ChristopherB

Bluemax, Very well said my friend. Likewise: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Benjamin Franklin Modeling experience is not a prerequisite (althought it certainly can't hurt), and the lack thereof shouldn't be a deterrent to anyone considering inspecting or replacing a Yamato shoulder pin. Familiarity with something you own can only be a good thing, as it would not breed contempt in an inanimate object such as a valkyrie. Ha, ha Just a little play on words. Sincerely, Christopher

Hello, I recommended checking each Yamato VF-1 V2 as soon as possible to determine what type of shoulder pin it has (smooth or knurled), and if knurled removing it and replacing it with a smooth one. Today I received a weathered VF-1S, and tonight I have my tools ready to take it apart. My motto is "Better safe, than sorry." It's funny and all to make light of things by intentionally being melodramatic/overacting by associating broken shoulders with global warming, etc. However, it's getting old (beating a dead horse) in my opinion and is also insensitive to the MW members who have broken valkyries and are upset about. Some people aren't as well off as others and can't afford to buy very many collectibles. When they find that their hard earned money bought them a broken Yamato, it must be pretty frustrating. Just because you have had only one or none break, that does not mitigate their loss. My regards to anyone who owns a broken Yamato, Christopher

Yes, I agree it's a resin kit (Studio Halfeye perhaps), but then I thought the YF-21 in the magazine scan also looks to be made of resin (or at least most of it), as opposed to plastic, metal, wood, gold, silver, etc. I'm no expert, but I thought a lot of prototypes were made out of resin, since it can be sanded, scultped, cut, etc. Plastic molds are a major investment since they're made of metal, whereas resin molds are very cheap in comarison. So ideally, resin makes sense to me. The fit, clearance and aesthetic qualities of the resin prototype are evaluated and once final approval is given, the metal molds for the individual plastic parts can be created.

Yeah, amen on that brother. The specific color is important, just the intent, which you conveyed correctly. Not to mention, I believe "pink" is your favorite color, as concerns sloppy seconds and so forth. I'm also looking forward to the green VF-27, because it's my favorite color and matches my eyes. Ha, ha (Edited to fix punctuation)

The YF-21 looks great. Just curious, but how did someone get lucky enough to bring the YF-21 prototype home and pose it in front of their other Bandai valkyries/SDF1? That's the first time I've ever seen a rare prototype displayed in that manner. All along I planned to focus on the Bandai 1/100 releases, but the VF25 parts former scared me away, but now I'm wondering if I was wrong to lose faith.

Most recent HLJ Shipping Notice, the previous order should be here any day: Item Code Item Name Quantity Price Extended Price BAN958455 DX Chogokin VF-27 Lucifer Brera Sterne Custom 1 15,200 15,200 BAN959113 Robot Damashii Unicorn Gundam Destroy Mode 1 3,500 3,500 KBYZD30 Highend Master Model EZ-004 Red Horn 1 6,800 6,800 YMT00182 VF-11C with Super Pack 1 18,800 18,800 Merchandise Total: 44,300 Shipping Charge: 5,500 Total: 49,800 I also ordered a Tamiya 1/16 Full Function Radio Controlled M4 Sherman. I'm not sure if anyone else is a fan of these tanks, but I highly recommend them.

Thanks for the warning Graham. It looks to me like white paint was scrapped off with lavendar/lilac showing underneath. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I would think you need the appropriate shade of white to touch it up. I'm looking forward to receiving mine, I just got my HLJ shipping notice: Item Code Item Name Quantity Price Extended Price BAN958455 DX Chogokin VF-27 Lucifer Brera Sterne Custom 1 15,200 15,200 BAN959113 Robot Damashii Unicorn Gundam Destroy Mode 1 3,500 3,500 KBYZD30 Highend Master Model EZ-004 Red Horn 1 6,800 6,800 YMT00182 VF-11C with Super Pack 1 18,800 18,800 Merchandise Total: 44,300 Shipping Charge: 5,500 Total: 49,800

