Shizuka the Cat

My guess is that, in the TV show, Hikaru's VF-1S was also yellow.... not red like in the movie. So, in that regard, it is indistinguishable from Roy's VF-1... except for maybe any pilot name painted right beneath the cockpit window on each side of the plane.

Hikaru began piloting the VF-1S with Super Parts starting in episode 24.

Thanks. I heard meows and purrs in my head as I wrote it... but to each their own.

Happy 4th of July everyone! If only pre-order madness had occurred today instead of yesterday, then I could have prepared this speech... "Good morning. In less than an hour, Macross toy collectors from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest pre-order madness in the history of Macross toy shopping. "Macross toy shopping." Those 3 words should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by petty toy scalpers anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from shopping cart sniping and poor server performance. We are fighting for our right to shop. To spend lots of money on a hobby. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go pre-orderless at the end of the night!" We will not have our shopping cart item vanish without a fight! We're going to succeed! We're going to choose EMS or DHL shipping! Today we celebrate our DX Chogokin VF-1S Roy pre-order madness day!" Oh well... missed opportunities...

It is not so much AJ that is finicky. Macross toys sold and shipped by Amazon Japan can usually be shipped internationally... at least to the United States. These are usually listed as using "Amazon Global Shipping"... which to the US at least ends up being DHL. Unfortunately these sold and shipped by AmazonJP ones sell out first. 3rd party sellers via Amazon Japan are the ones that are finicky regarding shipping internationally. I have seen some that do, but these are usually more expensive for both the toy cost and the shipping cost, compared to ones sold and shipped by AmazonJP.

Yeah, that might be the case. Since I did not get to personally observe how fast sites went from first making the toy available to being sold out, I figured a few minutes might be most appropriate, since those who did successfully order would have needed enough time for them to add the item to their cart, enter any payment info, and finalize their transactions as the case may be. Also, I could not account for how much time there was between the store making the toy available and the time that an MWF member posted in the forum saying that the store was available.... as well as the amount of time between then and the item being sold out for a store. My 2 cents, at any rate.

While my mom is taking a nap, I figured I would read back on last night's forum posts and try to cobble together a pre-order madness postmortem of sorts. Please feel free to correct me if you find any errors in my postmortem. Thanks! ------------------------------------ DX Chogokin VF-1S Roy Fokker Pre-Order Madness (7/3/2020) At about 2 AM EDT, one hour before the official pre-order start time, Nippon Yasan jumped the gun and made the toy available to pre-order. They sold out within a few minutes, and unlike past pre-order releases, Nippon Yasan did not re-offer the toy later on at marked-up, above retail prices. Starting at 3 AM EDT, the major stores including AmiAmi, CDJapan, and AmazonJP made their offerings available. These too sold out within a few minutes. As usual, AmiAmi experienced server problems due to high load and CDJapan experienced slowness, though I don't think it ever had a server crash or complete unresponsiveness. Hobby Link Japan was a little late to the party, making Roy available after 3:30 I think. They seemed to experience lots of server problems and 404 errors. Overall, it sounds like the Roy pre-order madness was not kind to many MWF members, with many failing to secure orders for themselves... with high demand quickly depleting inventories and stymieing website performance. (I did not mention some of the other stores like Nin-Nin or Anime Export because... well... they seem even smaller and, in some cases, of questionable quality) ------------------------------------ Sorry I missed out on PO Madness. I really would have liked to have attended the whole thing and updated store link and price listings. It looks like I got very lucky last night. I woke up to use the bathroom and managed to hit AmiAmi at the perfect time to place an order in (about 3:50 AM EDT), then go back to bed. I suspect that someone ahead of me might have cancelled his or her order, which made AmiAmi show the toy as being available when I hit the website. For those still looking for a Roy VF-1S, I would suggest keeping an eye on AmiAmi, in case more cancellations occur that free up inventory. I have managed to get some past pre-orders in this way, even a day or so after listings had appeared to have sold out. This was Shizuka the Cat, and thank you for your time. (* bows *) (* scampers off the stage and dives into a pool full of tuna fish and catnip *)

(* Looks in to see how PO Madness went last night *) (* Crosses fingers and starts reading 15 pages of forum posts *) Was this as bad as the VF-1S Hilary PO Madness? I recall that being pretty bad.

My bladder woke me at the perfect moment to place an order in. Keep checking. Occasionally a few free up.... if past experience is any indication.

I am assuming it did not go too badly. I just got in an AmiAmi order in. WOOT

(* peeks in after waking up and going to the bathroom *) I am afraid to ask how PO madness went. I hope people had some good luck.

Just popping in before going to bed to wish everyone the best of luck! Hmmm.... maybe I should have some pineapple as a midnight snack.... and play a guitar on the couch....

That does look like a better shade of yellow. Lighting issues? Also, they really should have pictures of this toy surrounded by pineapples... whole pineapples, chopped pineapples, and pineapple salads.

That chest color does seem a bit too orange to me too.

I just wanted to say thank you for all the well-wishes I have received, both in this thread and via private messages. MWF has such a lovely community within it! (* many cat purrs and tuna fish to you all *) Be healthy, stay safe, and good luck in Pre-Order Madness 2020!

I will likely have to pass on this coming pre-order madness. While my mom's surgery and radiation therapy are now over, she is still experiencing some weakness and lack of vitality due to the lingering side-effects of the radiation. She also might have incurred some skin cancer due to the aforementioned radiation therapy (will be seeing a doctor in 2 weeks to get that looked at). Mom is now on chemo therapy (which has its own slew of side-effects), and will be for quite some time. Given her current health and my need to help care for her, I unfortunately doubt I can attend Thursday night's event. (sigh) However, I do hope that everyone here on MWF will be able to get their VF-1S pre-orders in successfully! Good luck everyone! - Shizuka the Cat

(peeks in) Is there a pre-order madness coming up sometime soon that I need to be aware of?

Just got an email from BigBadToyStore announcing pre-order listing for "Macross Saga Retro Transformable Collection Valkyrie 1/100 Scale Figures". It looks like these are using the classic Takatoku/Bandai packaging style, circa 1984? For those interested in ordering these, be sure to support @jenius and ScorchedEarthToys / Anymoon.com and go visit BBTS using his link: https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=ScorchedEarthToys This is Shizuka the Cat, folding out...

Hey now... singing idols are a real thing. *holds up giant BTS and Stray Kids banners* ... and they can save all of humanity!

LOL, this "SDF-1 Macross Class Super Dimensional Fortress Breakdown" video showed up on my YouTube recommendations today. After watching it, I too am wondering why the bridge had voice-only telephones when it was equipped with real-time video communications.

What? No rich, luscious Max hair? (abort the knife! abort the knife!)

You will always be a senpai to me. Or... as 1/4 of me would say... Chris-oppa!

Max, huh? (goes to fix hair in mirror) ...(pulls out a knife)

I was thinking the latter idea. Please do not cut an SDF-1 in half to fulfill my scene.

That is an amazing picture. I would love to see one where the Macross is half submerged in a lake with bridges going between it and the mainland.