mantisfists

4 minutes ago, Anasazi37 said:

Right now the thread is like a massive, unorganized folder filled with all kinds of DX awesomeness, but if you haven't been tracking it for a while, it is really hard to find helpful info. Personally, I cringe every time I have to post a link to one of my earlier posts in this thread about how to purchase TWE items when someone new jumps into this thread and asks, for the millionth time, how to purchase TWE items. Happens every time there's a new release. Granted, there will always be some folks who post the question because they'd rather have others do the work for them, but having some kind of dedicated DX FAQ thread would probably cut down on a lot of the noise.

I totally agree.  That's why I think if we can somehow consolidate all the frequently asked questions in a single place, it'd make referring to, or back to, much less painful.  There's so much great information, it's just damn daunting to find, whether you've been following it or not....which is a shame.

Looking back for link in this thread....

This thread makes me so sad.

Mood....

Maybe a separate DX FAQ/For Sale thread where links to FAQs (where to purchase, release dates, etc) could be posted and people wouldn't have to search all 700 pages to find info, or add another few pages by asking and links could be posted thereafter informing people of DXs for sale? That might eliminate a lot of the clutter.  I know for me, people posting when DXs were available really helped me acquire the first one or two that I got.  I'd hate to rob somebody else of that resource.  

Amazon.jp has Roy's 1S for  24.5k yen.....some for as cheap as 23.9k.  While they won't ship those ones to my address in the states, it's still crazy to see that they're available for that cheap.  

44 minutes ago, jenius said:

Remember, in the early 80s, women didn't serve front line military positions in most militaries around the world... 

Whachu talking bout, Willis?

Semper Fi

Wait....was that 1980s or 2180s?

If they color Houquet's ride armor close to what Takering painted his pilot figure, I'd be fine with it.  It's close enough that I don't think it would grate on my nerves.  I am, however, not digging the two tone color scheme on the Zeta.  I'm very happy I only went in for one of these.  

I know a lot of folks on here aren't really into the movie bots but the designs for the Bumblebee movie characters are absolutely amazing. I haven't been a fan of the movies since the first Transformers flick and, while Bumblebee wasn't terrible, it's not a great film, either.  It was mediocre enough for me to fail to notice just how great some of the designs are.  Mecanical Alliance's take on Blitzwing (Thunder Warrior).....wow.

I couldn't resist picking up one for each mode.  Also picked up a Weijiang Metal Dition Optimus and a Trans Craft Bumblebee and am hyped to get my hands on all of them.  That Blitzwing, though.....

I know Zeta Toys has a Blitzwing coming as well, and I'm almost as excited to check that one out,but I'm a sucker for weathering so I just couldn't resist the MA version.  I also dig the robot mode of MA version more, as well.  I'd love to see some versions of Dropkick and Shatter equal to Prime and Blitzwing as their alt modes would be definite eye candy and worthy of purchase, in my eyes.

Anyway, hadn't seen mention of any of these figures so I thought I'd do it.  I find it odd that I'm so excited for figures from a movie I didn't particularly care for but still.  I. Can't. Wait.

42 minutes ago, jenius said:

I was all excited because I thought my Zeta was arriving tomorrow... turns out, it was a different toy. Good to know the Zeta is still coming soon though!

I'll definitely be looking forward to your review, my man.

Just got an updated delivery date of 1/24 to 1/27 from Amazon.jp, so apparently it's coming in earlier.  

2 hours ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

Excellent.  I hope we get the VE-1 and Cannon Fodder at some point.  

 

Low Viz Woodland, Low Viz Color, and Stealth would also please me and destroy my bank account

Yes!!  

I mean......NO!!!!!

I mean.....YESS!!!....

2 hours ago, Navtek said:

Just got notification from AZJ confirming Red Legioss delivery between 1/31 and 2/02. Nice to know we are still on track.

Same.

3 hours ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

Here's a pic from another board. Appears that the 1J has a decal for the Macross kite and stripe. Not sure how his valk came to be like this but worth noting.

It'd be my guess that was from the removable side covers scraping the fuselage while connecting the front and rear of the plane during transformation into battloid mode.  While it sucks that happened, whether it was a decal or tampo, I'd still be wary of letting it scrape for fear of scraping.

3 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Also, Bandai is licensed to Big West, whereas KC is licensed to HG. As good as their products are, that counts against them in my book.

