Anasazi37

8 hours ago, BroTaku79 said:

hmmm...I will have to talk to my designer, and see if we can make something for the tread.

I don't even have my copy yet so it is hard to say right now....

 

My Tread is caught up somewhere in the new hellscape of US Customs import tax enforcement in Los Angeles. The package hasn't moved in ten days. If it ever gets here, I can look into adapter options if @BroTaku79 and their designer decide it's not feasible for them to make something.

On 3/23/2025 at 12:16 AM, BroTaku79 said:

Devin, I have added your 3D link for SDF-1 onto the site!  Thanks!

Thanks, Eugene!

12 minutes ago, recon said:

Nice. Do share with us the total height of the SDF-1 in storm attacker mode, pivoted forward on archi stand. Tks

I've already removed it from the display stand, dismantled and packed away the stand, transformed it back to Cruiser mode, and put it back on its shelf (sorry). Before doing all of that, I roughly measured the height when it is standing straight up: 46 cm. So, pivoted forward will be less than that. And you could also turn the display arm around and lower it further to reduce the height more while keeping the toy centered over the base.

On 2/16/2025 at 1:13 AM, BroTaku79 said:

Anasazi37 has something for the SDF-1 so you should hit him up.

I was finally able to set aside some time this weekend to get the SDF-1 adapter for Archi Stands posted to Cults 3D. Sqidd shared his original Yeti Stand design with me and I modified it to work with Archi Stands. There are two versions of the adapter: one for the toy leaning forward, one for the toy standing straight up. The files are free to download. Eugene said he might be able to include a link in his store, too.

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/archi-pro-stand-adapters-for-the-yamato-and-arcadia-1-3000-sdf-1-toy

Edit: yes, the SDF-1 isn't fully transformed into Storm Attacker mode. I was being lazy. I usually display it in Cruiser mode, but quickly transformed it so I could take some pictures on the stand. I might reshoot the pictures later, with the full transformation, if enough people tease me about it. 🙂  

6 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Has anyone ever made stands or adapters for 1/55 Valkyries?

I'm working on some. I bought a bunch of Archi Stands for my 1/55 customs a while back and what's missing are adapters for them. It's not going to be a fast design process, though, since the basic 1/55 adapter would be different than the one for Super/Strike, the one for the Elint, and the one for the Ostrich. And that's just Fighter mode. I think I can get away with one for Battroid mode (except for GBP) and one for Gerwalk mode. So...at least six different adapters have to be designed.

15 hours ago, Reni said:

I've posted these before, but relevant again --  I had my friend print out some of @Anasazi37's adapters in a grey low-vis color to match my 1/48 Yamato and they look great with the Gokinplus stands!

I remember when you posted those pics. It's nice to see printed adapters out in the wild. I really like how the filament color blends in with the low-vis paint scheme.

5 hours ago, Radioguy said:

Looks great! I'd take that color if clear isn't possible.

I print mine using clear filament (personal preference). I designed them so that they could be printed in PLA, which offers a wide range of color options, to include some decent clear ones. You can see an example of it on the Cults 3D page. It's a pretty close match to the Archi Stand adapter, which is also 3D printed. I've tried printing the adapters in clear PETG, which is much stronger, but I think it's overkill, it takes more effort to clean up the parts, and they don't look quite as nice. And "clear" is relative here. You can't print crystal clear parts with a filament (FDM) printer. They turn out something closer to translucent white. It's possible to get crystal clear parts with a resin printer, but you'd have to use ABS-like resin (to support the weight of the valk), have your printer dialed in to the point where no air bubbles get trapped inside the parts, and avoid marking up surfaces during cleaning and curing (unless you want to do a lot of sanding afterwards). Much easier said than done. I spent a lot of time, and went through a lot of resin, figuring out how to do it for relatively small canopies for starship models. The adapters are a lot more complex.

On 12/24/2024 at 2:52 PM, BroTaku79 said:

Guys

If you are talking about that 3D file, it was not created by me. I simply put up a link to support the guy who created it.

You guys should PM Devin aka"anasazi37" on here and ask him to see if he could sell you guys adapters.

 

Thanks and Merry Xmas!

2 hours ago, Radioguy said:

My apologies for getting the wrong end of the stick! I read "The Yamato 1/48 VF-1 adapters for Archi Stands are now on Cults3D." as them as formerly appearing on your site.

