gingaio

I'm on the Straight Shooters list. 

A bit of shelf-clearing. Selling my Bandai Orguss Hi-Metal R. Purchased new and displayed only in the pose shown in the pics. Never transformed or played with. Box in excellent condition. From nonsmoking, pet-free home. 

Asking $170 + shipping/PayPal fee. 

Any questions, just lmk. Thanks!

Thanks to weiser21 for a really easy/smooth transaction. Much appreciated, man!

Thanks to dafunguy for a quick, easy transaction. He sent payment quickly and the deal went smoothly. Thanks!

2 minutes ago, RedComet said:

Nobody actually got one for THIS price right? That was just them messing with us right?

They jacked it up to about $170-180 about half an hour before the listing went live, IIRC. I think I saw the price go back and forth for a while, like they couldn't make up their minds how much to mark up. 

2 minutes ago, CzarAlko said:

Yeah, so it seems like it was first in the pre order page but not a real page made yet

Thanks for the info. 

2 minutes ago, Nerd-linger said:

Wow surprised I scored at HLJ. Even got my confirmation email. Over 1 hour of hitting F5 after the supposed preorder time actually paid off. 

So it seems HLJ started actually accepting orders a short time after the listing popped up. Interesting...

Just curious...what happened with HLJ? It looked frozen once the listing came up. Did it just start working normally 20 minutes later or something like that? 

27 minutes ago, gulan said:

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B08C3GRZ4P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

go go go

 

If it didn't carry the risk of infecting you, I would totally give you a hug and a kiss right now, man. Thank you!

I was watching another site so intently--and given that AJ usually lists things hours after the official start, and given that they didn't even offer Hikaru 1S--I didn't even think to watch AJ until later. 

And I didn't even realize I had been logged out...barely made it. Thank god I remembered my password. 

To commemorate the last horror show (VF-1S Hikaru), I watched the newest Friday the 13th while waiting. Not sure what I'll put on tonight. 

45 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

So it costs almost as much as one of the Metal Build Evas, has less detail, fewer accessories, less diecast, but better articulation and more anime-accurate.

I'm good with my Metal Builds.

It's almost twice the size of a MB and is a more literal, as opposed to overly stylized, interpretation of the design. If I liked the Rebuild look, I'd go for it. I still might.

I'd much rather have something like this based on the TV designs, though. 

27 minutes ago, crackpot said:

DAMN IT! SOC Voltes V is tonight also?!

Hilarious. Bandai didn't think tonight would be hard enough for us, so they're going to throw in a DX SOC that most of us have been waiting, what, two decades for? 

13 minutes ago, VF-Zer0S said:

Haven’t checked but is the pre order tonight?

It is for some limited-edition My Little Ponys. But nothing Macross-related. Nothing at all...

2 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

...Explain why they still haven't shipped my VF-4. It was 6 weeks between when when it released and when service to the US was suspended. That's 6 weeks where they didn't ship it out.

 

Either they sat on it, or they oversold their stock and were waiting to get more in. For 6 weeks. In either case it's frankly not good business, moreso when their communication with the customer is so abjectly terrible.

I had a similar experience with NY. Years before the pandemic, they sat on some old, in-stock HMRs for about 3-4 weeks. I even messaged them to make sure they were in stock, and they were. Never got a good explanation for why it took nearly a month between payment and sending of toys. 

Never again with that place--haven't been tempted to consider them again, even for preorder nights. And these days, no single business is indispensable for getting our stuff.  

2 hours ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

I will likely have to pass on this coming pre-order madness.

While my mom's surgery and radiation therapy are now over, she is still experiencing some weakness and lack of vitality due to the lingering side-effects of the radiation.  She also might have incurred some skin cancer due to the aforementioned radiation therapy (will be seeing a doctor in 2 weeks to get that looked at).  Mom is now on chemo therapy (which has its own slew of side-effects), and will be for quite some time.

Given her current health and my need to help care for her, I unfortunately doubt I can attend Thursday night's event.  (sigh)

However, I do hope that everyone here on MWF will be able to get their VF-1S pre-orders in successfully! 

Good luck everyone!

- Shizuka the Cat

 

All the best to you and your mother.

1 hour ago, 505thAirborne said:

It looks like the old Gakken toy crossed with an Imai kit.

That's pretty much why I want them. 

Forgot that Yamato had released an 02 and the C.L.A.T. repaint. 

But probably the 01. Secondary market prices are a bit insane, so it may be difficult to procure one unless Yamato reissues this. 

Not looking anymore. Thanks!

If only DX valks were this easy. 

Psst...https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SH712ZH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm just in awe of the people who managed to snag BOTH the 1S and Dairugger. Ballsy move.

