sqidd

We need a kind soul to post all the images up here!

email them too me departmentofsuspension@yahoo.com

I find it laughable that Yamato is compared to Ferrari. Ferrari exists on a different stratosphere... Yamato can barely survive each product release without one form of design or production problem or something. You just can't do that.

Clearly you don't know much about Ferrari's They have a massive ammount of problems.

i think even beagle could have figure out a way to get the legs to widen somehow to look more line-art accurate...especially for $300 shipped from japan

Where are you seeing pricing for the Beagle? Are they up for pre-orcer yet? Where? Got a link? And lastly, when are they due out? I'm sure I will be getting one.

CMs box on the left, Mega House (distributed in the US by Toynami who puts their sticker over the Mega House emblem) on the right.

I typed my post out wrong. I transposed CM and MH. My box is the one on the right. I just couldn't figure out why there were no MH branding on it and was wondering if I got some kind of third (crap) option by mistake.

I understand both points which are very good by VFTF1 and sqidd

Thanks

now here lies the problem with most of MW member, if I buy a toy that 10x better designed and expensive, and I'm not manhandling the thing and it breaks, should I complain about it? or just suck it up? oh, but there are spare available, but I must pay for them and also pay for shipping, ok, I get the spare and it's just as faulty, plus the added time of disassembling the toy, replacing the piece and putting it back together to break again, and so on and so on and so on

The big rub here is that we are not in a market that is officially serviced by Yamato. As far as getting spare parts and having to pay international shipping that is on us and our choice. We are buying “grey market” toys. When you go grey market you automatically loose some of the advantages of buying it in its selling market.

The fact that they are fragile is most likely based on cost. I guarantee you that Yamato is not getting rich off of selling these. The cost to design and produce one of these is incredibly high and the very low numbers that are produced don’t help one bit. One of the products that I designed for Ducati motorcycles I sell for $675. I generally take pre orders of 20-30 at a time and then I have my machine shop run them off for me in those small batches. In the last 4 years I have sold about 300 of them. When I was pricing these out it was amazing how much less I could get them produced for if I purchased them in large quantities. Not only would it cost me less simply because of the volume, they would cost me less because with the large numbers comes the opertunity to use different manufacturing techniques. For example, my product is currently made from billet aluminum. If I was say ordering 1000 at a time I could have them cast aluminum instead and that right there would cut my cost in half. I can’t afford to order a 1000 at a time though. So my point is when you as a manufacturer are dealing with a niche market you are very limited in your production choices. The second manufacturing downside to the small quantities is that if I had them cast opposed to billet the part would be considerably lighter which firstly saves me money on materials, but it also becomes more attractive for the customer because light is right when it comes to motorcycles.

Yamato is probably in a very similar situation. They are most likely working with antiquated production equipment and methods which make their base cost go way up. And the obvious that is that they are very low production. I did some searching last night on population statistics of boys between the ages of 5 and 12. Then I tried to guess at the potential market of a Yamato toy based on the amount of members on this board times 10. That is probably more than there really are. I figured the 5-12 buying market by using a number that was 25% of the population which is probably rather low when it comes to Transformers. I imagine it’s fair to say that 25% of boys 5-12 in the USA have some transformers. The numbers I came up with are absolutely mind boggling. My very rough and half guess method of potential markets tells me that Transformers outsell Yamato over 250 to 1. That is an incredibly massive difference in production numbers. And if we had the real numbers it would probably be even a bigger spread. The ability to wash out costs across such massive sales is a huge reason why Transformers are not much money at all. They get to take advantage of every single large manufacturer cost savings method. It’s probably fair to say that a Transformer probably costs 10% of their retail price to produce. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that Yamato’s cost is 50% of their retail price. From the above it’s pretty clear how large production runs give a manufacturer an incredible advantage.

The “quality” of the Yamato product is directly related to this situation also. They simply don’t have the profit margin to do enough engineering, product development, product testing, etc that a larger company has. That leaves them in a position where they either send them out fragile and possibly flawed or raising their retail pricing to absorb the additional cost. Clearly they decided that sending them out fragile is much more effective than increasing the retail price. They are already at the top threshold of what someone will pay for a model/toy. In the long run I’ll bet they end up selling a lot less units if they go with a higher retail price and improve the product. At some point it could be flawless but it would cost so much no one would buy it.

in the end, I didn't get what I payed for...