Hello, I always use EMS or registered airmail from Hong Kong. They both cost more, but the speed and tracking are worth it in my opinion. Personally, I don't care what condition my item box (Yamato, Bandai, etc) is in, as long as the toy inside has no damage. I don't collect boxes, they go straight to the trash/recycling bin as soon as possible. If I have no time to display for a while, I'll store the valkyries in tuperware. I always wondered why some people treat toys like an investment commodity similar to gold/silver/antiques. It's not like the kids of today are really into Macross, so who's gonna buy our VF-1 in (20) years. I just received my shipping notice from HLJ, EMS (2) boxes: Order Number: 02219927 Item Code Item Name Quantity Price Extended Price BAN956811 Robot Damashii Crossbone Gundam X-2 Custom 1 3,800 3,800 BAN957701 Robot Damashii Nirvash type Zero spec2 1 4,500 4,500 BAN958095 Armor Plus EX-Gear Alto Saotome Ver. 1 7,500 7,500 BAN959023 Robot Damashii Queadluun Rare Klan Klang Custom 1 3,200 3,200 CSP29545 Roy Focker Special VF-1S T-Shirt Black L 1 2,900 2,900 CSP34732 SDF-1 T-Shirt Indigo L 1 2,900 2,900 CSP36483 Regult T-Shirt White L 1 2,900 2,900 KBYZD19 Highend Master Model Geno Breaker 1 8,800 8,800 KOB90124 Valkyries: Tenjin Hidetaka Art Works of Macross 1 4,000 4,000 MAX07008 MAX Gohkin XD-01 Dragonar-1 1 21,714 21,714 YMT00183 VF-1S Roy Focker Weathering Special Version 1 14,800 14,800 Merchandise Total: 77,014 Shipping Charge: 12,000 Total: 89,014 My card was billed about $1,000 so it's a lot less than my last order from HLJ. Unfortunately, I collect from several different anime, when I would rather focus on just Macross/Gundam. Here is a recent list of eBay items I'm waiting to arrive or pick-up at the post office: Macross Frontier Chogokin VF-25G Gallia 4 Fold Booster Sale date: 02/12/10 Tracking number: -- $89.99 Macross Frontier Chogokin RVF-25 Ghost & Weapons Set Sale date: 02/12/10 Tracking number: -- $89.99 BANDAI Chogokin Macross RVF-25 LUCA CUSTOM Super parts Sale date: 02/12/10 Tracking number: -- $159.00 BANDAI Chogokin Macross Frontier VF-25G MICHAEL CUSTOM Sale date: 02/12/10 Tracking number: -- $159.00 1:18 GMP 1993 Yellow LX 5.0L Mustang Convertible SN 05 Sale date: 02/12/10 Tracking number: $129.95 SMS 1/100 MSN-06S Sinanju MG Conversion kit Gundam Sale date: 02/11/10 Tracking number: -- $72.50 SMS RMS-154 "Barzam" MG Conversion parts Gundam RMS154 Sale date: 02/11/10 Tracking number: -- $105.90 SMS 1/100 NZ-666 Kshatriya NZ666 resin model Gundam kit Sale date: 02/11/10 Tracking number: -- $225.00 Yamato Macross 1/60 Clear Parts for Super figure LE NIB Quantity: 2 Sale date: 02/04/10 Tracking number: -- $69.98 Yamato Macross 1/60 Super Parts Clear Color (Limited) Sale date: 01/31/10 Tracking number: -- $34.99 Yamato Macross 1/60 VF-1 Armor Part+Missile Effect LE Sale date: 01/30/10 Tracking number: -- $129.99 I'll post some pictures when everything arrives. Sincerely, Christopher

Hello, I just received a large shipment of Yamato valkyries, so I've been taking each one apart and removing at least (1) shoulder pin to determine which type it has. My fear is to leave them in the box for a while, only to find out later that they're already cracked. It's been a tedious process as the valkyries are quite fragile and the knurled pins aren't easy to get out. I've been replacing the offending pins with smooth rods of the appropriate diameter. I was disappointed to find out that my limited and newly release VF-1J weathered version also has knurled pins. If this hasn't been posted yet, then let me be the first to advise Yamato has intentionally released (2) valkyries utilizing old stock of which they knew were prone to breakage, being the VF-1J/GBP and the Weathered VF-1J Hikaru. I hope to be able to check (2) more tonight. What a fine mess this has become for customers, having to repair brand new collectibles. Sincerely, Christopher

