theraiden

If anybody sees a good deal on a Macross item please post here!

Some deals on HLJ:
Arcadia Milia Fallyna

VF-2SS Evolution toy for 7400 yen

VF-2SS Sap for 12300 yen

Fighter multiplex

Battroid Multiplex

Sheryl

8 hours ago, Slave IV said:

More pics, less talk about these shops and just buy from whoever you want. 

NY has a no cancellation or return policy, that’s it. The Valk in question with the severe defects is a 1J that was bought when it originally came out and just now opened if I’m not mistaken. There are very few if any US retailers that would cover a purchase from that long ago. 

That is correct. I just opened it. I don't want to do a CC claim since i have stuff on order from them for over 900+ USD$ because i will get banned. Can't deal with that hassle in my life at the moment. I have accepted that it's defective and will display it in fighter only, i have another VF-1J that's perfectly fine and i am thinking of buying the third one. At least i have enough of spare parts

On another note, Finally got a shipment notification for my VF-1S that i pre-ordered on ebay  Think i'm gonna buy another one on Buyee aswell 

57 minutes ago, Tenbatsu said:

One of the Japanese got his VF-1S shoulder stuck during transformation. Another guy with the index finger fixed wrongly. They highly recommend to open up once received.

Bandai clearly need to up the game in Quality Control......

7 hours ago, Ridden001 said:

I know it’s hard to hear but the truth is worth it. This is the signature of a QC reject that made it into the approved section in error.  What you described is what I have experienced in two other releases with Bandai, A YF-19 and a YF-29 Alto.

Yeah, i got a reply from NY and they said i have to talk directly to Bandai since they take no responsibility for manufacturing defects. I have no idea how i should do that or whom to talk to or the costs associated with shipping regarding replacement etc. I guess i'll just keep this bird permanently in fighter mode 

56 minutes ago, HardlyNever said:

Can't know for sure, but it sounds like you got a QC reject to me.  We always wonder where NY gets its extra stock, and maybe QC rejects are a part of that pool.  

You can always contact NY and see what they say.  It might be well past the time where they would offer any kind of refund, and they aren't known for their customer service to begin with.  But it couldn't hurt to ask (nicely).  

You might have a fighter mode/replacement part valk, though.  Did you pay a mark-up for it?  Or was it discounted?

Mark up price, so i'm pretty pissed. I opened a ticket, going to see what they say. Not feeling hopeful though.

So, i just opened my second DX VF-1J (to inspect it before a sale) that's been sitting in its box since i ordered it from NY way back in June....

The first thing i noticed was that the 2x Antenna were not where they are supposed to be in the clamshell, they were both loose and one was stuck in one of the wing openings, but ok, shipping and all that.

Then i took the VF out of the clamshell and noticed a big gap between the intake and the main body, like it was improperly transformed before it was put in the clamshell (it was not like it had popped out by itself in shipping since you had to lift the legs from the body and re-attach them to fix the gap)

I then proceeded to inspect it further and when i undid the feet from the body i noticed that the clasp on the swingbar was really really weak, like it takes nothing to undo it (it's not like that on my display VF-1J, i mean its weak but this one holds nothing.)

And one off the hip joints is totally loose. Like no resistance at all. I inspected the screws that hold the hip joint cover very closely and they look a little bit worn on the top, like someone had messed with them with a screwdriver that's a hair bit to big.

And to top it off, one of the panel lines on the "back" near where the booster pack folds onto it is raised up by nearly a millimeter when in fighter mode.

So. Do i have a previously returned-item lemon on my hands? Or maybe manufacturing faults? Anybody else had these issues?

Do i have grounds to return it to NY for a replacement or should i just display it in fighter mode and cut my losses?  
Obviously not going to sell it unless the buyer is willing to accept these faults.

1 hour ago, ralliart209 said:

anyone ever order from kurama toys and not have their order fulfilled? 
 

just curious and hope my order gets fulfilled for the vf-1s (fingers crossed) 

I ordered a DX VF-1J from them. 4 days later they said it had been damaged in transit and refunded me. Probably found someone willing to pay more on ebay. That's the only experience i have from them.

SolarisJapan now has the VF-1S listed. I have ordered from them a couple of times. Excellent packaging and speedy service.

https://solarisjapan.com/products/choujikuu-yousai-macross-ai-oboete-imasu-ka-vf-1s-valkyrie-hikaru-ichijou-use-dx-chogokin-bandai-spirits

1 hour ago, treatment said:

wotafa's new "technical" review of the DX YF-19...

