Lupin The Third

I've ordered from HLJ off and on over the years, in fact I believe they were my first order direct from Japan with the two massive Gundam Dendrobium MSIA figures I ordered for myself and my brother, and I never had any issues until just recently. Their migration to their new site coincided with several large ticket preorders I had on file with the (including the Nadia Nautilus subs, new Shirow Iris figure, and others). Due to the brilliant fact that their site would either a) not allow me to login or b) not accept payment processing, I was unable to pay for the items. So what is HLJ's solution? Lock and ban my account. It's so absurd that even though I have an alternate account with them I will never purchase anything from them again. I'll get it from Amiami or somewhere else at this point. I didn't even bother to contact them. I actually just found it so hilariously incompetent that they would punish a customer for their own website's issues that I saw no reason to interact further with such stupid individuals. As for my amiami experience I first ordered from them when I was looking for the hyper-obscure Shooting Game Historica Thunderforce ships. I'd not heard of their site previously but they were the only one who had available for preorder AND they had an exclusive color variant as well. Received that at the end of 2010 and then didn't buy anything again until the end of last year but since then I've picked up Valks, Lupin figures, and a tons of other miscellaneous figures with no complaints whatsoever. I haven't had any defects yet, but ultimately I think people aren't understanding that while you think that they should swap out a tiny little part on an expensive figure for you the logistics of that doing internationally are quite expensive. And let's be fair here too...most of you complaining expect them to pay for shipping the item back to Japan and to eat the cost of resending you a replacement as well. So on an item that they might only make $50-75 you're expecting back and forth international shipping. And that's honestly an absurd expectation. But hey, at least they let me actually place orders and don't ban me because their servers don't work properly. So I'm probably biased.

I think everyone thus far is ordering direct from Yamato.

Just translated my confirmation e-mail and everything looks set...I'd forgotten what it was like to pre-order a Macross item at retail price and without the panic of everyone being sold out in 2 seconds... I'm guessing that proxies should have plenty of these available. Obviously they'll be marked up but it shouldn't be to absurd levels like the YF-29 30th or a VF-25S have been.

Wow....unlike a Bandai pre-order where you have 5 minutes to order through a site already in English I was able to translate the pages and order two units to go to my friend in Japan who'll forward them to me. What a concept! Pre-orders open for more than 5 minutes. I did notice they said to confirm that your order appears under your account info because if it doesn't you need to resubmit. And also if I'm translating correctly they say that credit card processing is done later, after an e-mail notice is sent...is that correct?

It was a special lottery. You had to stand in line at 1 of 3 Lawson Convience Stores in Japan. If you received a golden ticket you were invited to the Bandai Bukkake Party. If you endured the BBP as a "recipient" for at least 25 minutes then you received a special box of Macross Pocky. Inside was a passcode to enter online. The passcode then gave access to a special twitter feed which you had to monitor 24 hours a day. A website link was posted on the twitter feed for approximately 5 minutes that led to an online map that 12 users were able to download. The online map directed these twelve winners to an old warehouse in Shinjuku with instructions to arrive at midnight on August 1st. Inside the warehouse was a table with sharp instruments and dental tools across from a table with the 3 units of the RVF-25Renewal Version that Bandai created. The three units were guarded by a dozen butcher's-knife-wielding-yakuza. Suffice to say expect a yen pricing of at least 328,950 when these units first reach ebay.

