HardlyNever

Just got a shipping notice from HLJ.  Still only payment confirmation from AmiAmi.

52 minutes ago, Bolt said:

I'm not sure the western market is going to support $200 plus dollar DX's on an acceptable scale , beyond those of us that already do.

more like Hasbro will try to get the rights and sell CHEAP Mac-crap..

i know there's been some licensing of toys from the show that must not be named, and I have no idea what state any of it is in (nor do I really care) or what any of it woukd entail. But I feel the Walmart economy drives a lot . At least hear in the surreal US..

100% agree with this.  I know we like to a dream about a "Macross Renaissance" in the West if/when HG finally loses it's grip on the license, but the reality is, as least as far as toys and merch go, we won't be getting much better than we already have (choice or price wise).  I think if we were really lucky we might get Macross HMR stuff sold domestically in the US, and therefore (theoretically) have to pay a little less on the shipping side.  Beyond that, we would still be importing stuff.

Why do I think this?  Look at Star Wars.  That franchise is American as... apple pie?  And yet if you want something beyond the $20 black series stuff, what do you have to do?  Import from Japan.

59 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

Has anyone gotten a payment request from HLJ yet?

Not here, and it is getting weird.  I just modified my payment method and the YF-19 is now showing as "discontinued."  I know that is the item status on the website now, but it is weird to me that they would show that on a pre-order.  And they were selling some earlier today...

HLJ is my "back-up" and I've already paid Ami-Ami, so I'm not too worried.  But it is a bit odd that they were selling more stock without getting payment for all preorders first.

6 hours ago, seti88 said:

arm cannon close up detached.

I'm actually surprised it is one connected piece.  I thought it was going to be one piece on each side.  Props to Bandai, hopefully it isn't too fragile.

1 hour ago, seti88 said:

This is my brrrrttt smiley 

Coincidentally, I recall the gunpods in macross do have that sound when firing, no? 

Dang that question is gonna bug me now...

The original GU-11 gunpod is definitely based on the real life GAU-8 on the A 10.

In terms of sound, the DYRL gunpod makes a similar sound to the GAU-8. I doubt it's an actual sample of the GAU sound, though.

The TV show is bit more inconsistent (surprise).  Sometimes it sounds like the DYRL gunpod, sometimes it makes a more generic "laser" sound.

I definitely prefer the DYRL sound, personally.

Cross display/ cross generation battle:

4 hours ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

Nice how did you minimize the priest collar? Is the chest piece not down all the way?

There is actually a bit of leeway between where you can have the legs meet the nosecone (by moving the nosecose and having the legs lock in at slightly different angles), so you can have the "collar" a bit higher or lower even with the chest fully folded down.

42 minutes ago, Podtastic said:

If Zentraedi mecha are made in another line then THAT line will attract my attention.

Not trying to be snarky, but is there another line out there that has a realistic chance of making zentraedi stuff?  Especially SDFM zentraedi mecha?  If there is, I'd like to know about it (is it a model line?).

I know there are things like the yamato 1/60 Q-Rau, and the resin 1/60 Regult, and some custom works out there.  But is there a modern line currently in production that might make zentraedi mecha (that isn't HMR)?

5 hours ago, brouken said:

Are they re-issuing the Renewal Messiahs? How come Alto's DX VF-25F is on display along with the DX YF-19?

https://twitter.com/T_KOTEN_Q/status/1038599921073410049

Was wondering that myself.  I'd definitely be in for a reissue of the vf-25f.  I've been looking around for one, but I'm a little hesitant to drop that kind of cash on a toy that is almost 7 years old.  I'm more worried about durability and looseness than the actual design.

I'd be down for one, even if it is a straight re-issue.  Maybe the would try to add the vf-31 ratcheting hips to the vf-25?

Fiancee and I have been enjoying Attack on Titan, so I grabbed a couple of Figmas.  Fun figures; lots of posing options.

Got my Super Os today.  I have the same issue with the back part of the right foot being really stiff.  I just worked it back and forth and put more pressure on it and it seems to be moving almost completely back.  It is still stiff, but I can get it to maybe 95% fully back, so if you are still having issues with it, I would say just keep working it back and forth.

They definitely used a different finish for the feet on this one.  Whether that is affecting the foot, I don't know, but it only seems to be one side. 

Did you buy that used?  That thing looks pretty busted up...

Anyhow, maybe try moving the sliding part (that part the slides on the pin in the left hand side of your picture) down, then try lifting and turning the arm assembly.  But you may have to take it apart to get it freed up.

Is it full extended?  It looks like it isn't extended there.  It might be pretty stiff out of the box.

5 hours ago, Mommar said:

I sincerely think the 262 needs a 2.0 version already.  They did not get that original toy design correct.

I don't think the economics are there.  The first release is still warming shelves below retail.

Is it because it is a "bad" toy?  Maybe, but I think being an enemy valk also hurt it a lot.  

I don't really hate the toy, honestly.  It looks fine in all modes (kinda gappy in fighter), and battroid is pretty easy to handle.  Transforming into gerwalk is the only place I feel like they failed in the design area.  I also don't like how they required buying the lil'drakens in order to get what should be included accessories, imo.

39 minutes ago, Scyla said:

It is totally bizarre. Where is NY getting their VF-31As from. Why do they tickle out so slowly. I can't imagine that Bandai is producing more VF-31As and sending out one per month to NY so where are they from?

Adding to the strangeness is that it seems NY knew this is how it would play out, to some degree or another.  Their refusal to refund money, never fully admit that they can't fulfill orders, and general lack of providing information about the situation seems to imply that they knew they would get a steady stream of these long after release.