Now i must have this. Good place to buy?

*edit* Nevermind, jungle has the best price

29 minutes ago, vladykins said:

Also, even though I wasn't going to buy anymore since I have.................

This! I was only going to buy 1 maybe 2 valks in the beginning. But you guys are such enablers that i'm now collecting from 2 lines 

8 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Where can i order this Breetai?

22 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

I've been having a conversation with Scott Hards (founder and CEO of HLJ) about this for a year and a half now. I reached out to him after I wasn't able to get a YF-19 Full Set Pack through his site, which was the latest in a long string of failures stretching all the way back to the original release of the VF-31J in 2016. I had stepped away from Macross collecting for about ten years and when I re-engaged, I found a completely different sales landscape filled with ruthless frontrunners and scalpers on one end, Bandai's low production numbers and indifference on the other, and stores stuck in the middle taking most/all of the heat because they are directly customer-facing. I remembered being able to jump onto HLJ, easily find what I want, and be done. Not anymore, and what we have to do now is taking all of the joy out of collecting. I'd been a customer of HLJ for a long time, and I guess you could say that I've spent a lot of money there over the years, but more importantly they do pride themselves on customer service, so I thought they might listen to me if I started asking questions about how the process could be more fair to collectors like us. So, I fired off a note to Scott directly, indicating that I was part of a larger group of passionate collectors, and he replied, kicking off a conversation that's still going. I can tell you that HLJ is *very much* aware of our collective frustration and they are looking at ways to help, but they are also squarely pointing the finger at Bandai, who only gives them a limited amount of stock. I threw a bunch of ideas at him, including the option to do a phased PO across multiple time zones, i.e., release a certain amount of stock one hour, then more the next, and so on, so that their global customer base has a fighting chance to get an item during local business hours--a process that could be easily automated. Right now, if you're in the Americas, you're at a distinct disadvantage despite the fact that we're supposed to be one of HLJ's key target audiences, and I made sure to point that out. He said that their team would add my ideas to the pool of options they are currently considering, but that whatever they decide to do, the biggest problem is limited stock and there will be lots of unhappy customers unless/until Bandai increases their production numbers. Since I have this conversation going with him, I'd be happy to pass along a curated set of comments and ideas. If we can get one of the big stores to change how they handle POs, I suspect that the other big ones will follow suit.

This is great! I wonder if Bandai would produce more for western fanbase if they *knew* beforehand how many units are really going to sell.
Like if HLJ and other stores would do deposit pre-orders with more lead time than the usual process as it is now.
That way Bandai would have a much clearer idea how many units they would actually sell and maybe produce more since non-refund deposit orders are much more binding.

2 hours ago, Guyffon said:

If this is a possiblilty, do you guys only service those in the US of A or anyone on this board has access to it? I am from Singapore and I won’t mind $5 for a peace of mind, that said, the only other stuff on my radar now are the yf-21 and the hmr tomohawk, not interested in the roy 1s

If this would happen, and that's a big IF, anyone who would chip in (and we have no idea how much the specific amount would be since we haven't got a price quote yet and don't know exactly how many would chip in) we would give everyone access that chipped in and could show proof they are a Macross collector (to weed out most of the scalpers)

1 hour ago, HardlyNever said:

In my opinion, if we were going to act collectively in some fashion, trying to change the behavior of one or more of the big retailers would be our best bet.  We have some people here that drop some pretty serious cash at some of these vendors.  Collectively, we might represent enough buying power to influence something like AmiAmi, HLJ, etc. to change their pre-order practice, at least when it comes to Bandai DX Macross products.  But that would require us acting collectively, not individually (and selfishly) to get preferential treatment for ourselves.

This is a very good point. Any thoughts on how we might accomplish this? Signature list with a statement? Flood them with emails with pre-determent statements? Advice they're sales team? Special pre-orders for MWF members?

Good valid points from @HardlyNever and @WaferMouse

I come into this discussion with zero expectations, and as is i have only sent out feelers for possible development of a bot.

I know such a tool would come with it's share of problems and issues, like you pointed out not working on all sites, the need for sharing some personal or financial details in the software, would it be used with good intentions or bad ones etc.