Hello, I recently received my Hi-Metal Fire Valkyrie, and I'm also very happy with it. It seems a lot of people are jumping on the "bandwagon" that they have either cancelled their order, or wish they did upon learning that Yamato has decided to imitate Bandai, by releasing their own version. As they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery. I do not regret buying this item, and I'm very impressed with Bandai thus far. In comparison I have found the Yamato valkyries to be much more delicate and prone to breakage. While I like both companies for various reasons, I believe the Fire Valkyrie to be excellent despite the lack of metal. 1/100 size is just right and allows for more display space to be utilized. Sincerely, Christopher

Hello, I just want to publically thank "Save" for starting this thread, updating the list and graciously attending WF while attempting to obtain these items for his fellow fans. I was very happy to receive a message from Save advising that he was able to obtain the following (3) items for me as listed in his PM dated 02/07/2010: 1.) T-REX 1/60 Yamato cockpit single & twin seats with Millia and the Micron Capsule set B - Price 3000 2.) VF-17D/S by Experten - Scale 1/100 - Price 35000 yen 3.) Flash Back VF-4G by Experten - Scale 1/100 - Price 18000 In my humble opinion, his service fees are reasonable and his assistance appreciated. As of this moment, I'm waiting for pictures and the total price with shipping of my items prior to making payment via Paypal. I'll post the pictures as soon as I receive them, and hope other customers will do the same. Congratulations to everyone else who was able to obtain WF items. Sincerely, Christopher

Thank you for taking the time to respond and answer my questions. I'll buy a decent camera as soon as possible and post some pictures.

Hi Nukatsuka, I'm an American (W.A.S.P.) from Houston, Texas, but I live overseas (expatriate). Although I'm patriotic, you couldn't pay me a million dollars to live in the US again. Too expensive, recession, unemployement, racial tension, stress, obesity, so many chicks with big "tunnels", materialistic, large prison population, and so forth. I'm fortunate to live in a foreign country and have a loving wife who only slept with me since the day she was born. Unfortunately, I had to pay customs tax, but the cost of living here is so good, that everything more than works out. I have a (4) bedroom (3) bathroom US style house with a full time maid, yardboy, plenty of American restaurants (McDo, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, Tony Roma, TGIF, etc) English is taught in the schools, and I get treated with respect by the locals. If you ever want to visit, just let me know via PM. Back on topic, here are some pictures of my recent Hobby Link Japan order: Just arrived from the post office: Macross items only: Complete order including Transformers: Sincerely, Christopher PS: You can check out my Ford here: 2010 Escape w/ 20" rims

Hello, I took some pictures of my 2010 Ford Escape, which I bought last week. Ford is my personal favorite, and they refused to accept any government bail-out money. They posted a nice profit as well recently. I decided to pay cash rather than make montly payments, especially considering you don't really own the car if you finance it. You can see more information here: Kelly Blue Book I went with the Hybrid model with leather interior, 6 CD changer, remote keyless entry and I added 20" custom rims with Toyo tires. I highly recommend the Ford Escape, and wanted a color other than the standard/boring black, white, red or silver. Please PM or post if you have any questions. Sincerely, Christopher PS: Normally I buy V8 Mustangs, but they're gas mileage isn't great. The last picture shows the (5) large boxes of valkyries/transformers that arrived from Hobby Link Japan. With customs tax the total came to $3,000.00 (I'll be uploading pictures soon in another thread.)

Wow, that's great news!!! I was really, really close to buying the overpriced previous release and worried that the VF-0A would have shoulder and/or tail fin problems. Hopefully they will release them with the ghost again as well.

Ooops, looks like WF is this coming weekend. I should have read the thread title more closely. I keep forgetting that it's Winter time in most places, because here it's so sunny and beautiful outside.

Hello, I haven't posted any pictures on MW for several years, so I'm a little bit rusty. I'm only using a brand new Nokia X3 music edition with 3.0 megapixel camera. My wife and I plan to buy a real digital camera soon. My plan is to upload some pictures to Photobucket and then post them to this thread. I checked the MW Forum Rules & Guidelines and couldn't find any information as to the recommended image size. Please let me know what would be a good size so as to not use too much bandwidth, etc. I also wasn't sure how people post reduced sized images, which expand to full size when they are clicked. Thanks in advance, Christopher

Hello, I finally had time to visit the local post office and found (5) boxes waiting for me, (4) of which are pretty big. Looks like my limited edition GBP armor with smoke effect arrived very quickly. I was pretty upset to find out that I was expected to pay $400 in customs tax, which brings my grand total up to about $3,000. My plan is to upload some pictures to Photobucket and then post them to this thread. I checked the MW Forum Rules & Guidelines and couldn't find any information as to the recommended image size. Please let me know what would be a good size so as to not use too much bandwidth, etc. Thanks in advance, Christopher

Wow, thanks for the links!!! It's been a few years since I bought WF items. A fellow long time MW member and I are planning to have some Macross items available for sale there. It's still in the planning stages though. What are the prospective dates for the Winter WF? That way I know how much longer I have to save up. Thanks in advance.

