>>6463975I think Bandai doesn't know what to do with Pokemon. I think the big push for them was getting to sell Pokemon in the West, which Tomy wouldn't allow it for various reasons. Max Factory and Goodsmile worked around that by being Pokemon Center exclusives. Meanwhile, Bandai can't seem to find an out. I'm guessing they don't see profit in selling Pokemon SHF with giant set pieces to get them across the Pacific like with Marvel stuff.
So, I think Ash and Team Rocket are meant be a "reboot" of the line, turning up that nostalgia up to 11. However, these releases are barebones because I assume they're worried about repeating low sales. So they gave these productions small budgets. If they fail like Mega Blaziken or Pikachu did, they won't suffer as huge a loss. Such a shame though, since Ash could have come with a separate Pokeball, an open Pokeball, and a Pokedex on top of what he already came with.
The thing is I think they could succeed if they wanted it hard enough. They have an advantage over Max Factory after Max jumped to Gen 7. Bandai could just keep hitting those 90s beats, releasing Gen 1 Trainers and Pokemon. That's another thing: the Pokemon. Of the two, Bandai is the only one willing to do actually Pokemon so far apart from little guys they can package as accessories to Trainers. Do something like the Zukan line but blow it up to 1/12. Justify doing certain Pokemon based on Trainers related to them, now that you have them.
But Bandai prefers to behave like an alcoholic parent to their children after having "failed" what was meant to be a big break. They'll tend to them sometimes, but those kids mostly won't exist to them. Whatever.
