Kinzoku VF

5 hours ago, Radioguy said:

I too, converse with them often, and NOT ONCE did they ask me to check how much return shipping cost.

I think they might've asked me for the return shipping cost to test the waters and see if I was willing to go all the way (mind out of the gutter please!)

Now in their last message they are implying that they might be able to send off just the broken part...I'll will patiently wait and see...It's already  been close to a month since I received  it. And they had told me that at least 3 other customers had the same issue. Who knows right? If the only send off the wing, it'll be something (although I seriously doubt the back section can be opened up, I would still be happy with a spare wing, even happier with the entire back section...)

Still, to their credit, not once they ignored me, always replied to all my mails etc. I do buy from them, not on a regular basis, but have over time spent a good amount of money in their store. I don't want to have to get Paypal involved or make a fuss ( if they are willing to work out a solution ...). Fingers crossed for all of us with that particular issue.

12 hours ago, Shawn said:

With the 50th, we can at least now peek inside and see how the backpack is assembled/bonded

Thanks for the pic Shawn, I obviously had my suspicions that they hadn't used any screws for the backpack. I hadn't tried to pry it open as I'm not sure whether it's glue or not. (More than likely it's either a super snug fit and/or also glued into place...

1 hour ago, tekering said:

Garden-variety, buck-store CA Krazy glue.

Thanks for the tip Tekering. I've got modelling skills, but what worries me is that you can't dismantle the back part. Would much rather only work on the 2 parts that need gluing rather than working with the entire thing...Kinda scared to end up messing everything up as it's kinda snapped at an angle.

Out of curiosity which  brand did you use? 

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

The nuclear option would just be nail polish remover, which is mostly acetone, and will just melt ABS.  If you have scraps of ABS plastic in the same color, you can dissolve it in a small jar of acetone to make ABS putty

I did consider acetone having successfully welded back Abs parts together before, but yet again messing up is making me anxious as it can be hit and miss depending how you do it Melting some ABS first to get a paste or just straight on putting acetone between the 2 broken parts with nothing in between you can easily mess up the part completely...

I've now had it close to a month, and haven't taken it out of its box, (aside to take a pic of the broken part....)

Thank you all your suggestions though.  Much appreciated. 

Hey everyone,

I received mine on the 1st of August from Lunapark. And was part of the super lucky ones to have their left wing/stabiliser snapped off...I've gone back and forth with them, their first solution was they would pay for the 'repair' (like what? Superglue?!),

Told them I was a collector and don't want broken pieces, especially as it wasn't exactly cheap. Shipping was nearly ¥10k via Fedex, then add the insanely f'd up high import taxes..

My last contact with them, they asked me to check how much it would cost to ship it back to them. Went to the post office had it weighed etc. Gave them all the options, from cheapest to most expensive.  

Since then....NOTHING. So, I hit them back again about a week ago and got "We are looking into the options". And that's it...

According to them, (I asked when I received mine as I saw a post on FB from someone with the same broken wing). They told me they had about 4 other customers with the exact same break (that was probably on the 5th August..who knows if they had any more since.)

Anyway, to anyone in the same position  what do you intend to do? Feels like they are trying to ghost me, with " we will contact Bandai, then wait, then to go to the post office etc, but no resolution in sight"

Will PayPal side with me if I open a dispute?

What did you people with the same issue do?

Sorry about the rambling, just thought I'd ask for some opinions..

Cheers.

5 hours ago, eXis10z said:

I still have a coupon with them I'm tempted to use to order something and file paypal claim if they fail to deliver just to get my money back.

Although they are still putting new items everyday, the site is becoming buggy (mostly pic pbs and removal of any ways of communication with them). Not sure what I would do personally if I still had a coupon? Probably wait until there's something I truly wanted.

On the other hand....it's not that difficult to find stuff to buy, I'd more than likely end up using it ( in case they go bust or something...)

With that said, seems people are still willing to take the risk as not long ago the DX VF-1D& Fan Racer was put back on preorder with immediate payment requested...And well, people still took the chance. I'd missed out on it but not willing to get stressed out with them until/if they ever get their sh*it together, even though I did eventually receive my stuff, it was stressful af....Not to mention the impossibility to contact them whatsoever via ticket, live service or phone....

13 hours ago, eXis10z said:

Wait what..?

Sorry...late reply....Yeah, it was on website that specialises in selling accounts, such as video-games accounts, YouTube Channels, Instagram accounts, Twitter etc etc. As to why he was even on this site to begin with...go figure. But it's the same guy. He's the CEO of NY. Not too hard to find as most of his details are online.(he's actually on FB too, although hardly ever uses his account since he created it). You find a lot of stuff with a little digging...

