Good observations all, but this brings up a point we've all discussed in previous threads (even the DBZ one), Bandai's Tamashii Nations will always focus on their Japanese market FIRST before the International one.
So while we've seen them very much widen their licenses for Tamashii Nations, they're very much grounded in what we've seen as popular not only in the Japanese market, but the Asian market as well. A lot of the releases are figures that other companies HAVE DONE or that Tamashii is looking to "compete" with. That's why we're seeing so many parallel releases.
But as Angelo pointed out, competition is a GOOD thing because the fans in the end win, and these companies "do more" so they can "one-up" each other.
Medicom has had an interesting rollercoaster with highs and lows. I remember that they were the premiere "anime-centric" 12", 1/6-scale figures (Real Action Heroes - RAH) early on but their quality eventually led them to self-destruct. I think that line still exists, but it releases few-and-far between and isn't a threat to Hot Toys, ThreeZero, 3A, etc. Seems like they were able to continue along with success thanks to their "sustainable" collection series like Kubricks, Bearbricks, VCDs, and now MAFEX.
