, especially smaller store deal directly with some Japanese distributors and as a result are able to get some things that might not be common via the main importers
I am guilty of paying an overpriced price for the space and flight type Leo's but I just couldn't help myself and it gave me more restraint when looking at other kits that are over priced like the Hugo that just came back for 16ish they were selling them for over $50😅
I actually worked plastic injection, switching the mold was an hour maybe. It was a lot smaller of an operation but I imagine it's around that for them too.
Very well said and much needed advice for the community!!! Scalpers are ruining the hobby and newcomers are really getting shafted because of FOMO culture.
Perspective is important because even the original kits from 1979-1980 are still being reprinted. People just have to remember we’re in a supply shortage, shipping logistics are a nightmare, AND demand for GunPla has never been higher. Folks just have to be patient and stop letting these fly by night, hype beast scalpers completely ruin the hobby.
Well I came from a LEGO set background prior to rejoining the Gunpla community a year ago, and if you know anything about LEGO kits, some are around for years (like the 2017 UCS Millennium Falcon), and some are only around for 6-7 months (like the 2018 Ninjago City Dockyards and Metal beards SeaCow). So I have to admit, the first couple kit purchases I had the LEGO FOMO mindset. Then I learned to relax, and just enjoy the Gunpla kits I currently have, either build or unbuilt. I could have totally got the psycho zaku verka kit I've been waiting for back in 7/2021 from a local shop here in Vegas, but I chose to get the MG EX/S 1.5 kit. Now it's a waiting game for one of the online retailers to get it.
Scalping has been a thing in the hobby since early 2000s. Its really just people outside of Asia crying about it.
@@gunplacollector7679 lmao uh oh we got big brain over here
Well said
CHRISTMAS IS COMING UP WHICH MEANS MY PARENTS WOULD PAY $300 FOR A HIGH GRADE EVEN WHEN I TELL THEM TO STOP AND DO THEIR RESEARCH BEFORE ASSUMING GUNPLA *HAS* TO BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE AND SATISFY EVERY SCALPER EVER
doh
Thanks for making this in video format. I regularly try to explain this to people in order to save them some money. Going forward I’ll definitely be using this video.
Agreed 100%
Glad you found it helpful!
Normally it takes about an hour depending on how their clamping system is set up the color changing takes about 20 minutes so you can be set up. While the color change being done or set up the heats on the mold will rise and would be ready to start once all the colors are set up. Bandai uses what’s called multi-color injection so you have more than one barrel and can inject multiple colors to different parts of the mold.
Great info. I'm sure there are other factors too process wise that add to a switchover of the line. Their QC seems to be great compared to some manufacturers so I have to imagine they have some more process around the switchover as well.
This is definitely very informative; especially those that are new/semi-new to the hobby.
0:48 LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW KITS ARE MADE
2:50 SOME KITS ARE NOT MADE REGULARLY
A problem with the current state of Gunpla is 'FOMO'...Fear Of Missing Out. People are often faced with scalpers buying out entire stocks of kits, and selling said kits at excessively inflated prices. Some people like to resell kits; usually backlog kits that they no longer want. Resellers are fine IMO provided that their asking price is not too high. The problem is (again) scalpers and how they try to resell kits at excessively high mark up. It's fine for resellers and even scalpers to make some profit, but scalpers more often than not take this to extremes resulting in a scarcity situation outside of retail.
What retailers should do is limit the number of multiples a person can buy or make a decision case by case. Of course instances where someone would attempt to buy (for example) 20x of the same kit is a pretty good indication that it would be a scalper.
Thanks!
For sure the FOMO is definitely real with gunpla. Then I repeat the old mantra “40 kits in the backlog, you aren’t missing anything….your life was fine before “kit X” your life will be fine after” kit X = RG Hi Nu lol
@@MJRLHobbyStuff the FOMO is real
scalpers use bots to make multiple purchases at once. Look at the sneakerhead community, computer parts, etc and scalpers are going absolutely insane with how they work their programs.
Great video Nick, and thank you for it!
I just want to throw in an addendum to everything you said. I've been collecting/building for 30 years, and I've visited the Gundam Base and been on a tour of the Bandai factory in Shizuoka. While demand does definitely determine what Bandai ultimately produces, there's other factors at play. The age of the kit and the mold is a major contributing factor as well. There are many older molds that Bandai just isn't proud of anymore and may be planning to tweak into a 1.5 or 2.0 release in the future, so they hold off on reprinting until those plans are finalized. Also, some older kits may have damage to the molds. While rare, there have been instances where earthquakes or other issues have damaged the mold while sitting in storage, and thus when they go to run some of that kit, they detect these flaws and have to change plans. While the molds are durable to an extent, they can wear out as well.