I'm not saying how NY handled this is right, but what is going on that they knew they would be able to fill most of the orders over the course of several months?

6 hours ago, eggy99 said:

Also the backpack sits at just the perfect height on the DX. I noticed that it sits a too high on the HM-R line.

 

HMR / DX / Yamato 1/60 / Line Art

It's interesting that the HMR got the bottom flap detail the most accurate to the line art.

It always seemed to me that the backpack flap was/is supposed to slide out of the backpack, not fold down.  But you never really get a clear look at that specific part during transformation.  I understand why older toys just have the fold down flap(it is a lot easier to do), but it seems that now that the precedent is set, no one is going to try the slide out variant.

I was kind of hoping Bandai would try something new in that area, but I think there is basically no expectation for improvement for that part, since it is a pretty minor detail.

Quick question about shipping with Mandarake.  I've only used them a couple times, and I've never gotten more than 1 item at a time. 

If you order multiple items from the same location (say Nakano), can you combine shipping?  Or do you still have to play individual shipping for each item, even if they are coming from the same place?

15 hours ago, borgified said:

Call me stupid... I literally just remembered this (don't know if you did read this in conjunction @ShadowVFX?) 

http://www.macrossworld.com/why-are-arcadia-products-so-expensive-by-mr-k/

 

 

tl;dr of that article: Production costs (especially in China) have gone up, and they haven't cut costs anywhere else.  They can't easily move to a new manufacturer with lower costs, as the skill needed to manufacture the toys is fairly high, as far as plastic toy manufacturing goes. 

The way he goes into detail about the production process implies that there is a lot of QA involved, as well.  But the topic about whether Arcadia has the appropriate QA level for their prices has been argued to death elsewhere on these forums, so I'm not going to get into that.  Most of the things he details seem like things that would be done at any high-end toy manufacturer.

I think people also forget that inflation is a thing, and different countries have different rates of inflation.  So while the cost increase has out-paced inflation for most of us in the West, that isn't necessarily true for places like China in the last 10 years.  I'm not saying it is entirely inflation, but it is a factor.

And last, let your wallet do the talking.  If you think Arcadia's prices are too high, then don't buy their products (or try to get them at a big discount).  That is your only real option.

21 minutes ago, Convectuoso said:

I wonder what that ship to the left of the N-Ger is supposed to be. The one shooting at a Regult

Probably just something the artist made up.  It sort of looks like a loose interpretation of the Star Goose.

7 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Jeeeez----looking at that list, I didn't realize --time flies!!! All the best Yamato Valks are allmost 10 years old now!!! Glad I bought in back then when they were MSRP or on sale as shelf warmers...couldn't imagine having to build a V2 collection nowadays. Wonder if Bandai figured 10 years was long enough to wait before they dropped the new "Daddy" of Valks on us! Which brings us neatly back on topic...

I'm personally not expecting Bandai to do a full and complete run of vf-1s in 1/48.  That is what HMR is for, and even that probably won't get all the canon variants.  

I'm expecting the 1/48 line to be basically "greatest hits," with maybe a mass production thrown in.  I don't think we'll see the vt-1, ve-1, or even vf-1d in this scale.  But I could be very wrong.

I know I personally won't collect a complete line in this scale, but I could be in the minority.

11 hours ago, spanner said:

Isn't there something funky going on with the branding here?  It has the SDF Macross logo (not Robotech: The Macross Saga), and yet all the Harmony Gold/ Tatsunoko licensing stuff.  I thought HG only had the rights to Robotech (including the "macross saga"), not SDF Macross?  Is this some sort of "dual licensed product" or something?

Is it time to sue HG? 

Sigh... also got a shipping notice from CDJapan.  Despite changing my address with them weeks ago, and sending them 2 emails after I noticed they were STILL shipping the vt-1 to my old address... they sent it out to my old address...

I think USPS has a rerouting option, but I know that costs money.  And I'm sure CDJapan won't cover that cost.  This is my first (and probably last) time using them.  If your system can't automatically update the shipping address of pre-ordered items, then you need to update your system.

Edit: Just checked and it looks like that is only available for domestic shipments... so... I'm not sure what to do.  I might try a change of address, but I'm not sure if this package will be redirected by that.  Anyone else ever run into a situation like this?

I did end up getting my vf-31s from AmiAmi.  Overall I'm impressed with the engineering and build quality (this is my first vf-31), and I'm excited to see what Bandai can do with their new vf-1 now.

Anyone have experience with CDjapan support?  I recently changed my shipping address, but they have my VT-1 set to "shipping in process" to my old address (I dunno why they are using that address, you think they would use the updated one).  The only contact I could find was info@cdjapan.co.jp.

I suppose I can re-route it after they ship it if necessary, but I'm pretty sure that isn't cheap. 

Anyone know a better way to contact cdjapan customer support?  I emailed info, but I don't know if that will do anything.

1 minute ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

Looking at AmiAmi's policy pages, it looks like you only get a full refund if you use EMS or DHL,

For SAL Small Packet Registered, their site says they refund up to 6000 yen, 

So.... them refunding about 7000 yen would be considered generous I guess.... if said refund ever actually showed up.

Maybe I'll go with EMS for the rest of the chogokin releases, for a little more peace of mind. But the ones I have pre-order I'm pretty sure will be hard to replace, even if I get a full refund, if they end up getting lost in transit.  But really, this could be USPS's fault more than AmiAmi.

I wanted the shipping on this item to be slower as I was mid-move, but I didn't expect it to be quite this slow.

Sorry about your lost package, I'll update here if/when I get mine in (it is the vf-31S Arad).