One of the reasons I got out of collecting Macross Valks years back was that it seemed like reissue after reissue. When you look at things like the VF-2SS, VA-3, VF-5000, SDP-1, SW-XAII, Octos, Destroid Giant Monster, VF-XX, Metal Siren, and others you're left scratching your head as to why the toy companies just won't make anything new when there is so much cool stuff to tap into. Especially given the after market price points we're seeing for these reissue DX Figures....the VF-25S & F going for $400+ and the old version VF-27s going for even higher than that sometimes. It's absurd. You can't tell me that Bandai actually thinks it makes financial sense to sell a figure to amiami/hlj/etc for at most ~$80-100, the retailer sell the figure to a scalper for maybe twice that, and it doesn't reach the actual consumer until the scalper has sold it for $400-500. So Bandai makes what? Probably $50 or so on the sale after manufacturing costs are deducted but the process yields up to $400+ for everyone else who touches the item?!?! Here's a thought...just make a few more units, charge 50% more and actually keep the money for yourself! Instead they seem to have decided they are in the business of making money for ebay....now that's a smart business model with long term sustainability!!! And with reissue valks going for these prices you cannot tell me that fans would not pay for the far more unique mechs I mentioned above. For crying out loud if Max Factory can make a $400 Big-O you can't tell me that Bandai/Yamato/Whomever can't make something other than the small handful of mechs we're seeing that they're making us fight for like caged animals. Honestly I'm not putting any more effort into this. I've never in my life observed a company that people are waving money at refuse to provide the products desired. It's stunning to the point that Bandai deserves to go out of business and every single one of their employees lose their jobs for not kicking management in the rear for refusing to actually make money. Yes, I said it and I mean it. Bandai deserves to go under and those of you employed by them should lose your jobs. Or you could actually point out to your employer that selling less unit than possible and making sure that only the scalpers profit from this doesn't put food on YOUR tables and maybe, just maybe, you should refocus the business model on maximizing profits and taking care of the customers....holy crap! What a concept! I must have just discovered some brilliant new economic insight that no one else in history has ever considered! No...nevermind, that couldn't possibly double Bandai's profits on the line. At one point I was going through a nightly routine where I had every legit retail sight bookmarked and would check each of them every 15-20 minutes during a block of time over a few hours at night (which conicided with the usual times Amiami/HLJ/et al. tend to update). Now I was able to do this because I'm up late on the computer anyways but finally I said enough of this. I check the sites whenever it strikes my fancy and if these companies decide that during the worst economic period in most of our lifetimes they want to actually make some money and pay their bills they'll provide me with a chance to buy their product. If not....honestly, at this point...the hell with them.... Meanwhile garage kit manufacturers, studio half eye, and the like can somehow make the non-standard valks even though they operate on a shoestring budget compare to Bandai or Yamato, so if those two companies can't manage to getting around to providing us with something other than one reissue after another then the hell with them for that reason as well... Oddly enough the only reason I got back in to Macross was late last year when NCS (ncsx.com) stocked the SDF-1 I though it would be really cool to own such an iconic piece from a beloved childhood series. So I jumped back in with that, the web shop weathered yf-19, and a few others. The only reason I bothered with the reissue DX line was that I was out of collecting when the version 1 figures released and only began to look at them later at after market prices which seemed exorbantly high (especially for the armored versions). So when the renewal line was announced it made sense to jump in...but this whole process is absurd and insulting. If I can purchase the remaining valks at retail price I'll do so but not for the scalped prices. And if I miss out...well Bandai I have news for you guys, these are only toys and I really can just do without.

Macross Cage Fight! Hell that might be a better option than all this nonsense....at least then I'd have a fighting chance to get one! Also everyone is suddenly talking about Luca....has the RVF been confirmed somewhere and I just missed it? Or is everyone just figuring it to be a given?

Freeing up my pre-orders in a few moments if anyone cares. http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=BAN14295&mode=retail Grab it while it's hot.

Freeing up my pre-orders in a few moments if anyone cares. http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=BAN14295&mode=retail Grab it while it's hot.

As a lark I preordered two of these with BBTS, fully expecting the order to be cancelled like they did with my 25S order. Turns out they got them in and they're needing me to update my CC info as they have an old card on file. I already procurred 3 of these and I'm really starting to lose serious interest in obtaining more of any of them (this unit or future ones) with the way bandai is treating us, so I'm going to try to make sure any fellow MWers get first dibs. I'm going to free up my pre-orders tomorrow around 10am Central (US) time. I'll drop another post here a few moments before I do so tomorrow morning to give everyone a fair shot. Yes, I posted this in the other thread. It's a repost to try to help out my fellow fans.

As a lark I preordered two of these with BBTS, fully expecting the order to be cancelled like they did with my 25S order. Turns out they got them in and they're needing me to update my CC info as they have an old card on file. I already procurred 3 of these and I'm really starting to lose serious interest in obtaining more of any of them (this unit or future ones) with the way bandai is treating us, so I'm going to try to make sure any fellow MWers get first dibs. I'm going to free up my pre-orders tomorrow around 10am Central (US) time. I'll drop another post here a few moments before I do so tomorrow morning to give everyone a fair shot.

You mean a quantity of 10-12 units per retailer? Yeah, a Yamato toy definitely can't outsell that.

Oh my mistake. I thought someone said HK in the other thread. Either way it's insulting as hell that Bandai thinks us evil gaijin shouldn't get their toys but it's ok for them to sit in a stack on the floor under cheap Disney plastic turds. And I like Disney (my wife collects the WDCC Classics and Armani Figures) but this is just insulting turditude.

Agreed. You can actually dispute cc charges for up to 180 days, which most people are unaware of. So if someone does burn you you can take 'em down!

When I saw the first pics I thought that it looked like a substantial, large piece (like the Max Factory Big O or a similar figure) but the new pic does appear to be quite dimmunitive. Perhaps it's because the VF-4 carries so much of it's bulk out on the wings rather than at the center of the vessel like most valks/jets that we thought it was going to be huge. Unless of course it's being handled by the biggest dude in Japan...that guy should be a pro-wrestler.

I think this pretty much confirms it..... ....as has been posted in other threads this is supposedly a retail store in Hong Kong. Well after amiami, hlj, hobby search, amazon japan, and everyone else was sold out. Two piles of Valks sitting underneath a discount Minnie Mouse toy. The funny thing is I almost get the feeling at this point that Bandai is trying to punish the west for the failure of Bandai Entertainment (US) rather than acknowledging that it was their own failed business policies (such as making Bandai Ent out bid competitors to get Bandai titles!) that actually caused the closure. I get the feeling that they're out to 'punish' us for our wrong doing and our unwillingness to pay $60-80 for 40 minutes of anime like a good little Japanese consumer is willing to mindlessy do. Just a theory I admit, but does anything else make sense here aside from this being a Japanese company that is completely out of touch with reality and their insane expectations of consumers? While this behavior is working out beautifully for scalpers eventually it will backfire when you have a company so out of touch with the manner in which customers should be treated.

