Anasazi37

Back in stock at HLJ:

https://www.hlj.com/tiny-session-vf-25f-messiah-valkyrie-alto-machine-with-sheryl-bans63897

https://www.hlj.com/tiny-session-vf-25g-messiah-valkyrie-michael-machine-with-ranka-bans63896

14 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Bandai really sucked the enjoyment out of this hobby. 

100% agree with this. They could easily do larger initial production runs, second runs if the first sells out, and/or regular reissues without hurting their business, which we see all the time with Gundam and other lines, but they intentionally make a different decision that just makes all of this so much worse. Bandai also seems to make weird decisions on what to release and when. My love of collecting valks has balanced on the edge of a knife since Bandai announced the first DX VF-1 and I got screwed during PO Madness. Even since then it's been a cat-and-mouse game of figuring out how to get them at decent prices, and it's a game I rarely win. I'm getting tired, though. Over the past year I've passed on the YF-29 Full Set Pack, the VF-31J Movie Version, the VF-25 WWM, the VF-31AX Bogue, the YF-29 Max, the VF-31AX armored parts, and the Angel Birds. I'm being a lot more selective with my time and money now. Granted, I just bought one of those ridiculous plush gunpods from Arcadia, but I'd rather give Arcadia that money than reward Bandai for bad design and production decisions.

7 hours ago, Radioguy said:

Ran out of likes today, but everyone oughta like this post even though probably 90% here know this in their sleep by now. I need it beaten into me for what I've missed, to be honest.

It's hard-won information that builds on the experiences of many MW members, so credit should go to a lot of people here for figuring out ways to level the playing field for collectors--even just a little. It's by no means a complete list of suggestions, but I hope it helps people.

7 hours ago, Chunky001 said:

If you do the calculations for actual inflation (value of the dollar) and factor in exchange rate the Bandai stuff is no more expensive than the Yamato stuff was.

The limited supply driving pricing up is a problem though.

I know a few members have run the numbers over the past year or so, whenever the question comes up, and this always turns out to be the answer. Supply, not price, seems to be the primary difference. There must be a happy medium between Yamato's devil-may-care approach that bankrupted the company and Bandai's we-barely-care approach that continually frustrates domestic and international collectors.

11 hours ago, Drad said:

I just pay the markup but try to find the best deal within that range. I give up trying to get them at retail price.

More than a few members refer to that as the "old man tax." I'm more willing to pay it these days. I just don't have the time or energy to compete against scalpers.

Out of curiosity I pulled the top half of the city into Cura and sliced it for my Creality CR-6 SE using best print quality and lots of tree supports to help with all of the floating sections. Looks decent, but there will definitely be some cleanup after support removal. A 24hr print job doesn't scare me. Multiple sections of the 1/35 Gunstar I printed earlier this year required two days each (worth the wait).

8 hours ago, sh9000 said:

@jvmacross I found the pic.  I originally posted it here.  It was a SD VF-1S that was teased.

https://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/42737-whats-next-for-bandai-wish-list/?do=findComment&comment=1602231

Glad you were able to find that again. If the plan is for the line to solely consist of valk + idol pairs, a VF-1S (SDFM or DYRL) with Minmay would make sense. So would a VF-1D with Minmay, VF-1J Hikaru with Minmay, and a VT-1 with Minmay. A VF-1S with both a Minmay and a Misa, so Hikaru could have one in each hand, would be spot-on. To make this even more fun, there should be a VF-1S Roy with Claudia, VF-1J Max with Millia, VF-1J Millia with Max, and a TV Kakizaki with a steak.

The gunpod is no longer available for PO. Not sure if the order limit was reached or maybe Arcadia just decided to stop taking orders after 24 hours.

10 hours ago, Hurin said:

I'm sitting out the the Angel Birds.  But for future reference, any tips/tricks for getting in on the initial release and/or preorder in hopes of paying retail. . . from the US?

