Darth Mingus
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Posts posted by Darth Mingus
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Most of them do but shipping to the US has been a bit of a pain lately. Pricing is all over the place recently due to shipping costs from Japan to Canada. I got my PG Unleashed for essentially Japanese retail, not it is upwards of $100 CDN more. Here is a list based on pricing/owner interactions
This store has been around for 30 years and my go-to. Stock has been an issue, but he is super nice and will work with you to arrange shipping: https://scifianime.ca/
This store is newer, but has had great selection. The owners are good guys: https://www.msmnstudio.com/
This store is relatively new, but the owner is a great guy. Smaller selection but decent pricing: https://trinityhobby.com/
This store runs a YouTube channel that shows you what it is like to run a Gunpla shop. Great selection, weird business practices. Will ship to the US and offers unlimited private warehouse: https://www.canadiangundam.com/
There are a ton of shops out of the major hub cities Toronto and Vancouver, but most of those are overpriced. I have not really interacted with the owners so I can't attest to them:
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This just popped up, can't read it but apparently:
QuoteIt has been confirmed that Bandai is now no longer letting Japanese stores to allow Gunpla kits to be bought out of the country so if you wonder why sites like AmiAmi and 1999 taken down their listings for Gunpla kits, you know now then.This doesn't seem to apply to non Gundam series Bandai kits.(Never mind that, also non Gundam series kits too, rip)
Don't know if any of this is true but getting new kits directly from JPN may be challenging. I usually support local for Gunpla, but the trickle down may be impactful.
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17 hours ago, pengbuzz said:
Ok; at my age, these 1/12's are looking as detailed as 1/6's. I think I need new eyeglasses!
Pre-ordered Char ages ago and got it a few weeks ago. In hand, it is quick nice. Don't have it displayed yet but definitely worth it if you are a Char fan.
Seed Ver A.N.I.M.E. is a thing, an expensive proposition if you are a completionist. Strike due September 2022
Aile Striker & Effect Parts set, September 2022:
Upcoming GINN, October 2022:
Future releases:
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Some of the Canadian Gunpla stores will have it as well and they do not get theirs from P-Bandai US/Bluefin. With the exchange rate, you may end up paying slightly less than BBTS, depending on which store carries it.
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I don't have the kit yet, but looking at the instructions: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10837544
- Legs seem to be assembled using Polycaps so the items in step 1 to 8 can all be assembled, seam lines removed and painted prior to assembly
- Upper leg, apply G2 after finishing the grey parts. Annoyingly, there is a decal that you will need to match colours with
- Lower leg will be a bit more difficult to deal with, probably the hardest part of the kit. You can modify the parts (white vs. grey) and remove the pins on the white parts, fix seam lines, paint and the glue them together.
- For the main body, step 14 has a grouping of sub assemblies. The outer body parts in step 12 can be painted before attaching because it looks like it follows the colour separation. The seams on the blue parts are in the line art, so you can either leave them as is or remove them. I don't think masking the completed body would be that difficult and that would be the approach I would take. You can deal with the seams between parts A3 and A5.
- All the guns and greebles attach via polycaps so you can paint those first and attach them later.
- The part in step 15 requires a choice to use the stand or not but that piece uses polycaps so you can deal with seam line easily
All-in-all, the kits looks pretty well engineered and fairly straight forward to paint. Looking forward to seeing your work.
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21 hours ago, electric indigo said:
The V-Siren was painted with Tamiya acrylics as usual. I used gloss paint without additional clear coats; some of the larger areas, especially on the shoulders, were polished with Tamiya compound.
The kit dates back to 1995, it has a slightly complicated history with a struggle between sculptor, producer, and distributor, and as a result, as I understand, was never properly licensed, so it's not visible in the MH publications. Volks released a somewhat lumpy 1/144 version.
Great work on this old resin kit. They are a challenge to build. I've been focusing on the IMS kits lately, but got sucked into Yahoo auctions and got a few rare resin kits. I'll post them in the FFS thread when I receive them.
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6 hours ago, Big s said:
Thanks tekering for answering all my questions. It seems weird that they have it where the holes have to be drilled for those sensors instead of having a simple attachment like a peg hole since those clear parts are included. And that’s an interesting guide for the markings. And I’m glad to hear it’s nice and stable.
Here’s hoping for more Zentraedi kits in the near future
Probably done because that future variants don't need these sensors. It is similar to what Hasegawa does on aircraft models for ordinance pylons. You need to drill out the holes to mount the pylons, otherwise, you have a nice, clean surface for an unarmed aircraft.
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I just got a note saying the release has been delayed from March 2022 to April 2022. Did anyone else get this notice?
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11 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:
According to the Google translation on Dengeki Hobby Web, it's actually Borg Confart.
Isn't a "Borg Confart" what happens when Cosplayers at a Star Trek convention have have the burrito option for lunch?
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59 minutes ago, wm cheng said:
Wonder whats going on in Japan? All the restrictions are relaxing here in Canada, in fact they don't even require masks or vaccine passports as of March 1st (at least in Ontario). Is Japan still bad off with Omicron?
It is not so much how well we are doing in Canada, but rather the shut down of international flights into Japan. Japan Post uses cargo space on commercial flights to transport items. The situation will not improve until Japan reopens to tourists. Surface is still available, but the docks are so backlogged, HLJ will not use them. HLJ has temporarily lifted the 60 limit on PWH. If the situation does not improve, maybe a bunch of Canadians can get together to have a bulk shipment sent to 1 person to redistribute.