After you purchased your first Yamato and found out it was fragile/prone to breaking you knew if you purchsed another that you would not get what you expected. At that point you knew the quality and you knew the price but you still chose to buy it. Hence you did get what you paid for. You knew the quality of the second one you purchased before you paid for it.

so yes, for me, although I have the money I consider a breaking toy TOO EXPENSIVE

This was defined above. You do not have the ability to level that statement. No one person does. And once you purchased your second one you lost all rights to even think about being able to claim that. By purchasing them you are in fact stating that they are not too expensive. If they were too expensive and you believed that from the bottom of your heart you would own one Yamato product because you would never have purchased a second. Who buys something that they know is not up to their expectations or thinks is over priced? The answer is a moron, and it’s clear you are not a moron. You have made the choice that they are not “to expensive” by purchasing multiple units. There is no arguing this. Unless of course you would rather classify yourself a moron.

Can someone post a picture of their WS bought from Angolz. Would like to see whats the diff?

I always wondered if the ones that were sold at the show were different than the ones that went into "mass production". Now we know. If you are a die hard collector you are looking for the Matt finish packaging and not the gloss.

It seems reasonable that they would be different. If the boxes were printed at two different times it could simply be a matter of the "ink/finish" being different between the two runs.

If I buy one I want one of the "show" examples, always have. No I know what to look for.

The question as to what is next after this... Well there still isn't a VF-0D. Big IF, if Yamato has the license still for VFX2, then they arguably can make the VF-11 Protect Armor, the VF-17, the VA-3, and the hijacked Battle 13. Battle 13 I don't think is very likely. Who knows what else they can do, considering that they made the fixed modes 1/200 VF-9 as part of their trading figure sets.

Want to see more pictures.

I would like to have a atmospheric booster and launch arm released that will work with either the 1/48 or 1/60v.2. Those things just look so cool!

VF-0D would be nice

A re-release of the VF-0A that isn’t a floppy mess would be great too.

GBP armor for the VF-0S would be spectacular (I would need to get another VF-0S to display it though)

And will someone please make a big and accurate SDF-1? Something about 24” long would be outstanding.

These are way to expensive.

There is no point in trying to convince someone who thinks Macross is too expensive that it's not - because "expensive" is in the wallet of the beholder, so to speak.

Not necessarily. I eluded to this in my original post. There is a massive difference between “To Expensive” and “Expensive”.

“Expensive” is by all means something that is in the wallet of the beholder (nice way of putting that by the way).

“To Expensive” is defined by the market. Not one person.

I don’t know why this is such a pet peeve of mine, maybe it’s because I have been in retail for most of my working life in one form or another and I have owned a few businesses. But it drives me absolutely insane when people refer to things as “To Expensive”. Something being “To Expensive” is not up to the individual person. They don’t have the right to make that statement. I actually find it very self centered and arrogant. Where does such a person get off thinking that their single opinion trumps the opinion of the entire market for that item?

VF-1D.....Oh yeah!

We don't have G-Man's input this time round Squid.

Are you saying there may be less time between when we saw the first pics and when it’s released because the G man got the scans to us earlier on the 21? That would be good news I suppose.

I just went back and checked. It looks like we got scans of the 21 that look like the ones of the 11 in this thread on November 22nd 2007. Now if that is more representative of the current gestation period then it will be about 6 months before the 11 hits the streets.

so I guess the weathered 1/48 VF-1S and Max VF-1A don't fall in this category?!

I am assuming by “this category” you mean do I think that the current pricing on the Weathered Roy and Max is too high?

Apparently the pricing on the Roy is not too high because they are all selling for what people are asking for them. I did just recently see someone post one up on feeBay for $500 BIN and it didn’t sell though. I offered them $400 and they wouldn’t take it. So right at this exact moment, because that one Roy didn’t get snatched up on feeBay you could say that one was “Too Expensive”. But only a fool allows the one exception to disprove the rule. If you were to ask me if I thought that they were “expensive” I would say yes. Even at $300 they are “expensive”. But “expensive” and “To Expensive” have two completely different meanings.

I have no idea how to classify the Max because I have not seen any pricing on them and none have shown up on the auction market from what I have seen. It’s probably fair to say that when they first get released they will be $400-500 and over time they will drop down to the level of a Low Vis 1. They will probably go for less money faster than the Roy too, I think I read there will be more of them. If there are not a lot more of them they will probably follow the same trend as the Roy has. You can be sure that a lot of people saw dollar signs in their eyes for the Max release though. I am sure there will be a lot of them available in the secondary market right away. And they will probably be asking a lot of money for them. But as long as people are buying them they are worth exactly what they sold for.