Perhaps you meant as compared to Yeti ones?

Either way, I do hope @Anasazi37 can help.

 

When I first designed the Yamato 1/48 VF-1 adapters for Archi Stands, because Yeti Stands and adapters were no longer available, I approached Eugene about the possibility of him selling prints through his store. They would be relatively low-volume items, compared to everything else he offers, and he explained that he has limited free time to maintain the store and process orders (totally understandable). It didn't make sense to either of us to go that direction. He kindly offered to post a link to the digital files on Cults 3D so folks would at least know about them when they purchased stands. The downside of this approach is that you either have to print the adapters yourself (moderate level of experience required for them to turn out right) or go through a third party print service (which can increase the cost quite a bit and you don't know what you're going to get).

I'm in a similar situation to Eugene, where I don't have a lot of free time, so it's not practical for me to offer prints for sale. I learned the hard way from offering custom waterslide decals to this community for more than 23 years that fulfilling orders takes a lot of time. With that said, I'm willing to consider doing a print run for a small number of people. Send me a PM with what you want.

2 hours ago, jenius said:

@Anasazi37 turned me onto 3D printed replacement head lasers and all the details necessary for anyone with a 3D printer to make their own. I made a quick video about it and also included the information in my review on anymoon for people years from now who buy one 'New in box' and discover this issue. Thanks Anasazi!

Here's the link to the cults3d page:

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/replacement-antenna-laser-for-the-bandai-dx-yf-21

Thanks for putting together such an awesome video, @jenius! My entire goal was to help collectors who had been burned by Bandai's poor packaging decisions, quality control, and customer service. I was very disappointed when I opened up my box--after waiting so many years for this release--and found...a very bent antenna. HLJ said there were no replacements available from Bandai, which just increased my disappointment. The damage was in such a visually obvious location that I had to do something about it or I would never display the valk, so I quickly got to work on designing a durable replacement that would be easy and inexpensive for people to print and finish themselves (no painting required). Most importantly, I wanted the design to be free. We'd already spent enough money on this toy.

8 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Saying that PO's from Japan will save you 66% vs buying from a US retailer is not helpful because it is not based on what you will actually end up saving once all required costs are added......it's unrealistic and I think most here can see past the sensational markup posts by now.....

That is not what I'm saying. You missed my point...again. It's not sensationalist and minimizing the comments of others, and the larger price discrepancy situation, is not helpful. Please stop. As I suggested in my last post, I think it's a good idea to be able to point people to a resource that breaks down the cost considerations for each purchasing option, in specific terms, so they can make the best decision for themselves. I offered a table that does so, which could use some community feedback for improvement so it covers everything we care about (like possible future discounts, as @Radioguy pointed out). What do you think we can offer the community that will help?

1 hour ago, Radioguy said:

It's a small point, and only applicable based on (an American) one's budget and willingness to wait, but once in the US market, and even after taxes, opportunities for discounts that could overall rival Japanese MSRP or sometimes beat it, do happen. We may not see it so much with DX, or at places like BBTS, but we've seen it with HMR on Amazon.

Also, and I'm not saying it's completely reflective, but in the parallel world of Bandai's kaiju offerings, some prices have come down due to Bandai's specific inroads into the US market. Bandai's mass-market vinyl figures, and MonsterArts, comparable to DX for articulated kaiju figures, have sometimes depreciated, and with greater distribution, led to opportunities to find them at retailers at discount. I know that's largely non-analagous due to the licensing restrictions we deal with on Macross on many of the main figures we're after, but those that do have US availability via Bandai Namco (same distributor) are potentially just as subject to discount.

Even with that chart, when it comes to WWM releases, I won't always jump fast. I have a smaller budget, more narrow desires, and less space than some. Gambling on seeing it later at an affordable price is not always the wrong choice in a market where stock is spread out more.

Those are great points. We've seen places like Amazon offer WWM items at discounts and both this community and the big FB groups are good about spreading the news when the discounts show up. The discounts absolutely help. It's a double-edged sword, though. The discounts often happen because stores have too much stock and they'd rather take a hit on a sale than let the toys continue to take up space in a warehouse. The more that happens with Macross items, the less stock the stores might order, which Bandai could interpret as low interest and reconsider their WWM initiative. It's a tough situation because to encourage Bandai to keep distributing globally, so it is less risky for collectors to gamble on something being available later at an affordable price, means that we should all be buying from our local stores, but that requires paying much higher prices and waiting a lot longer for items. If Bandai stops distributing globally, we're back to PO Madness, with limited stock and lots of unhappy collectors. If we did all switch to buying locally at the current prices and wait times, the discounts might become less common and affordability declines as a result. Makes your head hurt to think about it. I'm not sure what the happy medium here is, beyond sometimes, but not always, seeing discounts on items. Would love to hear from someone with an economics background (not my area of expertise).

