Lupin The Third
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Posts posted by Lupin The Third
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Here's my response from HLJ.....
Hi,Thank you for writing in.
The items went up and sold out almost immediately. There is huge demand and low
supply for these items, and as we sell to customers around the world, they can
go fast.
The limit on these items was 10 each, although we sometimes do set lower limits.
Thank you for shopping at HobbyLink Japan! We appreciate your business!
Best Regards,
Brian Keaney
HobbyLink Japan
www.hlj.com
I am stunned. The fact that they sold almost all of their stock to scalpers is reprehensible and I will do my very best to never purchase anything from them again if it is available anywhere else.
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The number was reduced because other people placed a large order and removed the quantity available to you.
Yes I understand how that can happen. Let me clarify what I meant. back in November when HLJ had the Bandai clearance sale they had the Soul of Popy Swordfish II from Cowboy Bebop on sale for 3,840 Yen, less than half it's regular prince of 8,000 yen. I wanted to buy 6 of these (several as gifts and a couple for me); there was no limit on stock and the default pull down menu allowed up to ten to be added to the cart. However when you went into the cart it would reduce your qty to 4. If you went back and added more it still reduced your qty to 4 in the cart. I placed my order and the item was still in stock afterwards so it wasn't like I was fighting for units with other customers. They continued to be in stock for a couple days after that.
Either way I just sent them an email asking for a clarification regarding the Valks and will report back if they reply.
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Did the 29 go up just now also? Damn it.Was able to get an order in or the 171 but not the 29... -=\. I'm sure it was due to the limit of 10. How sad HLJ...
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For sure. I can't believe they "limited" this to 10 per customer. Some people definitely bought ten.
I don't think they actually did. I've seen a few limited items recently that would allow you to select up to 10 but when you actually place it in the cart the qtys were reduced. I do hope this is the case with this release as well, I can see someone wanting a few for themselves but anyone buying 10 would simply be scalping and I would hope HLJ would prevent that. But who knows...I tried to buy three and being bumped down to 1 could be what happened to everyone else or maybe I just got the last one and that's why my qty changed...
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Another ~45 second sell out. I decided to do a quick check with HLJ before going to bed. Noticed that it went up as "order stop", refreshed a couple times and it became available. By the time my order was submitted it was back to order stop.
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Preorders are open at HLJ! Seems like there's no limit either.
Got mine in! Now I can cancel that price inflated NY order!
Maybe not...looks like they are limiting qty. I had three in my cart but at submission it was changed to 1.
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I was referring to solicits to retailers and not consumers. VF-4G is not comparable, it is an exclusive toy meant for direct sale to Japanese consumers and not to retailers through the usual wholesale/distribution channels. If you're going to compare the VF-4G to anything, then do it with the Tamashii Web shop exclusive parts.
We knew the VF-171 CF was coming, pre-orders did not pop up without Bandai announcing the release date etc. It was updated on the Tamashii website a week before the pre-orders were up. Various hobby sites all picked up and reported it too.
Except that the VF-4G was offered directly to multiple shops who had preorders open for extended periods of time, closed them, and later opened up even more. But whatever.
Yes we knew the 171 CF was coming, but there was no formal announcement as to when it was going up for preorders; just a webforum-I-heard-it-through-the-grapevine expectation that it was happening when it did. It was NOT up on the Tamashii website, nor sites like Tomopop, Collectiondx, etc that it was going on sale when it did. That's what we are talking about. The fact that if you have a life for more than 5 minutes you can miss a preorder; hence with the YF-29 30th reissue and 171 CF blitz the other night people are understandably edgy about when the other might go up for order.
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In response to some of the recent posts, the RVF-25 is not due out soon. The pre-orders for April Tamashii releases have all gone out and the RVF is not among them. If it is to be released in May, the pre-order for it would only go up at the start of Feb. Bandai also sends out solicits and updates their website before online retailers begin pre-orders, so if you're keeping up, you'd know that it was coming.
The RVF was displayed at Tamashii Nations 2012, an annual event showcasing upcoming Bandai products under the Tamashii banner. Other MF items like the S.H. MonsterArts Vajra and VF-27 with Super Pack were also shown. These are items that Bandai plan to release in 2013, it does not mean that they would all be released together.
Regarding asking NY's owner about the release for the RVF, unless he knows people working at Bandai who plan the release schedule, his knowledge of it would be the same as any other retailer. That would be when Bandai sends out solicits.
I think most of us here DO keep up, incessantly so in fact. But the way preorders spring up is insane. And Bandai isn't sending out solicitations for these; the unfulfillable demand clearly indicates that Bandai is informing retailers exactly how many they are getting and the preorders sell out almost instantly. This is different from the VF-4G where Yamato did in fact take solicitations for preorders thus it was orderable for quite a while.
