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This was bound to happen...gray market VF's?


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On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 11:22 PM, WaferMouse said:

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I've definitely noticed a higher than average number of downvotes in this thread. It's almost as though the people doing it think if they keep it up, we'll stop talking about KOs. In the gray market thread.

Honestly, the thing that bothers me the most is they're not even getting involved with the conversation.

Eg, Lolicon's level-headed comment gets 4 down to 2 up:

I guess we annoyed the secret cabal! :spiteful:

1 hour ago, WaferMouse said:

Seems legit. They're invested enough to lurk, but not enough to actually interact beyond pushing the red button.

If any part of this post is incorrect, I invite the downvoters to actually get involved in the thread and say so. Nothing would make me happier than for you to prove me wrong! We're all Macross fans after all, right?:friends:

Or, y'know, just downvote this post into oblivion and prove me right. Your call.

6 hours ago, Firefox said:

The ones who voted down are probably those who horde these items as many as they could and worrying the KOs will hurt their extreme profit. :spiteful:

Don't get me wrong, sirs. I'm not worried actually. ;) The only way I'm going to get worried for this downvoting is that if I'm losing pennies everytime I get a downvote. And since it's not, these people who I'm sure benefits a lot from all the infos and PO sale links that we all posting here can downvote me all they want. Peace! 8)

 

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I think China is starting to crack down on their flagrant IP violations.  Apparently the US was a strong violator as well until we started producing our own IP then suddenly we started frowning on such theft.  China looks like it is following the same path.  

https://newsroom.hasbro.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hasbro-trademark-rights-upheld-criminal-case-involving

So my current guess is that KOs in China will likely be okay for the near term future, but will become increasingly difficult to make in the intermediate to the long term as China continues to grow in power and more companies win lawsuits like this over there.

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The IP infringement cases are after the identical mainline releases. In the Law for infringement the item has to “confuse” consumers with look a like product that can’t be distinguished by the common consumer. They are going after the exact replica knock offs, like the KO MP’s that are near impossible to tell the difference. It’s a lot harder to sue over character likeness and ideology of character figures. 

 

My Guess is, not much will change, there will still be upsized KO’s in the future, and 3rd party figures will still be able to create niche figures. Just the exact copy knockoffs will eventually get sorted out. Also, they literally only got 3 guys who were using Molds off the clock to make the Ko’s. It’s. Perverbial grain of sand on the beach. Good for Hasbro though.

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On 1/7/2019 at 2:17 AM, no3Ljm said:

Don't get me wrong, sirs. I'm not worried actually. ;) The only way I'm going to get worried for this downvoting is that if I'm losing pennies everytime I get a downvote. And since it's not, these people who I'm sure benefits a lot from all the infos and PO sale links that we all posting here can downvote me all they want. Peace! 8)

 

Probably just the kiddies who grew up on social media that thrive on likes and thumbs ups and such and believe everyone else is like them so they think downvotes might get us to be quiet or something. Who knows what their goals are.

Regarding KOs, VF-1s I'm not particularly interested in as I have all the variants I wanted from Yamato/Arcadia. Maybe if I needed one for parts, but even $150 is a bit steep for that. Show me a KO PF 0A or 0D and I'll be very interested...

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/9/2019 at 12:18 PM, aaajin said:

If they ever release 2 seater variants KO's (1D, VT, VE), I'll buy them in a heartbeat. But I guess they'll focus on milking the mold for now..oh well, I can wait.

Same goes here. I wonder why they choose the all so common model, instead of those and the VF-31A.

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1 hour ago, Firefox said:

Most people have the popular models, in multiple copies. The two seaters and 31A are not in production and still have good demands. They are releasing 31J in August, one can wonder how long it will take to release 31A. By then the market has moved on.

