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Japanese
suppliers have started preorders for Takara's
Masterpiece MP-05 Megatron in the past couple of
days. Retail pricing is set at JPY10,000 or US$105
from NCS. A couple of Japanese toy distributors added the
following stipulation to their preorder solicitation:
As you know, there is a
Law for the toy gun in USA. Due to the Toy /
Imitation Gun Laws, it is illegal for any business
or individual to import the MP-05 Megatron because
it does not have a blaze orange safety tip on the
end of the barrel.
We will modified the
Megatron. We will glued a orange tip to the
exterior surface of the barrel, covering the
circumference of the barrel from the muzzle end for
a depth of at least 6 millimeters according to the
Toy / Imitation Gun Law.
Since different suppliers sent the same exact text,
we're guessing they got it from a single source. Other than the Namco Guncons we imported a few years
ago, NCS hasn't dealt with toy guns in any other capacity
so we looked up the "Imitation Weapon Safety Act"
which states the following:
Certain Replica, Toy and Imitation Guns
Restricted.
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer
to sell, possess either concealed or unconcealed,
use, attempt to use or give away, any replica, toy
or imitation gun which substantially duplicates or
can reasonably be perceived to be an actual gun,
including, but not limited to, toy guns that have
been altered to look like actual guns, unless:
(a) (i) the entire exterior surface of such replica,
toy or imitation gun is colored white, bright red,
bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright
blue, bright pink or bright purple, either singly or
as the predominant color in combination with other
colors in any pattern;
or
(ii) such replica, toy or imitation gun is
constructed entirely of transparent or translucent
materials which permits unmistakable observation of
the replica, imitation or toy gun's complete
contents; and
(b) the barrel of such replica, toy or imitation
gun -- other than the barrel of any such replica,
toy or imitation gun that is a water gun -- is
closed with the same material of which the replica,
toy or imitation gun is made for a distance of not
less than one-half inch from the front end of said
barrel;
Due
to the law, NCS will only import the vendor modified
version of the Masterpiece MP-05 Megatron. It's
unclear if the glue they're using will create a
super-strong bond with the gun but we're guessing
they'll be using the Japanese equivalent of Elmer's
and not Super Glue. The vendor modifications will
also potentially leave unsightly fingerprints,
smudges, and smears on the toy. Sadly, with the
current U.S. law in place, there isn't a workaround
unless Takara takes the initiative and manufactures
the toy with the orange safety tip already on the
production mold which is still a possibility.
Preorders are welcome to ship in mid-late March 2007.
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