HardlyNever
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Everything posted by HardlyNever
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Pretty much nailed it. This is one of those situations where if you have to ask... But with the way AmiAmi, NY and HLJ have their order pages set up now, the stock count is essentially "public facing," you just have to know where to look. Having stock counts is interesting, but doesn't net you much beyond maybe what your odds of securing a pre-order are. NY seems to be constantly refreshing their count, as well, so it can be a bit misleading. FWIW, I don't think they are botting, at least not those sites. They could be, but I'm not sure it would be worth the effort, as the big retailers are actually putting in decent anti-botting measures (finally). Now older sites like AE are still open season for botters.
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This. Scalpers aren't the problem, they are just responding to the what the market will bear. I know they make easy scapegoats, and I'm not a fan of them either, but they aren't going away, even if you ask them really nicely. There are people on this site right now selling the DX Hikaru VF-1J for more than a 50% markup (new in box). But they aren't scalpers? I'm not trying to call anyone out for doing that, just pointing out the situation. The reality is that the line between "scalper" and "collector" is a hazy and subjective line, where everyone is going to have a different opinion, and they are going to draw that line where it is most convenient for them. But this debate is as old as toy forums (probably even older), so I'm not going to say any more about it. The reality with this hobby is you don't actually have one, until it is in your hands, regardless of where you ordered from. I've never had HLJ cancel an order on me (not saying it can't happen, just that it is rare). Other retailers have canceled orders before. Stuff gets lost in shipping. Lots of things can happen between now and release. I wouldn't sweat it too much.
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For some reason, that made me think of this: All jokes aside, scalpers are a symptom of the problem, not the cause. I know they make easy villians to hate, but it is the gap between supply and demand, and what the market is willing to pay for this, that is the problem (i.e. Bandai). Bandai has a system in place, right now (TWE system) that with some tweaking, could greatly reduce if not remove this problem entirely, with probably a small mark-up for the consumer. But they refuse to do it, except in limited cases. If you want to be angry at someone/something, be angry at Bandai. And of course, Harmony Gold.
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It's all a mystery, as far as I can tell. For us, we preorder to know that we have one, but why Bandai takes pre-orders to begin with, for non-TWE stuff, is one of many mysteries of Bandai's business practices. What I also don't understand is what dictates how many units each retailer gets. It can't be simply they order as many as they want, because they could all definitely order and sell more. It has to be some sort of ranking/priority system. Adding to the confusion is why NY seems to be the only place willing/able to source additional stock (from other retailers maybe?) at lower cost. CDJapan does proxy services, but those prices are usually ridiculously high. Unfortunately, I don't know that we'll ever get full answers to these questions.
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I think we're in the clear, but I'd give it a good 48 hours before being really confident. The last time I remember people getting their orders cancelled at HLJ was the DX YF-19. That was in about 24 hours after the madness (and it wasn't every order, ofc, just some of them). If you got a couple confirmation emails from them, I'd be pretty confident yours is secure. AmiAmi and HLJ were using a different kind of page for these orders this time, that can dynamically ping the database and check stock without having to reload the entire page. So as bad as this PO madness was, and as angry as those sites made people, they are actually an improvement compared to how their old sites functioned, from an IA point of view. They are also less vulnerable to bots, arguably. So I think there will be less recalling of confirmed orders going on, but it could still happen.
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Yup, this was the first price. I think someone even screen-shotted it if you want to go further back and find it. I believe this is basically "mirage" pricing done by NY, that only a tiny portion of people actually get, but it attracts a lot more people. I know lots of us made it to the last step of checkout with that price, and got an error. After I errored out, I still had it in my cart, but at the new marked-up price. I decided to pass (I already had one at HLJ). They know what they are doing, and it is some devious... stuff.
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You might be aware, but you can get the leg missile pods in the Lill'Draken accessory kit. Just make sure you get the one for the SV-262, not the movie one that they made for the VF-31 (it only comes with the lil drakens). They were a TWE, so unlike they Draken itself, there were a lot less made relative to demand, so they tend to hover above MSRP now. As far as not coming with missiles, unfortunately this is a trend with the DX line now. Only the VF-31S came with missiles on it's own. The DX 1/48 V-1 line does not come with missiles (you have to buy them separately). Not sure why Bandai switched to this model, but it seems to be here to stay, for now. As far as future DX SV-262, my personal opinion is that it is extremely unlikely to ever happen. If you're following the preorder madness for the 1/48, one thing should be very clear: Bandai absolutely despises the idea of their product warming shelves and selling under MSRP. The fact that you can still get the SV-262 under MSRP is pretty much the nail in the coffin for this mold, imo.
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Same situation for me, regarding the missiles. Did you order more than 1 set? I think that might be what is holding them back.
