Usually kits that are Japanes Wonderfest Specials are licensed kits that are produced to be sold at Wonderfest only - and only for the one day of W'fest.
The organizers of W'fest Japan sell the license beforehand and only for a very limited number of kits/figures. Usually the number of copies are extremely small: as little as 3-5 kits sometimes...
The advantage of these licensing deals is that the kit producer can produce and sell a FULLY LICENSED item, w/out having to spend the big bucks... I think, usually around 20% of the selling price or something like that... which, compared to getting a license here in the US is like nothing...
A friend of mine, who produces a small line of Toho/Daiei kaiju kits, was able to aquire licensing [w/ the help of some Japanese friends] for his kits to be sold at the W'fest Japan... very good experience/deal for all parties involved.
The license however is for Japan ONLY... so, ideally - the items should remain in Japan... of course - eventually, many of these limited items fall into the hands of recasters and make their way onto ebay, etc.
The Royal Guard looks nice... seems that the original came w/ a machined metal force pike? Pretty cool. Wish, there was a good/accurate 1/6 kit of the Royal Guard available... I love the elegance of that character.
NoHumorMan wrote:
I saw one of these sell on eBay some time ago... no real info on the kit or who made it, sorry, but from what I've been told: rare outside of Japan.