Angesdad

On 7/15/2024 at 3:33 PM, MKT said:

I've raised the head laser defect with HLJ. Let's see what HLJ comes back with, and I just wonder if there's a new update by how HLJ resolving this now with Bandai other than 'within variance' proffered by Bandai.

Hey @MKT, have you received any updates? I've submitted my ticket earlier in the month nothing but radio silence so far. I assume a good number of people purchased from HLJ were affected by the bent head lasers so possibly they're waiting on everyone with the defect and do a batch claim to their supplier all at once.

1 minute ago, Shawn said:

Tried the hair-dryer thing for a few minutes, got it mostly straight, but still a bit wonky.

Hey @Shawn, how did you manage to take the head off? Does it just pop off if you pull on it or?

28 minutes ago, Shawn said:

I do have one side where the leg almost refuses to rotate on the hip pivot and the same thing with one of the arms...it doesn't want to rotate where attached to the base. It looks like the attachment screw could've hidden behind a glued in panel but I could not get it loose. 

The shoulder joints on mine were also excessively tight moving up and down sideways. I applied some 50 wt shock oil, slowly expanding the range working the joint and now at least it doesn’t feel like i am going to rip the shoulder off when articulated.

I am just hopeful no head laser if it's got any comes bent outta box.

13 hours ago, Lolicon said:

You think Scott Hards is using YF-21 boxes as temporary ottomans in his office? 

Hey @Lolicon, hope you get yours intact. I am really not sure whether it is a transit damage or some kind of mishab down at the assembly/packaging line. The clamshell is solid and pushing it down I doubt will cause the damage we're witnessing. Either way a secure packaging such as AmiAmi's for example with ample space on top will surely help you leave out one of the possible causes.

Curiosity killed the cat, has anyone here preordered from HLJ received undamaged straight antenna? Just looking to see if there’s a pattern forming here.

9 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

My copy from AmiAmi showed up today....no bent antenna issue....

 

...and I have to say a big thanks to AmiAmi's shipping Dept...they truly went out of their way to ensure my item (and I assume those of many of their YF-21 customers) arrived safely and with the best shot at avoiding damage to said antenna...guessing they must be aware of the problem and are thinking it may be caused during shipping....unless the entire top of my box would have been crushed, there is no way nothing sitting on top of it would have caused any pressure to be applied to the top of the toy's packaging....

Custom packaging and shrink wrapping....

That is such a nice packaging from AmiAmi and I would’ve appreciated that. My first copy from Hobby Genki was nowhere near that nice put in a box with zero slack and definitely absorbed pressure from all sides but, the antenna was straight.🧐

Got one from HG, the antenna is straight. My second from HLJ is properly bent with stress marks ready to snap off if I blow on it.😡

contacting HLJ CS for a timely solution and no, I am not sending this back to f Bandai.

4 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Well, I guess I'm not the only one around here with an affinity for anime maid girls. 

You dirty old man. I have a rather private display case in my closet featuring bunny gals of different shapes and sizes solely for my eyes if you know what I mean lol.😆

24 minutes ago, graphic revolt said:

Ok! It took me this long to finally compose the gerwalk mode since my last post which is almost 1 - 1/2 hour. There were parts poppin out. Lots of “Bandai-esque” decision to complicate the transformation but towards the end of the process, the overall appearance is worth it.
 

Solid piece in this mode and as you can see from the pictures, this half zentradi can hold his liquor since there were no weak joint on the knees and I’m great full to Bandai by adding the ratcheted articulated point near the ankles enables the figure to have poses that weren’t possible with Yamato/Arcadia. So far, two out of the three modes holds a gold star above the Y/A offerings. 

Them legs, my ocd triggered!🙃

3 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Wait, the VF-19 Advance tails are pinned?  I thought they were just a much better snap than the YF-19 got?

Looking at mine, I don't see any way to get a pin in there, the tails are solid plastic..  They don't want to pop off though, so I'm not going to force them to check.

I could be wrong as it's not something I've verified it in person (my reissue hasn't seen the light) but somewhere along the way I picked that up and it made sense to me.  

11 minutes ago, IIymij said:

Oh? Did the reissued yf-19 full set still have the vertical fin problem? 

no popping vertical stabilizer on the reissue as Bandai went back to the vf-19 advance fin design with the spring pin going through it.

