HardlyNever

Thanks everyone for checking. It looks like this is probably another dead end; the fact that you have to open the box and also know that the display stand is original to that toy is kind of a problem to begin with. It might be possible that 2111861 is on Alto re-issue stands; it could be that it is on all Alto release stands. It could be that there are several possible numbers that are there, and we don't know what they mean at all. No clue what is going on with the white dots; or whether they mean anything at all. Without more data points, I don't think we could make any kind of definitive statement. I was also a little interested in the "Bandai 2011" year on there, but I'm assuming everyone's says that as well. Do even later release stands say "Bandai 2011" on them? I know they stopped putting that text on there, at some point.

I stared with this "research" with the hopes of finding a way to tell the difference between initial releases and reissues for Alto and Ozma, especially on the outside of the box, to help people out when shopping online. Unfortunately, I don't think I have anything else beyond what I posted before, regarding that. I'm not especially interested in the anniversary stickers themselves; they were just a possible means to an end. Unless some new info is found, I don't think I'll find a way to tell the difference between an initial release Alto and a reissue, at least on the outside of the box. There are some numbers on the inside of the box, possibly serial numbers for the box, that with enough data and/or info from Bandai, we could possibly work out which toys are which. I'm not dedicated enough to bother with any of that. So for now, I'll just have to call it. I did notice one kind of strange thing, though. For some reason Bandai put another copyright notice on the display arm (which I haven't noticed in their later DXs). And this kind of piqued my curiosity, even though it doesn't really help with my initial goal. There is also what could be a serial number on there. Does everyone's display arm say "Bandai 2011" on it, as well?

Thanks for checking. Honestly, I have a few qualms about relying on the 30th anniversary sticker to date things, but in the absence of anything else, it's probably the best we have to go by in most cases. I doubt people have receipts and the like from that long ago, and when shopping online you'll be lucky to get a picture of the actual box you're going to buy. Edit: I continued going further down this rabbit hole, and I'm probably losing my mind. The only thing I feel comfortable saying regarding initial releases versus reissues is: If it is an Ozma with a 30th anniversary sticker on the box, it is (probably) an initial 2011 release. If it is an Ozma without a 30th anniversary sticker, it is (probably) a 2014 reissue. I've seen enough pictures of boxes with and without stickers for that particular release to be comfortable with that statement. I'm pretty sure even the 2014 reissue will say "Bandai 2011" in the corner. Anything outside of that is too hard to tell. I think the Michael 25G and Luca RVF releases (as well as some other products) also had stickers, but they didn't get reissued, so it doesn't really matter. For Alto, at this point I don't think any of his releases were supposed to have 30th anniversary stickers on them (side note: the stickers are a mind screw of their own, but that's a separate topic). I haven't seen enough (any) pictures that I trust of an Alto renewal with a 30th anniversary sticker on the box. I'm also not sure that he got more than one reissue, as the official Bandai page only lists the 2011 and 2014 releases, while anymoon also includes a 2013 release for Alto. I'm still digging into this a little more, probably to the detriment of my sanity. I doubt I'll actually find a way to tell the difference between an initial release Alto and a reissue (again, barring outside documentation), but there are still a few avenues I want to check. If anyone has a legit Alto renewal with either a 30th anniversary sticker (that came like that), or a non-"Bandai 2011"copyright in the corner, that would be helpful. Being the internet, those kinds of things wouldn't be that hard to fake though, so I'm still going to be skeptical.

So I ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole with all this; I'll spare all the details, but what I've ended up concluding is that there is basically always a Big West copyright date on all official Macross releases (Bandai or otherwise), that pertains to the year the show/movie that product is related to came out, which makes sense. I'm sure somewhere out there are exceptions to this rule, but that really isn't important regarding this. Then Bandai has their own copyright notice on there, that doesn't always have a year. When it does have a year, though, that year is when that product was released (as opposed to say, the year that mold was copyrighted). There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason as to when Bandai includes a year on there and when they don't, but they did include a year on the VF-25F renewal that I have. The catch with all this is I don't actually have any Bandai reissues (of any variety) at hand. So it might be possible that they don't change anything at all about the box (including the copyright year) when they do a reissue. So does anyone have an Alto and/or Ozma vf-25 reissue that they know for certain was a reissue , and can they check the date on the corner of the box?

Is there anyway to tell the difference between a first and later release Alto or Ozma custom? I'm talking about the renewals here (not version one); it looks like there was a first release in 2011, then reissues in 2013 and 2014. Does the re-issue box say 2013/2014 on it? Or do they all say 2011?

Kinda funny, I'm not really a big Tim Burton fan, but my wife loves Nightmare Before Christmas (I kinda like it too). Somehow one of my display cases has ended up like this:

If you're not going for a full return/refund, it really couldn't hurt to ask for more. I doubt they would blacklist you just for asking for more (nicely). I wouldn't count on getting more than they offered, though. Can't really say what the appropriate amount is, but I just had a similar situation with a transaction with another member here on a similarly priced valk. Nothing was broken, but it wasn't in quite as good of condition as he initially advertised, and we settled on me getting $25 back, which I thought was fair. So I think they are in the right ballpark, but maybe a little low, especially considering something was actually broken (but at least glued). Personally, it wouldn't bother me that much, but I would want a little money back just on the principle.

In terms of screen-to-toy accuracy, I think the VF-31 is hard to beat. Not my favorite design, but definitely screen accurate.

