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Bandai Namco Strengthens Grip On The US Toy Market By Purchasing Controling Stake In BlueFin Distributor


JayC

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Bandai Namco Holdings announced this week that it had purchased an 80% controlling stake in the Nippon Imports, LLC, which owns and operates BlueFin, a US toy distributor that specializes in Japanese toys, collectibles, novelty and hobby products. They are known for distributing products for many companies such as Tamashii Nations and Storm Collectibles.

"The company will establish a new subsidiary named Bandai Namco Collectibles in October that will continue to operate under the Bluefin name, and will begin operations in January."

This move is said to have been done so Bandai can get it's products into the North American hobby collectibles market easier and faster than before.

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork

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Thats pretty great news, I wonder if that means the prices will go down as well.

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Good for you guys.  Hope that makes it easier to get product in. Maybe that will make ir easier for us too when buying these figures in US based stores. In my Country we have a single distributor for everything from every US company and asian ones. It's very hard to get product and the price is always too high.. 

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Well damn, this sounds like it’ll (hopefully) make even more product more readily available to the Western market. And, as a fan of Bandai product, as well as anime and such, I can definitely get behind that!

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AWESOME! I hope? I assume this will make it easier to get Bandai's imports, but I wonder if it will affect price one way or another? I've seen a LOT of newbies to the import game who wouldn't touch an import two years ago. The product from Japan is too good to ignore and American companies can't seem to offer a true collectible product for a lot of brands. 

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On 9/21/2018 at 12:41 PM, ShemShem said:

Hopefully this means it'll be easier in the Canadian toy market as well.

I feel like I always see my Canadian acquaintances snagging stuff that rarely enters into my local brick and mortar stores. But, I guess it all depends on where you happen to live.

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18 hours ago, Thinwheat said:

AWESOME! I hope? I assume this will make it easier to get Bandai's imports, but I wonder if it will affect price one way or another? I've seen a LOT of newbies to the import game who wouldn't touch an import two years ago. The product from Japan is too good to ignore and American companies can't seem to offer a true collectible product for a lot of brands. 

Import figures are usually the way to go if you want a quality product, the turn off is probably the overall price is generally triple the price of an American made figure.

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6 hours ago, LimitedEdition said:

I hate when I hear that someone say they cannot afford a import. What they really mean is they rather have three cheap soft sculpted American releases over a detailed quality import.

Well it really depends on the import, a lot of Asian companies overprice their products simply because they're greedy and they know people will pay for them, then you have to factor in shipping and the possible customs fee. But if your smart you buy from a reputable dealer who offers free shipping which there are a lot out there if you know where to look but some people are lazy and just check Amazon see: S.H. Figuarts Goku $267+$50 shipping, will arrive in 1-2 months from a Japanese seller with 89% positive feedback. This is just an example of course but there are people out there who will see that and pay it or give up altogether when if they just did a little research they could find a much more affordable option.

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The majority of Japanese import figures I go for are ‘Prize Figures’ — which are basically pvc statues — through Japanese sellers on Amazon and eBay, or once so far through Nippon-Yasan... They tend to be incredibly good quality products, for a $20-$35 price point, in most cases.

So, as happy as I am that Blue Fin is doing what they’re doing, I’ll be surprised if they actually manage to swing into the realm of my budget and/or interests. The more successful they are though, the more likely that’ll become.

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One other thing. is that some figures that american companies have exclusive selling and distributing rights will get competition. Remember when the MCU or Star Wars figures from Bandai are more expensive because they have to mandatory add effects and other stuff to be able to be sold in the US may that will also change. 

We also have to consider a possible bad said of this and Bandai could now restrict more the products that come in and prevent products from other companies that care their competitors like Good Smile and Medicom to come in. This happens here.  The single importer and distributor only brings Bandai and no other. 

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^ Yea, those are good points... If Bandai wants to, they can make it tougher for their competition to just as easily get their product through, as Bandai themselves will. I never really liked the aspect that they’d have to pad out their products with additions and exclusives, just in order to bring them over. When they’re tough to afford to begin with, then you have to pay a little more, on top of that. I mean, for those who actually have the means, I guess it makes sense. If you want something they’re offering badly enough.

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