I am not being naive with the notion of pooling together money for a "stranger" and hoping the best.
Rules would be established, goals would be set and results would be vetted.
And yes, we would probably need a project manager that would be willing to donate time.

But we do have a pre-order problem. Many who want do not get, cause of tactics that are used by scalpers that create an uneven playground for the rest of us.

Best of all would be if the vendors would spread out the pre-order time window for instance by dividing pre-order stock over different time slots.
(200 units between 12 am and 4 am, another 200 units between 4 am and 8am, etc) but this ain't a perfect world.

That script idea from @skullmilitia above sounds reasonably possible and would possibly be a good tool to increase our chances against scalpers?

So the question becomes, is using a bot the best tactic to tackle this problem, is there anything else we could do (like scripts or changing vendor behavior) or is it just something we have to accept?

33 minutes ago, oshanmacross said:

Good point, this "buying collective" might have to involve a lot of management.

Question is, Who will manage?

 

Maybe only distribute bot to those who chip in AND can send picture of a collection they have (minimum 4 valks maybe) with a piece of paper on the picture with they're username on it. To proof they are collectors and active users here on MWF ?

2 minutes ago, oshanmacross said:

Valid concern!
Maybe only Strait Shooters or members with good Kharma?
 

But then you might alienate some guy or girl that is new to the hobby and might worship a Valkyrie better than us moving forward?
 

Another fair point. We would not want this tool to be misused by scalpers, but then again aren't they doing it already? And correct me if i'm wrong, but is there usually a buying limit on pre-orders, like one unit per customer?

5 hours ago, skullmilitia said:

I'd rather pay 5$ to have a Script made to load the page without images. That's how they (the resellers) do it. The bot would still be limited by service speeds

Thats a good point! Maybe that should be the route to go, but the advantage of a bot is that it could be trying to purchase on multiple sites at the same time while you sleep.

Created a new thread for this discussion:
 

The idea is to pool together resources (something like 5$ USD each) to commission a creation of a Shopping-Bot to beat the scalpers at they're own game regarding Pre-orders of Macross Toys.

This would greatly reduce the stress and failures involved with securing a pre-order on a popular item.

I have already sent out feelers to 3 developers and i am currently waiting answers.
I will contact more as i find them, and if anyone can think of a programmer/developer i can contact them if you dont want to. Just pm/me

And if anyone has any ideas or thoughts please share them!!



________________________________________________________________________________________
Does anyone have a Fiverr account ?

There's quite a lot of programmers on Fiverr so if someone with a Fiverr account could maybe send out feelers?

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

If you guys can make this happen I'm in.

1 hour ago, Tober said:

I'll chip in $5 if it helps securing a pre-order from HLJ or Hobby Search. 

32 minutes ago, GeneralTiki said:

I'd donate to this cause as well.

 

26 minutes ago, Alphahorizon said:

Easily! 5 dollars is worth the pain saved.

24 minutes ago, gabuyan said:

Count me in too. If there's a way to overcome scalpers, I'm voting with my wallet...

Great! Seems to be enough interest in making this happen If any of you can think of programmers or developers that might be interested pm me and i will contact them if you don't want to do it yourself. I have now contacted 3 developers and if i get positive reply's from any of them i will post it here and we can figure things out together from there.

14 hours ago, Ryoma said:

I'm in! I mean, just for screwing the scalpers i would be more than happy to put 5 dollars in. Even if i m not interested in the toy.

Ok, that's one. I have already reached out to two developers asking for a price quote and if it is doable

Question.

Regarding the upcoming PRE-Order madness when Roy's 1S will be up. Does anybody know if there is a customizable bot-shopping system out there akin to these: 
https://www.aiobot.com/
https://forcecop.com/

And a thought.... If all of us who are going to buy a Roy would pool together funds, say like 5$ each, to actually hire a Bot programmer to make a Bot for us to beat the scalpers at they're own game. Just a thought 

My youngest is my son at 8. Bought 2x DX Max and gave him one, his first Macross toy (we just finished watching SDF together 3 months ago,  myself hadn't watched it in 20 years) Showed him once how to transform all modes. He nailed it in first try. Proud moment. He will carry on the torch, oh yes.

What do you think a fair price for a MISB DX-VF-1J (tiny tiny tear on one corner of the box) would be excluding shipping?
Have 2 and thinking of downsizing to one