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Uuuuuuuhhh no.
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May 15, 2015 02:42
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Bimmi posted:Uuuuuuuhhh no. Quit it with the doom and gloom then. The Master Grade line isn't dying, and Gundam is doing better in America than it has in years. If you're really worried, buy some Master Grades at Barnes and Noble.
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May 15, 2015 02:51
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I might, once they get some that I'm actually interested in. And I'm just going by history, bucko. If Gundam couldn't find an audience here with TV support and a full publicity push I don't see how its chances are any better now. And I think you may underestimate just how bad discounting stock to less than 10% of its original value looks on the bottom line and elsewhere. edit: I don't want to imply that I care overmuch what happens to Gunpla at B&N or "being right' or any of that bullshit, hell I hope I'm completely wrong but it's not really going to affect me one way or another. I'm just feeling a bit tetchy because yet another kit I wanted is a MOTHER loving WEB EXCLUSIVE. edit x2: and because I missed out on $2 RGs at Barnes & Noble, ffffuuuuuuuuuuhhh Bimmi fucked around with this message at 03:50 on May 15, 2015 |
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May 15, 2015 02:55
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My anecdote is to say that the Hobbytown USA near where I live stocks gunpla, and is apparently one of its biggest sellers. Gundam is clearly entering a golden age of plamo in America.   
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May 15, 2015 03:55
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Thass cool. Whereabouts do you live? We used to have lots of good places to get Gunpla in SoCal but they all went under years ago.
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May 15, 2015 04:03
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Bimmi posted:I might, once they get some that I'm actually interested in. The two situations are completely different. Dropping dozens of loving Mandala Gundam action figures into the toy aisle at Target vs. selling a small number of clearly pre-selected model kits at specialty stores. The latter is way smarter. Warmachine posted:My anecdote is to say that the Hobbytown USA near where I live stocks gunpla, and is apparently one of its biggest sellers. Gundam is clearly entering a golden age of plamo in America. Every single comic book shop in Houston greatly expanded their Gundam selection last year. From a handful of kits shoved in a corner to dozens of kits prominently displayed.
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May 15, 2015 04:11
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Kalamazoo, Michigan. Couldn't tell you why if it is an anomaly, aside from it being a college town.
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May 15, 2015 04:12
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Warmachine posted:My anecdote is to say that the Hobbytown USA near where I live stocks gunpla, and is apparently one of its biggest sellers. Gundam is clearly entering a golden age of plamo in America. Yeah, the Hobby Town by me has seemed to be slowly growing not just it's gunpla section, but all sorts of sci-fi models like Space Battleship Yamato and poo poo.
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May 15, 2015 04:16
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Warmachine posted:Kalamazoo, Michigan. Couldn't tell you why if it is an anomaly, aside from it being a college town. Jeebus, I went to college there. It IS an anomaly, but drat if there isn't a following. Having lived in several college towns, I have no idea why it's such an anomaly. Maybe Western attendees are weird? It's not the same in other college towns. Even in Austin, TX.
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May 15, 2015 04:22
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Hobbytown used to be just about the only hobby shops around here that didn't carry robots of one sort or another. How times do change. Austin was terrible for Gunpla in 1997, dunno how they are now.
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May 15, 2015 04:24
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Bimmi posted:Hobbytown used to be just about the only hobby shops around here that didn't carry robots of one sort or another. How times do change. Both Hobbytown and King's Hobby generally carry Gunpla. King's is pretty overpriced most of the time, but Hobbytown has recently come down a bit on price, making it almost worth it sometimes, depending on the kit. They used to charge more than HLJ + shipping + tax.
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May 15, 2015 04:32
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Might as well ask since it's related to the topic of discussion, what the hell killed model kits in the mainstream in the US?
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May 15, 2015 04:32
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Warmachine posted:Kalamazoo, Michigan. Couldn't tell you why if it is an anomaly, aside from it being a college town. Go To The Old Gibson Factory Now
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May 15, 2015 04:34
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There's a local store here with a surprisingly good stock of gunpla. Haven't bought anything there yet because being a beginner and gunpla-only builder seems awkward in a store with most of the floorspace devoted to rc and model trains. Kinda surprised to see a hobbytown in my state, though it's 2 hours away in a smaller town and again every post on the Facebook page is rc, lol.
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May 15, 2015 04:35
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Where do they keep gunpla in B&N? I've checked a bunch of them in SE Michigan and I can never find them/I sound like an insane person trying to explain that I'm looking for tiny plastic Japanese robots to build to the employees.