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I think I went a lil overboard this holiday
How much did the 25S cost you?
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Lol, wasn't trying to troll you- just asking what I think is a legitimate question. I thought I recalled someone on the board saying that they asked the owner or management of NY the dates for the RVF-25 pre-order. Maybe they replied...
I didn't think you were trolling, so no worries. I saw that too...wasn't it in the VF-171 CF thread?
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With the VF-171 out on preorder already does anyone have word about when the RVF-25 will be on preorder? Seeing as both were showcased at the same time one would think they'll be coming out at roughly the same time give or take a month or two?
Haha...I saw this thread at the top and for a moment panicked thinking they'd gone up for preorder and I'd already missed out. Oh Bandai..,how you treat us like $2 whores...
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Yeah should be an easy cash-in for Bandai. Maybe we get different missiles if Bandai is in a fancy mood. I know from the pre-order game you might get the
impression that they don't care if they earn any money but I'm sure Bandai is capitalistic to the bones.
The current set is dark grey/blue for a white valk. New set will be white missles and plating for a dark mech.
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No love for the SDP-1 Stampede?
For those not familiar with this beast of a Valk, Link courtesy of the Macross Mecha Manual;
http://www.macross2....ossga/sdp-1.htm
I would pay VF-4 money for one.
-b.
Would totally buy three of these!
Would also totally go for that massive 1/60(?) prototype Destroid Monster that Yamato showed way back ~2002-2003 that was like three feet long. Sure it'd be $500 but who cares? It's just money, lol.
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I have a question: Does anime-export web store always fulfill all the pre-orders?
If not, I will order another one at NY just to be safe.
I used them once for the YF-29 reissue and I received my product. That said I will never use them again. To begin with they are just about the only seller, and I intentionally use the term seller not company, that requires payment up front on pre-orders. CDJapan requires this on international preorders as well...but they're quite literally the first company in Japan to focus on exporting CDs, LDs, DVDs and they've been around forever. When Anime Export finally shipped my Valk they sent me a tracking number for Sagawa...well great, but Sagawa doesn't operate in the US. After multiple e-mails requesting valid tracking info, to which they first insisted the tracking was correct, they finally informed me that Sagawa partners with Fedex and only brings the freight to the US. It then goes to Fedex who makes delivery. Fine, so what was my fedex tracking number? That they could not provide me with, so I had a tracking number that showed a package leaving Japan and that was it.
Finally it showed up, but at no point was I able to track it's progress once it left Japan. It arrived in a reused box (for dry food product iirc) that had been poorly cut down to fit the valk size and stuffed with, quite literally, trash. Old newspaper, unusable flattened air packet plastic, and the like. I was incised. Not only was my item packaged with trash, it was not packed to protect all sides of the item! I have NEVER received an item packaged in such condition from HLJ, CDJ, Amiami, JList, Amazon Japan (which a friend forwards for me), or any other vendor I have ever used!
I honestly cannot recommend them at all. Others may have had better experiences but I do not trust AE and I will NEVER use them again, even if they are the only option. And I use the term seller in referring to them, rather than company, because they conduct business like some guy working out of his basement rather than as you would expect from a vendor who Bandai actually allocates limited product to.
Are the Armor Parts for this the same as the EX?
I would think they are going to fit, but they might be visually too dark given the dark coloration of the CF. Wonder if they'll have a different version like they do for the YF-29 vs YF-29 30th?
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I know...I ordered 3 myself
I'm wondering if NY is actually going to makegood on all these...it seems like everyone is ordering 2-3...how do they have this much stock? Or are they just substantially well known compared tothe other shops?
It is 157 pounds for a VF-171 CF for me = 251.89 usd...Am I calculating wrong?
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Wouldn't that be nice! I've got Armor and Super Parts for both the VF-25S and F, but only one set of the Valks...been waiting for a reissue ever since...
In all honesty though, that's very decent of you.
I don't understand the drama on this board sometimes. Can't we all just get along!!?
I really wanted both sets for each but passed given the bonkers way the supply dried up last year when most of us got BBTSed on the VF-25S. Bought the super parts for the 25F since I got that one but since the likelyhood of getting a 2nd 25F for the Armor and even a single 25S at a fair price went away over night I saw no reason to have parts in a box that I'd never touch.
Haha...just looked and BBTS still has armor parts for both VF-25s. Poor guys....they are never going to sell through those unless they drop then to <$50.
