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IHP VB-6 Koenig Monster Re-cast Project


trueblueeyes

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THe VB-6 Koenig Monster kit....a variable monster resin kit that many of us have a desire to own. A desire we came close to fulfilling with the original planned re-cast project...but that never happened. So what can we do? We know that only a limited number of the original kits were produced for Wonderfest...making them very rare and very expensive. There are probably not enough kits for all who want one and those that are available are most likely out of the price range of many.

That said, I want to provide a possible solution....A second recast project for the kit. I do need help though...specifically two things:

(1.) Help in finding a complete original kit (Got any leads?)

(2.)A re-caster willing to take on a project of this size. ( I lack the talent and

experience needed for a project of this size and complexity)

I will of course bankroll all the costs for the original kit and the materials needed by the re-caster(s).

So who is interested and what does everyone think? Possible or pipe dream? :unsure: Please keep in mind that even a re-cast of the WF kit will most likely be expensive due to the complexity of the kit. How much? I dunno. That will be left up to whomever takes up the challenge of re-casting the kit. I'm not in this for a profit myself. Just want to make a rare and much wanted kit a little more available. So post your thoughts, rants, and constructive criticism in the thread and e-mail if you can help or are interested in working on the project. :)

Thanks,

Melissa lytemup315@aol.com

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I will of course bankroll all the costs for the original kit and the materials needed by the re-caster(s).

Hi Melissa,

Very generous of you volunteering to spear head this challenging project. Just FYI, the intitial cost when Seiichi was able to offer this Kit was @ $300+ USD. There was even a "built by Mr. Sakuragawa" version offerred for $800 USD.

I would love to see this project take off. To the best of my knowledge, we have yet to see one of these kits show up in a MW member's hands. I wish you luck in tracking one down. Put me on the list should you be able to fulfill actual orders. ;)

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The kits in that initial offer were to be original kits, cast by IHP himself, not recasts. But now that the man behind IHP is working for Yamato, the future of IHP Macross kits looks uncertain :(

But anyway, I've seen two IHP Monsters sell on Yahoo Japan Auctions in the past year or so. The last one sold for about $500 about 8 months ago.

Keep in mind, if one turns up on yahoo japan and you intend to bid on it, you'll find yourself bidding against Carl Hoff :D

A bit more info can be found here:

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=381

But anyway... if you or anyone else can help get one of those kits into my hands, I will recast it. I've always tried to avoid recasting transformable kits (sucessfully, so far) because 1) they've got tons of parts, and 2) I'd have to source all the oddball screws and other hardware they need. But for a kit like the IHP Monster, I'd definitely do it.

That goes for the D'Stance YF-21 as well :)

Edited by Valkyrie
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Hello Guys,

The next I.H.P VB-6 and D-Stance YF-21 are MINE!!! And believe me I also want to be able to help. I had a job interview last week that I didn't tell anyone about as last time I did everything fell apart but I've got a very good feeling about this one. So I'm hoping to be able to anounce my return with a vengence. I've got contacts that should be able to get in touch with D'Stance and I.H.P themselves but I'm not sure I'll be able to get either to make any more kits. I've had contact with one D'Stance YF-21 owner that I might be able to work with as well but his kit doesn't have the fast packs. I'm not sure if D'Stance has ever offered his fast packs for sale. I've also now got my own web page www.wwwmwww.com and I hope to update my wanted list soon. At the top of that list will be the I.H.P VB-6 and the D'Stance YF-21. Valkyrie has recasted a few of my kits before so I know he does good work. My plan at the moment was to offer a recast free to the finder of either of these kits. I don't have the time to spend hours digging on Yahoo Japan any more. If the finder wants a recast of any of my other kits instead and Valkyrie or someone else is willing to recast it I'll cover the cost of that too. The long term plan is to catalog my collection on my webpage and overtime find people that are willing to recast my kits. I might be able to have a poll once a quarter asking which kit you guys want recasted next. Orders could be taken so we'd know how many kits to make and cost would be based on materials and what ever the recaster was asking for his time. I'd hope it'd be a good place to showcase the talents of several recasters and it also serve as a place to market their skills. If someone out there had a rare kit he wanted a recast of, it could be add the a poll and if elected the owner of the kit would get a free recast and copies sold. That's the plan anyways and the direction I want to move toward. I'm sure it will take some time to get everything in place and I don't want to turn this into a full time job. In fact I wouldn't even be doing it to make money. I just love this hobby and want to be able to share. If I did make any money at this I'd just use it to buy more rare kits to add to the collection.