2 hours ago, jvmacross said:

The only other Tamashii Macross web exclusives sold on their Amazon storefront were the Sheryl and Ranka microphones....currently on clearance I think...it would be dumb for them not to make the Ozma Armored-25S available too at some point...

Agreed. Having more purchasing options beyond PO Madness is a good thing.

9 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Except...as explained already....no one will ship you anything from Japan for free...

Saying the markup is 66% is at best not helpful to the community....by this point in the WWM journey...most folks here  understand that posting these sensational markups are not based on real world conditions...

Again, it is still more economical to get your WWM straight from Japan....this is a fact...but it's nowhere near 66% cheaper...not sure what the motive is to use such a skewed figure....if the goal is to make buyers aware that it is still better to buy from Japan....you can still accomplish this by including total costs into your calculations...

Additionally, as a consumer looking to get the best deal stateside....you are not going to start looking at the most expensive shops, like BBTS...

For example, Kappa Hobby has the DX armored VF-25S at $308.88 vs $349.99 at most other shops (before tax and shipping costs if any)...whether you are placing your PO in Japan or outside of Japan...most will try to secure an order where the price is the lowest first...then move onto the next lowest-priced shop as availability changes...

This is why it is helpful when members here are able to tally up the various prices offered during initial PO's to get accurate comparison data...

It is a large markup, but its final size depends on the choices you make. Your key assumption is that most people are chasing the lowest possible price. That is not always true. I would rather pay a bit more to work with a very stable, very reputable store or proxy (in Japan or the US) than trust a small operation that might fold at any moment and take my money with them--just to save $25-50 on an item that may never be released again. But that's how I feel about the risk. Others might feel differently.

You can keep shipping cost from Japan to a low number by utilizing slower options, consolidating shipments, etc. It also does not cost Bandai more than a few dollars per unit to put these toys in a cargo container and move them to the US, so there is a very large price discrepancy between what they sell for in Japan and what they sell for here that needs to be recognized. I know we joke about the "old collector tax," but it's real. The marked up prices in the US are about convenience and how much we're willing to pay for it. I point out the difference between Japan MSRP and US prices so that we, as a community, can have a conversational starting point about that convenience cost and make the best purchasing decisions for ourselves. Your comments, mine, and those from other MW members are all helpful in getting us where we want to go.

At this point I think we need a pinned answer to the question of what costs to consider for all four options (Retail from Japan, TWE from Japan, Retail from Overseas, TWE from Overseas). It could be a small table, something like this:

Retail from Japan generally doesn't include taxes, but it depends on the store. TWE from Japan does include taxes on top of proxy fees. Then there is shipping from Japan, with a range of prices and waiting times. US retail involves taxes (or should in almost all cases), shipping, and a long wait time--on top of an undisputable markup from Bandai for the convenience of not having to deal with PO Madness and overseas shipping. How you view that markup depends on where you shop and the choices you make.

1 hour ago, HardlyNever said:

Does anyone have any contacts with the state-side vendors (BBTS, Entertainment Earth) that they could check with?  Beyond just the standard customer service reps.  Maybe they could clear up what kind of release this is.

It seems weird that all the other Frontier releases would be standard "worldwide" releases, and this wouldn't, but with Bandai, anything could happen.

There are a lot of weird and confusing things about this release. For example, will BBTS really let you buy 24 copies if they are acting as a secondary proxy? Maybe they are only getting 24 and one person can purchase them all?  When I looked at the TWE ordering page, individuals were limited to 2. For the Super Ostrich, they were limited to 6.

I would love some clarity from BBTS or another stateside store. Worst case, we can keep an eye on Amazon US. If this doesn't show up, or does, we'll know for sure. They definitely aren't handling anything beyond regular Retail.

8 hours ago, Bolt said:

Does anyone know when, this month Max's Queadlunn is going to drop?

