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Must.....resist!

This is coming along. All of the DYRL VF-1's are HM's now so they match. I cheated on the VF-1S Hikaru. I still need to steal and S head for it. It seems weird having a Hikaru S and And the same "action" display. It would be weird not to do it too? More work to do on the SDFM side. The Roy S needs the pilot painted in SDFM colors. The Hikaru 1S needs a Hikaru pilot (I have one) and red tips on the reaction missiles. M&M needs the load out fixed and red tipped reaction missiles too? I need to dig the D's box out and get the Minmay figure out. Getting there though. The custom SDFM SDF-1 I commissioned (to replace that custom) is going to be done soon too!

Absolutely could have been worse!

I didn't know it was your brother! I want to see that collection!!!

Got any pics of your buddies collection? Maybe his 27 aircraft carriers!

I like being on the beach. Or close to the beach. I like snorkeling and diving. Just as long as I can swim back. Now that I think about it the last time I was on a boat it was for diving off Belize. The boat broke down and we were stranded on a key for 6hrs waiting for another boat. That wasn't awesome. I almost got killed by a million hermit crabs! The next day we were supposed to go deep sea fishing. I stayed on shore. But, some of that was based on being up all night hallucinating and playing fetch with two dogs and some coconuts .......I think. I drank a few too many shots of what they call Bittah's. Basically a bunch of local plants soaked in rum. What could go wrong?

I hate boats. I have a rule about boats. If I can't swim back.....it's out too far. My own personal hell would be a cruise. I hate boats so much I don't want my toys on them! Ironically I grew up with boats. They've always been around. It's be a while but I can water ski pretty darn good. I do live in the state with the most registered boats after all.......... What does B.O.A.T stand for? Bust Out Another Thousand!

They are. Want one? I got one left.

Damn you Slave! I'm going to have the next box sent over ferry to see what the real savings is once landed. I wasn't going to tell you.

What was the load out in Hikaru's VF-1S in space/with Fast Packs? I can't find a pic. Was it six Reaction Warheads (three per side)? double mount on the outer pilons single on the inner? Or the other way around? Red tipped correct? Thanks!

They consolidated 6 auctions into one box that was over their maximum dimensions (I'm not sure how that works) which bumped shipping to $600 over a slightly smaller box than their maximum dimensions that would have cost $300. Oh yeah, 30% of the box was unnecessary packing material. This is coming from someone who over packs everything. If they had any Tetris skills the box would have been $300 to ship. If they has stayed under their maximum dimensions and taken the one item that was "too much" and shipped it in its own box I would have paid about $360 for the two packages. If they had shipped all six items separately it would have been about $360. This is not the first time their idiotic consolidation practices bas bitten me in the wallet. This is just the worst. Yeah, I should have paid more attention when I was paying for it and told them to smarten up. I was up in the middle of the night, saw the email had just come over, though "cool, maybe they can get it out right now" and I clicked pay without looking at the total. Lesson learned. I've got a buddy in Japan. I'm going to have a few things shipped to him and then have him ship to me to test that option out. He will probably end up paying more for DHL shipping (I may open an account/get a discount though). But, if he just packs the boxes right it will save 30-40%. Tenso also has a 20,000 yen limit on packages for customs reasons. If I can get more stuff in one box and under-declare I can get the per unit cost of shipping down even further.

They charged me some shaky shipping. They have some pretty stupid consolidation practices/rules. All of them stacked up cost me $300 more than it should. I have team beat hands down when you apply logic. They're not budging though. I'm weighing if the $300 is worth burning that bridge.

I addressed that.

I was not able to find a Dirt Cheap to Dollar conversion on Google.

Yeah, they got me too! My Hikaru and Roy don't have the numbers. My Max does. I wonder if they will sell me just the stickers........I just sent a message. If I can get them I'll get you a set.

We';re going to assume in Japan retail pricing for everything below. Markups, shipping, etc can play a huge factor in the bottom line (sitting on your doorstep). -In 2004 (mid life of a 1/48 Yamato) a Yamato with SSP's and missiles would have cost you $188 -Inflation has turned the buying power of that $188 to $276 (median of many ways of calculating that). -So apples to apples a Yamato 1/48 with SSP's and missiles would cost you $276 today's money. -A DX with SSP's and missiles is $292.05. -The DX is a LOT nicer and comes with more accessories. Conclusion: DX's cost the same as the Yamato's did......in Japan. Assuming you got a PO in. That of course doesn't take availability (the Bandai model), scalping and shipping costs (which are currently nuts) into consideration. That can be argued has nothing to do with the actual cost. That is a market change. A change anyone can decide to opt into or out of. In reality if you don't get your stuff PO'd (which is most of us) and you wait for release day....and you don't get the few unicorns that go out at great deals ..... a DX with SSP's and missiles is going to run you about $550-575 right now shipped DHL. Boat will save you about $40-50. So yes, the pricing of a DX with the goodies on your doorstep is quite a bit more money. One other factor..............................................Yamato's pricing/marketing decisions ran them out of business. It can be argued that the cost of a Yamato was never a real cost. It was a artificial cost subsidized by bankruptcy. Sure, if you were buying them at that subsidized price you didn't have to pay more when the piper came a callin on Yamato. But, you also lost your chance to buy at that price in the future when he did. Those lost purchasing options have a cost. You are now paying at the un-subsidized price. Bandai's marketing strategy that has driven the on the ground costs up is the strategy that will keep the line alive (they're too big to go out of business because of Macross). I would rather see Bandai charge more for the Valks and somehow break the scalper market which would bring the "on your doorstep" cost down considerably. But beggars can't be choosers.

Thanks for the reply. A heads up, Tenso that owns Buyee.

Is there an alternative to Tenso in regards to package consolidation/ forwarding?

I just got hit for taxes/duties using DHL in the US. I was wondering if that was ever going to happen. $54.42 on a $1311.40 order. Not the end of the world I suppose.

The ultimate Fewture Ex Gokin? The Great Mazinger Go Nagai 40th Anniversary Edition. At least a massive grail. And in this pic he’s KILLING the Conan pose! I’ve been searching for one of these forever it seems like. They’re as rare as hens’ teeth. To all the haters out there with the original paint/versions of the Ex Gokin figures that dump on the people who have the repaints………Shame on you. Not cool. And oh yeah, original color what? Where is your 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Go Nagai…………you original color peasants! For those of you that are not skilled in the ways of irony and sarcasm I’m not really dumping on the original color figures (I’ve got them and love them too). I was making fun of the “I’m better than you” crowd.

Not horrible. Not fantastic. It doesn't come off as a stable shooting platform (ignoring the fact that the Valk itself is s stable shooting platform standing on it's head). I didn't think of the wings coming out to clear. That's a little goofy looking. Please don't take this as me dumping on you. You only have so much to work with there. Thanks for posting.

What am I looking at here? A Orguss toy that has been modded to be really pretty. Or a VF-1 toy that has been modded into an Orguss?