rdrunner

4 hours ago, Bahamutzyro said:

And why the hell is that? I noticed fanstoys aftermarket prices were off the charts.

I think they have become the "hot toys" equivalent for Masterpiece Transformer collectors.  Great sculpts and resemblance to the toon looks is what I think wins me over from other 3P competitiors.  Some reported issues with their QC though.  They are considered the "go-to" issuer for a transformer figure if there are multiple 3P companies doing the same bot, including HasTak, simply because FT's product always look the best.

Preorder for FT releases is not unlike Macross figures now - the moment they're out for PO, they are sold out within minutes or hours.

3 hours ago, Kyp Durron said:

Like I said, I'll start a thread on them near release date so we can see who got theirs and who had to get their money back. It should be very interesting. 

I'll be sure to add to that with my own report!

4 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

All I need now is just the VF-1A TV Kakizaki and I’m done.

For me it's the TV Kakizaki and the 1D, but yeah.

2 minutes ago, Kyp Durron said:

Yeah, I was able to score a like new SOC GX-86 for under $300, new they're around $350 and up before shipping, geez...

Actually I think that Fanstoys Masterpiece transformers are the easiest ones to scalp, the most ridiculous example being their dinobots, they retailed at about 150-200 each, but now the most expensive one go for like 700+ (or more if MISB) in the second market!  And I thought I paid through the nose for my ozma 25S armour set already......

Just now, yami4ct said:

If it sells out it must mean they have some limit to what they’re selling lol. 

But wait - they still say it's "soon available"! lol!

Just now, Kyp Durron said:

If they dare screw me and others on this, as i said, I will personally lead a call to have them permanently listed as a "buyer beware" site here. Failing that, I will have it in my sig with links to relevant posts here in this thread. 

Absolutely.  I think we need to really keep an eye on the turnout post-release and spread the word as much as possible as a big group in every Macross discussion platform we can think of.

Just now, Bahamutzyro said:

Got one at nin as well. Never ordered from them before. Are they reliable?

Hard to say at this point, but here's how it went down tonight:

Before 3am Eastern:  15,840 yen (status = soon available).  No one was able to order at this price.

2:55am Eastern:  Released for first round preorder at 17,800 yen.  Lasted a few mins.

Then for the next couple hours, we saw steady increases in the price (each time about 2000 yen or so) and each round of these POs will be sold out in minutes.

We are now at 31,490 for the last 30 mins or more now, where the price seems to have finally stopped going up.

The question is: do you believe they have enough stock to cover these 6 rounds of PO?  If you were them trying to maximize profits, and don't have enough stock, who might get their POs cancelled?

2 minutes ago, Kyp Durron said:

^ This. Hopefully I won't have to, but if I must, then I must...I'm just glad that it's the only one I care about, I don't even want to think about getting the others...yikes. 

Seconded.  If I had to name ONE single valkyrie from the entire Macross universe that meant the most to me, it would be the Focker *TV* version in this DX form.  

1 minute ago, yami4ct said:

I would say that I would probably be willing to pay more than that aftermarket than I would Roy’s but that’s mainly because those damn armors are $300 on their own 

I didn't get into Macross collection properly until 2015, so well past the time of the VF-25 renewals already.  IIRC the armors were never re-released.  I got a used set in fairly good condition from YJA for almost $400 (ouch).  I think I'm just about caught up with the VF-25 renewals, but it would be great if I can get another 25G for the Tornado armor.

2 minutes ago, RedComet said:

Well if they bring back SAL by December I can probably get the whole lot shipped for 100,000 yen so it would be about $330 plus domestic shipping, so $350 just to break even.

Actually I think with time, this would probably surpass the VF-1J first issue (with the bonus stand) in after market prices, so you could be fine in the slightly longer run.  It may break even for you sooner than you think.

Just now, yami4ct said:

Well I say never again but if they reissued Ozma‘s 25 and the armor parts...ugh

Yeah if the YF-29 FSP was a 9/10 in terms of difficulty, the Ozma and armor pack would be like 30/10 difficult...