This, I totally get and is a very valid reason for staying away (not to say price point isn't).

5 hours ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

I’m definitely not joking. As crackpot mentions, there’s only a $30 - $50 difference at MSRP for DXs compared to KC. I would call that close. I have gotten every single DX VF-1 at $190 or less. Only exception was the 1J because I was late to that one. Even that, I got close to MSRP.

KC has gotten better with each release, but their prices have increased with each as well. I hope someday they are as good as Arcadia or Bandai, but until then it’s not worth the price. Just my opinion and from my own experience in owning two of the ver 1.

 Not sure what the contentious reply is for?

I don't want to speak for Stampeed Valkyrie, but I think the contentiousness (I wasn't even sure that was a word but spellcheck didn't flag it so, hey....) might be partially due to the assumption that everyone most people a lot of people more than a few people are able to get DXs at anywhere near MSRP.  Lets face it, there's a window that's MAYBE a few minutes.....at 0200-0500 in the US, depending on what time zone you live in.  Many people might not have the access to the connection speeds, hardware or whatever to even get through in that tiny window which, again, is at a time of day that most people can't reasonably expect to stay up till and be productive in any way the next day.  Not to mention most "normal" people don't have the time to spend away from their family or career responsibilities to hunt for the best deals for a toy.  So, while it's "possible" for a select few to get them for a good price, for the majority of people, it's just not realistic.  How many people actually get these things at MSRP outside of Japan who aren't using bots, anyway?  50?  100?  I'd be skeptical at more than 100.  That's not a lot.  I'm with the insane people here that stay up to crazy hours and scour to get what I want, and I'm cool with that.  I'm also used to getting little to no sleep or waking up at any time and being able to function at work or at home.  I totally get somebody else not being able to do that and the frustration that could come from somebody saying that it's easy or even realistic for somebody to do what is needed to get these valks for a reasonable price....or even worse, doing all of those things and still not getting one and feeling like they just wasted their time.  I'm not hating on being able to get a great price on these things, but you're the top 1%.  The other 99% of people have a totally different price they have to pay.  I think, DYRL VF-1S, the fact that you love the rush that comes with getting these toys speaks volumes to just how difficult it is to get them at anywhere near MSRP.  And, while I don't let it bother me when people say it's easy and everyone can do it, I can see how somebody could get frustrated.  Just trying to give another perspective.

That being said.....like I mentioned a bit earlier, I agree with you DYRL that the price is getting close enough to the DX that any further price raises would make me question getting one over a (or another) DX. It's still priced well enough (20-50% cheaper is not a small margin), and has enough different features that I'm more than willing to bite.....but, it's getting close.

39 minutes ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

Pre-order is up for a Rick Hunter 1S with or without fastpacks.

Assuming this is a V2 release of the Fokker 1S with some tampo changes.

 

 

That's good eyes.  I was on there today looking to see if the GBP was up for preorder and didn't even see that.  I got a V2 with fast packs because....why not?  But, $139.90 is getting close to DX pricing and, while I love the KC line, that's pushing it, price wise.

12 hours ago, ryebot said:

Dang, that wash looks great. Really brings a new dimension to the piece. I might do this to mine. How much of a pita was it? I'm guessing you took it apart? Did you clear coat it afterwards? I'd love more details on the process.

Hey, thanks. It actually wasn't that bad.  It took a few hours.  Since I'd never used this wash before (and the only other wash I'd done was a pastel wash 15 or so years ago) I did the removable chest side panels first to get a feel for it. Was super easy.  I did it in stages. Started in fighter mode with the wings and stabilizers.  Once those were dried and wiped, did the main body.  From there, I did separate the legs from the upper body via the body swivel clasp, but that was the extent of my disassembly.  I did kind of a half way transformation of the upper body just to expose everything and got the rest from there.  I didn't use any kind of finish or coat to seal it. I probably should have taped the canopy but I just opened it to keep it out of the way and it worked out fine for me.  The beautiful thing with that Flory wash is that any mistakes I made, I could wipe away with normal tap water.  The TV hands look like crap. But, I wanted to use them anyway to get the good booty pic. The gaps in between the fingers were too wide for the wash to look good in.  I think I'll go back over them with a pen.  It's not perfect by any means, but I'm very happy with how it turned out, and me being able to say that, I believe, is a testament to how easy and fun the process was.  I had a blast doing it.  I can definitely see how some of these guys can get so into customizing their valks.  