I've only ever ordered stuff from HLJ and a couple things from CDJapan and Amazon.jp.

• Keep an eye on the pinned PO thread, as others have recommended. Also keep an eye on the Tamashii Nations site (https://tamashii.jp/item_character/macross_series/), which will usually give you the exact days when POs will happen. That info is usually on individual product pages.
• Make sure you have active accounts on several sites like Amazon Japan, HLJ, Anime Export, AmiAmi, CDJapan, etc. If you are comfortable storing payment information in those accounts, that gives you a bit of an edge because you don't have to enter that stuff during checkout.
• Practice quickly switching between browser tabs and hitting the F5 button to refresh product pages. You'll likely have to look at multiple sites simultaneously.
• POs for DX valks, like most Bandai products, open at 4pm JST. They often sell out in minutes or seconds. That's for general releases.
• For TWE releases like the Angel Birds, you have to be in Japan to order them, no exceptions. That means you need to work through a proxy service (FromJapan, Big In Japan, etc.) or go to one of the few stores that will act like a proxy but let you just click the "buy" button. Anime Export and a few others tend to do this, taking orders before Bandai's store even opens. Their marked up price is generally on par with the retail price plus proxy fees.
• Some TWE items have sold out in minutes as well, but what generally happens is that proxies run out of allotments and start refusing orders. At that point you need to find someone in Japan to order the item for you.
• Be comfortable living with disappointment. I maybe manage to snag a DX at retail about half the time. Some folks here have the luck of the gods and consistently snag multiples at every single PO event. I have no idea how they do it.
• Keep an eye on sites like Amazon Japan and Yahoo Japan right around release day (before and after) for an item. You can sometimes grab a valk at retail when scalpers realize that a large bill is coming due and they start unloading stock they haven't managed to sell.

3 hours ago, jvmacross said:

same 

Wasn't there a VF-1S or -1J also teased?  Can't find the pic

Here's the official site:

https://tamashii.jp/item_brand/tiny-session/

Looks like only Frontier and Delta for now. Hoping they come back around to SDFM/DYRL.

8 hours ago, Rhubarbarian said:

The yen is kind of ridiculously low compared to the dollar right now so I figured I'd give this a shot, haha. What a goofy purchase, we all deserve one.

That's how I managed to sell it to my wife. It's completely impractical and fun. The weaker yen doesn't hurt, either.

7 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

I wonder if I can get Tenso to cram it into a tiny box, since it's a plush anyway.

My wife suggested one of those machines that compresses memory foam mattresses down to tiny cubes for shipping. Surely those exist in Japan and what they have is likely super high tech and very efficient.

7 hours ago, F360 said:

Because the gunpod is a larger item. its probably best to use EMS if you want it fast since its still by Weight and not DIM Weight.  or if you are ok on waiting a couple of months then  Surface mail (BOAT)

I did a quick Quote at Japanpost with size and estimate weight of 4000g, and it will be around 11000 yen for EMS and Around 5000 yen for Surface (BOAT)

That would be *much* better. Sure enough, on the Tenso site, in fine print, it says that only DHL and ECMS use volumetric weight for large, light packages. I entered 4000g into the Tenso shipping calculator and here's what I got:

So it looks like ¥18784 for DHL and roughly ¥14230 for EMS. It's reminding me of shipping those large 1/20 Plamax kits.

Unless the gunpod is packed in an extremely sturdy box, I worry that Surface shipping will completely destroy it.

Woke up early (3:45am here) and managed to snag a gun pod. They're still available, but probably not for much longer....

Public service announcement in regards to the plush gunpod. Given its size, I decided to run the numbers on what it would cost to ship it to the US. It's light, but large, so places like Tenso are saying that the various shipping services (DHL, EMS, etc.) will use volumetric weight instead of actual weight to determine shipping cost. Arcadia is saying that the package is 107 x 20 x 30 centimeters, which works out to 12.84 kilograms in volumetric weight. Below is what the Tenso shipping costs looks like as a result. I doubt that proxies will be more affordable. I'm going to have to seriously think about this for the next few hours. It's now in the "really stupid, but really fun" purchase category that I might be able to get past my wife, but it could also be the end of me.

