brouken

Yes I remember the RPN-9 airing of the Pinoy-dubbed Macross. It was the first time that I saw (and fell in love with) Macross. If I remember correctly, this was the first time Macross was shown in the Philippines. The dub, op and closing credits were done by a Filipino company. The opening music was taken from the Harmony Gold english dub of the first few episodes of Macross (before they made it into Robotech), while the ending music was an original piece.

Ichijo was indeed named Ricky Hunter, while Minmay was named Maria Lynn. This was way before the Robotech series was shown in Channel 2. It was shown every Sunday in the afternoon (4 pm?).

I don't think that is the case. NY most likely secures their extra stock by sourcing them from other stores (probably brick and mortar ones) and then resells them. I think someone was able to get a little proof of this because an item they purchased from NY still had a price tag from a different store on it. Because they're not getting them at the same price as when they're getting it directly on Bandai, they would need to charge higher in order to make the same profit. And if these brick and mortar stores are from other places in Japan, then they would have additional logistics costs contributing to the increased price.

NY doesn't markup their prices just because they think an item will be in high demand. In fact, their prices are very competitive, sometimes even lower than other popular stores, during the initial preorder window. It's only after their initial stock gets sold out that there's a chance they may restock at a higher price, depending on where they are getting it. But there have been several instances that they will restock at the same price (or even lower). So if people think they are just greedy, that is obviously wrong since if that was their real intent, they would ALWAYS increase their prices during each restock.

I've always been a supporter of NY since they have never failed to secure any of my preorders/orders with them, even though the item is no longer available at most other sites. I find their markup understandable when taking into consideration the amount of effort that goes into their business model. Besides, their prices aren't exactly hidden when I push the order button. I know full well what price they're asking for and by making an order with them, I am telling them that I am willing to pay that price since it's more convenient and reliable for me.

Thanks for sharing this. I didn't know that NY actually was buying stock from other retailers in Japan. Kind of reminds me of when I was buying some jade jewelry from a store in Yangon. The stall I was buying from didn't have enough stock, but told me to wait. They went to another stall and got some of their stock and sold it to me. I guess this is a normal thing in business. :-)

Oh, and please don't misunderstand me. I'm not bashing NY at all. In fact, I get most of my toys from them! I used to order regularly from HLJ, but it seems that as far as having stock of the latest releases go, NY has an edge over them nowadays. I thank MW because it was here that I found out about NY.

The others do have a point about NY's prices though. They tend to mark-up very quickly depending on the demand. But that's just the nature of business. No need to get personal about it right? It would be quite hypocritical for a collector like me to accuse others of greed when the very nature of collecting involves the desire for the (never-ending) accumulation of what can be generally classified as material wealth.

Wondering that too. NY seems to be getting more stock than HLJ does.

Well, given NY's business model, it may be that they paid Bandai an extra sum to be given priority for stock of the VF-25S. They still win the end though because they're probably earning about 20 to 30 dollars markup on each one sold right now. :-) They probably (and correctly) forecast that a valk that used to sell for USD300 to 400 will sell easy at USD 160 to 170. At least for the first couple weeks of production until stocks are more widely available. That's assuming that more stocks are forthcoming. Otherwise, we can expect the prices to slowly creep back up. :-P

Emailed HLJ and they said they will not be receiving anymore and will cancel my order.

Glad I placed a preorder with NY as well than relying on HLJ. The moment I heard they stuffed up and allowed multiple orders and kept the preorders opened for quite a while, I hedged my chances and put in my order with NY at their markup price as well.

Thank God I did this too! When NY opened their second round of pre-orders I took a chance and got a pre-order in. Good thing I didn't cancel it! My shipment is currently stuck with customs however. I wonder how much they'll charge me for this one...

Anyone else still haven't received their payment notification for their Ozma 25S from HLJ? Its been four days since release and I haven't received any news from them. My orders page still lists my order as being processed. :-(

Oh yeah, I forgot I was going to take the photo for you. Sorry about that. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time to shoot.

Thanks Saburo! Sorry if I sounded a bit demanding. I'd try to take the photo myself but my 25S hasn't arrived yet and your photography skills clearly blow mine out of the water.

Awesome shots of Ozma's ride Saburo! Perfect to whet up the appetite of us MWer's who are waiting for our 25S' to arrive.

BTW, you still owe me a shot of Ozma's Armored 25S and Super 29S side by side with missile launchers fully deployed. Come on, I know you'll pull off a great shot of that!

Here's a proposed theme to help you set up the shot: "Bring on the rain."

Yikes, that sucks. How much is the import tax in Indonesia?