The site seem buggy, (like pics not showing up). Also, their are trying hard to make closed preorders with summer release dates opened again....obviously only with a ' Pay immediately' option. In other words, forget your Paypal refund if anything goes wrong. Even though I've received most of my latest preorders (supa delayed). I'm going to stay clear from NY until they get their sh*t together (or go under). The owner of the company has been banned from some site last November for Paypal fraud, so seems he's not exactly new at this.

Sorry, kind of a double post..(I have already asked on the NY thread, but as it's related to Mospeada/Sentinel. I thought I'd ask here too). Has anyone who preordered their Legioss Zeta from Nippon Yasan received anything yet? Since they've requested the payment, the Zeta has never shown as "in stock". They aren't replying to tickets and I wondered if anyone had received theirs from NY?

3 hours ago, lechuck said:

For what it's worth, I recently received two Mafex figures I had pre-ordered from them.

Yes, I am also a victim of still not having my Bandai Strike Packs from them. But still, maybe there is a bit of hope to actually get non-Macross things at least.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Last year after they took 5 months before finally sending me that (cursed) DX Kairos. I stopped getting any of my DX/Macross stuff from them (I might've gotten the last HMR release from them as I had it preordered but that was it). Yet.... I still ended up preordering that Sentinel Zeta.

I wondered if anyone had received their Legioss Zeta as it reminded me too much of the "Kairos situation" (marked as 'unavailable' and never been in stock since release)...I'm starting to have flash-backs...

Just out of curiosity......Has anyone who preordered their Sentinel Legioss Zeta from NY received anything? The item has never shown as 'in stock' since its release. I preordered it on day 1. More than three weeks or so ago they sent me a payment request (I opted for 'Pay Later' when I first preordered it). Paid for it....and well never received anything. (Sent them tickets, no replies, used the live chat several times but it's useless. They always come up with the exact same BS: "We will forward your ticket to our team as a priority"....yet they have never replied. Anyways, just wanted to know if anyone had received theirs yet....When will I ever learn to stop using NY...*Sigh* 

Also, if you mix & match the 2 HMR VF-4G, you can have the 'proper' Flashback version....

I was starting to regret having paid upfront for it but NY are now sold out...(not that it means much with them), but they didn't add some more stocks at an inflated price as they usually do. Maybe closer to the release date...or tomorrow for ¥12k 

Reading some of the comments regarding the paint scheme for the upcoming VF-4....Macross lore aside, it looks fine to me, you can still customise the first one to get the 'proper' screen appearance scheme. Heck as far as HMR are concerned they would've released it in apple green, I would've preordered one anyway. Don't want the line to die and will support it as much as possible. Not many toys are fun to play with nowadays. Ex: got that Heavy Metal Action Tetsujin 28... sure it's a beauty, a 2kg + of die-cast insanity. Hands down the best toy I bought this year, but is it fun to 'play' with?. Same with Bandai's Macross Frontiers,Deltas, look good but don't bother transforming them more than 2/3 times, you'll end up with scratches & stress marks everywhere ....Good thing I hardly transform any of my 1/60 VF's. Sure HMR aren't perfect but for the price, you really can't go wrong. (If you followed the line since day one of course, now that they're all in scalper's hands it'll be more expensive for some to get the entire line new factory sealed)

So even though Bandai are milking their molds, it's definitely not as bad as Arcadia's f'ckd up prices slammed onto every re-releases with tampo prints all over them. They just do that to stay afloat and pay their staff, otherwise, not sure they'd still be around considering their current price tags and limited 'new' pieces.

As far as the Destroids...Where? When? How? Want! That and all the stuff they announced at that 1st HMR display booth years ago. Bring it on, the SDF-1 bridge and VF launchers too while you're at it. I'd pay 2 years in adavance upfront if they want ...

Anyway, just my 2 cents, don't bite my head off, and a lime green 4G would most definitely kick ass right?...right...

I' miss still not sure what to do regarding those Bandai 1/48s. Picked up the 1-J when it came out and love it, but like many I own a lot of the 1/48 Yamato oldies and in Fighter mode,on display in the midst of many of other stuff, they look fine...Also, it would spare some extra $$$ to get non-Macross related stuff that I also collect. On the other hand those Bandai's are a joy to pose.....A bit big to play with on your desk, but cool nonetheless....here's an old pic with some Yammies and the lastest Bandai I took a while back (might've posted it already...if so my bad)...At a glance, you could barely tell them apart.