As to the drama I agree, even though a lot of folks think I'm the cause of it. I actually did well last night. But I completely feel everyone's pain who missed out; I'm still missing the 25S, 25G. But even though I got some preorders last night I really do not want to stay up all night refreshing web pages for hours on end in hopes of being fast enough to get in a preorder during a 45 second window of time. I also don't want to have to check a webforum every day twice a day to see if there is a chance that something is going on sale or just went on sale. It's absurd and this really isn't how customers should be treated. I think we all have reason to be frustrated with the way these releases continue to be handled. And we still have the RVF, VF-27, and Vajra releases to look forward to. I made a joke in some thread a while back about the RVF already releasing and that the only people who got them had to endure a Bandai Bukakke Party and then fight Yakuza...it was just a joke like the one I made a few pages back but somehow that one avoided tinfoil hat accusations...well I'm here to say "Leave my tinfoil hat alone! It's a good hat and it doesn't mess up my hair!", lol.
Though sometimes it does feel like knife fighting a Yakuza might be easier than this process...just maybe, lol.
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Yeah, he ain't so bad after all
Haha. You like me, you really like me! Free Valks for everybody!
Actually maybe I can finally trade for the VF-25S I have been yearning for...yeah, right. Lol.
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WTF? This is totally Fracked up! I really wanted this one.
Shoot me a PM at release if you don't get one. I have 5 on reserve across a couple retailers and would gladly pass 1-2 on to fellow forumers in order to keep them out of the hands of the scalpers.
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Hey where do we get the stand see in every other promo shot. I thought it was included for some reason.
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Given your previous post history I'm not sure it's a joke at all. You have some sort of rage crusade or something.
Ummm....so everyone else here can blow their top over Bandai's bullshit but not me, nor can I joke about their horrific treatment of customers...got it, thanks for the clarification. F*$^ head.
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I think you need to put the tinfoil hat away. Bandai is not full of Newtype salesmen.
It was a joke asshat.
Though please explain to me how they conduct business in any manner which even remotely makes sense.
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So Bandai is trying to go out of business?
Nope. Don't you know Bandai are the scalpers. Hence....
I think that scalpers are taking the majority of the stock judging from all the recent ebay , rakuten and amazon ads.
Bandai gives amiami, hlj, cdj, etc 10 units each, creating a false demand with instant sell-outs, and they sell off the rest on the side. It's the new way to do e-commerce!
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Got mine today. Went through Chicago customs, cleared in a single day. Initial thoughts; very small but beautiful. Guess I'm just more used to the old 1/48's. This is the first 1/60 I have that has come out of the box so the size surprised me a bit.
Looks like my question got lost in the pile of "LA Customs is the suxorz!" comments on the last page so I'll ask again....
I've seen that a couple of you guys have done panel lining on yours and it looks great. Any suggestions for a relative noobie who wants to do the same. Is there a tutorial online, thread here on the forum, etc that I could reference. Also saw mention of a Gundam pen/pencil(?) a few pages back...would that be the best way to go?
HLJ is pro-scalpers?!?!?
in Toys
Posted · Edited by Lupin The Third
I posted this in the VF-171 CF thread but thought I'd put it here so everyone else could see. Last night there was some debate as to whether HLJ actually allowe purchases of up to 10 of the Valks....
Stunning. I thought these guys had a little respect for the consumer but I guess not. I will be doing my very best to never purchase from them if an item is available elsewhere from this point on.
EDIT: The suggestion was made in the other thread that HLJ should cancel any of large qty orders and reduce the item count to 2-3 and reopen orders so actual customers can make a purchase. My suggestion is that you guys and gals let them know how infuriated you are with the way they handled this and that they should do exactly that to give everyone a fair chance at purchasing rather than all the stock going directly to scalpers.
products@hlj.com
scott@hlj.com
Even if it makes no difference this time maybe they will reconsider if folks are angry enough with furture release. And certainly NOTHING will change about this fubar system unless you directly let them know your dissatisfaction instead of just posting on a message board.
EDIT: Not posting again after this but wanted to clarify something. I DO have 5 on reserve across multiple vendors, I would prefer to get the 3 that I want from a single vendor; hence I tried to get my orders in with HLJ last night. I would also prefer not to pay over retail (my NY preorders) or CDJs overly high shipping. Had I gotten three units at HLJ I'd have dropped my other preorders, knowing that they are one of the most dependable and three were what I want. I also fully expect, with the way these preorders have run thus far, that someone will not come through with one of my orders. I already mentioned, on Tuesday I believe it was, that if all my orders actually did come through I would look to either trade the couple of extra units with a fellow forum member or pass them on at my cost. The fact that this makes me a bad guy now is astounding; especially given that I'm just trying to point out that if we are vocal to HLJ about their preorder process they might actually reconsider the way they do these orders and more of you would have gotten a preorder last night. Sorry I tried to help, I won't bother with this thread again. Moderators feel free to lock or delete, or everyone just keep attacking me if that's what everyone prefers....whatever.