1 minute ago, RedComet said:

I thought I was getting ONE for 19,000 yen, I got SIX for 190,000 yen! Ouch, my credit score!

OH.  GOSH.  Sorry to hear mate.  PO madness does this to people... not your fault...

Just now, Lolicon said:

GODDAMMIT! I step away for a few minutes to take a shower and it goes up at Amiami! And after F5ing for two hours!! Argh!

we were here when the link just went live but it seems many of us got cart-jacked, if that's any consolation at all.  Sorry.

Just now, RedComet said:

Or you accidentally/idiotically pay scalper prices for 6 of them on release night and just pray this sets for what the 1J does on the aftermarket.

I couldn't see that YJA page at all.  So what was the story there?

5 minutes ago, myk said:

To quote the guys at evangelion, "the connection is being refused!  The signal isn't working!"

vital signs very weak....

damn.  I have to keep refreshing the cart and when it finally went to the circle loading page, a login screen popped up (with pre-filled login credentials), but by the time I got through, they were all gone (can you say cart-jacked?)

Change of pace folks, and to try to de-stress from a crazy PO night, some pics of the VF-1S thanks to Stone Cheung on the Macross FB group from the upcoming Tamashii Nations event. 

Just now, Kyp Durron said:

OOF.

Makes me feel alot better about getting one @$225 USD. 

the math geek in me is trying to remember what the step price changes were to see if it's a linear increase or some sort of % age hike every step... 

Just now, MacrossDYRL said:

Whew, finally got one through Nin-nin @ 23,490Y... I was sitting at the spinny circle of death for god knows how long.  Hearing all these stories about potential cancelled orders doesn't give me much confidence though.

Grats to all who got theirs!

31,490 now... haha

I think they will catch up with the AJ scalper prices in about 30 minutes.

Just now, Tenbatsu said:

Me too. Time will tell, any pranks from them and I will just do a charge back with the bank.

same here. 

But the silver lining (assuming the worst for now) to all this is that, we have a credible group size to give future MWF users feedback on this company, on how reliable they have been, and either way, I believe it will be useful data for others to make PO decisions in the future.  We just have to be diligent to report back on our PO experience with Nin Nin in November.

2 minutes ago, borgified said:

Calling it off for me as its nearly 2am PST.   

Will be back to do it again for the the pre-order madness for the DX YF-21 or any new HMR.

Congrats to those that got orders in for the DX Vf-1s Roy (TV version). 

good night!

1 minute ago, Jello said:

Nin nin is up at 29,990 now...

Just now, Kyp Durron said:

Yeah, it is ridiculous, but I was serious when I said I'd call to have that site put up here as buyer beware in a sticky, if it hasn't been done already, I never checked, lol. 

To be fair, during previous POs when Shizuka and others were very active in posting live links to PO pages, they had labeled Nin nin game as a seller with "questionable reputation".  Were they ever my first choice to order from?  Absolutely not.  But I have had good buying experience with them over the last year (better than another company that gets discussed a lot here), and so I thought I would place a PO and see what happens.  Worst situation, is a drawn out fight with them with CC company stepping in to enforce a refund.  But if they are really going to play the bait-and-switch game, that will be it with them for all of us.

I think what we should do around PO date is to let other know how each of our orders turned out, and try to take a count of any PO cancellations, as solid data for future users when they decide whether to PO with them.

2 minutes ago, yami4ct said:

Man. I’m starting to regret ordering from them. Saw it and quickly pulled the trigger. Should have just waited and took my chances with mandy.  knew they weren’t good because of my past experience but didn’t count on not getting it at all

I think most of us know what risks we were taking or what we are walking into when we ordered.  And like someone said above, you can always hedge your bets with an order in the first couple days from Manda or somewhere at a slightly marked up price.  

I blame Bandai and this PO madness for forcing some of us to take risks with our POs, just to maximize our chances of securing one.

2 minutes ago, gingaio said:

They jacked it up to about $170-180 about half an hour before the listing went live, IIRC. I think I saw the price go back and forth for a while, like they couldn't make up their minds how much to mark up. 

they're up to 28,490 now, haha.