Pontus

4 hours ago, m0n5t3r said:

Lol. I was gonna ask what people here would do in this situation as soon as they got home:

1. Eat supper

2. Shower

3. Play with brand new toy

I guess the answer is to not piss off the wifey after buying another expensive toy. 

I swear, this hobby can seem like a drug addiction sometimes 

If there's a new toy on my doorstep, nothing else is getting done until it's transformed and on display.  Gotta get my fix first... yes, very much like a drug and just as expensive it seems.  And my wife is going to be pissed...

Speaking of, thank you @Robin-11 for letting us know about the AE stock.  Although I just picked up an old Yamato full set for the same price after seeing the instructions posted, the mess that Bandai made of this, and decided against getting it... I must have had a mental breakdown this morning and couldn't resist.  I think I'll compare the 2 and sell the one I don't want... or (more likely) this will make 3 YF-21s for me.

On 6/12/2024 at 12:35 PM, MKT said:

Yamato YF-21 (with stand & super parts), Yen 39,980:
https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=TOY-RBT-02482-R

Thank you for that, just noticed this thread because of this post (I only recently started keeping the unread posts all activity page open, doh).  And since I just picked up my second YF-19 for a good price, and after reading all the negativity surrounding the upcoming DX YF-21 release, I figured I'd pick this up since I really liked the Yamato design.  And this one comes with everything, even a stand.  I don't think my last one came with all that... yeah no, just double checked my old pics and it was the original release that came with nothing in a giant box.  Hopefully I don't get dinged on shipping, but I chose EMS instead of my usual DHL to assuage that.  Anyway, thanks again! 

I know I said I wasn't going to get a crappy Evolution VF-2SS, but I've got everything else except that and a VF-4 in 1/60, and I found one new in box, so I caved.  

I got really disappointed when I opened it and found it extremely yellowed...

Fortunately, upon opening the tray, I soon realized the yellowing was just the tray.  PHEW!  Still a floppy mess of a valk tho, so it will be getting glued in fighter mode.

The more I look at it, the more ridiculous that backpack looks.

There have been other perfect transformation designs (and HMR of course) that have resolved a somewhat similar issue with VF-1 with the wings being too big for battroid by simply making the wings detachable and providing a smaller set.

Since the backpack on the YF-21 is pretty much all wing, it would make sense to have a similar solution here and have a swappable backpack/wings while keeping the larger one for perfect transformation.

Since it's safe to assume that's not being done here, perhaps a 3D print for such could be made in the future?

17 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Much better than bbts and other US retailers.

Still a bit more than the $230 plus proxy fees and international shipping I'm paying.

Not to be argumentative, but I wouldn't consider $20 less to be that much better considering the fact that BBTS has excellent customer service and packages things with respect.  I think that's worth the extra $20, but ymmv.  Know the risks.

Yesterday, I fell for that $20 discount and just received my YF-19 from Amazon this morning.  It arrived without issue fortunately, but only by happenstance.  All they did was slap it in a cardboard box with no padding or packaging whatsoever.   Then the driver set the box in the rain on the very edge of my large, covered porch where it would have gotten soaked if I didn't just happen to wake up late today and found it right away.    If that were to happen to a limited stock preorder, yeah, Amazon would refund you without question, but you're out of luck if you want another one, or if they ship the next one badly too.

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1261141816

Arcadia 1/60 SV-51 Nora.

Fair warning to anyone picking that up, the shipping cost is going to be quite high.  I think it usually gives a shipping estimate on the page on mobile, but my desktop refuses to show shipping estimates for some unknown reason.

Edit: Just looked up my recent order, and I got mine from the Shibuya store;  Shipping was ¥24,300.

+1 Waiting for a deal on Mandarake/Amazon IF I ever get one, and ONLY if I can get it for less than a Yamato.  I already have a Yamato which is a great toy imho (thanks to @jenius awesome reviews for helping with that decision), but I guess I HAVE to get a second 21 one way or another since I just picked up a second 19 on Amazon.  Pretty hard to justify $350+ when I got the latest 19 for just $230.  And since that piece was clearly a shelf warmer considering there's still plenty of stock on hand, I wouldn't expect the 21 to be any different.  Unfortunately, this doesn't bode well for future releases or new designs if it's not profitable.

32 minutes ago, Focslain said:

Waiting on Mikumo to finalize. 

Yeah, I'm curious how they plan to do her long hair/tentacles with the batroid mode.  Every other Walkure has shortish hair.

I will not be ordering anything directly through KC anymore!  I saw your reports of getting invoices yesterday and checked my account.  As @jenius noted, it just says "processing" in my account.   Anyone with an open order should check your spam, old emails, etc.  I got mine on the 8th of June.

I have long since changed my email with Kitz, and I just checked to make sure... both my login and my email on file are current.  But on the off chance, I checked my now long dormant old email (fortunately still active amazingly), and waddaya know, there's the invoice! 

