jenius

The original Takatoku VF-1 molds were ruined after their Matsuhiro runs so it's possible the GBP mold just didn't last from normal wear. Bandai recreated the molds for their later reissues.

Thank you kindly! The site will probably go on hiatus (still up, just no new content for a bit) this summer as I move again but it will be back once I find a new place and get settled.

I think everyone is talking around the answer. The answer is that there are only two releases, the standalone Takatoku 1/55 GBP armor and the VF-1S GBP-1S Giftset. Matsuhiro never made a gray market version and Bandai never made reissues. Pretty sure "grenade box protection" is the canon Macross name.

I was going to list my MISB Voltron for sale here but is there about to be a reissue? I see sideshow has a waitlist but I don't see it anywhere else.

Everything they've done with super parts in the past (the vf-25 and 31) would indicate regular release standalone toys with TWE super parts.

I didn't mean to imply they're vaporware like the Figma releases. I just don't recall hearing about a release date so we're probably a way out. The supply chain is completely screwy right now so a lot of companies are being forced to sideline projects and wait for things to simmer down. To be clear, I don't talk to B2Five, but I see this elsewhere. If you have a project that you weren't certain was going to be hugely successful, then any attempt to gouge you by your shipper or manufacturing company would get you to put a project on hold. There's a lot of inertia out there so when 2020 slammed the breaks it made for a mighty big task in 2021 to get things moving again. Hopefully we see shows starting to happen again in the Fall and we get a lot of clarity on release expectation from companies as things inch closer to normal. All that said, B2Five originally planned to have their second round of Votoms merch hit stores next month. If that happens, maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised with Mospeada stuff before the year end.

In an effort to move the conversation about the PO thread back to the PO thread, with Golden Week coming up and a possible lull in new listings, let's examine how well this worked out? The experiment was to try to remove all the talk about buying a toy from the thread dedicated to the toy. This is super helpful if you're ever trying to hunt down an individual post a month later because, as this thread proves, PO night immediately adds MANY pages of fun ordering comments and the occasional later listings cause additional flurries of activity. So the big Pro is that the toy thread is usually helpful info and speculation about the toy without being bogged down with complaints about the purchase process. How do you guys think it went? If you didn't like it, do you think it will improve as people get used to the idea? Do you think it would be better if we eliminated the "PO thread" and instead made a new topic for every new release, even if the release is just a repaint? Should we have separate "Ordering" threads for each Bandai PO or should it just be one thread that stays a repository for any upcoming PO? A little color from many years ago that I'm sure some of us will remember and I'm reminded of when I look for info on older posts. We used to have separate posts for individual releases but Yamato was releasing new repaints of the VF-1 every month and the conversation got harder to track. This would inevitably cause the conversation to aggregate in a 'mega thread' dedicated to all VF-1, VF-25, etc. toys (which created different difficulties for tracking down a post). It really seems like the proper solution here is tied to the volume of toys being released and the ability to buy those toys. Mospeada can have a thread that is self-contained because few toys are released and POs are easy to come by. Arcadia can have one thread or dedicated threads for each type of toy that include the PO talk because, again, the POs are not the kind of thing that causes weeping and gnashing of teeth. Suggestions?

It doesn't seem close.

It's unclear. The only reason we currently don't get SDF Macross merch repackaged as Robotech (or still as Macross but licensed by HG) is because BigWest doesn't allow its licensees to make any payment to HG. If things are status quo for 1987 and prior, BW may still stop its licensees from teaming up with HG.

Kakizaki came with stickers! Anything is possible. The DYRL cockpit is also removable so maybe they could even do swap out cockpits with both types of pilots.

My tier 1 stores are: HLJ, Amiami, PlazaJapan, OkiniLand, HobbySearch, Anime Export, Amazon Japan, Big in Japan, and CDJapan. I've seen HLJ and Anime Export now cancel preorders that seemed successful, and Anime Export has poor customer service, but they're all legit operations and I'm not concerned with sending them my money. Tier 2 would be Nin-Nin Game, Kurama Toys, and I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting. It's not that I'm worried I'll be scammed by them, more worried that I'll buy something that they won't have in stock and it will be a hassle to get a refund or I'll buy an in demand item and on the day of release they'll tell me they didn't get enough stock and I can go pound sand. Tier 3 at this point is pretty much just NY. It wouldn't surprise me tomorrow if their site vanished from the Internet since something has been going very wrong there for a while.

They should do a TV or DYRL version and make the other a TWE but as part of the same production run with just a different head and markings. Seems like an economical way to get both variants done.

Well you didn't specify 1/48!

You misremember, Yamato did release a DYRL VF-1A Cannon Fodder during the 30th anniversary.

We don't expect Scorpion to look like a Scorpion. I'm not steeped in the lore but since the basis of the characters is a pallet swap, a story that made Scorpion/Sub-Zero, and Reptile all being humans competitive with each other with something that related them would be fine by me. If their stories progressed it would be easy to have something happen to Reptile that indeed did make him more reptilian... ie. he's killed and brought back in a more deadly form. EDIT - they should have gone full Mortal Kombat extended universe. Give us a first movie about that trio and then sequels about the others that then led to The Avengers-esque movie that is the full tournament.

I wondered after the fact if I could have chosen a different currency and avoided those fees. Since i was on the first round pricing though I just tried to click through as quick as possible

I went with two stores I never preorder from, Nin-Nin and LunaPark. I only want one but I got a second order in since I don't know that I trust either store a ton... kind of an insurance policy.

So are those "Next item" pages just baseless speculation? 'Cause I love all of those ideas

LoL, no pay later option... If they did, I might ask them to apply all the money they owe me to it.

Huh, got one at Nin-nin, we'll see if that works out for me!

nin-nin waiting to see the carnage before deciding their price

amiami shows PO closed now so that's less promising.

I can't get HLJ to load

I've heard people before say that that's a superior way to go (using your phone) so it may pan out. Good luck!

That one might be sold out, amiami is a placeholder.