HLJ says 06/28, AJ says 06/29.

6 hours ago, MKT said:

Still not entirely convinced yet that it's actually a retail release outside Japan, until more stores are carrying them. It's entirely possible US stores that have already listed it are just buying via proxies and reselling, like someone said what BBTS sometimes do for P-Bandai Gundams, and there won't be any legal block this time as long as the item is not from SDFM / DYRL.

Over at Asia, it looks like stores are selling it like a regular Macross P-Bandai item with appropriate proxy mark-up just like they always did for years, instead of JP-equivalent price that they normally do for other WWM items.  

Yes, this is a weird situation. Bandai could easily clear things up by adding a sentence to the item listing on the Tamashii site, but it's Bandai, so we're left to speculate on what they're planning.

MSRP = ¥33,000, roughly $210.00 right now

BBTS Price = $350.00

350.00 - 210.00 = 140.00

140.00 / 210.00 = 0.66

Sadly, it really is a 66% markup over MSRP. A 33% markup would only be $280.00. If you plug $210 and 66% into any online price markup calculator, like this one, you'll get the same answer:

https://www.omnicalculator.com/finance/markup

As we've discussed many, many times before in this thread, I agree that full price comparisons should factor in shipping costs, etc., but these two numbers (MSRP in Japan vs. price in the US) are the only ones that are fixed and they represent the best place to start a conversation. From here we as collectors can start making individual choices about whether it's worth dealing with PO madness and paying $25-$50 to have it shipped from Japan (slow vs. fast). Even with expensive shipping, you're still looking at a roughly 35% markup to get it through a US store, plus the longer wait time. Unless you choose slow shipping from Japan, which makes that first option more affordable. The best option is the one that makes sense for you.

I also see the same patterns you do with respect to pricing set by other companies like ThreeZero and Good Smile. It costs roughly as much to buy items no matter where you are. It's rare to see large markups for international customers. Bandai is making a consistent business decision to mark up items across multiple lines, not just Macross (but this is MW so we can focus on complaining about it ). Why are they doing this? I know we've speculated before. Small production runs that cost a lot? Old fashioned corporate greed? Part of me thinks they are charging what they think the market can bear and will adjust prices (or just stop making Macross stuff) if we stop buying. We've seen them cancel lines before....

3 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Yeah, the local markup makes this way more expensive.  That's about a $100 markup over my copy from Japan, and that's not even taking sales tax into account.  The free shipping at BBTS does help a little, but even then you're still saving over $50 importing it.

To be sort of fair though, I think the original cost at release for the combined VF-25S and proxy-bought armor set was about that much when all was said and done.

Same for me, about $100 markup over my proxy purchase. Compared to what I paid for the renewal valk and armor on the secondary market, even BBTS is a bargain! 

1 hour ago, Raikkonen said:

And everyone was panicking it was a Japan exclusive only. 😆

Still $350... too heavy for a what... 12 year old e-release? 

That's because Bandai has never done something like this for Macross valks (TWE domestic release, Retail international release) and there was no communication from Bandai about what they were going to do for this release apart from TWE in Japan. Odds were good that it was just a mistake on their website. Very glad to see that it will be more broadly available, but the 66% markup over Japan retail price is definitely high. 

1 hour ago, PointBlankSniper said:

BBTS resells jp exclusive p-bandai stuff too though. They can't be used as evidence of WWM release.

And at $350 it's a 66% markup over Japan retail price. Yikes. Works out to $100 more than I spent at my proxy, but you're paying for convenience. If you click on the quantity dropdown you can order up to 24 copies. I wonder if that's a mistake. Otherwise someone is going to build a large squadron....

6 hours ago, MKT said:

So does this mean it’s going to be normal release outside Japan? 

This is now the second PO offering we've seen with a delivery date in January/February instead of November, and the prices are consistent with the usual 55% markup over Japan retail, so...hopefully? It's possible that the stores are just offering the TWE version and shipping it slowly to the US, but I hope it's going to be a normal release outside of Japan.

17 hours ago, PointBlankSniper said:

Now that I've thought about it, the way this looks, regular retailers like hlj, hobby search, and amiami can't even sell this. This isn't a retail release at all, let alone WWM. This is definitely the usual tamashii web/P-bandai release. Anyone that is able to sell this already regularly deals in P-bandai stuff.

Bandai probably chickened out on production volume because the size of the toy or something.