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If you are looking for figures from macross, take a look at the the KitzConcept stuff at https://www.kitzconcept.com/. Their stuff is branded Robotech, but the figures are not too bad. I have Roy Fokker figure.
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Wow, that was fast. It was available when I posted it. Hope it went to a good home.
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Resurrecting an old thread, but there is a 1/3000 SDF-1 Movie Version assembly kit on Mandarake if anyone is looking for one:
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1 hour ago, sqidd said:
Availability will drop. That said, it has probably been the most available DX VF-1 release so far. As far as price goes on release day (not to be confused with PO pricing/PO day) they were going for about $285 shipped to the US via DHL (new pricing). That was 11/28/2020. Since then the price has increased to about $350 shipped via DHL to the US (Mandrake "used" pricing) and $25-30 more for new through places like eBay/Yahoo Auctions.
I agree with Sqidd. It is very unlikely the TV version VF-1S will ever be rereleased. Most Japanese fans are waiting for the DYRL version. If Bandai is to release another 1S, it will probably be DYRL Roy or a DYRL Max (P-Bandai). This is conjecture at this point, no official announcements.
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Next in the Ver A.N.I.M.E. line, 08th MS Team.
Gouf Custom - 7000 Yen, 2022-06
Mass Production Guntank - Price and release TBA
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Metal Build Hi-Nu - 35,200 Yen, 2022-07 Release
Metal Robot Damashii Hyaki Shiki Kai - 16,500 Yen, 2022-06 Release
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There are a bunch of items being re-released via lottery:
- Robot Damashii Ka Signature Nero Lunar Landing Type (Lottery Result Mid Jan, Release Feb 10, 2022)
- MB Gundam Astraea + Proto GN High Mega Launcher (Lottery Result Mid Jan, Release Feb 10, 2022)
- MB Gundam Astray Blue Frame Second Revise (Lottery Result Mid Jan, Release Feb 10, 2022)
- Fix Figuration Metal Composite Psycho Gundam (Lottery Result Mid Jan)
- Robot Damashii Nightingale (Lottery Result Mid Jan)
- Metal Robot Damashii Side MS Akutsuki Gundam Oowashi Unit (Lottery Result Mid Jan)
- Robot Damashii Ka Signature Dijeh (Lottery Result Mid Jan)
- MB Astraea High Maneuver Test Pack (Lottery Result Mid Jan)
- MB Exia Repair IV (Lottery Result Mid Jan, Release Feb 10, 2022)
- Fix FIguration Metal Composite Wing Gundam Snow White Prelude (Lottery Result Mid Jan)
Don't know if anyone is participating in the lottery but hopefully some of the items from these production runs will make there way to the Bandai stores outside of Japan.
An if anyone is looking for one of these, AmiAmi has the Metal Robot Spirits SIDE MS Force Impulse Gundam for 9,980 Yen, discounted from 14,300 Yen:
https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-122584
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Fantastic work! Those colours really pop!
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HLJ is a fantastic shop, but recently, they have gotten much worse in the marketing and promotions department.
Their big push for Winter 2021 was a "20% Off Shipping" promotion and since I had a picked up a large item on Cyber Monday, I figured I would take advantage and just ship my private warehouse, even though I knew I had some items due around the end of the month. So I got ship and unfortunately, due to the size of the item, I had to ship via DHL. So no discount appears so I politely inquire with customer service. Their response was the promotion only applied to Air Small Packet shipments. Nowhere on their promotions was this specified, so I thought, well that sucks...
Today, I get a not saying 2 days left, DHL Shipping discounted!! So again I inquire about it, the customer service basically says "well, too bad, so sad...this was something marketing added...". No offer of store credit, discount on the next purchase, just a feeble ..."your timing is unfortunately" Note that I have been a customer with HLJ since 1995 when they first opened up online and the value of the package they shipped me was over 100,000Y. Basically for 4000Y they could have kept me super happy. If this is how they are going to be treating customers going forward, I cannot support them going forward.
If they have something you want, it is a pretty safe bet to order from them, but keep in mind can get better discounts, loyalty points and cheaper shipping from other stores. It used to be that customer service pushed them over the top for me, but based on this experience they are down at the bottom now.
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This is the one from the series that caught my eye, given the similarities to FSS designs. It is called the Gundam Noise Canceller, from the 5th episode of the Gundam Build Divers GIMM & Ball's World Challenge spin-off light novel. Unfortunately, P-Bandai has not announced this kit yet, but it has been licensed:
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It's too bad the Archangel Bridge base kit that is coming out is 1/144, that is the most iconic pose of the Freedom. Did you do/plan to do a Justice to go with the freedom?
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Great job, and great poses. The Freedom is such an iconic design at this point.
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Geez, that is almost double the MSRP of the VF-25F at release.
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A few new items in the FFS space:
Volks IMS Auge Arsculs is up for pre-order: https://volksusastore.com/webstores/hobby/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=13021
Pre-release preview of the kit:
On the resin side of the house, pre-orders are open for the GTM SSI Kubalkan Gatexion Mark 3 "Ritter Jet" Haretsu no Ningyou (that is a mouthful) from our Treasure.
I also found this great picture of the GTM versions of the classic FSS mortar headds:
Gundam Plamodel Thread IV
in Anime or Science Fiction
Posted
Using Google Translate on the letter, I don't believe it was sent to the AmiAmi, HLJ of the world. These shops tend to sell Gunpla at or slightly below MSRP. I think there were a number of Japanese based retailers who were jacking up the cost of new gunpla for quick, additional profit.