# Green Japanese Pirate Spaceship Question??



## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

Can anyone tell me about this spaceship? The name? Brief history? 

http://www.espfilms.com/dan/pirate-space-ship.jpg

I have an opportunity to get my hands on a 1990's kit from a guy in town for $50.00. I opened the package and it seems to be in near perfect condition, all original packaging intact and no warpage on the main hull. Molding seems crisp and really nice, too. It is molded in green plastic. 

The box has all Japanese writing and I was wondering if I could even build it if I couldn't read the instructions!

Can anyone clue me as to how good the price is?

Thanks!

Kinley


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## chiangkaishecky (Oct 4, 2000)

maybe this helps
http://employees.csbsju.edu/rsorensen/modelcitizen/workbench/Anime/Harlock/arcadia_green/index.html
some outdated prices
http://www.animecollectibles.com/acnew/ac_chs_mk.php3
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/captain-harlock-arcadia-model-kit-1-1000-scale-1 ??????
maybe it doesn't
FWIW


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I thought this ship looked familiar. It's from the Space Battleship Yamato universe. Here's a link from Google:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...RCADIA&um=1&hl=en&safe=active&sa=G&tbs=isch:1


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Looks like chaingkaishecky beat me to it...


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## idMonster (Jun 18, 2003)

A little more info on Captain Harlock, aka Henlock, and the Arcadia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Harlock

Gordon


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

All I know is I have one unbuilt in great condition and it couldn't have cost me too much to buy it because I have literally zero interest in the subject...I just grabbed one somewhere. In fact I think I just plucked some pieces off the trees for greeblies...


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

Harlock is not part of any Space Cruiser Yamato story.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

falcondesigns said:


> Harlock is not part of any Space Cruiser Yamato story.


Sorry. My bad. It just reminded of the designs from that universe so I made what apparently is an inaccurate assumption. My apologies.


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## Daikaiju1 (Apr 26, 2005)

falcondesigns said:


> Harlock is not part of any Space Cruiser Yamato story.


It had the same creator though, Leiji Matsumoto, which accounts for some of the similarities.

Link= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leiji_Matsumoto

I like both series.
G


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## idMonster (Jun 18, 2003)

falcondesigns said:


> Harlock is not part of any Space Cruiser Yamato story.


Although it's possible that he could have been based on the Wikipedia entry for SCY:

"In a speech at the 1995 Anime Expo, series episode director Noboru Ishiguro said low ratings and high production expenses forced producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki to trim down the episode count from the original 39 episodes to only 26. The 13 episodes would have introduced Captain Harlock as a new series character."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Cruiser_Yamato

Take care!

Gordon


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Starblazers.com covers the vanishing appearance of Captain Harlock in good detail, with deep research.

Of course the green Arcadia *should* look similar to Yamato as Studio Nue had a hand in both.

The green Arcadia has been the 'de-facto' ship for Harlock since the 1979 Galaxy Express 999 movie. I don't think it has quite the same....soul....as the blue Arcadia from the 1978 Space Pirate Captain Harlock TV series (now available to watch as streaming video over at the Anime News Network website), but I'll give it the green Arcadia can look very impressive built up.

I have to say, $50 seems a bit high to me, it was only an 1800 Yen kit, at today's rates call it $20 USD. It was last released in 2001 and is about due for another re-pop by Bandai, they like to do that every few years. 

Now, the kit has undergone a change on the box since it's first release back in '82. For some unknown reason Bandai changed the name from 'Arcadia' to 'Captain Harlock-go'. Most of us in the fandom assume something went goofy with licensing and it doesn't matter what name is on the box, we all know what it is. 

Hobbylink Japan link to the discontinued 'Captain Harlock-go' http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN14020 

If your boxtop looks like as pictured, you've got a reissue. I'd go $30, $50 is uncomfortable to me for the reissue. If it's from the '82 run with the Arcadia box top that I might go $50 for the vague collector's value. Me, I don't collect models, I like to build them.


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## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

Thanks for all the replies, Gentlemen! This is a huge help. I won't be blowing any money on this one, nor will I spending a whole lot of time in that guy's store.


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## Darkstar (Jan 27, 2010)

Yeah, I got the green Arcadia a few years back for under 25 bucks as well but I might pay up to 50 for the Blue version which is almost impossible to find.....any cheaper that is. 

The green one isn't a bad kit, I've seen some nice build ups with the cabin nicely lit up and some great shadowing on the skull. If you can pick it up cheaper, I'd say do it. Then again, I love these type of ships! Good luck!


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## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

Darkstar said:


> Yeah, I got the green Arcadia a few years back for under 25 bucks as well but I might pay up to 50 for the Blue version which is almost impossible to find.....any cheaper that is.
> 
> The green one isn't a bad kit, I've seen some nice build ups with the cabin nicely lit up and some great shadowing on the skull. If you can pick it up cheaper, I'd say do it. Then again, I love these type of ships! Good luck!


Thanks, Darkstar!
I was initially impressed because the package was truly like new, and the molding appeared super-crisp. I'm glad I posted the question.......


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

I'll second that it's a worthwhile kit, altho oddly enough the smaller version in 1/1600 scale is actually tighter and more accurate to the design. The large one (it's supposedly in 1/1000 scale) is a bit off, but I can't recall where in specific at the moment. 

Takara released three kits of the Blue Arcadia back in '78, none of them were very good with the mid sized version (roughly 1/1500 scale) the best of the bunch, but needing some hard work to make it acceptable. All the Blue Arcadia kits go for sick money (even the really basic tiny 100 Yen 'pocket money' kit) when they show up for auction, and they rarely do.


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

Have both the large blue and green ships,as Harlock is one of my favorite characters.


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## Darkstar (Jan 27, 2010)

falcondesigns said:


> Have both the large blue and green ships,as Harlock is one of my favorite characters.


Any pics if completed? I haven't seen many blue version build ups.


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

Still in the box......


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## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

falcondesigns said:


> Still in the box......


Jeez, that's totally different. What the heck?? Weird. Not even a front scull design........???


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

The Blue one was from the TV show.Skulls are on the side and gondola in the back remains the same.This model come with lights.


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## Rattrap (Feb 23, 1999)

I think it's a matter of which one you see first. I've always liked the Blue Arcadia, while all my friends have it for the green one. Then again, I saw the 1978 series first, whereas they saw Galaxy Express/My Youth in Arcadia first. There was a fellow in Canada who did a beautiful model of the blue Arcadia, but I never had the money, and now it's out of production.


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

Alex Creations,yes he does a few Japanese subjects.I got one his Viper II's and it's a gem.


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## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

I love watching this discussion, Guys! Very cool! Love the history..........

Off topic, I grew up on LiS reruns and Johnny Socco's Robot. I saw a Japanese model of the robot recently. Very cool! Lots of extras. (bullet fingers, giant fist, etc) Another $40 bucks!!.....Ka-Ching!


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

falcondesigns said:


> Still in the box......


That's a special kit to have, no doubt about it. Takara never really did any re-pops, and once Bandai released the Green Arcadia kits in '82 the Takara kits pretty much vanished into history, similar to what happened to the Space Battleship Yamato model kits that Nomura Toy made in '78.

Eventually everyone gave up and let Bandai take over.

The thing I remember most about that Blue Arcadia you have there is the smaller models of the Bullet 1 and Space Wolf fighters. I had thought that was the only place they existed until I discovered that Takara had done a line of 100 Yen 'pocket change' kits.


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