I know y’all gonna try this with your new toy.😎

2 hours ago, borgified said:

I’ve got too much stuff in storage right now and I’m going to thin out when I get a chance to. 

And when you do, be sure to give me a shout eh.😛

Looking mighty fine there @Lolicon! Awesome custom work as always, don’t you stop on me now.🤩

I bit the bullet and decided to try my luck with yoyaku. the odd thing to note, their stock quantity went from 6 available to 0 when i made the purchase, and i did not buy 6.

I am just hopeful I don't have to call my credit card company in July for a chargeback.

On 1/29/2024 at 4:52 AM, Arakure Knight said:

Solaris Japan is even offering the Ostrich: https://solarisjapan.com/products/choujikuu-yousai-macross-ai-oboete-imasu-ka-vt-1-super-ostrich-dx-chogokin-1-48-bandai-spirits-shop-exclusive

Never dealt with them, good or bad? (nvmd, they get you with shipping $$$)

Damn what an expensive year 2024 is turning out to be…can barely keep up here.🤣

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

IIRC there was only a difference of like 900 yen between surface and DHL for my 171 from HLJ.

For a difference of only $6 I'd rather have my item 2-3 months sooner and not battered over a long sea voyage. Plus I'm eager to fix up the 171. I never got around to working on the originals and now I have the improved matte finish version to fiddle with.

Quite excited to get a 171 for the first time and mine's in HLJ PW currently. The problem is I've ordered a HG YF-21 with it last September but my order isn't being processed as timely as I'd like...what the kit's now on backorder?! Has anyone managed to get one in your PW yet.

14 minutes ago, PointBlankSniper said:

The thing is, hobby search sent my Max's Durandal as a small packet for just 1800 yen last year. So a "very small" box is apparently enough to stuff a whole valk with super parts in,

Clearly someone over at 1999.co.jp made a mistake because no retailers I've dealt with will ship a Max 29 for 1,800 yen jammed in a small packet. I'm all penny pinching when it comes down to shipping charges but there is such thing as having enough room/protection for your expensive toy in an ample size box, and you pay for that.

55 minutes ago, treatment said:

Has these VF-25 Revivals been quite a dud to you guys?

I've recently reopened my VF-25 Alto Revival for a simple scale picture a couple of weeks ago.

Prior to that, it's been boxed after taking some pictures during delivery to me.

It's not quite playable nor satisfying to me.

The issue I've experienced with it is...

 

Extreme joints looseness.

Very annoyingly so, as I've only really actually handled this item maybe twice or so after delivery for picture taking.

It's practically unused! 

This looseness should not happen at all!  At least, not after just two minor handlings.

Specifically, hips and shoulder joints looseness.

It keeps doing splits easily when in Battroid mode.  

I have  to really do some effort on positioning to keep it just standing steady.

The arms just flail easily, too. No more friction at all, unlike the first time out of the box.

I've tightened up the screws, but doesn't seem to help at all.

It's been quite disappointing, to say the least. 

Complete contrast to my YF-29 Max, which is still quite satisfyingly tight everywhere and very enjoyable to handle.

As such, I've seen/read some even more awful VF-25 Michael looseness and stuff. 

Good thing I didn't bother to get that variant.

 

 

Yikes, that ain't good. Haven't bothered to open up my revivals yet but now I am curious to see how bad it is.

HLJ preorder back up again for you to entertain;

VF-171EX Armored Nightmare Plus EX (Alto Saotome Machine) Revival Ver. | HLJ.com

28,000 yen.

6 minutes ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

Does the YF-21 have any missile hardpoints?   (I guess in the Macross Plus show, the missiles were stored internally?)

I noticed that the YF-21 is listed as including Fast Packs, but seems to completely lack all the missiles that had come with the original DX Chogokin YF-19 release.... though, admittedly, the YF-19 re-issue did not include missiles either.

The fact that the 21 comes with the struts for fold booster could be a sign for an immediate accessory pack release down the road? -DX Missile and fold booster set for YF-19/YF-21, for 18,000 yen.😁 Preorder closed before it ever opened again!

3 hours ago, borgified said:

The Canuckle head pricing for this will be possibly around $480 Beaver Bucks if the stores do get stock in. 
 

@wm cheng, @Angesdad and my other fellow Canadian Macross collectors , you know that we’re going to get hosed anyways. Avoid Navito World as they’re going to jack up the price to maybe $700 CDN if they get a few units in. 

😂

Very nice @Lolicon, very nice.😁