>>10577124there's a lot of things that Bandai do in order to be able to sell their gunpla very cheaply compared to other brands.
1.)cram as much parts possible in 1 runner. Molds are still one of the biggest cost in making model kits. injection moulds of plastic model kits can cost upwards of $1 Million and more. This is also the reason why Bandai makes a lot of variation that basically reuses runners and parts to reduce tooling costs. that's why pretty much other model kits makers still use their old molds and just sometimes crank a few details in the mold (Airfix still uses their molds since the 70s and just edited the molds)
2.)unlike other companies, Bandai knows that Gundam does sell, and therefore sometimes rely on multiple printing of model kits to recoup the costs. that's why their other non-gundam model kits are priced higher than the usual Gundam equivalent because they will never reprint those kits as much as Gundam (I think those Star Wars kits haven't seen any reprint lately, along with Pacific Rim). Pic related, despite VF-1 is an iconic robot, and sell really well, VF-1 model kit has not yet seen a reprint.
unfortunately, as Bandai try to pursuit to make Gunpla as cheap as possible to sell, there are many downsides.
1.) only popular MS gets kits. there's a lot of crying about no MG G-Self, wondering why there is no MG Barbatos Lupus/Rex when MG Barbatos is already there, which is 90% parts needed to make Lupus/Rex already there. But data shows that despite G-Self and Lupus/Rex are popular, their HG/FM kits didn't do so hot, so its a huge risk to make MGs of them.
2.)Bandai's complete aversion of pricing their model kits too high to their detriment. Bandai has made some dubious decisions regarding choosing which robots to make model kits because their aversion to make model kits of robots that are popular but will surely be pricey. they have completely botched some model kits because they have no confidence in some MS selling well in high prices.