3 hours ago, Grey728 said:

Can you see this?

Git em, Roy!  Guess we should be calling him Royy Focker Fockers from now on.

Been trying to get ahold of one of these little mamas for a while now and finally snagged one.....

Not 1/100 scale, unfortunately....but, still scales well enough to party with some of the boys last night!

Happy New Year, everyone!  2021 has GOT to be better, right?

Right?

50 minutes ago, RedComet said:

I can bring along one to show you in person if you like when I hand you your 1D 

Now, that would be cool!

Just finished giving Max's 1A a wash.  Thanks to Lolicon for the Flory wash suggestion.  Very happy with the results.  Cue the BeeGees.....

...or Cardi-B....

You can look but don't touch.  

Max's milkshake bring the Meltran to the yard, and they're like "It's better than yours".

*edit* You're welcome for that little ear worm, Macrossworld.  Don't say I never contributed anything. :P

I'm sorry, but this is what the DXs are supposed to look like.  I really wish Bandai had done this themselves (much like Kitzconcept does) or, at the very least, offered a Premium Finish version.  I don't have the best lighting, so the pics don't do it justice....nor did I do a fantastic job....but, the panel lines just make the DX look fantastic, in my opinion.

Even sitting in his clamshell, Max absolutely pops

I was honestly more than a little underwhelmed with the DX line.  While I was getting at least one of every release (so far), I was really only doing it because I didn't want to have to sell my wife and daughter's cars if I decided to get them later and I figured if I decided to just stick with the Yamies (which are still great), I could simply sell them off and be none the worse off.  But, the DX, with the tampo printing AND the wash?  Man...it makes my heart flutter every time I glance at it (maybe my wife is right to hate these things).  I still prefer Yamato's more flat finish to Bandai's gloss, but other than that.....wow.  What a difference.  I can't imagine what Lolicon's, RedComet's and the other resident customizers' work looks like in person.

1 hour ago, RedComet said:

I politely beg to differ on the color. I like the color suggested by the Hasegawa model painting instructions that we did the DYRL Roy customs in, I would call it a “caution yellow” like an old road sign or construction equipment. I would call the DX TV Roy a “lemon yellow”, which isn’t bad but not as close to what we see on screen IMO. Here are the two side by side for comparison.

Me looking at RedComet's pic.....

30 minutes ago, jenius said:

Seven short months away!

24 minutes ago, North of 49 said:

Now we wait.

4 hours ago, Pontus said:

Well, everyone here swears by Mandarake, and I've wanted the SV-262 and VF-31J toys for a while now, but they've been way too expensive... until I recently saw that Manda has an ebay store... where they had listed a used VF-31J that was STILL too expensive @ $265 shipped.  So I went to their site to see if they had more info on it to find that they not only had at least one at every store location, but they also had an SV-262 at several stores too.  One of the 31Js listed only that it had a discolored patch and showed the issue in pictures along with all the pieces still in bags.  The SV at that same store said only that it was "opened, package damaged".  From member reports, that usually means it's in perfect condition and simply has a dent in the box or something.  Well, here's hoping they're in good condition because I picked both up for $150ea, and even after the shipping estimate came in at almost $100, it's still $100 cheaper than I could possibly get them otherwise.

From member reports, they either show the damage or state the issue fairly clearly and end up being great upon arrival.  Is that accurate?  Anyone wanna report on a bad Manda experience?  Because I've only ever heard good ones. 

In the last 6 months, I've bought at least 10 items from Mandarake and I've been happy with the condition and price of every item I've received.  The only issue I've ever had from Manda was some of the shipping rates being inconsistent.  Even then, the DHL they use got here extremely fast and the items were packed very securely.  For the most part, the items I got were described as having damaged packaging/unopened, but I couldn't find a single blemish on the boxes.  Obviously, their standards are WAY higher than mine.  Definitely recommend using them.

9 minutes ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

If you go to your orders the status should say “Order Completed (awaiting arrival)”. 
 

Otherwise you are in limbo. 

Hmm.  Mine still shows as pending.  Limbo it is, I guess.  Has anybody received a "Order Completed (awaiting arrival)" designation?

Has anybody gotten an actual confirmation from FromJapan or are people only receiving cancellations?  I haven't received anything from them and they still haven't cancelled my payment so I'm hoping that means they've secured the two I ordered from them but I'm curious if anybody has gotten anything from them.