Picked one up at NY. Didn't even know this was up on po. Truly want them to continue with the line, so will support anything HMR Macross related (and for completion's sake of course....) Personally I think it looks good, makes a change from the usual VF-4G schemes. I only have the 1 Yamato Ver and the HMR release, might as well get another one....

23 minutes ago, HardlyNever said:

Some people are speculating that if we don't see/hear anything at all about the line at the next event, it is dead or on indefinite hiatus.  We just don't know.  I doubt Bandai would outright announce that the line is discontinued, even if it were, though.

Would be such a shame.....Like many here, I love the playability of the HMR....Excellent fiddling about figures....'Piuuu Piuuu, Whoooshh"....

45 minutes ago, easnoddy said:

Is it just me or is the SV-51 pilot smaller than other 1/60 pilots?

As far as the Yammies are concerned they're pretty much exactly the same as any other 1/60. The VF-0D on the other hand does seem slightly smaller to me.

That 2019 Tamashii Nations poster doesn't show any HMR though? The one on the poster is a 1/48. Are there truly more HMR releases planned?  Feels like Bandai are now just starting all over with their 1/48 line,personally aside from the usual suspect Elint/Ostrich in 1/48....(.a 1/48 VF-4 would be amazing  too...) it'll be a miss. Got the 1st one as I had preordered it, it's great and all, but not sure I need more VF-1s in my overcrowded Macross cabinets.

Rambling...regarding the HMR, any official announcements regarding the line continuity? They teased us with so many unreleased pieces, shame really, great line to fiddle around with on you desk. 

Congrats to all. It will be a miss from my part though.Too many non-Macross stuff on my to-get lists , and Arcadia's prices are getting ridiculous (essentially for revised re-releases). Anyways, was tempted, but on display my 3 Yammies still look the part and holding on perfectly fine as I never or hardly ever transform my Valks (HMR being the exception...).

Same about the orange....I really wanted it like the Frontier Prophecy VF-25 . At least they look different enough though. Rather than having yet another 2 Fighters in my collection with the exact same color scheme. Other than that, it's what I expected. The way the dish folds is perfectly fine too imo, not important if it's not completely flat (not even sure if it was flat in the original artwork/CG.) I think after so many VF-31 my enthusiasm as far as the the 31's are concerned is fading. Aside from the lovely Kairos, (still love that one...most definitely worth the 5 months wait or however long it took them to finally send the thing) .

One thing though, even though I now own the entire squadron, I've yet to transform a single one in Battroid/Gerwalk....(aside from parts of the arms and legs in order to straighten and close up gaps from the factory assembly ). The only Delta that I transformed (once) was the SV-262. Utter pain in the backside, but truly loved the Battroid and Gerwalk mode on that one. Shame we'll most likely never get to see others (at the same time, not sure I would've wanted an entire squadron)

 Is it worth risking scratches, stress marks etc just to satisfy my curiosity for 10 minutes before putting back into Fighter mode. Are they truly that 'fun' to pose/fiddle about with?

Lastly, I wanted to take a snapshot of all Elint VFs together, but the way some of them are crammed into my displays, I couldn't be bothered, so instead I took a crappy pic next to the other 'orange' one...

As long as NY doesn't pull another Kairos, it'll be fine....And to be fair, even after a 5 months wait (or was it 6 I forgot), most of us eventually received our Kairos. So for a standard release like this, there shouldn't be any issues (although, once again, they did leave the preorder window opened since it was announced.....)

They truly are taking the p**s with the gap behind the cockpit. It seems bigger than all other VF-31. Not too sure what to think about this, will have to see when I have it in my hands. At the beginning of the Delta lineup, I only planned to get the 31-J and this one. Typically, the 31-E ended up being the last one. And whilst waiting for it, I ended up with the entire line (and can't stand the actual Delta series). Hopefully Bandai will stop milking the Vf-31 and continue with what they started with Macross Plus....and more HMR.(like everyone is saying, it's looking bleak on that front ...). Personally I'd rather see less VF-1s and more Fighter variety rather than yet another entire squadron of 1/48 (especially as I still have all my 1/48 Yammies....sure an Elint and Ostrich would be cool but that's it)

I personally have about 15 1/48 VFs left including a few armors, special parts sets etc....First thing I did when the 1/48 Bandai arrived at my door was to take pics of it in Fighter mode next to a few Yammies (the one I've attached)....I mean, sure, the panel lining on the Yammies is a bit deep/thick, but, on display , with loads of other VFs, they look very similar and just fine (obviously...same scale, same plane...). Took me a while to decide, but will be skipping on the next upcoming Bandai releases (unless they give us some truly interesting pieces). Selling off all the Yammies would be a pain in the backside. And value-wise (especially now that Bandai got into the game), it's not exactly worth the hassle of selling them off and having to add a lot of extra $$ to get hold of Bandai's versions (that sell out in 2 seconds on preorder, and triple in price in a week...). Man do I miss the old Yamato days....You could really get so much more for your $$.