I personally am hoping that the crappy economy forces some Roy’s and some Max’s up for sale in a year or two and maybe I can pick them up for $300-400. I would pay $400 for a Roy but I doubt I would go over $300 for a Max. And I did not set those two price points based on them being “To Expensive”. It’s simply more than I am willing to spend on them. And if someone is willing to pay more then me, than what I am willing to pay is irrelevant because I am not a factor.

If you spend your entire life being mad at things you can’t afford or people who can you are going to have a pretty crappy life. You will always aspire to want more than you do and there will always be a lot of people with way more money than we have………combined. I have some friends that have $1M cars and $20M houses. Am I jelious? Hell yes. Do I wish I had all that stuff and money? Hell yes. Does any of it make me upset for one second? No, because that would be stupid.

Well I answered my own question, thought some of you would like to know though.

We saw the first scans of the YF-21 on July 24th 2007

We started to receive them May 29th 2008.

Looks like a 10 month gestation period before we can get our hands on a VF-11 if the 21’s timeline is similar.

Anyone have more optimistic news than that?

Why are Macross figs so expensive?

Economics 101. Supply and Demand.

Supply and Demand Theory

It's frustrating as I'd like to be able to afford a bunch of transforming valkyries but it's too expensive.

Because you can’t afford something doesn’t make it “Too expensive”. If it cost more than what it was worth then it would be too expensive. And obviously it doesn’t cost more than it’s worth. If that was true everyone on this board wouldn’t be buying them. Something is worth as much as someone will pay for it.

Don’t “cheapen” the product because you can’t afford to buy one. Is a Ferrari Enzo “Too expensive”? It’s more than I can afford, but I would never call it too expensive. And they are clearly not too expensive because every one they have ever made sold instantly.

yes VF-5000

How much time passed between when the YF-21 pics were first released and the toy was released? I’m guessing that would be a good way of estimating when we could expect these to ship.

And I will most certainly be getting one of these. The 19 and the 11 are my favorite. I’m in heaven

I’m a little confused. I got what I thought was a 1/15 CM Yellow VR-41 but it doesn’t say CM anywhere on the box. It says Toynami and Harmony Gold. From what I can see of it the box is identical to the one in jenius’s review though.

So what’s the scoop? Is the CM the Toynami one? Is it just a packaging difference?

Thanks

Very eager to see how the VF-11 looks.

Yeah, no kidding. It's about time to get some spy shots I would think. The 21 has been out for a while now and the V.2 VF-1's have been around and not much of a stretch for them from a design standpoint.

I want a 1/60 VF-11 bad! Come on Yamato tease me a little

I think the OD looks the best.

I still doubt I will buy one though.

Can anyone give me some tips on repairing the shoulder crack?

Will a tiny dab of crazy glue do the job?

Got a pic of the crack?

They should be at least as big as a 1/48 VF-1. AT LEAST!

18-25" would be perfect though

I have done pretty well. A majority are too loose for my tastes though. Not the end of the world but that does seem to be the one common theme with the Yamato stuff. I don’t play with mine at all though. They get unboxed and displayed. If they get transformed it’s once.

I have only ever had one issue that was bad enough for me to get rid of it and that was the VF-0A Shin. It was so sloppy loose I just couldn’t deal with it. I sold it. It is also consequently the only Mac Zero release I don’t have. I would like to get one but I don’t know if the ever tightened them up though.

I don’t usually comment on price. But $100 for one of these is ridiculous. Yes they are cool because they were in the show/movie but they don’t have anything near the artistic quality that the VF/YF/SV series does. I certainly wouldn’t be buying one so I could stare at it all day saying to myself “That’s beautiful”, which I do a lot of with my VF/YF/SV stuff. To me they are not worth more than $50 max. I don’t base that on perceived production costs, detail, etc. I base it purely on desire. I don’t desire one of those enough to pay more than $50 for it.

I would much rather spend a couple more $$ and get another 1/60 v.2.

- Crap seeing that the fast packs will be a limited/hard to get item or a bundle in the future.

Why in gods name would they make the FP's limited? That's got to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

Hi all! I'm interested in knowing where do you guys buy the toys? I'm new here. Could anyone tell me where I could buy them cheaply? Coz I like them but I don't have much money to buy them, need to save a lot.

Click the link:

Where to buy a VF-25 1/60

I received ashes in the Yamato boxes

WHAT? Please explain