magicsp00n

I'm going to be spending a few days each in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima at the beginning of May. I've been to Tokyo before and know about Akihabara and Nakano - any other recommendations for shops to hit? Mostly interested in old Takatokus.

Looks like it's time to sell my Toynami Alpha / Beta.

I also don't hate that new ride armor. Not going to buy, it, though.

59 minutes ago, captain america said:

I can't help but wonder if that isn't a cost-cutting production measure for the figure. 

I think if you look back at the Fuke prototypes, they didn't have cloth on them as well. I'd expect the final product to use cloth just like the previous figures did.

I think this is the least offensive of the Breakers designs. Except for that big fender hanging out over her shoulder.

But I'm not going to get it.

1 hour ago, no3Ljm said:

Also to be honest, I didn't know that even the bike's blue plastic can yellowed like that. I know the whites are. Did you airbrush yours or it's mostly hand-painted? Also, any advice on how to remove the visor in case you also painted the helmet? Thanks! 

Yeah, I was really unhappy when I noticed how discolored the blue plastic had become. I had other items in the same display case which didn't yellow at all, so I don't know what kind of plastic Beagle used that made it turn so much.

No hand-painting on mine. I airbrushed the blue areas. I found the Mecha Color to be a bit thick for spraying right out of the bottle, but a bit of Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver worked great. For the white parts I used Krylon Fusion. I couldn't find a good way to disassemble the helmet so I just masked off the visor and face really well before spraying.

On 12/22/2022 at 6:36 PM, no3Ljm said:

I am actually considering of having them painted down the line. The helmet already have some yellowing too so I know that applying the peroxide treatment might damage the tampo print on the sides. I'm kind of studying too how to open the figure esp the legs section. And what I fear is that I might break a piece or two to have them pry open and don't want to take a risk of doing in the fear that I might break it. But we'll see. But yes, the overall goal is to repaint them and hopefully apply some decals on it.  

Great progress! I went through this whole process with my Beagles as well. Tried the peroxide approach to whiten the yellow bits, which looked great for awhile but then they just turned yellow again (even stored in the closet). So I bit the bullet and repainted them, and am much happier with the result. Disassembly of the bike can be a little terrifying, as the back end is glued together. But if you take it slow you should be all right.

As far as the rider's legs, I never got them apart, but you shouldn't need to take them apart if you just mask carefully. Likewise I was able to preserve the markings on the bike and rider with masking, though I had some IMAI model kit decals on hand just in case.

I used Vallejo Mecha Color 69 014 Grey Green, and found it to be a good color match.

For the fabric suit I scraped off all the flakey bits and dyed the cloth with Rit.

3 hours ago, sh9000 said:

https://www.entertainmentearth.com/product/voltron-voltron-5pro-studio-carbotix-series-action-figure/blfbzw47953

$489.99

Sold out now.

Don't see the rest of the armor parts or the valk in any of the other lots in this auction, but the boosters caught my eye.

https://hibid.com/lot/130739220/zoids--transformers-and-other-pop-culture-toys

7 hours ago, Big s said:

How many figures are included now? And is everything included with the $300 or is it different price tier’s?

I wasn’t really interested, but it seems like it’s getting more interesting with that Cobra Commander

The price is the same $300 for everything. Meeting each tier unlocks the content for everybody, regardless of when you order. 

Has anybody had a good experience where the plastic doesn't re-yellow after whitening? I've only tried on my Beagle Mospeadas and they looked fantastic when I whitened them but then after being in a closet for a year they were more yellow than before.

I'm wondering if there's a difference if you do it without the UV light involved. I understand just hydrogen peroxide with heat will work to whiten as well but haven't tried.
I have a few valks that I'm heartbroken about yellowing and would really love to get them back to beautiful.

In my case the toys were originally yellowed from sunlight, so my hope would be that if kept out of the sunlight they would remain white.

@Kyp Durron is the real deal. Trade with confidence.

1 hour ago, Robin-11 said:

Although i didn't have the chance(I mean money) to buy the Bandai GBP i still like my Yamato one. A lot. Luckily enough it's one of the valks from Yamato that didn't yellow a bit. I actually would love to buy the Bandai version too. The only think that i really don't like about it are the giant hands. Also, i'd kill for having a set of waterslide decals for the Yammie one.

My Yamato VF-1S is yellowed and it breaks my heart. 😥

I thought the Bandai oversized hands were really goofy too until I tried them out and I think they look good in person. There is also a mid-sized set of hands included so if you prefer a more restrained look they got you covered.

Comparison of my newly acquired Bandai DX GBP-1S with the Yamato 1/48. The Bandai armor is actually on my TV Max VF-1A, since that's the only valk in the line that I own. It's really nice that Bandai included that extra VF-1J head.

My kids say they prefer the Yamato version. I'm a fan of the Bandai myself, though they went a bit overboard on the markings.

I bit on the GBP-1S parts from Mandarake. Now I'm hoping Bandai will rerelease the VF-1J or the VF-1S so I have something to put them on...

My Houquet was in Osaka yesterday. It arrived at my home in North Carolina, US, today. Bananas. (Amazon.co.jp, DHL)

Initial thought is it looks pretty good in hand. Limbs are a little more loose than I'd like.

4 hours ago, Podtastic said:

So I have Ken the Eagle on pre-order. But I really hope they release the rest of the Gatchaman team. Or at least also Jun the Swan.

Ken the Eagle doesn't really work for me by himself.

Same. I've been waiting on info about the rest of the team.

Any reviews of the Bartley up yet?

Wow, I was going to ask if they transformed, since GoLion had the legs, but I thought nah, can't be at that size and price.

What's with the 30th anniversary stamp on all those 3A pics? They're about 10 years off.

21 hours ago, Corrinald said:

I can probably let my spare one go. Just need a minute to get it out for pictures

Great, I'll shoot you a PM.

Looking for Max! Anybody able to help me out?

The crew is looking good together. (And just barely fit on the Detolf.)

Mine showed up from Amazon JP today as well. I didn't expect it for another week.

Carbotix pre-order up on BBTS @$700.
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/172170

Can't justify that but whoever gets it will have a nice piece.

I'll say that the availability of Bludd and now today's smooth preorder of Barbecue and Breaker are encouraging. Credit to Target and Hasbro for improving things. Hopefully it's the norm going forward.