There's nothing to "dial back down". The only thing their site now seems to do effectively is give 504 errors and show you logoed/photoshopped versions of their facility. That's helpful when you want to place an order! If you don't think it's bad then clearly you haven't been on their site recently because it literally doesn't work right the overwhelming majority of the time. I had some non-Macross items on order recently that I just had to let expire because I became tired of not being able to login and finalize/pay for the orders. So all those orders went to Amiami instead. I don't really have a problem with HLJ, I've used them over the years and been happy with the service. But you can't expect people to not poke fun at their site, or even be harsh, given that it no longer works AND they've been very difficult to deal with regarding the Renewal figures (posting generic "Order Stop" listing without even taking pre-orders, being even less interactive with customer inquiries than some of the other sites, etc) Cookie? No really. Did anyone ask? This whole fiasco has nothing to do with anything other than Bandai being complete jerks and treating the end consumer like garbage; expecting us to either fight for preorders like ravenous animals or be extorted by ebay, Yahoo auctions, Nippon Yasan, etc....The fact that anyone gets any of these figures only boils down to sheer dumb luck in being online during the exact 5 minute window that preorders are available or simply being willing to get fleeced and obtain them through an alternate source. There's nothing else to it and anyone who wants to act like they are some kind of elitist because they got a preorder is severely deluding themselves (not to mention needing a bit more perspective on life). But since you brought it up…..feeling boastful are we? Ok....passed on the VF-1D because I don't really care for it but got the renewal VF-25F and the Super Parts, got the YF-29, got 3 of the VF-171EX units and have Armour Parts on preorder, have 2 VF-25Gs on pre-order, and the YF-29 30th as well. Plus I have a friend in Japan who'll likely be obtaining extra of the 25G and YF-29 30th units at release for me...the only one I missed out on was the VF-25S because of BBTS (which no one expected) and I could buy one tomorrow but I simply won't due to the principle that I'm not willing to pay 3 times retail simply because Bandai are a**holes and won't properly meet demand. Attempt to “rub it in” meet epic fail…. And if people are being pissy about this whole thing don’t they have a right to be? As others have already pointed out nothing says 30th anniversary celebration like a You-Aren’t-Invited-Un-Invitation–Card! Obviously we don’t know how Yamato’s VF-4 is going to turn out yet but everything else they’ve release, or will be releasing later this year, is available at retail price somewhere. Contrast that with the way Bandai’s treating everyone and honestly Big West should be having a shitfit over how Bandai are literally turning people off the franchise in disgust.

Yeah...maybe instead of buying a new building that looks like a some kind of convoy/transformer vehicle they should have been more concerned with keeping their website functional since having a snazzy building doesn't really do anything for 99.9999999912% of their customers....

If anyone managed to get more than one I've got a shiny VF-171EX new in the box that I'd trade....PM me if interested.

I think we can all agreed that the Chogokin Renewal situation is completely beyond ridiculous with the YF-29 30th Version already being marked up over $400 in some cases being the most absurd yet. Can someone in Japan just ask Bandai "Hey? Why are you guys being such dicks? People are trying to throw money at you and you're ignoring it." Maybe one of the Japanese toy sites has contacts or maybe someone here in Japan with contacts could just find out why they act like they're acting as if allergic to money? Personally I'm really tired of the hoops we're jumping through to make a purchase and I own far more rare and valuable items in my gaming and anime collections that didn't require 1/10th the effort to obtain. Maybe someone could shed some light on the situation? Is there only one factory in China that can make these and all the employees are jumping off the roof tops like at the Apple factory? Did Bandai's president have a vision of Buddah in which he was told to only make 12 of each new figure so that the unenlightened couldn't get them? Or are they just a bunch of sadist jerks? None of their other lines are getting this treatment. Why is Macross, and it's fans, receiving such a complete disregard?

This is un-frakking believable. I see the announcement, check everywhere just in case (expecting no one to have it up anyways since it JUST GOT ANNOUNCED last night!), play a little online gaming, come back and it's out at Amiami, HS, and CDJapan, stay up till 3:40 in the mroning my time checking the other sites just in case, finally go to bed to wake up and find that every single retailer on the planet has sold out.....except HLJ who, as usual, haven't done a real pre-order....

This is the sexy....must have! Even Zenigata cannot prevent me from obtaining one.

Hobby Search claims to have some available for those looking still.... http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10178529

So I was fortunate enough to have 3 of these on the way between Amiami and Amazon Japan. If anyone who got BBTS'ed, missed out on pre-orders (or will get BBTS'ed when BBTS cancels all their preorders again), and has a new in box VF-25S Renewal that they want to trade I'm looking to do so. Anyone interested let me know.