As found at
http://www.robotech.com News of Macross 'DYRL?' merchandise from Harmony Gold:
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In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the classic 1984 anime motion picture "MACROSS: Do You Remember Love?" Harmony Gold and Toynami are proud to announce the release of this first special edition series of Super-Poseable figures featuring designs of the VF-1 Super Valkyrie Battroids seen in the movie.
The "MACROSS: Do You Remember Love?" Series #1 includes three different Super-Poseable Figures, each with Super/ Strike Armor "fast pack" attachments. Each figure has over 15 points of articulation that allow for a full range of awesome poses.
This set gets you ALL 3 of the following:
- VF-1S Roy Focker's "Skull Leader" Strike Battroid Valkyrie
- VF-1A Hikaru Ichijo's Super Battroid Valkyrie
- VF-1A Hayao Kakizaki's Super Battroid Valkyrie
All featuring the exclusive Skull Squadron colors as seen in the film.
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Tommy Yun's response, when questioned as to how this is possible was:
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gr-yeah, we finally got around to properly getting the license
it was something HG didn't pursue before
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When asked if the rights had been granted by Big West, or if acquired through whatever party currently holds the distribution license for DYRL? his reply was:
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gr - no big mess like that, though I won't get into it until AX04 remember, the simplest explanation is often the correct one
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Now, as you may know the rights to DYRL? and other Macross derivatives are not so clear, though all Tokyo Court rulings point to Tatsunoko/Harmony Gold owning merchandising and distribution rights to the tv series, but nothing else. It is possible that Harmony Gold and Big West have made some sort of deal. It is also possible that Harmony Gold acquired the license through questionable means, or is simply riding their previous statement that they own all things Macross outside of Japan, and are using this to push Big West into a legal situation, in the hopes of resolving the matter once and for all.
This could be very good, or very bad news for us Macross fans. Harmony Gold has been blocking all attempts to license Macross merchandise and derivatives since about 2000. Many Macross fans are not happy with Harmony Gold's treatment of the franchise, though the ability to buy legit copies of many Macross sequels, including the new prequel OVA 'Macross Zero', in addition to the Japanese toys produced by Bandai and Yamato, could win many over...if Harmony Gold pursued such an idea.
Still, until the legal wrangling, many fans will probably harbour sour feelings toward Harmony Gold until it's proven beyond any doubt that Big West did give Tatsunoko/Harmony Gold rights to Macross sequels back in the original contract for the production of the tv series.
At this point it's still impossible to tell what the situation is, I guess we'll have to wait until July for any sort of answer.