The Waiting Game`

The amount of time between first seeing a Japanese action figure announced, to having it in your hands (especially if you live outside of Japan) can be quite astronomical.  Let's look at some examples, for figures I have personally purchased.

My first example is an extreme one: the notorious Armor Plus Kongou no Shuu from Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (or Kento of Hardrock, for you Ronin Warriors fans).  He was first seen at a figure show in February of 2011, but not released until April of 2013.  That's over two years!

Tamashii Features 2011

It's worth noting that, as Shuu is part of a 5-man team, he was announced along when his teammates were.  He was the final one to see release, meaning he had by far the longest delay between announcement and release.  Bandai could have released them closer together, however, but perhaps they wanted to wait for fans' wallets to rebound.  Whatever the reason, waiting over two years is just ridiculous.

Here's a more recent example.  S.H.Figuarts Darth Vader.  First shown at Tokyo Toy Show in early June of 2014, he just saw release a day or two ago.  About one month shy of a year between his first sightings and release.  Now, as an American collector, we have to tack on the several days or weeks for it to ship to my house.

Lord Vader's first appearance

I think this is too long.  Far too long, in fact.  The best time to release a figure is when those looking forward to it are at the peak of excitement.  The memories of opening it and first posing it will be so much more positive.  For most collectors, however, the hype for a figure spikes much earlier than a year after announcement.  By releasing them so much after-the-fact, toy manufacturers are shooting themselves in the foot.  Less excitement means less buying, and those that do buy them will remember them less fondly, hurting future business.

So, why do they announce figures so far ahead?  I have a few ideas.  Hype is also built up through cross-promotion.  S.H.Figuarts Darth Vader was probably announced when he was in order to ride the hype-train that Star Wars Episode VII is generating.  Another factor in this case is competition.  Several other manufacturers were announcing Star Wars figures at this time, and Bandai did not wish to be late to the party and come across as ripoffs.  Perhaps companies like Bandai are overzealous, constantly overestimating how quickly they can develop a figure from prototype.  

My final theory is one I really hope is untrue.  Maybe by showing off a future figure so early, a toy company can gauge fan reaction, and, if negative enough, abort a figure before it has cost too much to develop.  While this might avoid a costly failure of a figure, it also greatly seeds mistrust between consumers and companies.  Even though almost all figure announcements say something to the effect of "Display Only" (meaning the figure is not guaranteed to be made) everybody knows what the strong implication is.  If you show a figure, you are expected to sell it.  By announcing later in development, a toy company would be forced to follow through on their word.  That would require much more cautious planning on their part, however.  That means less "experimental" figure announcements.  So maybe the price of such diverse figure offerings is long wait times and the occasional canceled figure.

I'd rather receive less figures, but at the height of my excitement for them, than have more to choose from, but get them over a year later.  How about you?