I only had time to go after one. 

If this were the Roy 1S, I would have no problems paying the Iron Price for it. 

Nah, I appreciate the discussion. To me, BOTH the behavior and results are similar. NY's actively interfering with its own sales to jack up the price, often cutting people off midway through their ordering process to hold back stock, just as scalpers interfere with collector's access to the items by simply snatching them up.

Anyway, I'll stop on that topic.

Looks like I'll be keeping an eye out for a 1S (and Strike Parts) when I head to Japan later this year. Hopefully, I'll find something in the 25,000 Yen range or less. 

8 minutes ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

If NY is going out there and buying up all of the other shops' inventory on PO night only to resell and jack up the price, then they are the same behavior as scalpers. 

If they are taking their inventory allotted to them by Bandai and choosing to do a wave of pre-order competitively lower than anyway and then introducing second and third waves much higher, that is called capitalism.  It's not the same.  An MSRP is a suggested retail price.  The only way to drive down price is to increase inventory in an open market.  If NY had competition at those inventory levels where several other shops were selling the same amount or more quantity cheaper, then they would remain low cost.  As it stands, that doesn't appear to be the case.  Bandai needs to spread the inventory around in a more competitive fashion in this scenario.  It becomes an issue at distribution.

How is scalping not part of capitalism or not intrinsically capitalistic in nature? It's not illegal. My point wasn't the semantics of it (so yes, it's not technically scalping), but just that they're essentially similar behavior. NY is intentionally holding back stock to inflate the price, frequently cutting people's orders midway to do so; they're actively interfering, just as scalpers do. 

4 minutes ago, beatsing said:

NY isn't using a different marketing strategy.  I just described their behavior in a prior post; it's not different from the many ebay resellers.  It would have better made items to collectors if it sold it upfront at MSRP like the others did.  But since they've decided they want to play the scalpers game, they aren't providing it to collectors, but selling it at a high mark up to the collectors with the most cash and are willing to pay.  I think there are other fans "who really want it" too, but can't afford it - buying a set of these with the parts is a smartphone, or a student's rent.  

NY does have other items that don't sell as fast - they set the scalper price too high, and they eventually lower it to reflect "actual" market prices.  

Again, scalper behavior is not the open fair market, and it is not endorsed by competition laws in the First world markets.  Just because they get away with something doesn't make it legitimate.

I'd have to agree with beatsing. Sometimes, people justify NY's behavior, but NY's doing the exact same thing a scalper does, just with a lot more inventory and with wholesale purchasing costs (i.e., they're making more than a scalper does). When you're jacking up the price minutes after listing it, it's essentially just scalping with a storefront. Either that or you'd have to say scalpers are just 'doing business.' 

I'm fine with either terminology. It's just part of our capitalist world. But you can't really have it both ways, as far as how you think about NY. 

7 minutes ago, beatsing said:

How many peeps are returning these toys?  I think most would keep it even with a minor defect.

Thanks.  That extra $50-100 is probably trivial.  It's probably not worth our time and sleep.  

It can add up though.  That's another HMR.  Or the Strike pack itself.  

Ahem you guys' wives must be cool about scalping.  

My wife actually told me again--after seeing how wrecked I was this morning--to just pay the mark-ups and get to bed at a reasonable time. As you get older, health becomes way more important than saving a few bucks.

That and my toy collection is pretty small, especially with Macross. I'm definitely small fry compared to some of the more hardcore collectors. By the time I retire from collecting--and things like PO Madness are making retirement come sooner than later--I'll probably have no more than 3-4 DX valks, assuming Bandai makes the ones I really want. Given that, I really only need to pay a mark-up on a few items, and that'll be it for me. That's why to me, it's not such a big deal. 

I think we should put the brakes on the Amazon panic for now (as regards our preorders getting cancelled). Again, it's a stock explanation that's been given before for other toys and other toy lines. 

2 minutes ago, beatsing said:

now I'm conflicted.  I really like the Strike parts and DYRL.  But I don't have the valk.  If I order the parts, what am I going to do with them?  Or should I hold off until I get a valk?

What are the odds of me scoring a valk at MSRP?  I refuse to feed the scalpers. 

 

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but if I were in your position, I'd just find the most reasonably inflated price--barring NY, which I hate--and just be done with it. Assuming I wanted it that badly. 

I'm already prepared to pay mark-ups for the remaining few valks I want, in case things go south. 

Scalpers/profiteers are just part of the landscape now, along with retailers who are more than happy to gouge us just as badly. To me, if I can't get it at retail, I'm not gonna waste more time out of my life debating whether or not to get something I really want. That extra $50-100 or whatever it is is trivial compared to my time and sleep. 

IMO.