So I paid it, and went to recheck my account at Kitz site, still says processing and no record of payment being made or request to pay any invoice in ANY section of my account.  Are these invoices we're getting a scam?!  If KC can't keep track of simple email changes, let alone PAYMENTS, I. am. done.  Unfortunately, I'm still on the hook for Max, but if I thought I could get a refund without a huge hassle and go through BBTS instead, I certainly would.

Thanks for posting @no3Ljm!  I skipped Freyja thinking that'd be the only one they release and because I already made my own custom version... but if they're going to release them ALL, I have some pre-orders to make.  And I see that BBTS has an awesome Ranka Lee with costume that looks like actual cloth!  Now that I'm committed to this, they'd better do the rest.

Yeah, I've been annoyed by the lack of fixed pose hands in some of my recent Arcadia purchases.  I'll have to look and see if there's any available for 3D print.  Does anyone know of them?  I wonder if I don't have something from other releases hanging about in my parts bins that might work if not an exact match.

Now if I can only find one for an acceptable price.  I saw one come up here in the for sale section, but I can't bring myself to pay $450 for a non-PF, so I think I'll just be patient for now.

On 5/20/2024 at 11:18 PM, Slave IV said:

Nice! Unless you already have it and just filling in, I would definitely recommend you get an Arcadia VF-0. It’s redesigned from the Yamato and so good, I’d say it’s the best Valk toy ever made. Or at least top three. 

This is quoted from the recent purchase thread where I posted getting a Yamato VF-0S.  Well I just opened said valk to transform and... What a hunka junk, so yeah, I think I'll be looking for an Arcadia.  Did Arcadia fix the floppy hands (and floppy gun grip), the front leg vents that pop off, the stupid hip interference so you can't move/pose the legs properly, and the flimsy shoulder joints that rely on spring tension of PLASTIC that's loosely screwed down in order to function properly?  Other than my 1/72 scale Yammie YF-21, I think this is the biggest POS I've gotten yet, so it's definitely a fighter only display piece.

23 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

I wonder what's the difference between this and the just announced 'Collector's Edition'? Premium is not enough? Packaging perhaps?

 

Looks to me like a different company has licensed this for release since Anime.ltd is a UK company that normally does anime releases for the european market.  I'm guessing this is a euro release that happens to be doing an NA release because Robert didn't get exclusive release rights for the Animeigo release that started this thread.  So I think they're completely different products.  This one is probably just the existing Japanese release where they created english subs (and possibly a dub) for it on their own.

Edit, I'm getting this confused with the Macross 2 kickstarter and the new zero release.  My bad @no3Ljm.

Sorry, been working long hours and trying to ask from work.  But I transformed it and managed to wiggle the shoulder joint back down.  But the thumb joint was super stiff and broke off when I tried to fit the gun!  Yay.  And of course, no fixed pose hands.

I only just took mine out of the box and haven't transformed it yet, but the shoulder hinges have a huge gap between them and the panel.  I see a bit of gap in other pics, but nothing this big.  Will those drop down if I transform it properly, or did I get a dud?

On 2/14/2024 at 10:28 AM, Scyla said:

Got my VF-19 Kai yesterday and the different shades of read is stark, even in hand.

And it is not just the shoulder swivels but also the die cast spine and the brackets for the Sound Booster that are the same different shade of red. Plus the red plastic has a lot of tiny, yet visible scratches: disappointing.

Indeed.  Although I think that different shades can look good and take away from the massive amounts of plasticky red everywhere, these just look like bad plastic.  Frankly, the whole thing is way too plastic looking.  

But I like to look at problems like this as something fun to do to make it better and, in this case, maybe learn a new skill.  I'm looking into electroplating plastic.  A little red acrylic over nickel plating makes a perfect metalic red!  I'm thinking I may try to plate some gold on it too.  Does anyone have any experience plating their valks?

10 hours ago, arbit said:

 

I always wanted to do that effect for the SDF-1 cannon.  

Is it a Tesla coil? Someone explain to me how safe that is? Is there no heat melting the plastic?

It's definitely not a tesla coil.  Looks like a simple circuit to increase voltage to jump the air gap similar to what you find inside an electronic fly swatter but with much higher voltage.  It's basically creating high voltage static which is most likely quite safe.  Those batteries have enough juice to kill you if the current is concentrated, but since they have to increase the voltage to at least 60,000V in order to jump what looks like about a 6cm air gap, the actual current will be miniscule, and it's the current that kills you, not the voltage (otherwise a simple static jolt would kill you).  As such, it probably wouldn't have enough wattage to melt the plastic unless you left it running for quite some time.

As for the MASSIVE amounts of electromagnetic radiation coming off of that thing, you would NEVER see this as an actual product because it could induce some VERY damaging voltage in any nearby sensitive electronics.  I wouldn't want my cell phone or computer anywhere near it.