Bandai just announced that there will be a reissue of the Hayate in 2023 and...drum roll...they're making a Ghost set for it:

https://hobby.dengeki.com/event/1626483/

Sounds like all five of the Delta entries will be released at the same time:

https://hobby.dengeki.com/event/1626483/

2 hours ago, treatment said:

yeah.

for those that don't go to twitter, here is the snapshot as well as the arcadia shop-site again:

 

arcadia site-shop:  https://arcadia.ac/products/detail/354

get ready with yer proxy stuff to order/reserve it!

 

This is so ridiculous and fun that I just have to try to get one. I was hoping they'd post a time, otherwise it was going to be a long day of hitting the F5 button....

Edit: Just noticed that it's listed as "before sales start" on TWE, not sold out. I need more coffee.

I'm still going to pass on this one, though. I think the Bandai-invented winged logo has no place on the valk, as it breaks up the clean red/blue lines of the scheme. You can't turn everything into Macross Delta, Bandai. SDFM and DRYL valks don't need logos stamped all over them. I'm a fan of Hasegawa's minimalist take on it, where the only markings are the stripes and "Angel Birds" on the legs.

3 hours ago, jvmacross said:

It's such a tiny set of options that I'd be surprised if Arcadia would not include them.....guess if they don't it'd be a good opportunity for someone to make some side cash by designing some and selling on shapeways....

If Bandai was making this valk, they'd create a TWE add-on set just for the speakers and charge $150.

3 hours ago, Hikuro said:

gonna be honest, with PLAMAX discontinuing their 1/20 scale kits, I'd be very interested in building one of these for myself. 

Has this news been confirmed? I know that it's been a few years since the release of the last 1/20 VF-1 kit (Fighter), but was hoping Max would create the Strike Battroid version to finish off the line. He's been doing those Frontier and Delta 1/20 nose kits lately, which I'm not a fan of, but at least it tells us that he's still making new stuff.

9 hours ago, Shawn said:

How in the heck do I reserve the Gunpod!?

 

I've been wondering the same thing since it was previewed earlier this year. I'm guessing it will show up on Arcadia's site within the next week since the sign says late July.

2 hours ago, Shawn said:

Yeah...but you failed to fully offer what Bandai did...

Bandai said...Hell, if you want to make BOTH tailfins wrong, we will give you the chance to do that too...so you can have a 310 series valk on the tailfin, but 013 on the side of the body.

Come on Anasazi37...step up your game! 😛

 

LOL. True. I forgot to include the "make everything so very, very wrong" option on the set.

1 hour ago, Mommar said:

How could you print something with that much detail?

In a word: resin. My printer (Elegoo Saturn 4K) has a max resolution of 0.05mm, which would be more than sufficient for this model. There are some 8K printers on the market now that knock the resolution down to 0.025mm. Some of the parts are large enough that they'd have to be broken into two pieces, though (at least for my printer). It would require a lot of resin unless you hollowed out the parts, which is not easy to do. More traditional filament (PLA) printers have max resolutions around 0.12mm, which is still pretty good for a model like this.

1 hour ago, Lolicon said:

Bandai actually printed Focker's 001 correctly. That's as close as we'll get to Bandai admitting they f***ed up with Hikaru and Kakizaki. 

On 7/21/2022 at 11:10 AM, Hurin said:

Just confirming:  All VF-1S Hikaru DYRL have the reversed 001 (to 100) on certain elements.  And there has been no fix offered (like, perhaps Bandai would send out revised parts we could install?. . . I know, dare to dream!).