I'd say don't count on it being different overseas. I'm guessing it will open orders on bandai's overseas sites 2 months late or something. The few times pb gunpla broke this rule and went retail overseas had highly publicized bluefin invovlement in distribution long before release. This isn't going down the same path at all. It's just looking like the good old scalper release, with the difference of everyone being conditioned to think it would be WWM.

What seems to be causing the most confusion on this is that all of the sales regions are highlighted in blue on the Tamashii site, which implies global distribution, but it also clearly states "Tamashii Web Shop" on the listing, there have been no official statements from Bandai about global distribution, and the PO was announced with about six hours of advance notice. Those last three things suggest to me that the first (all regions highlighted) is a mistake and that this is one of the usual limited releases. I would love to be wrong, especially since it was so hard to get the renewal version. It's like Bandai is doubling down on keeping the Armored VF-25S rare....

15 hours ago, blackconvoy_D01 said:

So what does that mean for the one I just paid for from a retailer; a refund?

As @jenius said, there are some stores that operate like proxies for releases like this. When you purchase a TWE item from them, even though it looks like a regular item on their site, behind the scenes they do what proxies do to secure the order and they are not always successful. They issue refunds in those cases. If the order is confirmed and you don't receive a refund, then they were successful (but carefully read the terms and conditions of your purchase). It takes time and effort for stores to work around all of Bandai's systems, which is why the price is higher than what Bandai publishes. Some stores (and some proxies) take advantage of this situation and either way overcharge you on the purchase price or the shipping, but most charge roughly about the same for both. The total from my proxy was within $10 of what AE was charging. One of the advantages of working with a proxy is that you absolutely know if they were successful in purchasing the item because you get status updates throughout the process. When you go through a store, the process is a little more opaque. You first have to find a proxy willing to do this, though, and many are tired of dealing with Bandai's systems.

14 hours ago, Big s said:

It’s kinda been hitting a lot of companies, mostly smaller ones that seem to deal with out of country manufacturing lately. I just thought that in this particular case it would be a very simple release since only the head and pilot are different as far as needing new molds

Agreed. I've seen it across a lot of orders from a lot of companies, and all of those companies are much smaller than Bandai. The Sentinel RIOBOT Voltron Legendary Defender was supposed to ship last month, but now it's delayed until September due to "quality and production issues."

Yeah, you would think with that small of a set of changes to the kit, and that Good Smile already has the production quality dialed in based on the previous release, it would be simple and relatively fast to do this one.

6 hours ago, Big s said:

Just got that notification as well. I think the delays are pretty much every release now. Although this delay is for a kit that has one be piece and a different set of decals and a new box and I guess a new pilot figure for the series.Kinda odd for it to need a delay without a major change

This seems to be happening across a lot of Good Smile's product lines. A few years ago they made the decision to shift a lot of production from China back to Japan, and that caused a bunch of delays initially and maybe that has continued, but I also think they are dealing with some variable quality control issues at the factories in China that they still use. I've seen delays with Max Factory, Nendoroid, Moderoid, Figma, and Pop Up Parade orders. It's usually just an additional month, but a few times it's been several months.

13 hours ago, pod said:

from what I gather this might be the case where the item is tamashii web exclusive in Japan but regular release outside of Japan. This was also the case for some gunplas and shf releases previously,

This would definitely be a first for Macross valks, but I definitely support more availability. This isn't a case, like with the DX Super Ostrich, where Bandai can't distribute it outside of Japan due to licensing restrictions. Frontier should be fair game for international distribution. The VF-25F Super release is a good example. I guess we'll know for sure in a week or two? If we start seeing it offered on sites like BBTS and Amazon US, we'll have our answer.

2 hours ago, ZYZY said:

Previously the chrome VF-1J was the same. It stated both Asia and US area as well. Couple days later it was changed back to just JP. I didn't want to take the risk, so I just bought from yoyaku

That's the same reason I did it. I don't trust Bandai.

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Might have to just wait this one out, since they basically just flipped off the customers and made it an international webshop release.  It'll probably show up down the road at various places like the HMR Max VF-0S.

I'm really curious to see if this is an actual international web shop release (something we haven't seen before) or just a website error that is confusing everyone. I pulled the trigger on a Japan-based purchase for now, just to be sure I get one. I really want Bandai to be less mercurial and just tell us in plain language what the heck they're doing.