Thanks to @BluprinT for the great transaction:

Something something "parallel thinking"

Yeah, I like how this one looks (I'm mostly fine with the "over-tampo-ing"), but transforming it is not really enjoyable. It's not too horrible without the fast packs, but not something I'd call fun. Trying to get everything to line up in fighter mode with fast packs might actually be impossible. You can get it "adequate," but actually getting everything to tab in properly is... I've never done it successfully. Nice job on the landing gear, btw.

For some reason, I'm still optimistic we'll get most of what we're hoping for with this line. The COVID situation may have delayed things quite a bit, but I still think we'll get the last two destroids, and at least one more enemy mech of some variety. Probably a few more valk repaints, too. They might all be TWE, and we'll have to pay more, but I think we'll get most of it, in the end.

I switched my shipping with NY from SAL to EMS before EMS was delayed to the US. Had I known that was going to happen, I would have just stuck with SAL. Their UPS option was too much of a gamble for me, because like you said, there was no guarantee when it would actually ship, much less arrive. I might just break down a buy a slightly marked up one from Amazon Japan, and maybe sell one or two I get from NY next decade when they finally arrive. But the combination of mediocre execution by Bandai, and NY doing NY things, has kind of soured me on this release entirely.

Seems to be location-specific, even within the US. The cheapest I can find that will actually ship to my address is ￥14,800 shipped.

I think a lot of us are in this same situation. I was tempted to pay there $100+ dollar shipping fee for UPS, just so I could be done with them, but I'm not sure even that would ship anytime soon. This is the last order I have open with them, and I doubt I'll do any pre-pay order with them ever again (and do minimal business with them at all). Giving them what will probably be a 1 year, interest-free loan is not a business I want to be involved in. I'm still pretty confident I'll eventually get what I ordered. I just have no confidence in when it will arrive.

Yeah, it is a lot to take in just getting started. The Arcadia 1/60 Roy with SS pack is where I started a few years ago, and it is right in your price range. It's still a great toy, if a little dated. There are Max and Milia's from that same line even cheaper (if you're not getting the premium finish versions). I'm not sure what it is going for at this point, but you could probably find one at around that price. There are tons of options with regards to where to buy; I won't get into that here. You might be able to score an opened/slightly used Bandai DX 1/48 Hikaru VF-1S for something pretty close to that price (you'll have to buy the super parts separately). Alternatively, you could play the waiting game and hope Bandai releases the Roy in their 1/48 line sometime soon. But that is a bit of a gamble, because we don't know when they will release one, and getting one for MSRP is going to be quite difficult. You'll also have to buy the super parts separately. Just a word of caution: most of this stuff would have to be shipped from Japan, and shipping from Japan in nearly all forms has been delayed.

The gunpla I ordered from Amazon got returned to sender. It had been sitting at Nagoyanishi since the end of March.

Yeah, I noticed that when I was making a GIF a while back. What we really need a is a heat-activated, color-changing gimmick like all those cool 80s and 90s toys had. That's how true anime accuracy is achieved. Dunking it in hot water.

That was the one thing that seemed absent from their last GBP release, especially since that is how Hikaru enters the valk with GBP in the TV show. I always just stole the seat from one of my other valks, but I'm glad they decided to include it on this one. I think they should leave the seat unpainted for this release, though, if they want to be closer to how it looked in the anime.

Did you really just cut off half my quote so you could take it out of context? It's a few posts above yours... why even... Anyhow, the way I'm understanding the "Japan supporting firms to move out of China," doesn't necessarily mean Japanese companies are advocating for a return of manufacturing jobs to Japan. So I'm not sure we'll be seeing Japanese-manufactured DXs (or other Macross products) any time soon. I mean, I'd like to at least see what that looks like, cost-to-quality wise. I'm just not sure it's going to happen. I'm also thinking an August release date for DX Kakizaki is incredibly optimistic. Are we seeing the next DX VF-31A in the making, in terms of production not meeting demand?

I feel like your conflating the Chinese government's economic policies and the average Chinese manufacturing laborer/citizen. They are not the same entities. Chinese citizens can't vote in any meaningful way. That said, we've seen that being the "world's workshop" can and does lift a large portion of that countries workforce into a more comfortable life-style. It happened in Japan in the 70s and 80s. Then Korea in the 90s and 00s. It has taken longer in China for a variety of reasons (not one being the ginormous population). But it can have a net-benefit, and it is doing the same in China, just on longer time line. Once that manufacturing ups and leaves to a cheaper country, though, it can be tough for a country to redefine it's workforce. Anyhow, Gunpla is still manufactured in Japan, by Japanese labor, and the costs on those kits aren't too ridiculous. Of course, when it comes to model kits, you the consumer are the primary source of labor lol. Maybe that's the big difference. I'd like to see what "made in Japan" Macross product ends up costing. I'm guessing it would be pretty expensive, though.

You're basically asking companies to stop practicing capitalism as they've known it (at least on the manufacturing end) for the passed like... 200+ years. I'm also in favor of a more diverse, widely distributed base of global manufacturing, but that would require some kind of democratic... capitalism? No, no, that's Bolshevism! Socialism! Communism! Can't have workers and consumers deciding where manufacturing takes place! Anyhow, I'd like to believe companies, or even we as a civilization would learn something from this. But unfortunately, I'm pretty sure manufacturing will just move down the food-chain, so to speak. So (even) more in India, Vietnam, etc. Maybe even see some if it shift to central and south America.

Yeah, I'd run a dehumidifier down there, especially during the more humid months, You might also want to consider either covering them in plastic, like a tarp or something, or getting some moisture resistant storage containers.

I always wondered how/why Max got his gunpod around the "wrong" way in that scene. I know it's "because he's Max," but I wonder why we never see anything like that again. It would be pretty cool to see VF-1s shooting their gunpod from the arm.