kkx

5 hours ago, Octopus Prime said:

A Malaysian toy store is apparently still taking preorders for VF-1S RF at not much higher than retail price (around $211 USD):

They themselves express doubt about fulfilling their orders, so it sounds more like an expression of interest than a solid PO.

But no deposit is required, so there's nothing to lose I suppose for anyone who's still searching.

And after the debacle regarding my previous post, I must clarify that this is not my shop, I have nothing to do with them, nor have I ever bought anything from them. Just sharing what I stumbled on in the off chance it helps someone.

 

Thanks for sharing.

I like their attitude of taking no deposit. I am not sure if they will honor their price when the street price is much higher than that when they get some stock to sell. Sounds risky, but like you said they demand on deposit, so no harm trying.

Just now, Kamina337 said:

Comes out a bit massive. Anyone know what I’m doing wrong?

I think you must have selected (by accident) scale to fit when you print.

14 minutes ago, Stranger said:

Whats frustrating is that I was going to originally buy from a different site from Asia that had a brand new copy (FromJapans one was used) that would have been $200 plus $50 shipping. So this used copy will end up costing $40 more if they don't go down on the shipping. I am gonna try letting them know that the toy box being protected during shipping isnt a concern for me, so hopefully they can ship in smaller box or wrap it as a compromise. (I would rather trust the styrofoam to protect the toy itself).

I seems to remember that at the shipping instruction page at FJ, when you are ask to choose the shipping method, the "invalid" options are greyed out.

And I have the impression that for each greyed out option, there is a note about what limitation (size, weight etc) the is cause the option be to greyed out.

That might give you more info about why surface (should cost about 4000 yen) is not available.

9 minutes ago, sharpnel said:

Sucks that I couldn't get a PO for Roy VF-1S.  I'm still looking at CDJapan, AmiAmi and HJL daily in hope to find a cancellation.  I'm now here more often hoping to find info to get one.  I'm holding out on the price jump hoping to find something in the $200 price range. 

Good luck with getting one at around $200.

It will not be easy.

Hope you will find one on release day. Just note that if you hold out too long on that day, you might miss the boat and will be face with over $275 for one in a few days.

Roy is popular, so it all depends on how much extra stock the shop get on release day.

1 minute ago, levzloi said:

You're not getting the Monster box shipped, you're getting the Monster box packed in a bigger box and shipped.  They have great customer service, but I've had more than one shipping heart attack with them.  The really bad part is you can't tell them to change it, it's up the to packing manager of the day.

True.

From my experience, I have found that they do choose the shipping box and organize the items in them to reduce shipping cost.

These packaging worker is doing this all day long and they do seems to have a good sense on how to do it "right".

The only thing that I have not seen them do is to "customize" a shipping box entirely (ie cut down x y ans z to fix). They work with the limited box sizes they have (with adjustable height).

I can totally understand that, I have tried to customize shipping box for my buyer when I am selling. It take a lot of effort.

They also need to be responsible on making sure the packaging is secure enough to provide protection during shipping.

27 minutes ago, Stranger said:

Does anyone have the Hi-Metal R Monster box and can measure its dimensions for me? As mentioned, I purchased one from FromJapan over the weekend.

I used their shipping estimator and put in Monster's dimensions I found on Amazon and HLJ here: https://www.hlj.com/hi-metal-r-hwr-00-mkii-destroid-monster-bann05211 as 30.2cm x 30.0cm x 27.1cm / 2.290 kg

Using those dimensions, their estimate was 2900 yen.

But now that the item has arrived to them, they are saying the final packing is 

 

Weight: 3.47 kg     Dimensions: 61×42×34 cm

That difference now makes the cheapest packing option 13,453 yen - which is a $100 difference!!!!

Can someone let me know the actual dimensions of the box please? Thank you
 

FJ need to fix the item box into a shipping box. They have limited choices of shipping box sizes, so to fix your item in, they might need to use a box with much larger than necessary dimension (61cm instead of 34, because they do not have a box with 34x42x34).

From experience with FJ, they use boxes that have a fixed x and y size, with "adjustable height". Ie the shipping box can be reduce in height by folding down the box along pre-scored (from box factory) line along the box.

My strategy is to keep the item in storage and order more items before the storage deadline so that I can combine shipping to use up the extra space in the shipping box.

9 minutes ago, pablumatic said:

You just reminded me that I ordered mine there.

Should I give up on the NY order and try to find them elsewhere?

