HardlyNever

Those prices are what they were when they were first released, right? That screams glitch in the system to me. But hey, if not, congrats on the deal!

This was first announced at last year's Wonderfest (this year's is this Sunday (2/18)). So... we might hear something then.

The Japan post stops tracking after it leaves Japan. You need to use whatever your local tracking is after that.

A part of collecting, especially Macross, is the endless piles of boxes. It seems like most people keep their boxes, especially if there is even the slightest chance they might resell that toy. I know the Knerdout guys have a mixed reception here, but I think this episode brought up a lot of interesting topics, especially about the need for keeping boxes: As a newer collector, the prospect of rooms/garages full of boxes is pretty terrifying. My collection is small, and I collect at a pretty slow rate, so all my boxes fit in a single closet pretty easily, but I can see it becoming an issue some day. It is pretty scary knowing not only do I need to have space to display a toy (the primary reason I collect at all), but I also need to store these boxes if ever possibly want to sell something. I'd like to at least dump my Arcadia boxes, but there is no way I could do that right now (I also want to keep them for moving, but that is a minor concern). The HMR boxes are too nice to consider tossing, imo. Anyway, how do you guys deal with it? The people who have been collecting for years, what have you done with your boxes? Do you have a system that governs what you keep and what you toss?

I'm hoping for an Arcadia release. I doubt it will crest $300 before shipping, but even if it does, that is about what you'd pay for a used v2 elintseeker right now. If you want a v2 ve-1, (and I do) Arcadia is our only real hope for getting it at a semi-sane price. But I wouldn't fault anyone for skipping it. I'm personally waiting another month or 2, if we don't hear anything from Arcadia, I'll probably just grab an HMR ve-1 and live with that.

If you're buying from NY, always buy in yen, as they are locked into 100 jpy= 1 usd, which hasn't been reality for years. How much you save will depend on a number of factors (current exchange rate, whether or not your payment method has a fee for currency exchange, etc). So the exact cost will fluctuate a bit. As far as shipping, that is always a time vs cost issue. You can have it sent by boat if you want, but that will literally take months. The shipping cost will be dependent on how fast you want it (the exact cost also fluctuates a bit, based on current shipping rates).

Not a big Delta fan, but Bandai may have sold me on a vf-31 with that armor. I'm a sucker for more weapons...

Man, that's only like $30 more than I paid for the HMR Milia... (but that's including shipping on the hmr). Who could have guessed.

Yes, I would say Arcadia is making the best vf-1 toys, currently(just my opinion). The thing that can be a little confusing with Arcadia is that they are now making premium finish versions of most of their releases. The premium finish has more tampo than the regular finish, but they generally run $50-$60 (USD) more. If you get the regular release, most of the extra tampo on the premium finish is included as stickers (plus you have some options with stickers like having non-canon markings, if you want). All the toys wmkjr linked are the regular releases. There is also a premium finish Roy available, with a premium finish Max and Miria on the way. Whether the premium finish is worth the extra cost is up to you, I'd suggest looking at reviews that are out there.

In before the lock... Anyhow, I second Arkham's suggestion of a vf-1s super/strike. It was my first modern Macross toy, and while they aren't cheap, it doesn't disappoint. The Focker release was still available well after release, but it seems like it is starting to dry up. NY has the Hikaru release, but that is pretty steep for the non-premium version. Shop around some of the second-hand shops for a better deal. Couple words of warning: 1. I thought the arcadia vf-1s would be the beginning and end of my modern collecting. It wasn't. 2. If you go with the vf-1s super/strike, you are kind of starting at the cream of the crop (at least for SDFM/DYRL macross), so it will be hard to top that release. However, there are still a lot of fun toys after that (look at the Hi-Metal R line).

Yeah, I actually liked muscle figs back then too. Was around the same time I was watching Robotech/macross. But these seem entirely out of place. MUSCLE was mass-market disposable stuff. This is mass-market disposable product aimed a very niche, almost entirely high-end market (now-a-days, at least). Not sure what they are thinking with this.

This is where I'm at. I'm even skipping the VE-1, hoping for a re-release from Arcadia. If I don't hear anything in the next few months, maybe I'll pick up an HMR one. But I'm pretty tired of the HMR vf-1, and I only have 3. Bring on the enemy mecha.

This doesn't look like something you want to handle a lot, with all those little paint apps. That's fine with me, as this is pretty much the definition of a shelf-queen imo.

Looks like they used this shot as inspiration for the Regult: Can't say that is a flattering version of the Regult.

Yeah, I missed them first, too. They should be taped under the side of the tray, one on each side.

Good to know. I guess it is just bad QC from Bandai on the missile regults.

Which mode? It plugs in behind the swing-bar thingy that you move over the head in gerwalk mode. Jenius' video shows how to do it without SAP here, but it is the same spot with SAP, you just don't have to move the big white tab that comes out of the backpack.

Not trying to be pedantic, but just to offer some clarity. I've seen people report the problem on both versions now. I think you said your light missile regult had the problem, whereas my heavy missile regult has the issue. I think I've seen other people mentioned heavy and light having the issue. I does seem to be either one or the other, not both in the pack? Could be wrong on that one, but I don't think someone has mentioned both having bad knees. We're probably chasing a wild goose at this point anyhow. But if I had another set, I don't think I'd be letting them sit in the package, just saying.

What I mean is that maybe leaving it in the crouched pose for extended periods of time is bad for the knee joints. I'm not really sure how long they sat around like that before actually being shipped to retailers (and then to us). I know QC issues happen, but this seems rather wide-spread. Or it could be totally unrelated.

"Fun" story. Back in 2016 I purchased a v.1 super hikaru for like $150 shipped(it was my first modern Macross purchase). I cancelled the order before it shipped luckily. I didn't know exactly what I was buying and wanted to do some more research before committing. Like the next day I realized what it was that I was buying, and found out Arcadia was releasing the v2 DYRL Roy in like a week. So.. I was that guy, only worse in some ways (fortunately I didn't go through with it).

But... they're version ones... Super low prices, though.

Since this seems to be such a common issue this early for this release, I'm wondering if the way the regults were packaged (all crouched into a ball) has something to do with it. I got 1 original release regult, and it is starting to get some looseness in the knees, but that took months of display with a little bit of handling. Seems like some of the missile regults are coming out of the box loose (I know one of mine was).

Word of warning for anyone swapping the wings out on the HMR vf-2ss. The peg that the wings peg onto can come out of the metal housing that they rest in. Luckily, nothing broke on my peg, and it just pegged back in, but I could definitely see those pegs as being a durability issue in the long-term. I think the transformation video Bandai put out even has a caution for them.

Yeah, one of my knees was loose right out of the box. It isn't that bad (it can still stand in most poses), but it is disappointing to see that QC issue on a brand new toy.

I might have been slightly interested if this was a vf-0S with reaction armor bundle. Just a premium finish vf-0S is a no-go for me. More than anything, I'm interested in seeing if Arcadia is going to continue making vf-1's, after Bandai's reveal of the "1/48ish" scale vf-1j.