Then there's the enormity of the kit itself that has to be taken into account. There's a finite amount of injection machines, though recently they have built another facility with more machines to help production. Perfect Grade kits are fewer, simply because it takes up more machines to make, since there's so many runners. Larger MG's like The O also fall into that category (though, they were recently reprinted for release at the Gundam Bases). Basically, it makes them more capital to print a lot of smaller kits then eat up half the production machines to make larger kits with many runners. That's why there's a much larger push for P-Bandai; smaller batches that are already paid for, as opposed to mass producing 50,000 PG Zaku II's, and hoping that retailers buy them.
There's also a bit of supply chain issue right now when it comes to the raw materials for the plastic, which is why Bandai is pushing the runner recycling so hard right now.
Overall though, I agree with everything you've said; there's no reason to overpay if you shop smart and are patient.
Some great insight here. There are a ton of factors that go into the decision I'm sure
or it could be just about popularity and personal decisions at the company. they make a lot of the hg unicorn/banshee kits and they have a bunch of runners
It feels immensely personal every time you mention sizeable backlogs being unnecessary.
haha, I'm not really one to talk anyway given my backlog!
4 grail left for me, MG Sinanju Stein Nar Ver, Mazinger Z, Grendizer, and Mazinkaizer
Cool kits
I usually tell myself no at the 50+ range for a normal kit (I build HGs and RGs mainly). Took me a good six months having a pair of AGE-3 Orbitals on backorder from HLJ but I did eventually get them :D
Always worth being a little cautious if the price seems above the norm!
Has the MG FAZZ ever been reprinted? I know 2021 was fairly recent, but those kits are next to impossible to find now.
I don't think it has since the original release, but it'll probably come around again at some point.
This is not mentioning P-Bandai kits. I hate limited releases with a passion.
P-Bandai kits get produced the same way and often do get reprints, it usually takes longer between reprint cycles, but if you wait long enough you can often get them at retail rather than paying the huge markup they can fetch on various marketplace sites.
Why is this whole video an ad for something I was watching?!
We've just started (this is the first one, started yesterday) playing with RUclips ads and running a whole video is an option so we figured we'd try it. There is a skip button though.
question: what defines your shipping price? looking for a cheap buy here!
We've explained it in a few other videos. For continental US we have 4 shippier tiers. You can find the full policy on how that works on our page here: mechawarehouse.com/policies/shipping-policy
@@MechaWarehouse thank you!
Just got into gunpla and I’m looking around at prices. Very few can be purchased for about $50. You are basically handing over $80+for most MG. Anyone know when/ if prices ever drop, or what shops are best?
I'm a bit partial to www.mechawarehouse.com ;)
My grail right now is MG FAZZ Ver.Ka, MG Psycho Zaku Ver.Ka, PG Strike Freedom, PG Perfectability and the Divine expansion, PG Perfect Strike, MG Sinanju Stein Ver.Ka/Narrative Version, and MG God Gundam gold hyper mode (had the kit back in 2004, but lost it). The only two kits I've ever over paid for was MG Full Armor Unicorn Ver.Ka and MG EX/S. The ver.ka I got off Amazon for $121 last year, and the EX/S I got for $164 from a local Gunpla store here in Vegas.
Did you get them before or after they burned you?
It takes a few hours to change a mold but you have set and color changes and cleaning of hoppers
Very educational and informative. Thank you Nick for all that you do.
Thanks Shay
Great video! Would love to learn more about distribution and acquisition of kits. I don't want to name names because I guess they're technically competition to your business but there's one store I check that always seems to have one obscure out there kit in stock that you won't see in other shops and I always wonder how they get them. Would that most likely just be them going outside of bluefin? The price is never marked up and the condition is always brand new so they're probably not just skimming eBay and reselling.
There's more than one official distributor. I've heard a shop owner say he deals with more than one precisely for this reason. Idk the name, bit there's another official distributor for Canada
@@isaiasvazquez5792 thank you, this is the kind of stuff I wanna learn more about
Some stores, especially smaller store deal directly with some Japanese distributors and as a result are able to get some things that might not be common via the main importers
Nick, do you know if there is an available source for misprinted runners or damaged runners from Bandai et al?
You mean to replace ones that came in damaged or to get the damaged ones?
I would actually love a video where you just talk about kits that are reprinted less often.
Great suggestion
I am guilty of paying an overpriced price for the space and flight type Leo's but I just couldn't help myself and it gave me more restraint when looking at other kits that are over priced like the Hugo that just came back for 16ish they were selling them for over $50😅
The MG The-O is being reprinted next year according to sources it seems
Please god let this happen lol
Let's hope so
Love this, very insightful video from the business end and great points on using a backlog to stay away from being scalped
Any word on 1/144 Arios or Deathscythe Hel?
no, sorry
I actually worked plastic injection, switching the mold was an hour maybe. It was a lot smaller of an operation but I imagine it's around that for them too.