Keiichi

For folks who have already got it in-hand; do you feel there's any danger of causing damage to the valk when attaching/detaching the chest armor? The way it seems to clip on makes me a little concerned about nicking the plastic it grips to.

Good stuff! Thanks for posting the info you found, will be very handy for future reference. Messer's finally showing up in my order history on HLJ. What a relief to secure one of these guys! I missed out on Hayate and missing Messer would have been a harsh one-two punch, haha.

I'm afraid I can't recall exactly as my last order with them was during the 2015 holiday season. I think it was just like a temporary 100 yen hold that disappeared after a short while, with the full charge appearing only when the item was ready to ship. For the record their email customer service is always very pleasant, acknowledging receipt of my email and confirming that the card was re-run and validated.

I have this issue every time I order with CDJapan. I suggest calling your credit card's customer service (800 number on the back of the card) and tell them you want to authorize a charge. The rep will see the charge from CDJapan was refused and confirm that you want it to go through. Once you finish with your credit card company, shoot an email to CDJapan with your order number and ask them to re-run the card. That's always worked for me.

Thank you so much, kupo! I don't understand how you guys even find these links, I still get nothing when I search on HLJ, so this very very much appreciated.

Was super excited to receive my VF-1A and VF-1J the other day, but when I took a closer look at my 1J, I noticed something disconcerting: No left head laser?! Opened it immediately, and to my great relief I found the head laser loose inside the packaging. I figured it was something like that, so I wasn't too worried, but my heart definitely skipped a beat lol. I wonder how that even happened, as the head laser plugs in quite securely. The Tamashii Building sets could work, though they're a bit undersized in relation to Hi-Metals. The come in both normal and damaged sets. http://hlj.com/product/BANN05959 http://hlj.com/product/BANN05179

Awesome pictures! Love that city set-up, it totally works with the Hi-Metals in my eyes, especially in that close-up/city-level shot,

Haha, good point! But the yellow trim is so classic, that I can definitely see a pilot carrying on the tradition (like in Macross TV!). Whereas there is no love for Kakizaki, as you said.

Way too good of a price, had to pick up a second. Good excuse to start applying decals to the first one! Dead men don't fly VF-4s!

Yeesh, that UK customs sounds like such a nightmare to deal with. I was fortunate to have the opposite experience; EMS almost always takes at least one week to reach me (which I realize would already be a big improvement for you guys ), but I had my valk in-hand just two days after getting the shipping notice. Hope you are also guys swooshing your valks around the house soon! Was expecting mine to be used based off the heavily discounted price at Mandarake (the listing didn't specify), so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was brand spanking new, with the clear protective plastic still in place on the landing lights and inside the gear doors (which I was actually able to open, unlike with the VF-0S ). My first VF-4 and I'm totally in love with it just based off of the fighter mode alone! While I haven't transformed him yet, I am happy to report that all the missiles stay on securely on mine as well.

I witness your historic photos, jvmacross!

Managed to score one off of Mandarake for 20,000JPY! Just got my order confirmation and EMS shipping was 3,600JPY, so overall still a pretty nice discount.

Same here!

To be precise, the official release date is February 27th. You can see release dates on Bandai's website (HERE), and as items get closer to release the site gets updated with specific release dates.

Thanks! I would have happily exchanged a dinged box for 3000JPY if given the chance when preordering.

Out of curiosity, what were the damaged box ones priced at?

You can pay later if you choose credit card payment. I think using Paypal requires up front payment.

EXACTLY what I was thinking! Very nice to have such a smooth Bandai day. Scored all my wants at AmiAmi with no problem, though if I'd known HLJ would have their preorders open so soon tonight I would have waited for them.

That's good to hear. Yeah, HLJ is the absolute best at handling this kinda stuff, I'm sure they'll take care of you.

Oh dude, that sucks! Where did you order from?

My shoddy photo contribution. Arrived yesterday and I was all eager to take some quick shots of the 0S with the 0D, but embarrassingly I could not for the life of me get the rear landing gear doors open on either one. Still, valk is absolutely lovely and looks great with the 1S. Will need to refresh my memory on the handling tricks for these guys this weekend (ie re-watch one of jenius' video reviews lol). Dude! You had me seriously going there for a second, "That's one hell of a lucky QC error...!"

Very cool shots Saburo and spanner, the 0S is looking so dang nice. Man, just looking at people's pictures (yours included!) is making me wish I'd gone ahead and added a second to my order, especially with the armor on the way.

Awesome, thanks! Still waiting on one item to come in-stock before I get my payment request from AmiAmi, but this help gives me an idea of what to expect.

Thank you for the pic, Gundam@EFSF! A bit disappointed with how they did the 1S' head lasers, I'm considering cancelling my order.

What did AmiAmi charge you guys for shipping? About $30?