If you can't wait to have the strike part on your VF-1S hiki, I have a set for sale in the for sale forum. <end shameless plug>

A lot of people give up on NY. I really don't understand why they are having trouble getting stock for the strike parts. Did they totally over committed. I forget what price they are selling them for. Maybe it is impossible for them to source the item with the current price without make a loss.

NY had been bashed often enough, but I still find it really hard to understand how they can imagine it is ok to run a business this way.

Still, sometime, they are the only place that have item in stock, and I do use them when I feel like gamble.

I wish the strike part come with missile and display stand adaptor like the super parts.

How does one put a strike valk on the display stand anyway? Or is the adaptor only works for the limited edition display stand?

5 minutes ago, dafob said:

Got one.  Thanks!!!!

 

Congrats.

1 minute ago, myk said:

Not me, I'm just in this for Roy...

I am in the "get them while you can" phase. Since I missed out on a lot of old releases (just started collecting toy last year).

These are in high demand, so if I change my mind (ie ditching all movie releases), I should be able to find a buyer without much trouble.

I also can't wait for the DX YF-21, that will complete the M-plus set (unless VF-11 is on the making).

6 hours ago, Archer said:

Somewhat worried about NY liquidity. I requested a cancellation for my YF-19 about a week ago, which they accepted.

However, my refund is yet to be processed and all I get from customer service is "within the next week" which amounts to soon™ in my experience. 

I appreciate their willingness to cancel, but am worried about their future viability if they're struggling to return $300.

From experience (I think I have cancelled 3 times with them), they always take a few days to process my refund. Not sure if it is due to lake of fund or just slow processing of the task.

On 7/4/2020 at 3:03 AM, sqidd said:

 I am still holding out. But my birthday is coming up.

Your zero shelfs is looking really good.

Can't wait to get the Roy in Nov. Then the long wait for the TV super set to arrive by ferry in Feb 2021. This hobby require a lot of patient.

Kaki will be release in about 4 weeks, anyone on the same boat as me, hoping to get one on release day? I hope AJ will have some for about $250 shipped. Max is stable at 22000 yen, so I hope Kaki will not be too hard to get.

With Bandai's TV/Movie left right punch, it will be a long when we can see a full squadron. 

Missed the super set.

Anyone want to swap a movie SSP with a set of this?

I convince myself that I don't want to get this during PO.

Now seeing all these photo, I so want to get this.

1 hour ago, ikhii said:

So, i decided to just DIY it. No point to crying about it. I just wish I had a white plate instead of grey. Anyway, it works. better than before.

Really nice fix. Glad to see that this is resolved. I have not open my hiki 1S yet. After seeing your post, I am getting worried.

1 hour ago, Big said:

Still up! What do you guys think of getting together in securing PO-Valks for Macrossworld-members in the future. I am tired of the madness, it's so frustrating. Lets invest in bots and secure Valks for us!

There is a thread discussing that.

I wonder if we can pool our buying power together, can we setup a deal with Bandai (just like other shop did) to secure a fixed number for our members here. Maybe via someone in Japan that can setup a "company".

5 hours ago, Tenbatsu said:

https://buyee.jp/item/search/query/初回限定版VF-1Sバルキリー ロイ・フォッカースペシャル?translationType=1

Do check out this link at Buyee, you may be able to snatch one for 25000yen down the road. One just got auction off for 19800yen.

One word of warning about getting pre-order item from yahoo japan auction and ebay. I burned multiple times.

There are a some seller out there that is trying to take advantage of our desperation and the long wait between PO and delivery.

Ebay/PayPal refund all of my payment but if you work through buyee or FromJapan on yahoo auction in Japan, take precaution to protect your interest.

Available at AJP for 35,800 yen

https://www.hlj.com/dx-chogokin-first-limited-edition-vf-1s-valkyrie-roy-focker-special-bans60502

Link is up but can't load

Everywhere is out.  

Hope HLJ will list soon. dreading the slow system at HLJ, but no other choice.

12 minutes ago, Alphahorizon said:

You good friend are not alone. I have had horrible luck. But I have gotten them then next few days and of course at make up. Which I am not happy about, but it beats missing out all together. But then again, there have been multiple times I could have snagged the Hik 1S or VF-1 Max or J from Mandrake.

Yeah, I am getting more relax about not manage to get one at MSRP on PO night. Things should work out at the end.

I am waiting for release day to see if I want get the Kaki.

I will join in tonight, just in case I get lucky. But I am already resigned to buy this on release day with a markup.

May the force of F-5 be with us.

Chinese review video: 

My April batch SSP finally arrived. Shipping was costly and slow.

I have one extra from this batch, putting it up on the for sale forum.