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May 15, 2015 04:38
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BXCX posted:Where do they keep gunpla in B&N? I've checked a bunch of them in SE Michigan and I can never find them/I sound like an insane person trying to explain that I'm looking for tiny plastic Japanese robots to build to the employees. Look for the puzzles, X-Wing miniatures, etc. They should be near there. If you see Dragon Ball Z or Sailro Moon toys, they should be right there
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May 15, 2015 04:40
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BXCX posted:Where do they keep gunpla in B&N? I've checked a bunch of them in SE Michigan and I can never find them/I sound like an insane person trying to explain that I'm looking for tiny plastic Japanese robots to build to the employees. They should be by the games, puzzles, and other building toys etc. I still sometimes walk past the aisle and have to go back through the section again. VV: poo poo that's fancy. no displays at mine, just one side of those gray metal shelves with kits.
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May 15, 2015 04:41
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In a display like this
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May 15, 2015 04:41
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Picked up my first few gunpla from B&N early on, and then I learned that Robot4Less isn't far from where I live so I swing by there every now and then.
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May 15, 2015 04:51
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BXCX posted:Where do they keep gunpla in B&N? I've checked a bunch of them in SE Michigan and I can never find them/I sound like an insane person trying to explain that I'm looking for tiny plastic Japanese robots to build to the employees. They might not have them in your area. Even in Austin, they apparently are only on the south end. I checked a B&N on the north end the other week, and they still don't carry them. Gunpla at Barnes is still far from a universal thing. Lots of Legos. though, so I guess there's that.
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May 15, 2015 04:54
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boom boom boom posted:In a display like this Those are surprisingly well-posed, considering. Ka0 posted:Might as well ask since it's related to the topic of discussion, what the hell killed model kits in the mainstream in the US? Videogames.
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May 15, 2015 04:56
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Ka0 posted:Might as well ask since it's related to the topic of discussion, what the hell killed model kits in the mainstream in the US? You say that like it was mainstream in the first place, but yeah, I can remember Toys backward R US and Walmart having shelves of kits when I was a kid. Offhand I'd say that they are bulky, fragile, niche, low-margin items. It seems a little too pat but personally I think video games did a lot to move in on their space (as they did with so many other things) as they have the same target market (males age 8-35) and are basically the polar opposite in every way except maybe for requiring fine motor control (which matters not at all to retailers).
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May 15, 2015 05:01
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Midjack posted:You say that like it was mainstream in the first place, but yeah, I can remember Toys backward R US and Walmart having shelves of kits when I was a kid. Offhand I'd say that they are bulky, fragile, niche, low-margin items. It seems a little too pat but personally I think video games did a lot to move in on their space (as they did with so many other things) as they have the same target market (males age 8-35) and are basically the polar opposite in every way except maybe for requiring fine motor control (which matters not at all to retailers). Even places like Hobby Lobby and Michaels have mostly sworn the things off. At least, compared to what they used to stock.
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May 15, 2015 05:03
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Model kits absolutely were mainstream when I was a kid. Monogram car models, huge. Aurora monsters, huge. Whatever cheap poo poo Lindberg was pushing, double huge. I remember when Toys 'R' Us would have both sides of a full-length aisle devoted to model kits of every imaginable kind, and they generally didn't even carry the high-end stuff the proper hobby shops had. And they were everywhere else too, department stores, drug stores, 7-11s, you name it. It's been a long, long fall. There's a reason most of the remaining scale modelers in the US are ossifying greybeards like myself. It was a different era entirely, and only traces remain.
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May 15, 2015 05:09
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boom boom boom posted:Every single comic book shop in Houston greatly expanded their Gundam selection last year. From a handful of kits shoved in a corner to dozens of kits prominently displayed. Do tell, I'm really tired of driving all the way out to the hobbytown on the west side in the middle of nowhere
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May 15, 2015 05:13
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Suzaku posted:They might not have them in your area. Even in Austin, they apparently are only on the south end. I checked a B&N on the north end the other week, and they still don't carry them. Gunpla at Barnes is still far from a universal thing. Lots of Legos. though, so I guess there's that. I'm guessing this is the case, maybe Metro Detroit isn't ready for impulse buy gunpla. I'll just have to keep waiting for two day prime shipping instead 
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May 15, 2015 05:14
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Metro Hobbies (formerly the Victorian Hobby Center) in Melbourne has really upped their game over the last few years. They mostly used to just stock UC stuff, but now they get all the new-release stuff within weeks (instead of about 3 months later), along with the accessory stuff like the System Weapon and the Build Custom packs. Have you considered that maybe the reason some B&N stores are dropping the kits is because they don't do well in individual stores while others are having better sales?
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May 15, 2015 05:20
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chutche2 posted:I made a thing Last page, but you should sand the nubs before you snap together, and start with a higher grit sanding stick/file. When you sand pieces individually you can get much better angles to get a smooth finish. If you start with rough grit, clean up with medium grit, and polish by wet sanding with super fine grit, those nub marks won't know what hit em! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyzqjTesJ-Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJmPRnelZAY
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May 15, 2015 05:21
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Swagger Dagger posted:Do tell, I'm really tired of driving all the way out to the hobbytown on the west side in the middle of nowhere Third Planet and the Bedrock City locations on Westheimer or Bay Area Boulevard have a ton, From Bedrock City's facebook, this is their Westheimer location  The other Bedrock cities have a lot too, if not to that degree.