Edit:  Oh, I see that Bandai (amazingly) doubled-down and did the same thing on DYRL Kakizaki.  And decals are provided for those who don't like it.  Sorry to broach a probably sore subject. 

12 hours ago, Shawn said:

Here are the Kakizazaki 'correction' stickers for future reference for the casual readers. You could take these and 'fix' the Focker tailfins.

In addition to the Bandai sheet that @Shawn just mentioned, which only comes with the Kakizaki release, I produced this small correction sheet:

It was also used by MW members like @RedComet to create custom DYRL Focker and Max variants.

9 hours ago, arbit said:

Nice. Which clear resin are you using?

Anycubic Basic Clear, printed using an Elegoo Saturn. I'm also experimenting with Siraya Blu Clear v2, but it's a lot thicker and since the Anycubic prints are coming out nicely, I haven't spent a lot of time trying to get it dialed in. Biggest headache for me were these small "champagne bubbles" that showed up in the prints. I had to switch my tank film from FEP to NFEP and slow down the lifting speed by quite a bit to get rid of them.

2 hours ago, Xigfrid said:

i didn’t see any display stand option, but I have noticed that it can save a lot of place by displaying the toys mid air on a flight stand. The most practical stand I have found is the Gundam / 1:12 figure display stands which have a plastic pin. They sell for 2-3$ each on aliexpress and can be found in any Gundam stores. And it is easy to design the hole or drill it.

I was thinking of using a Bandai Action Base of some kind. Worst case I can drill a small hole in the printed main body part, but I have digital calipers so it wouldn't be hard to measure the diameter of the peg on whatever stand I pick and just subtract a cylinder of the same diameter from the 3D object and then print that.

10 hours ago, Jasonc said:

Wow, that canopy is very clear. I should send you the updated body and canopy. I've updated it quite a bit so that the rear canopy opens much easier, and I kept the "roll bar" on the main body attached. I also adjusted the size of the rear section that attaches to the main body. I'll send it all over to you.

As for doing the supports for people, I don't want to do that only because based on what resin people use, it may not be feasible to use the supports I do. I also try to keep my supports medium, but keep .35mm (in general) tips and them 5mm long. That works for my printer, but it may not for older resin printers.

Would love to print the updated parts--please do send them!

You make a good point about differences in resin and type of printer. The newer mono 4K/8K models are a different animal than the older models.

17 hours ago, Jasonc said:

OK, with some time on my hands, I did my final testing (canopy alignment, and the ability for it to open and close) and it is successful. With that, the files are now available for purchase. Fee for the .stl file is $26 including Paypal fee, $25 with Friends/Family. If anyone wants one printed because they do not have a printer, I can print it, but due to the fact that it does take time from other projects, and there are at times print failures for various reasons, I can print it the set for $75 personal payment or $80 with Paypal fees shipped (in the continental U.S.). I will also include pins (which will need to be cut to proper size), so all you have to do is do the cleanup, paint, etc. Just message me if you're interested. I'm happy that all this finally worked out. I can't tell you how much work I put into making this work properly.

And for what it's worth, I can attest to the high quality of @Jasonc's work. I volunteered to do some test prints of his original files and provide feedback to improve the final version. Design, fit, and finish of the parts, even at that early stage, were exceptional. I basically just had to figure out how I wanted to orient and support them for printing, which is both an art and a science. @Jasonc, if there isn't already a plan to do so, offering STL files with the supports in place as an option, based on what you've determined works well with your printer, could save folks a bunch of time and guesswork. That way all they have to do is slice and print.

Now for a little eye candy. Using the standard progressive wet sanding approach for canopies, and after a dip in Future at the end, this is what the front canopy section part looks like for me:

I can post pics of the other parts, if anyone is interested, but they're basically standard grey versions of what's already been shared in this thread.

"I know that I took down most of the pictures of our family to make room for this new display, but valks have been a part of my life far longer than any of you and they deserve some space, too. Now everyone can see how they've grown and changed over the years, just like our kids."