Thanks

On 29/03/2017 at 2:55 AM, Hawkstrike said:

So how is Star Wars perceived in Japan?

I'm interested as I've come across a great (or at least, what I think is great) Star Wars figure collection: Takara Tomy's Metakore Star Wars figures. About 3", mix of metal and plastic, nice weight, good detail. There are about 30 figures released; you can get some via Amazon, and a few more via Japanese shops on eBay.

What I've found interesting is the particular choice of figures. Rather than be heavy on the heroes of the movies, the collection seems to be heavy on figures wearing helmets. There are like 4 figures with normal human faces (Luke x2, Rey, Han); everything else is a droid, stormtrooper, or something else with covered (or nonhuman) face. In the most recent Rogue One-related release, the closest to hero figure is K2-SO (no Jyn, no Cassian, etc), but there are two variants of Death Trooper plus Sandtrooopers.

Since I assume their collection choices are driven by what would sell best in Japan ... what's that say about Japanese Star Wars fans? Preference for robots or things that could look like robots (stormtroopers)?

Curious...

You should never have asked. What has been seen cannot be unseen...

I give you bishounen Chewie.

On 03/04/2017 at 2:17 PM, Conandoodle said:

OP: I lived in Japan for 5 years and can say that SW culture isn't quite as big as it is in the west. The Japanese are very loyal to their own industry/IP which is quite admirable. Yes, Bandai makes some awesome SW kits .. but go to any toy store and you'll see that the Gundam kits outnumber SW kits 100:1. That's not to say SW isn't huge over there (there's a SW expo at Nagoya Castle right now), just not as big as it is here.

This was my experience too. It may have changed a little with Star Wars but Gundam is as traditional as samurai.