Keiichi

Arrived today, on my birthday! My very first set of 1/60 Strike parts. Had some trouble getting the backpack parts on (I was very unsure of how far I was supposed to push the connecting piece in, I couldn't find a review that showed it clearly), but once I applied a bit more force it snapped into place nicely. Looks so dang cool! Hikaru's rainbow canopy is still in good shape and he even includes the still shrink-wrapped skull flashlight.

I preordered my VF-25S from them and they didn't require payment til it was in stock. I ordered with a credit card, though.

It usually takes a little while before HLJ sends the confirmation e-mail and for it to show up in your account. Just give it an hour or two and you should receive them. EDIT: Aaaand just received my confirmation e-mail from HLJ.

Scored at HLJ! http://www.hlj.com/product/BAN960617

At only a $10 difference, I'll happily go HLJ! Thanks for the heads up, treatment! In my experience, AmiAmi's disadvantage with shipping costs in the past was mostly derived from a limited number of box sizes that they would use for shipments, which could result in them using boxes that were way too large for the order being shipped (particularly when the order was a single item). They've expanded their range of box sizes, however, and as such are much better at using appropriately sized packaging for their shipments. I don't order from them as often anymore, but my recent orders have all had fair shipping rates which were comparable to HLJ. But as I said, for only a $10 difference HLJ's customer service and preorder flexibility is definitely the way to go!

Hmmm, AmiAmi will probably have the better price by a fair margin, but HLJ has better customer service in case of any problems and allows you to cancel open preorders at any time, Lock it in at AmiAmi now, or wait for HLJ, lock it in at AmiAmi, or wait for HLJ... decisions, decisions!

Got my VF-25S in today courtesy of CD Japan! Was shipped via RSAL on November 21st, not bad at all for the holiday season. By cheaping out on shipping, and thanks to the awesome conversion rates, I ended up paying less for the 25S than I did for my VF-25A! Sooo happy to finally have this guy in-hand. A huge, huge thank you to pikashoo for the heads up on the CD Japan preorder way back when!

Here's a quick snap:

Ahhh, that's right, there's only 60 days to issue the refund. I completely forgot about that as I've never had to issue one after that time period. Was PA requiring upfront payment on all preoders? In any case it's as you say, PA should still be refunding people their full amounts. If they didn't want to take the potential hit in fees (and there's a high potential considering Bandai's track record on filling retailer orders on these valks, haha), they shouldn't have taken people's money upfront.

This. I use Paypal to process card transaction at my office, and when issuing a refund Paypal also refunds their fee. Even a partial refund will result in Paypal refunding the proportionate share of the fee. There's absolutely no reason for Play-Asia to be demanding their customers cover a 2.9% for any refund. That's just a horrible practice, I hope everyone is able to get their full and proper refund from PA.

Awesome, thanks for the info Seto! I was actually considering selling my YF-30 but I'm definitely keeping it now to square off against the YF-29B. I absolutely love having rival valks!

Oh awesome, does this mean the YF-29B and YF-30 dogfight at some point (my Macross 30 knowledge is zero)? If so, that's going to change the YF-29B from a "getting it" to a "MUST GET IT" for me, haha.

Judging from the use of Tamashii Stage arms to support them, these seem to be a revival of the Hi-Metal line from 2010, in which case they are 1/100 scale. So excited to see the line coming back! My Hi-Metal VF-1S is the valk I mess around with the most, the smaller size just makes it so playable. Very eager to get destroids too, particularly a Tomahawk and that Monster!

It shouldn't really affect Bluefin at all. Bluefin distributes standard retail releases of Bandai products (Tamashii Nations being a name used to cover a wide series of Bandai figure lines), while the Tamashii Web Shop is used solely to sell web-exclusive items, The only potential issue could come from future Dragonball Z and Megaman figures. In the past, Bluefin was able to secure distribution rights for several DBZ/Megaman figures that were web exclusives in Japan. We'll have to wait and see if Bandai decides to keep future exclusives releases in those line to themselves, or if they will continue to give Bluefin the option to distribute them. Aside from the DBZ/Megaman exception, Bluefin has never been granted the rights to distribute any other web-exclusive items over standard retail, so it should all be business as usual.

Ahh, I see. Definitely a pose I'm going to copy once mine arrives .

Ooh, I really like how you've got the YF-30 posed here. That's interesting how you have the wings bent SV-51 style; does the in-game YF-30 actually have the same "flapping" wings as the SV-51?

Awesome! Thank you, Moosey! Just what I wanted to see, it looks great. Thanks again for putting these pics up so quickly!

Check your e-mail for a payment request from HLJ! I was in nearly the exact same position, waiting for Wheeljack before shipping my YF-30, but I just got a payment request from HLJ. Paid and ready to go, it only added a dollar to my total shipping cost to include Wheeljack in the shipment! Haven't clicked "ship" just yet though, my YF-30 can still sit in the warehouse for another 30 days, and I've decided to hope against hope that the VF-25F restocks so I can add it to my order. What will probably happen though, is that I'll just end up buckling and requesting shipping this weekend. This made me laugh more than it should have.

AmiAmi got some stock in for 11,770 yen, if anyone's looking: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-004931

Got one too, thank you for the heads up, pikashoo! Had to call my card issuer to approve the transaction, it seems like a common issue as CD Japan explains it in their FAQ. But hell yeah for staying up late! I think AmiAmi had preorders open for a brief time earlier today as well. When you search "DX Chogokin" the VF-25S is at the top of the results and it does not say "Sold Out" underneath the link. Of course, when you click on the listing it shows that preorders are actually closed.

And yes, there is a valk inside!! Haha, was a bit freaked out by the sight of the cardboard cover, as this is my first DX Chogokin valk and I was expecting a plastic tray covering Yamato/Arcadia style. It's gorgeous in person! Thank you, thank you, and thank you for posting that amazing Amazon listing, ULessa! I got a shipping notice shortly after I ordered, but no tracking number. I figured the seller must have shipped unregistered SAL, but couldn't help but worry a bit, haha. Seller completely came through and again, thank you ULessa! Already got a VF-25A on the way (paid $144 shipped for it, not nearly as good as $92 shipped but I figured it was still decent) so I can recreate a little section of the hangar scene from the Macross F movie. Thank you again, ULessa!!

Oh man, postman just dropped this off at my door!!

Haha, yes, I'm familiar with the mechanics of capitalism, thank you. But the thing is, AmiAmi didn't "jack" their price, that 19,390 yen is the price they've listed since release (not sure if it was their pre-order price). Meanwhile HLJ has stuck to the 18,000Y price point for all their restocks (compare that to AmiAmi's VF-25F at 12,000Y, which has been maintained for restocks, versus HLJ's 13,300Y asking price, which I think has risen 300Y in the last week or so). Just not used to seeing AmiAmi having the substantially higher price for a valk compared to HLJ, but then I haven't really paid attention to that in a while so maybe it's more common nowadays. Haha, true enough. I know that if I hadn't managed to grab one of HLJ's restocks I would have happily given AmiAmi my money. More expense than HLJ or not, it's still under MSRP so not a bad deal at all. Folks obviously agreed as they're all gone!

AmiAmi got some stock in, 19,390 yen: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-005738 Bit surprised that their price is so much higher than HLJs.

Seeing you THAT happy with the YF-30 is making it harder and harder to resist shipping my Private Warehouse order at HLJ right now!