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I got lucky last night, secured one at HLJ. Still no cancellation notice (and two different confirmation emails), so I'm going to assume it is pretty safe. The thing is, as I sit here at work with all of 3 hours of sleep, I still feel like I lost. It sucks seeing so many other people not get anything (and I've been there, condolences to those who didn't get anything). I don't feel like I did anything special, just the luck of the draw happened to be on my side this time. Then I accidentally wander over to the Macross kits at HLJ. Way, way cheaper, no pre-order madness. They are even on sale! I know they're not that same quality as a DX, but seriously... with the way I feel right now. I might reconsider this whole thing. Not making any decisions in this state, but I can't keep going with this line, the way things are.
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Will it actually hold? I dunno.
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Same exact thing. Thought I had one at NY. Nope.
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Same. It might be worth refreshing for those stuck at HLJ. I did, and it actually worked. But I have very little confidence in the order holding up...
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Order acknowledgement email at HLJ after like... 15 min. I'm not super confident that will hold, but better than nothing right? What a complete joke.
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HLJ: https://hlj.com/dx-chogokin-the-movie-vf-1s-valkyrie-hikaru-ichijo-use-bans55800 Seemed to sell out in under 1 second
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Good luck all. Once more with feeling:
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The JAN code for the TV Max is: 4573102567222 So 56722 seems to match with that? But they cut off the last digit for some reason? Anyhow, if you found the JAN code for the Hikaru release, you might be able to figure out the link ahead of time. Who knows how far in advance HLJ makes their pages, though. It could be just a few minutes, or a few hours. Using the JAN code @DYRL VF-1S gave I tried: https://hlj.com/dx-chogokin-vf-1s-valkyrie-hikaru-ichijo-use-bans55800 as well as: https://hlj.com/dx-chogokin-vf-1s-valkyrie-hikaru-ichijo-use-bans58008 Neither work. You can keep trying combinations, but I'm going to get some rest before madness.
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Can't fault anyone for passing on this tonight. That fact that this is the state of things in 2019 is ridiculous, but that's I don't have a Hikaru VF-1S in any scale, so I'd like to grab this one. I want to get one of the 1S in this scale, so I figure if I try to get this and the Roy, I might get lucky and actually get one at PO price. If I get lucky tonight and get a Hikaru, I'll probably just pass on the Roy 1S. Like others, I think Bandai is making a mistake with how they are doing this. I would potentially collect the whole line if it we're so difficult to get at MSRP.
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Nin-nin has their page up already: https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/japanese-import-hobbies-toys-game-character/32302-macross-vf-1s-valkyrie-hikaru-ichijou-use-dx-chogokin-.html Can't order yet. Don't see a JAN code anywhere.
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Pretty much this. I'm not expecting to get two. I'm not even expecting to get one at this point, unfortunately. But for us on the east coast, we have to get up at 3AM to even attempt it. You're not going to bother to do that if you don't think you at least have a chance at it. So I'm going in with two as a goal, and would be perfectly happy with one. I'll be disappointed if I get nothing, but unfortunately, not surprised.
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I think most of us are of the mindset that we'll pre-order 2-3 "just in case." Pre-orders get canceled, there are QC issues, etc. Of course this only exacerbates the limited supply situation, but that's how it goes.
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I'm hoping to be here for PO madness, but if not, here's some inspiration for you fellas (queue Fate's Arrow):
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FWIW I started with "pre-order madness" around 2016. The 1/48 Max was the first time I got absolutely nothing. Every other time I got at least one of what I was after (and I was usually only after one). I'm hoping the Max was just a fluke that happens to resemble what the Frontier stuff was like, but that isn't the new (old?) normal. But I'm totally prepared to be wrong, and be let down again this time. It's a shame, because I really like the 1/48 line, but I don't know if I can stay with it if it is only available to a lucky few at MSRP.
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Hype levels increasing. Wishful thinking here, but I'm hoping Bandai is doing a larger run of the Hikaru VF-1S than the TV Max VF-1A. My understanding is that it should be more popular, especially in Japan. And just maybe... the fact that the Max release hasn't hit the ridiculous prices the Hikaru VF-1J has, yet, means some of the scalpers will pass on this release. They're generally more about a quick turn-around, not a long-haul investment strategy. Basically, I'm hoping the Max VF-1A was a combination of low production run, combined with scalpers seeing the VF-1J prices and thinking there was easy money to be made. And that won't be as true this time... But who knows. Preemptive silver lining for anyone that doesn't get one: there is always the Roy VF-1S!
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Yup, that's my thinking I normally have the delta valks together, but I know I'd need the extra space in a few months.
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New house, new(ish) set-up. SDFM: DYRL and beyond: All together: Still a work in progress. Want to add some backgrounds, hide the cords a little more, but it will do for now.
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