All I ask is please lets not step on each other's toes. I know how I feel when I see a collector out bid me and then never return my emails and the kit disapears into obscurity. That's not how I want to be seen. To me these kits are works or art and should be shared. That said if there are those that want original kits I'm more then willing to help them too. If they help me find a kit and are looking for one for themselves I'll leave the kit on the wanted list and I'll share all new leads on that kit with them.

By the way... Shawn's given me the web space and is hosting my website at the moment. My html is rather rusty so if any web designers out there want to donate their time to the cause I'm certainly open to that idea.

So what do you guys think of my idea? Is this doable? I don't want this idea to become just a big money pit for myself and any recaster that wants to recast my kits so we'd be relying on you guys for support. In turn we'd do our best to keep costs down but keep in mind the cost to make 3 recasts of a Studio HalfEye kit for example I'd expect to cost more then the original cost of 3 genuine SHE kits. I won't sacrifice quality in the name of cost. That would defeat the purpose of what I'm trying to do.

Oh and one other thing I'd like to add to my site is a location for people to share pictures of the completed kits they got from me.

Comments, suggestions, input...

Carl

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Hello Melissa,

I've had the same idea for a while, but have been too lazy/busy to

post a thread, so I appreciate you taking the initiative. I even had

the title for our group of like minded fans already planned, let me

know what you think. If you remember, both you and I posted to

the original thread started by Shawn that we would take someone

elses spot if they decided to back out, but of course none of the

orders were ever fulfilled for MW Members, and so it was all moot.

Here is my corny title:

"The VB-6 Koenig Monster Acquisition Consortium"

"Consortium" describes an agreement amongst a fellowship of

like-minded individuals to pursue a common goal for the benefit

of all. All work towards achieving the goal, which will improve the

chances of success especially since we are dealing with a limited

commodity, and competition is not the way to proceed. Sort of

like, "The Fellowship of the Ring." ;)

First of all, we know the kit exists in a very limited quantity based

upon sightings on Yahoo Japan, but the price is the issue here,

plus we need someone familiar with the auction site, the Japanese

language, and someone who can of course bid.

This is how I thought it would work, let me know what you think.

Not trying to steal your thunder, but just help make this work, or

at least give it our best shot.

First of all, obtaining the item will be based upon (2) things:

1.) Locating the kit either directly from the source, a secondary

source, or auction site.

2.) Having enough capital to outbid any competitors. We do not

want to be outbid, and perhaps rather than one person shoulder

the entire expense thereby limiting the maximum bid amount, if

all interested parties pool our funds we can go a lot higher

but end up paying the same or less if we were to bid separately.

Here is how I would proceed if we go this route:

1.) Contract with MW Member "MonkeyNugget" and/or perhaps

"Noel" and/or someone else to become our liason, Yahoo Auction

searcher/bidder. I know MonkeyNugget offers the service,

he knows the language, is a extremely nice/honest person,

and can be counted on. We will of course have to compense him

for his services in the form of a percentage of the sale price

or a flat fee agreed to in advance. The person must be

committed and able to dedicate the time to the search.

Using multiple people will increase our chances,

but also increase the fees.

2.) Start a list of interested parties, 100% dedicated to not backing out,

who are able and willing at moments notice to Paypal the funds

needed to pay their part of the kit. We could agree on a maximum

contribution amount in advance from each person so that confirmed

parties know what they are committing too in advance.

