Offswitch

@Corrinald yeah, I pop in from time to time. I totally missed the boat for this WWM VF-25 so I was surprised that it was available on HLJ. Glad to see you picked one up one as well

It's available in stock at HLJ again for those who don't want to wait longer for domestic orders: https://www.hlj.com/dx-chogokin-vf-25-messiah-valkyrie-worldwide-anniv-bans63272

Just a heads-up that I've been screwed by The Chosen Prime before. They never send my item to me and never owned up to it. I had to file a complaint with PayPal to get my money back. It's quite odd since most people said they're generally great to deal with, but that was my experience unfortunately. I got my order in with BBTS! This was so easy, I feel guilty! 😆

Looks like the premium is available now at Anime Export for a much more reasonable price of 42680 yen. https://anime-export.com/index.php?product=51291

Aaaggh!!... I can't believe I missed it AGAIN!

Agreed! I know no3L was joking for most part, but everyone talks about how great The Chosen Prime is... yet, the very first time I ordered from them, I never received any of my items, and they kept my money without so much as lifting a finger to help. And now of course, the whole NY debacle with the 31A pretty much confirms that buying directly from the creator/producer/manufacturer isn't a bad idea at all. Cuts out the middle man!

You can never have too much decals! Great job, no3L! Looking forward to when it's all coated and panel lined.

That looks awesome, no3L! If the premium edition from Arcadia looks half as good, it might even be worth the cost. Looking forward to your panel lining!

*shrug* All I know is that I'm out 2 bills and I've been back and forth with them via their customer service email for the better part of a month and they basically said, "Tough luck, buddy. You're on your own." If I had to venture a guess, TheChosenPrime (again much like a lot of other stores and businesses out there) provide "great customer service" as long as it doesn't impact too heavily into their profits. So, your order came with a damaged part? No prob! (The replacement part probably only costs a couple dollars max assuming the manufacturer didn't send it over for free). Oh, you want to return your order? You got it! (At least they get the item back, and they might get return shipping cost or even a restocking fee outta ya.) But if your package gets lost? Er... Sorry. Good luck. Lost packages suck cuz the store's options for "good" customer service is basically to either send you a replacement on their dime, or refund you your money since you didn't get your order. That's a big hit. And, sure, they might be able to recoup some of that hit via shipping insurance, but that's assuming they even paid for it (which they might not have in this day and age of free shipping). Some of the Japanese stores are smart at least and often force EMS shipping on you since EMS covers up to 20,000 yen.

Another vote for filing a claim with either PayPal or your credit card in situations like this. You have to remember most of these businesses basically sees their job as done the minute the order leaves their hands. They already have your money and, in their eyes, they upheld their end of the deal of shipping out your item(s), so they really have minimal motivation to help beyond that. I've been fortunate enough to not lose any international orders, but my very first time trying out TheChosenPrime recently, my order was lost and they wouldn't even so much as contact the postal service for me. And this is from a company that by all accounts have amazing customer service!

I too got the Anime-Export notice for the HMR VF-2SS. Plus it looks like they got more in stock ready to ship if you missed out on the pre-order. It doesn't have the pre-order discount price now however. http://www.anime-export.com/product/38068

Thanks for the quick overview and insight on the figure, eriku! There's certainly a lack of modern SD valkerie figures... especially those with features like LED lighting! It's just sad and unfortunate that this had to be a Robotech (and therefore HG) licensed. Like a few others here, I may pick this up when it goes on sale/clearance later. Otherwise, I'm hoping Bandai considers doing a few SD figures again soon. I too really liked their SDi VF-25.

Love the subtle shading! Great job, mojacko!

I can't help but feel like this should've been the starting price to begin with. :/ Is it just me?

Like many here I imagine, I grew up with Robotech and eventually moved to Macross and other animes. So you can certainly count me a fan of the classic SDF/DYRL. However, tho I agree that business-wise Bandai would be smart to stick with SDF for the HM-R line for now, I seriously hope they do branch out eventually as I would love to see a HM-R YF-19 (improved from their previous 19 incarnations of course) or a VF-2SS like they teased previously.

I thought David was talking about the VF-1J Milia since it went for a ridiculous Y86,001. But man, that CF-1J is just awesome. It still irks me to no end that the 1J that's absolutely my favorite just happens to be one of the rarest in existence.

Oh man, that would be fantastic! Definitely looking forward to your mod. Cuz that damn wing swing bar..... Ugh.

Yeah, like kajnrig said, it's certainly not the same, but the resemblance is definitely eerie... Cool find!

@ MILKAUTICO - Whoa, sweet! Where's that from?

@Mr Bomber - LOL Yeah, after waiting all this time to get the Arcadia YF-19, like GabrielV, I definitely have a twang of buyer's remorse also. The YF-19 just doesn't feel as well put-together in hand as I had hoped (especially for the cost) . Even knowing that Arcadia didn't do anything to improve on the flaws from the initial release, I was still hoping it would hold up better. It definitely didn't help that Bandai did such a great job with the VF-19.... Don't get me wrong, the YF-19 is gorgeous and I see why so many favor it. Just wish it was... funner. Not to mention not so damn expensive!

QFT! Amazing work, eggy99! The MP VF-1J is easily my favorite 1J by far. If you don't mind me asking, what brown paint color did you use to match the VF-1A CF brown? I'm thinking of doing the same thing and creating my own 1J MP too seeing as how the chances of ever getting an actual one now is like winning the lottery.

Unfortunately, nope... Nothing announced so far. Hopefully they at least tighten up the wing bars and ankles... But chalk this up to a huge missed opportunity on Arcadia's part.

@anime52k8 Haha, nice valkyrie! Now, that's what I call guns ;D @Mr Bomber Nice! Congrats! Can't wait to get my VF-4G (it's still sitting in HLJ's private warehouse at the moment).

Watch, microtree33 is totally trolling us.... Nothing like a coveted out-of-print valk at a reasonable price to get our blood pumping, lol! But seriously, Arcadia, wtf... The VF-4G reissue was nice, but like anime52k8 said: time to re-release this beyotch (and other rare VF-1's)!