Edit: on successive viewing, I'm starting to suspect that this is a fake video.  First of all, why are they using "Mr. Muscle" cleaning solution instead of flux which should be included in the solder?  Secondly, the arch wouldn't hop around from pin to pin unless you forced it to with separate wires to each pin.  It would only go to the pins closest to each other and pretty much stay there.  I think it's BS.

On 5/20/2024 at 11:18 PM, Slave IV said:

Nice! Unless you already have it and just filling in, I would definitely recommend you get an Arcadia VF-0. It’s redesigned from the Yamato and so good, I’d say it’s the best Valk toy ever made. Or at least top three. 

Incidentally, if anyone is interested,  a seller on ebay just listed several non-PFs and a PF for sale... for the low low price of $1000!!! A friend of mine put this sort of thing best, "Tuna fishing."  Maybe one of them will get folded into the orbit of Pluto.

I hope there's no sensitive electronics around that thing when you light it off.  Especially ones with antennas.  Like your cell phone.

1 hour ago, Slave IV said:

Nice! Unless you already have it and just filling in, I would definitely recommend you get an Arcadia VF-0. It’s redesigned from the Yamato and so good, I’d say it’s the best Valk toy ever made. Or at least top three. 

Yup, both PF and not are in my alert list (along with the reactive armor), but even on Manda they're stupid expensive when available.  But I managed to snag this pristine, unyellowed Yamato on ebay for a decentish price, so it'll do for now.  I won't mind having 2 tho, as I did for the Elintseeker after buying the Yamato on Manda for under $200 then being the sole bidder on an Arcadia PF from a US seller for just $225!  I felt kinda bad about that actually, but I assured them it was going to a good home, not a reseller.

I have been almost completely holding back from purchasing for the past few months despite it being an excellent time to make purchases from Japan and seeing my personal grails come and go.  But I've recently had some financial ease... did I overcompensate? 

These complete my recon collection as well as filling out all the missing numbers in 1/60 wherever possible.  I'll have to settle for HMR VF-2SS because Evolution got bad reviews.

Now to figure out where to put all these.

1 hour ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Of the two, I'd definitely say the SV-51 box is larger and would expect it to have a higher cost to ship. Package size, especially width, costs more than weight.

I would normally agree, even if it was double the price to ship, I could chalk that up to being in the next size bracket.  But FIVE TIMES more?!  C'mon.  I bought six different yammie/arcadia 1/60 scale valks with shipping at 5400, 5120, 10k, and 24300.  I'm sure it's probably down to the box size they had available to put it in, and it's totally whatever DHL told them THAT box would be, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating when I have to commit to purchase before seeing the shipping cost.  But I saved some serious coin on the rest of the haul, so I guess I can't complain too much.  And tracking says it'll all be here tomorrow/wed., which is super fast from Japan considering I ordered Friday!  So I'll soon be too happy to remember it anyway. 

+1 INDEED! I first saw this on my phone, and it seriously took me a hot minute to realize it wasn't a painting.  I thought, "Wow, they did a good job of getting the shadow on those clouds right, but... there's shadow on the sky too... wait... OH! NOICE!"

I'm kinda po'd with Mandarake.  Their shipping charges are all over the place, and despite the fact that they do a good job of consolidating purchases across stores on their order page, their billing is completely separate which screws things up.  Like the shipping charges, each store seems to have their own way of doing things when it comes to billing and inventory.

So I bought several different Arcadia valks in similar packaging with similar sized boxes.  Sahra charged me just 5400¥ to ship the massive VF-19 Fire.  Nakano charged me a whopping 24,500¥ for the SV-51!!!  

Then, I had 2 different automatic payment entries in Paypal for Manda (now like 6), both set to credit.  But it seems that each store (which doesn't show up in Paypal) has it's own entry, so you'd think that it would ask what payment method you want for different/new stores.  NOPE.  But it did automatically draw nearly $600 from my personal checking account on 2 different orders!!!

Even if you think you have it set correctly, I highly recommend that you delete ANY and ALL Mandarake entries in your paypal automatic payment section (you have to go to settings, then payments to find it buried there).  Manda will show up there every time you place an order, so make sure to check before you purchase anything.  Then paypal will force them to give you payment options instead of TAKING IT OUT OF YOUR GD CHECKING ACCOUNT FOR NO APPARENT REASON!

On 3/8/2024 at 3:31 PM, jvmacross said:

At this point I want to see what they'll do with the Millia fig...I assume they are going cloth too in her UN Spacy officer uniform...just sticking to zero expectations for that one...as I have it on PO already with the Arcade VF set...

What Millia fig?  I don't see a PO for that one on their website.  Or is someone else dipping into figs and I missed it?

Considering how low the bar is set by Toynami (not even remotely acceptable), and not everyone wants to paint a still model statue, those are pretty much the only real options, so I don't mind the minor issues with their figures at all.  Are they perfect?  No, but good enough.  That's about it, but at least someone is making an effort.  I hope they release the pilot figure tho, and PLEASE bring on the other characters especially Kakizaki, Global, Claudia, and the bridge bunnies in that order.  I'll buy every one they release.