Rhubarbarian

Unfortunately, this did nothing for me with my SSPs - they only responded to me once they actually had my SSPs ready to send out. Once they had them, they responded within 24 hours (sometimes within 2-3 hours) to any messages, but before that it didn't matter what was in the subject line of the ticket. They ignored everything. A "we're still working on acquiring your item, please bear with us" would have been nice, but that doesn't seem to be N-Y's MO. I only ended up getting my SSPs from N-Y about two weeks ago, Toonz. They're sending them out as they get inventory and they're prioritizing people with faster shipping methods and fewer units. So if you ordered one or two and you're willing to pay for UPS, hopefully you will be up in the queue pretty soon. If you ordered four and you're shipping by ferry, well, maybe it'll be a nice Christmas gift to yourself. They are very snazzy and my leg armors actually tab into the upper assembly in fighter mode pretty securely, if not exactly snug. It holds together well, which was my main concern. I think the DX's best mode is battroid anyways, while the Arcadia's best modes are fighter/GERWALK, so I'm just going to display them that way most of the time.

Hah, thanks for the correction. The proportions are definitely a bit shorter and thicker than Mikimoto's.

Oh hey, I've just been going through Megazone 23 as well. Part 1's got my favorite character designs (as has been said, Mikimoto did all of the characters for part 1, not just Eve), but plotwise it's pretty disjointed. There are about 5 or 6 major plotlines going on and they're not at all cohesive (the "we're filming a movie using the secret military robot we stole" plotline is probably the most out of place). Part 2 picks up not long after part 1 and boils those plots down to just 2 or 3 and it works a lot better. The mecha fights in part 2 are also a lot better in part 2 than in part 1 - there's good animation in part 1, but most of the action shots feel like they cut off a second or two too early for me to flow well. The mecha animation in part 2 was just stellar, I thought. Peak '80s alien space-fight jam. Part 2 also ends strong, whereas I felt like part 1 starts strong but then just kind of... stops. I'd just be prepared to watch them back-to-back. The design shift is a bit jarring between the two; characters don't look anything like they did in part 1 for the most part, so be prepared for that. Overall, I think parts 1 and 2 are a fun bit of '80s animation history and the time investment is pretty low - two movies is a pretty quick watch. I ordered part 3 just to see how it is; it has some good animation in it from clips and sakuga I've seen, but there's also just shots that aren't in-betweened, so they play like a slideshow. It's weird because there will be an incredibly animated POV tracking shot flying down corridors, followed immediately by a shot that's got maybe 8 frames of animation for a four-second cut. I've heard negative things about the plot, but I'm just keeping expectations low. It's also the hardest to find of the three parts, so that's a factor as well - I was able to find a copy that wasn't too expensive, but there weren't many left.

Pre-order's up on AmiAmi for the Zeta.

They only responded to me once they actually had my item ready to ship (I got my SSP set from them last Friday). They ignored me for weeks until then. Once they finally contacted me, they were actually pretty quick responding after that, but it was complete radio silence until then. If you ordered fewer sets and want faster shipping, they'll prioritize you - I only had ordered one set and was using UPS rather than ferry - but beyond that it's a crapshoot. Good luck, hopefully your stuff ships out soon!

This is my take. I love the Arcadia 1/60s I have (DYRL Hikaru VF-1S SSP and Millia VF-1J) in fighter and GERWALK, but there's not much of a competition in battroid. The DX has better proportions (larger head and shoulders), better articulation (the outward swivel at the GERWALK joint helps a ton for dynamic posing, plus the waist swivel, articulated fingers, etc.), no priest collar, etc. As for price, I was able to get the 1J and Kakizaki at retail, as well as a missile pack and the TV supers, and the Hikaru 1S/SSP at only a marginal mark-up. I don't need a ton of missile packs as I don't intend to have them all in fighter mode at the same time decked with missiles. I get that's a draw for some people, but it's never been my preference. I actually do prefer having them as an option to keep the prices of the main Valks lower. Secondary market prices also haven't been terrible for the DX line at release, despite them all selling out instantly at pre-order - they were a lot worse for the VF-31s, in my experience. Generally, I am very "why not both" when it comes to stuff like this - Arcadia makes some great stuff, Bandai makes some great stuff, I can budget to grab the ones I like from each company. The DX definitely replaced the 1/60 V2 for me, though I'm probably only going to be on the hook for Millia and maybe a DYRL Max/Roy at this point.

How did your hands break? I finally transformed mine a few days ago and my Legioss' right hand is just incapable of holding the gunpod because the thumb pops off its ball joint so easily. I can put it back on without too much trouble when the gunpod isn't on, but I couldn't get it to work with the gunpod for the life of me. My left hand seems fine though, so I guess my Legioss is just piloted by a left-handed pilot now.

Honestly, as someone whose December-order DYRL Super Strike Parts finally shipped from Nippon-Yasan today, I'd just wait until the parts are released rather than pre-order through NY. The SSP were not hard to find on the secondary market and the mark-up was not that much - certainly less than the extra I had to pay to ship during COVID. Just my recommendation!