36 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Might try replacing the glass shelves with plexiglass or other higher-strength transparent plastic?

I totally feel you about having things on display, though I'm dreading the hours it's going to take me to pull out, transform, pose, and armor up all my figures that went back in their boxes for the move.

Lol. I've done exactly that...not to replace the glass shelving though but to add additional shelves to some of my Detolfs . Essentially splitting one Detolfs shelf into 2....Granted on the plexiglass shelves I only display light-ish Popy and co spaceships and smaller bots. so no issues here....But I truly need to lighten the weigh....I've seen pics of crashed Detolfs....Gives you shivers down your spine..... I've even built my own Detolf as I needed one with one less 'square/shelf'. It has glass shelves but no glass partitions on the sides nor back....It's a 'Ghettolf'.

26 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Just rotate what you have. Keeps the display looking fresh and puts all your toys into use at some point.

Rotating what's on display at any given time would be ideal....But with half of the boxes in storage, the others in the attic, some in a garage. I mostly only have easy access to the boxes from the most recent purchases .  Did I mention my extensive collection of Japanese retro consoles and games....From the 80's until today....A lot of my VF's (those in Fighter mode from Macross, Macross Plus,7, Zero to Macross Frontier are actually displayed on top of those Ikea's old wooden CD shelves that I've turned horizontally in order to be able to use them as additional display space. That and I live in a flat.....Anyway.....I think the answer would be to stop hoarding stuff and getting rid of some pieces now and again.

22 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

I concur. 

Don't you jinx my Detolfs ...The sound of breaking glass in that scene...Gonna have cold sweats for a month every time I'll hear some creaking coming from my shelves.  

Anyway, sorry I rambled so much....That's why I mostly tend to lurk. But thanks for the advice (and not telling me off for putting some 'non HMR related' blablas in the thread...It all started when I looked at my Hi Metal housing crisis...just got slightly sidetracked) 

9 minutes ago, HardlyNever said:

FYI, the Ikea website says the Detolf has a max load per shelf of about 8 pounds.  They are probably being safe on that estimate, by a pound or so, but you might be approached that weight on some of those shelves.

If you've had them like that for a while, I'd assume it is probably fine.  Just something to keep in mind.

Thanks for the advice. Actually, my Macross Detolfs are the least overcrowded of all my cabinets. It's my other Detolfs that are making worrying metallic creaking sounds most days (touch wood as they've been loaded like that forever...) Here's an example of a few of my non-Macross Gokins. Some weigh a lot. Wish I could find a more room to display my collections, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. Been thinking of selling some stuff as I just can't stand toys that just sit in boxes. Utterly pointless imo unless you only collect to invest (and scalpers). Problem is some pieces, especially vintage stuff I've had for decades and there's no way I could ever afford today's insane prices if I ever wanted to get them back. Like....never....

Truly wish I had the luxury of only putting a few HMR per Detolf's shelf. Took that pic early May, that's the best I managed to do cramming-wise , (the VF-4,other Macross 7 Hi Metal and the non-VF stuff couldn't fit on the same shelf). The monster also had to be displayed outside with all the other stuff that are just too big. As for the new 1/48 line, as much as I loved the 1st release, decided to skip the upcoming releases (maybe when they get to the Elint etc). I still have all my old 1/48 Yammies and cannot be asked to sell everything (for peanuts...) in order to replace them with the latest Bandai 1/48 offerings. As much as I love the engineering  weight and chunkiness of it, don't feel the need for yet more 1/48. Aside from my old 1/48 Yammies, the bulk of my 'modern' Macross collection are all 1/60. (Plus I need to keep cash for all non-Macross stuff).

Rambling aside, I really hope we haven't reached the end of the HMR line, would've also loved to see a lot more. I mean Studio Half Eye have been doing them for years, don't see why Bandai couldn't give us more variety in that scale considering the progress made in toy engineering . Feels like Bandai plans to milk the 1/48 molds and in the process gradually slowing down (or dropping off ) the HMR in order be able to start working on the upcoming Macross series (after yet another Delta movie *sigh*)