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1 hour ago, sharky said:

Out of curiosity why are some of you guys rushing to buy this knowing that there's a good possibility that the leg joint will explode?  Having read through the thread I didn't come across anyone mentioning that it has been fixed on this upcoming release.  It's what prevented me from buying it the first time around.

I’m not too familiar with the animated source material.  In a word, it comes down to design.  I love it.  I own one of each of the previous releases and haven’t had an issue.  If the new ones break, I trust I have the skills to fix them. 

1 hour ago, Froy said:

Actually if you read carefully at the shipping options in FAQ they state that shipping is calculated by volume not weight, this is why offer PW option so you can ship heavy boxes full of stuff. Shipping for just one item will always be super expensive.

By the way, HLJ has turned off auto shipping since the pandemic. Got an item about to hit the 60 day mark and wrote to them if something could be done to wait for a release that was coming in a few days more. They told me the auto shipping is still off.

My two emails from HLJ state clearly that they will autoship.  I’ll consider writing them for clarification, but because I’m leaning towards sticking with my other toy suppliers, it doesn’t make sense to delay the pain of this shipping cost.

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

HLJ shipping prices aren't really any more unreasonable than other direct sellers in my experience.

These days, shipping seems to be less about the weight of the parcel than it is about the physical dimensions of the parcel. There's a lot of stuff being done with these fixed rate envelopes and boxes where the shipping rate is the same but the parcel can only weigh up to a certain amount which is usually pretty generous for the size of the package. The 1:72 scale Hasegawa Regult kit box is about 12x7, so if you ordered four of them in one order that's going to be a box that's at least 2 ft across on one axis.

Even if you were doing this through, say, the United States postal service that would be four of the medium or large flat rate shipping boxes at either $17.10 a box or $22.80 a box... anywhere from $68.40 to $91.20 in total.

So the rate you're being asked there is really not that far off the average for the size of the parcel you're trying to ship.

Well, that makes me feel a bit better.  But you better believe I’ll be more careful moving forward.  It’s my fault for SUI (shopping under the influence).  Lesson learned…?  

I bought four small, lightweight battlepod model kits on HLJ that have been sitting in my private warehouse for forever.  For context, I haven't bought from HLJ in years, and although I'm not a modeller, I picked these up late one night after having one too many jacks and coke.  "These look amazing!  I'm going to have so much fun putting these together!"  It happens. 

Fast-forward to today and HLJ says I've got 40 days to ship my items else they autoship.  Fine.  I'll go ahead and ship them.  ...W...T...F?!  The most economical shipping option is $79!  For math enthusiasts, that's 64% of the total purchase price.  Is this the Twilight Zone?  Any of you facing similar sticker shock?  The shipping charge isn't so large that I'll feel it, but it just seems so incredibly predatory: tossing purchases into your private warehouse hides the magnitude of date-of-purchase shipping fees.  If I'd been in my right mind, I would have also checked immediate shipping fees to see what kind of financial pain I was getting locked into.  I buy from overseas frequently, but to date I hadn't encountered such upside down shipping costs.  No more boozy shopping for me.  [I mean it this time.]

On 11/16/2023 at 9:35 AM, stormshadow0621 said:

Anyone else having issues adding to cart on the hlj website?  I ordered something last night and wanted to order something else and now I am getting an "could not add to cart" popup on the right side of the webpage.

 

I've tried different browsers and computers...same problem.  Waiting for a response from HLJ... but nothing all night.

Did you ever get this worked out?

2 hours ago, Actar said:

For what it's worth, I like the belly plate kibble as it ties it aesthetically to the YF-19. It's a nice consistent design element shared by the two Plus valks.

I love your take.  Viewed one way, it brings a sense of reality to the universe: the companies behind the YF-19 and YF-21 are vying for a government contract that has very specific requirements.  Additionally, we should expect some common design elements simply because both companies would have access to the latest "public domain" advancements in flight tech.

5 hours ago, Lolicon said:

They wear shirts that say HFIL 🫠

A DBZ reference here, of all places, wasn't on my Bingo card.  Respect.