A designated and trusted part would receive the payments,

and then forward the combined payment to the seller.

For example, (10) interested people at $100 each equals $1,000.00

to bid with. That is still far less than the $300.00 original price.

Each person would then pay the re-caster the applicable amount for

their kit, which would still potentially less than the price from the

original thread. The more people, the lower the price.

Of course this all leads to one matter. Who gets the original kit,

because all others would get a recast? This is of course presuming

we get an original as opposed to someones well done recast. Here

are some of the options:

1.) Use it as payment/partial payment/incentive to the re-caster.

2.) Let the person that agrees to commit the most money receive

the kit after it goes to the recaster, but we must all be considered

as equals in the project.

3.) Hold a drawing of some sort, and the winner gets the original,

which might be the fairest way to do it.

I know all of this is moot if we don't actually find the kit, but I've

put a lot of thought into this over quite a few months, and I think

my plan will work. It involves teamwork, and we will all achieve the

ultimate goal which is owning a copy of this kit. I'm sure we could

even find someone to build it for those of us modeling challenged.

I know of some good resin casters as well.

Sorry for the long thread, but working in the legal/professional field

has made me verbose and loquacious.

Sincerely,

Christopher B))

(Edited to try and prevent sentence length)

Edited by ChristopherB
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Hey Melissa, great idea, here's another thought that might help get the casting going.

I know there are several casters out there (myself included). I don't have time for something of this scale, but maybe we could take different pieces and cast them individually?

For example, 1 person casts the main body, another person casts all the barrels, etc.

Obviously the problem there would be re-assembling all the pieces to form complete kits.

Just a thought, as I would love to help with the project, but dont' have enough time to do *all* the casting.

Brad

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wwwmwww,

Carl, I hope you are doing well, and I said to you

quite a few months back, my best wishes to you

and your family. We must have been typing our response

to Melissa at the same time, but mine of course took longer,

because it is so long. ;)

I remember when you told me about TI when it first happened,

and it is good to have you back. Are you still going to be

living in Sugarland, TX? Resin kits aren't cheap as you know.

I have someone working on serveral thousand dollars worth of

resin kits for me, and pictures of the first completed projected

should be posted soon, but that is another thread at another time.

I don't think finding someone to cast the kit will be too hard,

and as I always say, "First things first." Talking about casting it

is moot if we don't find one.

Sincerely,

Christopher B))

Edited by ChristopherB
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I'M BACK!!!!

I just got the call. I've got the job in Mississippi. I should start the week of the 15th.

Now back to the I.H.P VB-6. All the above proposal is now official and I'll do my best to get the pieces in place ASAP. However the next few weeks will be VERY busy for me and I've already learned I'll be in Germany the week of April 19th. Anyways when the kit is found I can front the cost. If you know what I paid for the Gakken Tread you shouldn't doubt that. If someone finds the kit before me I'll see to it that their recast is free. Or if someone here already has the kit I'll make a standing off of $1000 for it plus a free recast. I've seen 3 of these sell on Yahoo Japan myself and the last one sold to a Rinkya member. As I suspect that most of the people outside of Japan that know of this kit learned about it from Macross World I think the chances are good that someone here already has one. I'll also tell my contacts that I'm back in the game and re-establish contact with Mr Sakuragawa. I'm not too hopefull that route will work though or the original plan of Shawn's and Seiichi's would still be in the works. I've been hunting down and finding rare Macross kits for 5 plus years now. If anyone can find this kit... I should be able to. Lets not forget the D'Stance kit... I'll put the same offer on the table for that kit.

Carl

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Carl, I hope you are doing well, and I said to you quite a few months back, my best wishes to you and your family.

Thanks... I'm doing GREAT. I'm on the top of the world after the call I got this morning.

We must have been typing our response to Melissa at the same time, but mine of course took longer, because it is so long. ;)

It took a while to get mine up too. The 2 or 3 posts there before mine weren't there when I started typing.

