CharlesXavier

Ordered at CDJ. Paid full retail and a little more for shipping. But beats having to panic and frustrate or pay premium secondary market price. worth it for USD20-25 diference =)

Guys the pre-orders for VF-19A is currently selling at retail price 23000yen in Japan A clear indication that there is a lot to go around, for if not the resellers won't be selling them at this price. So don't fall prey to all those ridiculous marked up prices. I am sure it will be readily available at retail price in May. =)

I believe the reason for all the apparent "shortages" is due to some retailers and distributors hoarding the stock and trying to inflate the prices. After observing the prices in Japan I see it dropping everday from max 30k in day 1 to max 28k in day 2 to max 26.5k in day 3 and now in day 4 it's just below 25k. I am sure we will see NY open a few more rounds of PO over the next few days at 26k (They can't bring it down even if they want to now cos they raised it too high in the first jump) I think the few big hoaders have such a big quantity on hand that they realized it's not moving as fast as they expected it to and are starting to price cut one another, leading to the daily drop. I won't be surprised that the prices plunge to the actual retail price of 23k yen over the next few days or during the launch period. When that happens, bye bye to the 2 pieces of 26k from NY I ordered. They can store them in their warehouse and wait for the price to go up again or do the right thing by selling at retail to clear it.

I am sure there are a lot of hoarders (as usual) in Japan. Prices were going as high as 29-30k yen yesterday but came down to around 26-27k yen today. I believe the prices will soften nearing the release date and for all we know, it may be another VF-25S Ozma. =) In the meantime, just try to secure 1 or 2 even if it's inflated, just in case.

Inflated price but I bought 2 just so that I don't have to keep looking out for it. Now to wait for its arriva. =) Every cancellation you make deducts your exp points. Once that hits 0 they will delete your account. So if you have more successful deals with them versus cancellations, you are technically safe.

Thank you for the information. That is indeed a very attractive price outside of HLJ. Now I can understand why many are eager for their orders from PA to come through.

Out of curiosity, how much was the PO going for at Play Asia? Thanks.

In all fairness NY is a business entity and they need to make money. I feel it is just right to go with the flow of the market. If the demand is high, it naturally drives up the price. Conversely when an item is a shelf warmer, it ends up in the fire sale bin after some time. We always see buyers bashing retailers when they mark up a popular item by 20-100%. Yet when an item goes on firesale at 40-70% discount, we see most people rejoicing and some grumbling cos they bought earlier at a much higher price. Retailers do lose money as well when they clear slow movers so to me it is absolutely right to make the most out of a popular product to cover the losses of the shelf warmers. Us as collectors can choose to source elsewhere for better deals or even patiently wait for reissues for the prices to plunge. And in the first place, it is our rush and demand for the item that drove the prices up.

I paid for my VF-25S from HLJ on Saturday. Still processing to date. Anyone got a shipping notice yet? I think HLJ may be sorting out their stock and pre-orders so it might take a few days before everyone will get their payment notice. Also, HLJ might not go by 1st come 1st serve. My friend's order number is way ahead of mine but he only got his payment notice today. We both ordered 1 piece.

Mine from AmiAmi via EMS is still on the way. Waiting.....

got my shipping notice from CDJ! Yea! Now waiting for the one from AmiAmi =)

I got billed for the one at CDJapan today. Should be sending out soon.

Managed to grab 2 when NY opened it's window. Just in case the 2 I have at HLJ gets cut to 1. 3 pieces just nice 1 for each mode.

In case anyone is waiting for YesAsia as a last resort, VF-25S is sold out there as well.

If I am a retailer, honestly I will be happy to fill up my pre-orders fast. It won't matter whether some customers are unhappy and threaten to cancel all orders or boycott my shop. Cos these few individuals will not make up a significant part of the total revenue. And as long as I am able to procure a highly in demand product, the customers will come and fill up my orders. This is why shops like Nippon Yasan continues to thrive and mark up the prices of popular items. You can hate them all you want for inflating prices but some of you will still subcumb to them because they have what you want. You may curse and swear paying inflated prices to them but ultimately they achieve their goal of getting your business, whether it is 1 time off or not. Cos the next desperate person will come along as long as demand exceeds supply. sadly the appreciation in value brings about the birth of scalpers and profitters. its a vicious cycle.

This whole VF-25S reissue is really causing a fiasco. We are seeing the following scenarios 1. People happy to score multiple pieces 2. People happy that others scored multiple pieces 3. People unhappy that others are scoring multiple pieces 4. People unhappy that HLJ allowed others to buy more than 1 piece 5. People who scored multiple pieces at HLJ but have received emails to tell them to reduce their orders to 1, are either fine or upset 6. People who are happy HLJ is sending out those reduce your orders to 1 emails 7. And the list goes on..... There is no way to please everyone unless Bandai floods and oversupplies the market with VF-25S to the extent that everyone and anyone can just pick 1 or a couple of pieces at retail prices without having to go through a mad rush. This would be the perfect scenario except for scalpers and proftiters who none of us bother or care about unless we are one of them. Toys should be made in abundance for everyone to own and enjoy them, so that we can all talk happily about our fun with them. I really dislike the fact that toys which are meant to bring joy to us, has become something that gives us frustrations and anger. But then again it is all in the mind. If you see a toy as just a toy and don't get too emotionally attached to it, it will not affect you negatively whether you get it or not.

I agree with you on this. And I do understand the unhappiness of those who missed the deal, knowing that some people managed to get multiple pieces. Which led to many complaint emails to hlj for not limiting the quantity for the po. I guess no one who managed to get 2 and above pieces would make any noise about it So we shall see how this whole episode rounds up in the end. I know for sure those with multiple accounts will end up with a couple of pieces still, even if hlj enforces the 1 piece per account rule. So at the day's end it's still an achievement scoring a few ozmas at a great 13300yen price.

I can imagine HLJ is flooded by emails asking for clarification on VF-25S orders and also emails of complaints for allowing multiple orders. The customer service staff must be overwhelmed and maybe confused now.

Well, let's see if my friend who has been asked to reduced to 3, gets another email. for his benefit, I hope not, since he wasn't so lucky to score from different sites like some members here. i guess those who have managed to get multiple orders must be saying their prayers hard now. lol

I am not sure if different people received different replies but it will be good if fellow members can step out and let everyone know if they have received email from HLJ for their multiple orders. Another friend just mentioned he received an email to reduce his order to 1. He ordered 5. So it now seems pretty inconsistent. Perhaps HLJ is picking out those who ordered a lot. I am hoping those who ordered 2-3 remain safe though. It's not too much to get a little extra for this extremely hard to get item. if HLJ opens the balance for another round of orders, I think it will only benefit resellers who easily have 10-20 accounts registered with different names or addresses

My friend who ordered 3 pieces two times received an email yesterday stating that they can only allow maximum 3 pieces for him. In the first place he order two times as he did not receive the confirmation email and thought his order did not go through. So he cancelled his order for 1 of the 3 piece orders and maintained 3 pieces for the other. As for me, no emails notification or request to reduce my order of 2 pieces. So I am keeping still for now.