2 hours ago, sjoebarry said:

STILL not one picture of it in Battroid mode without being on the stand, i.e. standing on its own legs

That pose/viewing angle in battroid isn’t doing the figure any favors.  I did a double take the first time I saw it because I honestly couldn’t figure out what the heck I was looking at.  That said, I’m still buying 2 or 3.  Maybe 1-2 more once I’ve had a chance to futz with it in person.

On 11/10/2023 at 12:02 PM, IIymij said:

I'm a terrible photoshoper but if this is anything to go by, it looks closer to old yf-21 nose length. Not to mention the wing just looks massive

 

The angle of the video might change the dimensions slightly 

Credits to https://anymoon.com/blog/?p=2477 for having these pix for me to reference to

Wonderful comparison, but I think it's more illustrative to align the valkyries on a feature other than the tip of the nosecone (see attached).  That said, I have no idea if each of the valkyries in your/Anymoon's image was scaled correctly. 

4 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

I'm not sure if there will be since the YF-21 wasn't shown with missiles under the belly. Also the belly area only mounted Fast Packs and the Gunpods.

But then, who knows, if the holes in the belly plates can be also used for custom missile pylons.

I imagine you can repurpose the belly plate holes to fit all manner of custom accessories.  But you'll limit the use of the official display stand if I'm seeing things clearly (see pic).

On 10/24/2023 at 3:25 AM, MKT said:

Hmm it highly looks like there's going to be delimiter mode, by the looks of that partsforming inner belly plate cover.

(Image borrowed from Macross Mecha Manual site)

Thanks for the share!  I wasn't familiar with the ventral belly plate and was trying to visualize it fitting on the plane's dorsal surface.  That's badass.

16 hours ago, Graham said:

I'm hoping Bandai milk the mold and later give us a VF-22S Max and Milia 

"Shut up and take my money!"

4 hours ago, Robin-11 said:

I apologize in advance if this the wrong thread but i need a suggestion. Few months ago i placed a pre-order on bigbadtoystore for a non-macross but always anime related product. The release date for these items was july/august in Japan and the store list them as a september release.I know that the store(which seems very professional and reliable) imports via ship most of the goods so i was wondering if i should expect any delays on the arrival of the items...Do you guys have any experience on the matter? it's really not an issue for me, i just need to understand when those $ 200 will have to come out of my wallet and therefore plan my life accordingly(i usuallly buy on japanese stores and they always have been very accurate on the release dates). Thank you in advance for your help.

Wish I could help.  I’ve ordered from them since forever but I’ve never paid much attention to how long it takes BBTS to receive their pre-ordered stock.  I tend to pre-order and then pretty much forget all about it until I get the shipping notice.   That said, BBTS has always been pretty responsive when I’ve made inquiries about ETAs.  I’d give them a jingle if you haven’t already. 

14 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Whoa, ok, that's almost $40 cheaper than my previous order.. I might have to grab a second, and just stash one for a rainy day later.  

I hear you.  It looks fierce with the armor.  My naked ones need to hit the gym.

21 hours ago, wmkjr said:

Only think I can think of is if you posted Ebay listings in the For Sale & Trade section. That section is for direct sale/trade in MW. Items listed on outside sites  should go in the Where to buy Macross, Auctions & Dealers Specials.

I think you nailed it.  As I recall, I listed the items on eBay and then posted links to the auctions.  I'm sure the moderator (Shawn/Graham?  Haven't kept up with MW governance or message board administration) explained everything perfectly.  The fault was entirely mine.  I'm resolved to sell here next time.

7 hours ago, MikeRoz said:

^^^ $250 is a good price from what appears to be a domestic seller.

Amazon @ $280

BBTS @ $295

USA Gundam Store @ $280 (This store periodically has 10/15/20% off coupons, some that apply to pre-orders and some that don't).

The vendor pricing differential is interesting.  Eknightmedia's price is about $30.00 below their competitors, and eknightmedia requires a non-refundable $30.00 reserve payment.  I'm wondering if they're making a calculated gamble by under-cutting the competition on price in order to drive traffic, while betting that a number of folks will change their mind, fail to follow through, and walk away from their $30.00.  If the math works in their favor, those who walk away from their $30.00 will be subsidizing everyone else's purchase.