I haven't gotten that e-mail from NY (or any response whatsoever to my open tickets). I'm 100% certain they're using the COVID shipping difficulties as a cover for the fact that they don't have enough stock to fill all of their orders.

So I don't know how similar Japanese production pipelines are to ours, but we'll often finalize designs even after episodes have already technically shipped for animation. And generally props/BGs/etc. won't be designed until they actually appear in the show - if they never actually showed the cockpit in armor-soldier, it never would have had a final design pass. If it did show up, it would have been a situation where they said, "okay, we're finally showing the cockpit in armor-soldier, we need to finalize the design for it" - or they would have just cut the cockpit interior shot because they didn't have the bandwidth.

I ordered from NY pretty much immediately for the December window and got pushed back, yeah. I would have had more luck cancelling it and ordering from the April batch from another retailer - I passed on a set at Big In Japan and I'm kicking myself for it, because I'd have had them a month ago. At any rate, I sent a new request for them to change their shipping method today, we'll see what happens. I'm about one more unanswered ticket from disputing the charge with my CC company.

If you figure it out, let me know, haha. Sorry, man. I asked them middle of last month why they hadn't shipped out my super parts and they said it was because of COVID, but when I asked to switch to DHL they stopped replying. For what it's worth, I just think they don't have the super parts and are using the COVID thing as a delaying tactic. I'll probably send another message in a few days. Going back and forth on just cancelling my order there and ordering on the secondary market, they're not that expensive anyways for just the parts.

AmiAmi offered EMS or DHL for my June shipment, and DHL was pretty gruesomely priced so I took a chance on EMS. Got an e-mail this morning saying my package would be indefinitely delayed unless I upgraded to DHL. Which I'm going to do, because I need something nice in these terrible times and a Legioss will do the trick, but man is the shipping brutal.

I have the RVF-171 Luca and it hasn't yellowed. I keep blinds and curtains drawn, but there's still some residual sunlight, both at home and when I had it in my office at work.

A co-worker knocked my VF-31C in battroid with super parts off my desk onto really thin carpet back when I still had an office. Most of the supers popped off, but the VF was surprisingly unharmed.

I had my VF-19Advance on a Flight Pose stand in battroid for a long time and it was very stable. It really only needed two of the arms, but I kept the third for a little extra support. I never had any issues with paint rub, but I mostly think I've had it contacting on unpainted metal or plastic? I mostly use the FP stands with the VF-19Adv, an RVF-171 (which has just the most unsightly display adapters), and then randomly with a few others. I definitely had later model FP stands, as well, so it may be an issue that was sorted earlier. Just figured I'd throw in my experience with the brand. I prefer YetiStands, and look forward to when he can reopen his store, but the FP stands are decent backups.

I've messaged them about mine a couple weeks ago (mine should have been from the December batch, too) and just got a "yeah, we don't have it yet" e-mail in response. The good news is that NY will eventually send you some SSP, but... when that will be will be anyone's guess. They sent me my VF-1S about a month and a half after release, but due to a shipping error I ended up getting it middle of February.

So I ended up biting the bullet on this, and I finally have an Sv-51 with correct ankles. Thanks for the heads' up!

Yeah it's been such a stressful weekend, I completely blanked on this. Just kind of the last thing on my mind. Maybe I can pick one up at release for not too much of a markup.

I got my Ivanov through AmiAmi and they refused to send out a replacement part. Also, the process of returning the Valk was a pretty huge PITA, not going to lie - I'd never had to deal with AmiAmi's customer service before and they tried pretty much every technicality to string out the process, I think in the hope that I'd either not have the requisite paperwork or get tired and give up. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted, because the Sv-51 was a cool Valk that I would definitely like in my collection, but as someone who really doesn't enjoy the hassle of dealing with customer service, it's tough to be able to pull the trigger on this one.

I would love to see it! I installed my Tornado parts once but they seemed just incredibly oversized and there was a massive droop to the wings. Not sure if I installed them poorly or if that's just the way they worked. My 29 had already turned into a floppy mess at that point at I didn't want it happening to my 25, so I swapped back to regular supers pretty quick. On the topic of the 29's super parts, do people find they weigh down the wings the way the Tornado parts do? I've always kind of held off buying them because I was worried they'd make my 29 floppier than it already was. I have the Isamu version, FWIW.

I made a meme the other day:

Figured it was time to bite the bullet on this one. Dunno where I'm gonna put the thing, but I figure it'll be the last time I see it that low again.

So Nippon-Yasan didn't... write my street address on my VF-1S? And now it's on its way back to Japan, despite me going in to the post office to ask why it was being held up. They just sent it back instead of actually trying to help. I joked a month ago whether I'd get my VF-1S before I got the strike parts, but now that they're probably going to be sending me the strike parts in April... well, maybe I'll still be lucky if I get my VF-1S before then.