akteon

Slightly blurry cellphone pic - I finally got around to putting bubble shields on my two Masei helmets.

Finally broke down and started buying some Frontier valks (yeh I know I'm late to the game) ...

This is what I think he was trying to post, but the youtube url was missing the middle part https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-aSjHnbw18

I just meant it was a DYRL style helmet with a TV style paint scheme ...

Wow, this went for a lot more than I expected... Masei Macross helmet with Focker TV paint scheme Despite being canonically incorrect, I liked the paint style and was going to bid to have a second helmet, but the price got out of hand in my opinion.

I took mine apart and had a lot of trouble as well. Kept trying switching which side to start on, swapping screws between the sides. Finally I took it all apart again and was really careful putting the visor on perfectly, then it all seemed to screw together a bit easier. But I do agree it's hard fro that screen to catch if things aren't line up perfect.

Here's the exact auction I won: www.ebay.com/itm/121529304493

I missed out on the pre-order, but I got one on eBay and just picked it up from the post office. First off, the outer box was in good shape (aside from a slight smell). The helmet itself was wrapped in 4-5 layers of bubble wrap. The only imperfections on the helmet were two small sections on the visor where the black masking was chipped/missing (the underlying red visor itself was not damaged). There was also one small scuff on one of the nozzles, but both were firmly attached. All very minor, especially compared to what others have reported, so it seems the bubble wrap did its job. Other good news aside from the better packaging was that it shipped really fast - 8 days total. My only complaint is my fault, not theirs - I wish I had asked for a XXL instead of a XL. Apparently I have a larger head than I thought. Hopefully this is all a good sign for those waiting for replacements.

These are pretty sweet. Love the grey visor with the GBP

From the damage of the box I fully assumed the toy it self had damage as well - it literally looked like someone had sat on the corner of the box. As soon as I saw the extent of the damage to the box I didn't open it - at that point I knew I would be sending it back so what good would opening the box do? Lunar refused to work with me on providing an exchange, so why would I open the box and risk not being able to get a refund?

Showered with free stuff? I just wanted what I paid for - I didn't want anything free. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect an un-damaged item, I even offered to pay the shipping to return the item to Lunar. Unfortunately they demanded I pay roundtrip shipping, when Lunar/evilcat acknowledged they sent out damaged boxes. Offering to split the shipping between the two of us shows I was trying to work with Lunar, but they were not willing to work with me to resolve the issue. The Lunar Toys Website states that damaged boxes are worth less than un-damaged boxes, but I was charged the same as everyone else. Like I said, I wasn't expecting nor did I ask for anything for free, I simply wanted what I pre-ordered and paid for.

What's funny is that evilcat005 does know that box condition affects the value of collectable toys, this is taken from the Lunar Toys website: However, no where on the order or pre-order page is this set as an option to select this nor is box condition mentioned. Therefore one would reasonably assume you're getting a mint box. What offends me most about all of this is frankly the arrogance that it's the customer's fault. That expecting an undamaged box is some unreasonable request, that we did something wrong. The offer to provide geodude and I return shipping labels comes off as doing us a favor to shut us up, not because it's the right thing to do - evilcat005 still doesn't think it was wrong to knowingly send out damaged boxes. Heck even the response to my asking the forum where else to buy this was just as dismissive: I'm really disappointed because I was looking forward to not only this toy but the future toys in this line and was originally happy to find someone like Lunar to deal with. Now I'll just have to pay more to purchase from someplace else, even if it's overseas, that at least respects their customers.

Frankly, it's none of your business if someone plans to open a toy or not. People are paying $100+ for a new collectable toy, of course they don't want a damaged box regardless of what they plan to do with it. Asking someone to pay shipping x2 on top of the original price to just get what they already pre-ordered is NOT good customer service. Telling someone after the fact that if they wanted an un-damaged box, they should have asked for one beforehand is NOT good customer service. If you receive damaged boxes from the manufacturer, take it up with them - passing the damaged items on to your customers blindly is NOT good customer service. As usual, the only recourse we have as consumers is to vote with our wallets. So assuming Lunar does actually give me a refund (I fully expect them to pull a surprise restocking fee or something at this point) who else is selling this toy that I can support?

The "run around" is telling me that in order to get a replacement product I would have to pay for return shipping to you AND shipping back to me of the replacement. After I showed you photos you still were dismissive saying that "imperfections" aren't covered. Look again at the photos, that's not an imperfection, that's damage. I still wanted to do business with you and had looked forward to doing business with you in the future, but you blamed ME for not asking for a un-damaged box.

I had a similar problem. The USPS shipping box was in great shape but the toy's box was pretty damaged on one corner. I didn't even risk opening the box to checck for damage. To top it off, I contact Lunar Toy Store and they start giving me the run around saying their exchange policy doesn't cover box "imperfections" and that if I cared about having an undamaged box I should have specifically asked for one

Great news.

Last time I moved (thought it was only a few miles) I fully disassembled them then took the glass panels and shelves and put cardboard between them then did basically what Benson mentioned with couch cushions and mattresses.

Back in the late 90s I had a small but decent little collection of 1/55 valks. I had a Takatoku VF-1S, VF-1J Hikaru, VF-1J Max, GPB-1S, a Milla knockoff (JOONS I believe), and a custom VF-1A brownie. None were in great condition, but they were rugged toys and I liked my little display of them. Skip to the dot com bubble bursting around 2000 and I found myself out of work, doing odd jobs to make ends meet. I ended up moving twice (to cut costs) and eventually put everything I had in storage and couch surfed for about a year. Eventually things turned around, I got a very good job with a company I've now been with for 10 years eventually bought a house and ended up with a nice little home office/man cave. I had sort of forgotten about Macross focusing on other collecting (it's a disease, I swear) but recently I got the bug again. The tragedy is that I always assumed my 1/55 valks were nicely boxed away somewhere, but now I can't find them. I talked to one of my friends and he swears I talked about selling them when I was out of work - and I don't doubt that I would have, but I have meticulous email records for eBay going back to the mid 90s and have no evidence I ever did sell them. I moved now 3 times and twice had everything in storage units. I wouldn't be mad if I knew I actually sold them, but it's killing me I really have no clue whatever happened to them. Oh well, now I just have an excuse to start over with 1/60 valks

Nope, you're not alone.

I want a 1/60 Glaug or Gnerl.

Yeh I looked into shipping and it was going to be like $120+ shipping for two Detolfs because they'd have to ship it freight. I looked at the price and gas back then and realized I'd rather drive so I could see other stuff at the store I wanted. I am glad however that was just one 4.5 hour each way trip - after that I waited a few years until they completed the store 30min away from me.

My first trip to get Detolfs I mentioned above was 4.5 hours driving - each way ... still worth it.

Paid $300 for the Low Vis on eBay ... still getting back into the swing of collecting so I don't know if that was a decent price or not but I jumped on it.

After having and losing a decent little collection of 1/55 valks in the late 90s, I've recently gotten the collecting bug again. Here's the results of my recent little spree:

Detolfs are awesome - simply the best display cases you can get for the price. I actually needed something that was comparable to a Detolf but a little smaller to fit in a specific area - I ended up paying 2.5x as much after shipping for something else (this).