19 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

I don't envy you eBay sellers! O.o

Haha!  I've tried to sell items on MW in the past but both times my listing was removed for violating a MW policy.  Not certain which policy(ies) exactly because I never bothered to look into it further.  I'm a bit lazy like that.  However, with recent/pending changes to eBay's rules, I imagine I'll finally get around to reading the relevant MW policies and try selling on MW moving forward.

2 hours ago, MKT said:

It’s past 6 hours and counting, and still available at Amiami. This must be a record for any Macross Chogokin lol, even for a WWM.

Yeah I guess at this stage folks likely adopting a wait and see approach on what other improvements Bandai gonna implement.

Amiami's now "order closed".

Secured one at Ami Ami just now.  Thanks again for the links, All!

5 minutes ago, DewPoint said:

AmiAmi

DX Chogokin VF-171EX Armed Nightmare Plus EX (Alto Saotome's Unit) Revival Ver. "Macross Frontier"(Pre-order)

Hmmm...

Thanks!  I went round and round with Tamashii Nation's website(s) earlier today trying to figure out ordering.

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

There's really nothing to fix.  I kept all of the parts, but there's no way to replace the knee without destroying the lower leg.  I wasn't kidding when I said Bandai made a glue sandwich out of it.

Best you're going to get is a solid knee for permanent fighter mode.

Maybe someday I'll do surgery and break open the lower leg to replace the broken bits, but I just don't care that much anymore.  I parted out the busted one to cobble together two good copies out of four broken ones I got cheaply.

It sounds like a lost cause, but I like a challenge and I'm tempted to pull mine out of storage to get a better understanding.

11 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

The 171EX never seemed to have too many issues, but for whatever reason, the teal CF variants tended to explode catastrophically.  No, I'm not even exaggerating.

Yes, all of those parts are from one disintegrated knee joint.

Between this, the constant issues with shoulder triangles cracking/shattering, and what I'm going to call the general engineering incompetence involved in the design, it's amazing the EX didn't explode just as often.

I remember hearing that both this and the Yamato VF-17 were designed by the same CAD design team, but it is insane to wrap my head around that idea.  While the 171 tended to break apart like a frag grenade, you could pretty much use the VF-17 to bludgeon someone.

Yikes.  I appreciate the heads up.  Do you still have all of the fragments?  I’m wondering if I can one-off a replacement part.  I’d need all of the fragments to test out my idea though.

5 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

This toy should be called the VF Nightmare, what a headache it was. 

Bandai should be punished for every crumbled arm 

I bought one from Mandarake maybe two years ago but have never transformed it.  I take it I should leave it in fighter mode.  Are the arms the only trouble spot?

6 hours ago, betocc said:

Lottery sales DX Chogokin Movie version VF-1S Strike Valkyrie (Ichijo Hikaru machine) mechanic edition
¥49,800

Release on November 30, 2023

https://moehime-japantoys.com/shop/plastic-model/chogokin-series/lottery-sales-dx-chogokin-movie-version-vf-1s-strike-valkyrie-ichijo-hikaru-machine-mechanic-edition/

Thanks for the alert!  I put myself down for one.  Because I'm all about supporting the MW community, if I win, I'll make him available for conjugal visits. 

12 hours ago, jvmacross said:

I think alot of Macross "fans" are still devotees of the franchise based solely on the evolving mecha designs from Mr. Kawamori and the continued world building and tech that each series brings with it....I personally have more or less stopped caring about the "plot/storylines" and just continue to enjoy the mecha and the mentioned world-building (evolving pilot uniforms, VFs, enemy mecha, etc) since M7...lol

You said the quiet part out loud.  Apart from Macross Plus, I honestly haven’t enjoyed the source material since the original series as a 10-ish year old.  I’ve tried rewatching the original trilogy since then many, many times but couldn’t stomach it beyond 2-3 episodes.  Macross Plus pulled me back in during undergraduate but there wasn’t an accompanying toy line (that I was aware of) so I fueled my passion for mecha by buying 1/55s and Transformers.  A big part of me would like the Macross franchise to mature(?) and ditch the songs/sirens angle.