Are you still going to be living in Sugarland, TX?

I'm be moving to Starkville, MS very soon. Anyone from here in that area already?

Resin kits aren't cheap as you know.

Trust me I haven't forgotten. I've got a very nice job lined up.

I don't think finding someone to cast the kit will be too hard

I consider that problem solved. I know several that would be more then happy to recast it. My first choice would be Valkyrie as he's done very well for me in the past. The hard part will be finding the kit. Anyone here work for Rinkya that could get me contact information on the winner of the last one?

Carl

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Let's take this one point at a time:

Congratulations on the job!

Thank you.

and both times you mention that you are not too hopeful

I'm not too hopeful we'll get much help from the original manufacturer. I just say that because I've already been in contact with I.H.P and D'Stance in the past and despite the fact that I have been able to get kits direct from I.H.P in the past I to date haven't been able to get either his VB-6 or D'Stance's YF-19.

I am very hopeful these kits will turn up in other ways though. Be that Yahoo Japan or someone that owns one coming forward.

It appears that you have decided for all of us to act on your own, and locate the kit by yourself.  While it is appreciate it sorta makes this whole thread moot.

No... I'm not asking anyone to stop looking. In fact I've offered a free recast to the first person that finds either of these kits for sale anywhere. If I find it first and there are over 10 orders for recasts I'll see to it that one of those 10+ get their's free. How does that sound?

Again just to be clear I'm NOT asking anyone to sit this one out. I'm just saying these kits are at the top of my must have list and if one turns up on Yahoo Japan for example they will most likely be bidding against me. I'd much rather work with them to keep the cost of a recast project low and offer my help should they also feel they must have an original. All I'm after is one.

While you are busy with work/moving/Germany, who will be checking Yahoo Japan in the meantime?

I'll be able to access email I'm sure. Shawn and others do a good job of keeping me posted as to what's on Yahoo Japan. In short anyone with email that knows what I'm after is free to email me at any time. I too am ready to start right away and would bid today if one popped up. What I'll be slow at is finding the time to update my "Most Wanted" list and getting my web page up and going. As for finding this kit the seach starts today and my offer for a free recast is limited only to my ability to find a recaster that can recast it and Valkyrie's already said he would do it. I've been with MacrossWorld since day one. I think my word means something here.

So far, I honestly don't recall you making an effort to make your resin kits available for re-cast, but things will change in the future, that is your perogative and appreciated?

Just for the record my Tread Battloid kit was recasted and made available by Valkyrie in the past here at Macross World. I've also mailed my kits to a few recasters in the past (my armored gerwalk to *YOU* for example) for people that were willing to make a recast on their own provied they paid for insurance for the item to them and back to me. I never did it for the money. So far I've keep it low key as I don't want to have to keep track of my kits if they are being shipped all over the country. Plus doing these one offs takes alot of time. I've been holding off on doing this on any bigger scale till I had a wabpage up an going and recasters that were willing to jump on board. *THAT* is what will still take some time. Valkyrie is already on board for these two kits though so this project doesn't need to wait on my web page getting set up.

That is your motivation after all.

True... I want an original. I'll get one eventually. And I'm actually hoping everyone will keep looking on their own. Many here I'm sure want one but won't have the $1000 or so an original will cost. This way if they are the first to find it and tell me about it they'll get a free recast. If the worry is that I might be in Germany or out of touch for a while and miss being able to bid on the auction myself there are others here that I'd be willing to let bid for me. Shawn has done it in the past. Then again if you have the contacts to be able to get the kit and want to bid on it yourself so that you could ship it to Valkyrie yourself to be sure the recasts would get made I'm open to that idea as well. I'd be more then willing to cover any costs you incured and still see to it that you got your free recast. I'm just letting you know I've been after these kits for years now and I will go after anyone that I see. I really want to be able to do that without fear of stepping on the toes of fellow MacrossWorld members. I think I've got a better track record of sharing information and the like then many collectors so I'd like to think most here would like to help me get one of these in my hands. How many collectors were willing to post pictures of their Gakken Tread before me? I spend a great deal of my own money to be able to change that... not just for me... but all of you as well.