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May 15, 2015 05:21
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Neddy Seagoon posted:Metro Hobbies (formerly the Victorian Hobby Center) in Melbourne has really upped their game over the last few years. They mostly used to just stock UC stuff, but now they get all the new-release stuff within weeks (instead of about 3 months later), along with the accessory stuff like the System Weapon and the Build Custom packs. I don't think any Barnes and Noble location has stopped selling Gundam kits, it's just that some of them never started. And the kits that went on clearance were the old HG Deathscythe Hell Custom and Wing Zero Custom, and the RG Destiny and Strike Freedom, and that was the same at every location.
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May 15, 2015 05:24
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boom boom boom posted:I don't think any Barnes and Noble location has stopped selling Gundam kits, it's just that some of them never started. And the kits that went on clearance were the old HG Deathscythe Hell Custom and Wing Zero Custom, and the RG Destiny and Strike Freedom, and that was the same at every location. Ahhh. I'd have thought the RG's would've sold okay though.
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May 15, 2015 05:25
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boom boom boom posted:I don't think any Barnes and Noble location has stopped selling Gundam kits, it's just that some of them never started. This is my current situation; the closest Barnes & Noble is like an hour's drive away, and they have no Gunpla. 
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May 15, 2015 05:34
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Neddy Seagoon posted:Ahhh. I'd have thought the RG's would've sold okay though. It's possible they over-ordered those two, but a discount that sharp basically means it would have been more expensive to burn them. (someone in the Reddit thread mentioned passing an old lady carrying a basket full of RG Destinys only to find that she'd cleaned the place out: wanna meet that old lady)
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May 15, 2015 05:36
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Bimmi posted:It's possible they over-ordered those two, but a discount that sharp basically means it would have been more expensive to burn them. Keep in mind that those kits have been on clearance since around the end of April. They were marked down as part of the Spring toy/gift seasonal stuff, and the $2 price is what all of that stuff is since it's just taking up floorspace if it hasn't sold by now. I picked up my Destiny back at the start of that at $17, the Strike Freedom was $20 or so. So it isn't like they were just throwing the things out, they've done what every retail store does with unsold clearance.
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May 15, 2015 05:40
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Neddy Seagoon posted:Ahhh. I'd have thought the RG's would've sold okay though. They must've sold OK, B&N sells the RG exia now. Astro Creep posted:Keep in mind that those kits have been on clearance since around the end of April. They were marked down as part of the Spring toy/gift seasonal stuff, and the $2 price is what all of that stuff is since it's just taking up floorspace if it hasn't sold by now. I picked up my Destiny back at the start of that at $17, the Strike Freedom was $20 or so. So it isn't like they were just throwing the things out, they've done what every retail store does with unsold clearance. Barnes and Noble started selling Gundam models April last year, if anything it's impressive how much of the range they offer is still selling a year later.
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May 15, 2015 06:00
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Those 4 kits, I'm pretty sure, are the oldest kits they stocked. When my B&N first got gunpla in stock it was only those 4 kits plus some MG stuff.peeNamaste posted:Last page, but you should sand the nubs before you snap together, and start with a higher grit sanding stick/file. When you sand pieces individually you can get much better angles to get a smooth finish. If you start with rough grit, clean up with medium grit, and polish by wet sanding with super fine grit, those nub marks won't know what hit em! I usually start at 600 then go to 1000, 1500, and 2000. I haven't tried wet sanding though. I just use a bit of water to wipe the dust off now and then. I just didn't bother doing the whole range of it because usually when there's marks that huge it never goes away completely, didn't seem worth the effort. chutche2 fucked around with this message at 06:07 on May 15, 2015 |
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May 15, 2015 06:04
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Suzaku posted:Both Hobbytown and King's Hobby generally carry Gunpla. King's is pretty overpriced most of the time, but Hobbytown has recently come down a bit on price, making it almost worth it sometimes, depending on the kit. They used to charge more than HLJ + shipping + tax. I haven't seen anything at King's when I went half a year ago. No sci-fi models at all.
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May 15, 2015 06:08
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chutche2 posted:I just didn't bother doing the whole range of it because usually when there's marks that huge it never goes away completely, didn't seem worth the effort. That's 'cause you skipped #800, #1000 is basically one step above a polishing grit.
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May 15, 2015 06:16
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Bimmi posted:That's 'cause you skipped #800, #1000 is basically one step above a polishing grit. Fair enough, I'll order some.
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May 15, 2015 06:25
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Bimmi posted:GrrrrrrraaAARRRRGHHH (rends garment): Oh man this is exactly my poo poo  What is the process of getting a web shop exclusive anyways? Is it a crapshoot if you aren't Japanese? Are supplies super low? Does importing cost a lot?
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May 15, 2015 06:53
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