Bumblevivisector wrote:Is the joke within the joke that in Korea, "Gundam" has come to mean ANY large robot, be they mecha or sentient, due to bizarre international copyright issues allowing the term to be slapped on random knock-off toys indiscriminately?
So if like me, you just can't hear "Gangnam" as anything but "Gundam", no matter how hard you try, just keep telling yourself what Gundam means in Korean, and it's actually funny again instead of jarringly inappropriate!
What are you talking about? I live in Seoul, not in Gangnam, that is too expensive, and I don't see what you are talking about. Gundam is a seperate entity from all other robots in Korea, both legitimate and knock off. Bandai has a strong foot hold in Korea and I frequent the Bandai stores regularly. There are Gundam stores (Gundam Base) here that sell nothing but Gundam products. Yes, there are some Gundam knock offs but they are the only ones that get called Gundam.
It is true that there are many knock off products in Korea, I have bought quite a few myself in the Dongdaemun area but they are not labeled or considered Gundam. The Transformers related knock offs are all aimed at Transfomers fans, which is weird because Transformers aren't big business here. They also have their own series based on Hyundai cars, transforming trains but they are aimed at the younger child. Those products, the ones from Korea don't normally get knocked off. Most of the ones you find here are actually from China.
That said, I was able to buy TFP Takara Breakdown, Vehicon and the clear FE Optimus Prime in Dongdaemun. there is also a store there that has official products on severe discount still in package. I paid less than $10 for a lot of Galaxy Force toys and even got Beast Wars Big Convoy for less than $10. Armada Megatron set me back $6. These were all brand new in box.
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:27 pm
I love to see transformers doing crazing stuff like this.......Win!!!