I really hope I'm not coming across like I've got my noise up in the air but macross kits are a passion of mine.

Carl

Edited by wwwmwww
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i would definitely be willing to throw money into the pot for the aquisition of the kit, pm me if need be.

thanks so much to melissa for reviving this dead dream.

i've said it before and i'll say it again, if you going to make a monster, give me the koenig any day of the week.

i will pm all three parties to see what i can do to get the ball rolling.

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Lets don't get the cart ahead of the horse. Before we start throwing money into a pot we must find the kit available someplace first. As for the cost to recast it I suspect a recaster would have to see the kit before he could give a good estimate how much that would cost. The number, size, and shape of the parts is a factor as well as the ability to find the screws and joints that will be needed to complete the kit. Another big factor is the number or orders. One recast will be alot more expensive to make then 10 or 20. Valkyrie would you care to venture a guess at what you'd expect it to cost based on the above pictures?

Carl

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I'm interested too! Btw, congrats Carl in getting that job and I totally agree with what you said below.

Before we start throwing money into a pot we must find the kit available someplace first. As for the cost to recast it I suspect a recaster would have to see the kit before he could give a good estimate how much that would cost. The number, size, and shape of the parts is a factor as well as the ability to find the screws and joints that will be needed to complete the kit. Another big factor is the number or orders. One recast will be alot more expensive to make then 10 or 20.
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"The VB-6 Koenig Monster Acquisition Consortium"

"Consortium" describes an agreement amongst a fellowship of

like-minded individuals to pursue a common goal for the benefit

of all. All work towards achieving the goal, which will improve the

chances of success especially since we are dealing with a limited

commodity, and competition is not the way to proceed. Sort of

like, "The Fellowship of the Ring." ;)

First of all, we know the kit exists in a very limited quantity based

upon sightings on Yahoo Japan, but the price is the issue here,

plus we need someone familiar with the auction site, the Japanese

language, and someone who can of course bid.

This is how I thought it would work, let me know what you think.

Not trying to steal your thunder, but just help make this work, or

at least give it our best shot.

First of all, obtaining the item will be based upon (2) things:

1.) Locating the kit either directly from the source, a secondary

source, or auction site.

2.) Having enough capital to outbid any competitors. We do not

want to be outbid, and perhaps rather than one person shoulder

the entire expense thereby limiting the maximum bid amount, if

all interested parties pool our funds we can go a lot higher

but end up paying the same or less if we were to bid separately.

Here is how I would proceed if we go this route:

1.) Contract with MW Member "MonkeyNugget" and/or perhaps

"Noel" and/or someone else to become our liason, Yahoo Auction

searcher/bidder. I know MonkeyNugget offers the service,

he knows the language, is a extremely nice/honest person,

and can be counted on. We will of course have to compense him

for his services in the form of a percentage of the sale price

or a flat fee agreed to in advance. The person must be

committed and able to dedicate the time to the search.

Using multiple people will increase our chances,

but also increase the fees.

2.) Start a list of interested parties, 100% dedicated to not backing out,

who are able and willing at moments notice to Paypal the funds

needed to pay their part of the kit. We could agree on a maximum

contribution amount in advance from each person so that confirmed

parties know what they are committing too in advance.

A designated and trusted part would receive the payments,

and then forward the combined payment to the seller.

For example, (10) interested people at $100 each equals $1,000.00

to bid with. That is still far less than the $300.00 original price.

Each person would then pay the re-caster the applicable amount for

their kit, which would still potentially less than the price from the

original thread. The more people, the lower the price.

Of course this all leads to one matter. Who gets the original kit,

because all others would get a recast? This is of course presuming

we get an original as opposed to someones well done recast. Here

are some of the options:

1.) Use it as payment/partial payment/incentive to the re-caster.

