This was my third year in attendence to the Shizuoka Hobby Show. To live in the next city over from Shizuoka City is a privilege since I get to attend this event so easily each year. Please check out my YouTube playlist for my video coverage of this event!
Okay, so first thing's first: there is no Star wars news from Fine Molds. I spoke with Mr. Suzuki and he assured me that Disney's buyout of Lucasfilm has had no effect on their license. I asked about Revell of Germany and if there are any restrictions to prevent the two companies from stepping on each others' toes, and he said that Japan and germany are different markets, so it doesn't matter. They don't need to cordinate with Revell or Disney, and they canbasically make whatever they wish to. So then I went into a "little kid sitting on mall Santa's lap mode" and started babbling, "OK, so like, um, an A-Wing would be cool, and a B-Wing, and a Shuttle Tyderium, and..." He cut me off and said, "Yes, we already know waht the fans want. People want to see an AT-AT, etc. Basically, we'll make what we feel is the most feasible and will please the fans." I'm paraphrasing and I'm not th emost fluent in Japanese, but that is essentially what I understood from him.
So I will say this about Mr. Suzuki: he is very gracious and engages his customers very freely at th Hobby Show each year, and you just don't see the suits from the other companies doing this as much. This guy would be perfect working for the government, you know? My dad worked on the SR-71 Blackbird back in the day, and he had to keep a tight lip on everything. Well, Mr. Suzuki wouldn't tell me squat. He wouldn't tell me what they are considering for the next Star Wars kit, nor would he even tell me if they are currently doing anything at all for the Star Wars license. He is very protective about his stuff, so I truly respect that.
I also had the opportunity to speak with a Hasegawa rep on their showroom floor. I told him that these new Macross VF-1 Valkyries are alright and all, but what would really make my heart leap for joy would be to see Hasegawa make a kit for the VF-4 from Macross: Flashback 2012. He said that he'd like to see that, too. I said that kits of teh VF-4 are only expensive garage kits sold at Wonder Festival and such and fetch ridonkulously high prices. He told me that there have been actual discussions about the VF-4 among Hasegawa staff. I said that I am a member of an English-speaking Internet community of Macross modelers and said that I can speak with confidence when I say that if they were to release a VF-4 model kit, that they will make a lot of us happy.
Lastly, I had the opportunity to talk with a rep from Bandai who was holding an iPad-style clipboard. I told him that many in the English-speaking modeling community are hoping for a 1:72 scale Yamato 2199 Cosmo Seagull. I was pleasantly surprised to see him jotting down the memo on his digital clipboard! I told him that several people on the Starship Modeler forum have been hoping for a kit of that. I said that I am personally hoping for a 1:72 Melda's Gamilus starfighter myself, since I really enjoy starfighters the most.
Please enjoy the pictures I took of the event! Click each picture for a larger version.
Here's a bigass Ideon, all lit up! This was on display at Dengeki Hobby Magazine's booth.
Left: Tamiya employees working the checkout counter. Right: It's Opa Opa from Fantasy Zone!
Left: Hatsune Miku. Right: Nobita and Doraemon Gunpla!
Left: There were LOTS of Yamato kits on display this year. You will see plenty of pictures like this in this gallery. Right: Big huge Dragonball Z character. I don't know who it is. I've only caught a few Dragonball Z episodes in my life, and without fail every time it featured guys with spikey hair screaming at each other in a pseudo-Chinese-ish desert, while other characters walk around in heaven with halos on their head. So you want to know why I don't care for Dragonball? That is why. It's not really my thing.
The Miyazaki Mecha Modelers' Club had mostly the same stuff as last year, but Sen riding Haku was neat.
Pretty awesome decal jobs on these cars, I must say.
Right: Metal Gear Rex! I bet this must be the Kotobukiya kit.
Left: It's the big boss enemy from Virtual On. Right: The badass Dendrobium from gundam: 0083!
Hasegawa Eggplanes! The Valkyrie on the left has been modified into a Gerwalk mode. Wow!
Right: It's Caster from Fate/Extra on the PSP.
Macross & Lupin.
The Macross (ARII? IMAI? Garage kit?) and the robot from Laputa (must be the Fine Molds model).
More Macross! I recently bought the Zentraedi ships on the right. The kits are by ARII.
A Rilakkuma Prius! Model by Fujimi.
Pretty awesome Gundam stuff. The Zeong on the right is a lit model. Look for it in my YouTube video.
Video game models are neat-o. I believe the Xevious Solvalou kit on the left is the one by Wave.
It's good to see Battlestar Galactica love at the con. These are the original Revell/Monogram models, he told me.
"Michael!"
It's Tomy's Nosha Bucaming kit from Lensman!
Left: Another Lensman kit by Tomy. Right: Ah! Megami-sama matching planes.
Papercraft Star Destroyer! It's still better-detailed than the old MPC/AMT kit...
These GMs are on display every year. And inevitably, each year somebody bumps the table and they all get knocked over domino-style. D'oh!
Cute and bizarre.
Another big-ass Gundam diorama.
Left: The Balls from Gundam are now "meatballs." Right: Fine Molds Star Wars kits.
Left: The Pontiac Firebird from Smokey & The Bandit! Right: The Cosmo Zero Alpha 2 from Yamato 2199.
Left: So here is how to gay up something badass: take something like the Dendrobium and paint it up like it's ready for Easter. Gay. Right: Creamy Mami has made a comeback in recent years.
Right: The Arcadia from Captain Harlock.
Remember the guy who makes starships out of old Yakult bottles? He's at the event as always and back with more stuff!
Yamato diorama.
Left: Is this taxi from The 5th Element? I only saw it once, in the theater when it came out. I didn't care for it. Right: Here is Dorobou Hige's display table.
It may be hard to see, but the runway lights on these carriers are lit by fiber optics.
Left: Even the tip of this mecha's cannon was lit by fiber optics. Amazing.
Left: Spectacular detail on Dorobou Hige's Yamato. Right: His galactica diorama here was featured in Model Graphix magazine.
More BSG from Dorobou.
Right: this Ghost In The Shell diorama was across the way from Dorobou Hige's table.
This Valkyrie was fantastically lit. It was right next to Dorobou Hige's table, but belonged to another exhibitor.
See? I told you there was a lot of Yamato stuff this year.
Right: Check out the grumpy Doraemon! LOL!
These pictures were taken at a table belonging to a modeling club for women. Very interesting and unique stuff on display.
Right: Robot B9 from Lost In Space.
Left: Hatsune Miku NCC-1701. Right: The Yamato 2520. As you may know, I completed this model back in December.
This diorama had strobing lights to simulate the trench run. See the video for a look at this.
Here is Fujimi's Nissan March model, decorated with Kumamon.
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mail: greg -atsign- stevethefish -dot- net