Hello, I'm considering buying this release as well, the color scheme is cool. There's quite a few available on eBay. Not sure if the prices are good or not. Sincerely, Christopher

Amen brother, I'm gonna take your advice and shop around for the best deals in the future. I could have bought something nice with the money I would have saved. Oh well, live and learn. Very nice Mustang areaseven. That's my favorite car, I've owned about ( so far to include the 1985 Mustang SVO. My favorite is the 1993 Cobra R 5.0. Last week I bought a 2010 Ford Escape in the same color as your car, or pretty close. It's called "Fusion" I think. Thanks for the info. about the VF-25A Cannon Fodder, and I also hope Bandai will release one soon. Bandai doesn't seem to be as re-paint happy as Yamato, but perhaps that will change with time.

Nice helmet and car, thanks for the pictures! I was thinking about getting the Hikaru motorcycle helmet version to use with my Yamaha FZR 1000cc, the colors are similar. It's weird, but as soon as I saw the neighborhood in the background, I knew that was Texas. I grew up in a new subdivision just like that in Deer Park, just outside of Houston. My father is a native Texan as well going back several generations, but my mom's a cajun from New Orleans. See ya'll later over yonder

Yeah, you're right my friend. It was my stupidity, and I hate to use this word...but I assumed HLJ would automatically give me the sale price. Once again I learned that assuming only makes an ass of yourself. Ha, ha Oh well, I'm now more wise and wasted some good money all at the same time. HLJ wanted to ship my packages via SAL, but I was like screw that. They're supposed to have a policy that high value orders can only be sent by EMS, but apparently that doesn't apply to large orders. So I reminded them that I requested EMS in the very beginning and paid the revised amount straight from my bank account. I hate credit cards, because you've got to pay it later plus interest, annual fees, and so forth.

Yeap, you guys are 100% correct. I love HLJ, but they weren't very fair with me especially after I've been a loyal customer for so long. I e-mailed them and said, "Hey, why aren't you giving me the sale price?" They replied with, "Sorry, but you placed your order before the sale started. If you want the lower price, cancel the discounted item(s) and then make a brand new order." I was on my way to leave town and my wife was fussing at me to turn off the computer, so I just let it slide. Too bad though, I could have saved some money for something else. Not sure if anyone else has the problem, but I like too many different things...Macross, Gundam, Transformers, Evangelion, Tamiya 1/16 R/C tanks, motorcycles, etc. Unless your really rich, you can't possibly get all of the different releases.

Hi reeoyuy, Wow, only (11) posts in the (18) months since you joined. Well, if it was only (1) package I couldn't fit it in the back of my Ford Escape very easily, let alone carry it. Even so, I'm pretty sure each of the (3) packages will be pretty large considering the size of the Bandai/Yamato boxes. Please don't envy me, I have too many sleepless nights due to contemplation of material possessions. ha, ha "I'm running out of time. I'm out of step and closing down, and never sleep for wanting hours, the empty hours of greed. And uselessly always the need to feel the again the real belief of something more than mockery, if only I could fill my heart with love." Robert Smith Sometimes I wonder if it's a waste of money to buy toys, but if we don't spend our money, someone else will. I'm sure a lot of people don't understand our fixation with robots, especially at our age. No offense to anyone, but my advice is to play with and display your valkyries/kits/figures. If you're saving them as Mint in Sealed Box, you will be sadly disappointed to find they won't make you rich in the future. Something newer or better will have been released by that time. The days of high priced Bandai Hi-metal 1/55 valkyries, Joke Machines, etc. are long gone. The highest priced Macross item on eBay is a brand new helmet at a little more than $500. There is a glut of Macross/Robotech/Transformers and so forth. Everyone who wants something can buy it now direct from the manufacturer, so there won't be a secondary market. That's my two cents, Christopher