2.) Let the person that agrees to commit the most money receive

the kit after it goes to the recaster, but we must all be considered

as equals in the project.

3.) Hold a drawing of some sort, and the winner gets the original,

which might be the fairest way to do it.

I know all of this is moot if we don't actually find the kit, but I've

put a lot of thought into this over quite a few months, and I think

my plan will work. It involves teamwork, and we will all achieve the

ultimate goal which is owning a copy of this kit. I'm sure we could

even find someone to build it for those of us modeling challenged.

I know of some good resin casters as well.

Sorry for the long thread, but working in the legal/professional field

has made me verbose and loquacious.

Sincerely,

Christopher B))

(Edited to try and prevent sentence length)

Hey Christopher,

I'm in all the way. Let me know what you guys need from me. I will fund the purchase or the project to get one of these kits or both for that matter. Call me later so we can go over the specifics! I don't have access to Yahoo Japan, but $$$ is no problem, and you know that 1st hand :)

With all that was said in this thread! I think we all share a common goal, which is to get these kits into a MW members hand that is willing to recast and share with everyone else! I for one don't care to have the original because I plan to have these babies built! A kit sitting in a box is just damn criminal ;)

Best Wishes!

Gene

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Carl,

I appreciate the clarification. I know how much you want an original of the kit, and how much pride you take in your collection, and I appreciate your help with this project. I'm sure that most of us will be more than happy to have a nicely done re-cast.

The only problem is that both Gene and Melissa have also offered to pay the price for the kit, so as long as everyone understands from the beginning, only (1) person will get the original, and the rest of us will get re-casts, then all should be fine.

Once the kit is found by a MW Member, please post the information promptly so we know one has been located, and if it is an auction, to prevent counter bidding which will only drive the price up. After the kit is located, whoever is willing to pay for it can make the arrangements and get it to the recaster. The key here is communication, and to use as many resources as we can. I'll contact Rob and find out what his fees are to start searching for this kit. If anyone has any resources in Japan/etc. please enlist their help.

Gene,

Thank you for your offer for help as well. It's nice to know we have a few big spenders here at MW to help bankroll the project.

If you ever want to adopt me or put me in your will, just let me know my friend. ;)

Hopefully we will hear from Melissa with her comments. It all comes down to whether one person pays for the kit, or we all pool our money, but regardless everyone can start looking.

Sincerely,

Christopher B))

Edited by ChristopherB
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Don't let me out, even that I'm new here, this is the reason why I joined MW, there is no other place that you can see projects like this, feels good to be a Macross fan!

:D

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Just have time for a *quickie* response since I am on the way to a business dinner, but I wanted to clarify one thing. I have no problem with not owning the original kit as long as I have a good re-cast. The idea is to have copies of the kit available and I don't really have that much of an interest in owning the original.

That said, I'll PM Carl, Chris B, Valkyrie, Estacado, and some others so we can figure out the best approach. I don't want to be bidding against a fellow MW member or step on the toes of someone who wants the original. Besides, I know from past conversations and experiences that Carl is always willing to help a fellow fan. I'll be back later tonight and contact everyone. Wish me luck and patience with this dinner (the day I've had, I'm likely to brain one of them with a wine bottle ;) )

....And congratulations on the new job and welcome to Mississippi Carl! Since you won't be living far away from me, if you ever need anything just shoot me a PM. My husband and I would love to take you and your family to dinner once you get settled in! :)

Be back later and thanks to everyone for their interest and responses!

Sincerely,

Melissa

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Hello Everyone,

Seems like we're all on the same page! So with that said, LET THE HUNTING BEGIN! Let's not make this a cut throat thing, but more of a community involvement! I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I live off the rush to find rare pieces. I will contact some of my friends in Asia and see if we can come up with something.

Chris, I will make sure that my wife has you're contact information. If anything happens to me, my collection will go to you :p My daughter's take no interest in Macross :(

Best of luck to everyone!

Gene

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