The safe answer is they have to test the KO market first with the popular birds rather than the obscure one and move forward from there. ;) 

 

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It's also worth remembering that reading the forums gives a very skewed vision of the Macross figure market. Most people, probably even most fans, don't have multiple copies and aren't here on the forums discussing and anticipating the various releases. Even I don't have multiple copies of anything. Characters sell toys, otherwise Bandai would just be pumping out random transforming jets or trawling the Master Files for inspiration, instead of paying for licenses.

People see the hero jets and that's what they want. AWACS, VTs and "boring" CFs, or weird rare colours are firmly the purview of collectors, not the mass market.

Also, most of the value of these rare pieces is applied on the after market, and a third party wouldn't want to further risk legal attention by charging inflated prices. We might say "damn, I'd give an arm and a leg for a purple Elintseeker" but a third party doesn't want to get busted for organ trafficking.

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4 hours ago, Firefox said:

Most people have the popular models, in multiple copies. The two seaters and 31A are not in production and still have good demands. They are releasing 31J in August, one can wonder how long it will take to release 31A. By then the market has moved on.

Hard to imagine the market moving on from the 31A at the moment! :lol: Am still hoping everyday for a 02 and then arad's 31A!

And if, there will also be a generic 01??.....

Sometimes i feel like slapping bandai upside down for making us wait so long, but then i remember its all abt the $$...

Edited by seti88
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34 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Thanks.  Ordered a set.  Also got a new user $3 off discount so it came out to $33 shipped.

$43.13 for me, because I used the $3 new user discount and the $10.13 faster shipping with tracking information.

I just did not feel as comfortable going with their free, no tracking info option.

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Let me know when they manage to clone the Delta VF-31A Kairos  .... Damn you Bandi & Nippon-Yassan!

 

Actually, weren't there some KO weapon sets with the reactive missiles and what not?  Are those still only on Taobao or have they show up else where?

Edited by jodokast
derp
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1 hour ago, Pulltoeject said:

Negative. They do not.

I am looking for a set of options parts too. Wonder if they will sell a set of those as extra. anyone have contact in China that can help set this  up?

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12 minutes ago, kkx said:

I am looking for a set of options parts too. Wonder if they will sell a set of those as extra. anyone have contact in China that can help set this  up?

This all depends on how much you are willing to pay for those parts.  I mean, you can always try to contact ShowZstore and ask if they can sell just the option parts for you from their KO-vf-1 roy.  But you will also have to offer a good price for them to do so.

maybe if you offer them $40, they will do it for you.   B))  

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On 1/26/2019 at 9:52 PM, Shizuka the Cat said:

$43.13 for me, because I used the $3 new user discount and the $10.13 faster shipping with tracking information.

I just did not feel as comfortable going with their free, no tracking info option.

Their free shipping turned out to be EMS shipping with tracking.

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27 minutes ago, F360 said:

This all depends on how much you are willing to pay for those parts.  I mean, you can always try to contact ShowZstore and ask if they can sell just the option parts for you from their KO-vf-1 roy.  But you will also have to offer a good price for them to do so.

maybe if you offer them $40, they will do it for you.   B))  

I have just ping them about this, didn't mention any price yet, just asking if it is possible.

$40 shipped is not too bad, will see what they say. Maybe it is not possible at all.

-kk

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4 hours ago, levzloi said:

Does anybody have any idea if the KO Strike parts come with option parts?

 

The seat and hatch are available on Shapeways. Haven't seen the chest covers though.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/XY5DJFFEB/vf-1-option-part-battroid-ingress-egress-hatch

https://www.shapeways.com/product/Q4PHCQLNH/vf-1-option-part-battroid-access-1-seater

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45 minutes ago, WaferMouse said:

I bought the side covers from Shapeways back in 2013. Probably the artist removed it from his catalog that's why it's not available in Shapeways anymore.

 

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10 hours ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

Really?  I wish it said that on the AliExpress website, rather than saying that it has no tracking info. 

*sigh*

If you just use the cheapest shipping every time, you end up with the same thing in your hand and never run into that problem. ;)

I get it though, just saying. 

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