Please don't ask. I'm still trying to get over it. What really gets to me though is that I'm technically supposed to be tax and duty free (I work for a diplomatic establishment). And I thought Philippine Customs was bad.

I didn't know you were born in the Philippines, Saburo! I agree with Abaddon that you owe it to yourself (and your Filipino heritage!) to watch Voltes V (preferably the English dubbed version that was done by Filipinos in the 80's! ) Voltes V had such a huge influence on our generation of Filipinos. It's what got me into Japanese pop culture (and toy collecting) in the first place!

Now you're making me want to get a GX-64 Yamato. <sigh>

Hehe, sorry!

I think that as long as you can get if for under USD200, its a good deal. I got mine from Mandarake where quite a few are being sold for that price.

For me, the Yamato/Argo ranks right up there with Voltes V and Daimos as far as 80's era anime nostalgia is concerned.

Congrats on the GX-64 Yamato! I have one too, I had to put it back in its box because I don't have room to display it.

Thanks Saburo! We actually have the same problem: I have officially run out of shelf space as well. Hehe!

Good news is that I found out recently that Ikea Indonesia sells Detolf shelves! I'm planning on getting a few (hopefully with my wife's blessing) to use for my growing collection.

My wife and I are actually watching Yamato 2199 now. Apparently, she didn't watch the original series (like the States, it was shown as Starblazers in the Philippines) so it isn't as nostalgic for her as it is for me. She's liking the story so far though.

I'm very excited to play around with my Yamato/Argo and feel very blessed to finally have one (I used to make cardboard models of this when I was a kid!).

One thing that I'm NOT happy about however, is the fact that Indonesian Customs have apparently DOUBLED income tax for imports. I had to pay through my nose to have this and my SOC Daimos released from the Post Office.

This isn't boding well for my toy collecting hobby...

Hehe, I guess we have a Yamato 2199 bandwagon going on here at MW. Just got my Soul of Chogokin GX-64 Space Battleship Yamato (what a mouthful!) from Mandarake today along with an SOC Daimos. Too busy to take pics now though. :-)

Awesome Mac7 collection Kicker!

Just in from Nippon-Yassan today!



Still waiting on my YF-29 Ozma super parts though...

Because everyone loves Ozma.

I love Ozma! :-)

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you, that is exactly the look trying for. Ozma is a Bad-ass.

Here's the full view pic.

This just screams wallpaper. :-)

Amazing shot as always Saburo!

Special request: can you do a side by side pic of the Armored 25s and Super 29s both with missile pods fully deployed? :-D

But Mylene's VF-11 MAXL is the ultimate realization of both of your listed interests!!!

You know you want it......

You guys do realize that in Norse legend, the Valkyrie are female right? That means Mylene's Valk is by all rights a "true" Valkyrie.

Finally! NY sent me the shipping notice for my super parts today!

Ozma just doesn't seem complete without some kind of super/armor pack on. :-D

Oh, I didn't know that 3P stands for 3rd party! That's something new I learned today!

(Que G.I. Joe Music....)

"And knowing is half the battle!"

Hehe, yeah, I noticed the mish-mash of stands too. :-)

The Bandai stands are needlessly complicted IMHO. Again, too many parts to keep track of! :-P

Excellent MJ! The only thing I'd do differently is to put Ozma in front. But that's just me. :-)

Nice Dinobot Saburo!

I don't think there is a Transformers fan out there who is not fond of the Dinobots. :-)

Is 3P also going to come up their version of Grimlock? I understand the MP version is quite nice already.

Hehe, that happens to me too! It's really hard to keep track of those small pieces. I usually keep mine in small pillboxes just so that I know where they are. :-)

Thanks guys!

Did a shot with SMS Skull squadron geared up. I'm kinda bummed because I noticed that the stupid shield adapter for the RVF must have fallen off at some point while it was in fighter mode and now I can't find it... sigh... I had to stick the shield on with putty instead

Awesome Skull Squadron MJ! This is the configuration I'm hoping to have before the end of the year. Its all going to be stock paint though. Hehe!

Too bad about your shield adapter. Hope you find it! Keeping track of those small pieces are just killer. :-(

Just got my VF-27 all the way from Malaysia! Thanks to my Malaysian friends for bringing this beauty over! :-)

For those who got their supers today, does the light gray on the crotch plate and the front of the legs match the light gray on the wings of the super pack?

You and me both regarding the N-Y seemingly eternal prepping stage. Their site even seems to show they have them in stock now so I don't know what's the hold up. They better not ship those out to other people before covering the ones who already pre-ordered long ago and paid.

As for most subtle super parts, my vote goes to the YF-21 and YF-19 FAST packs (or do the conformal leg covers on the VF-0 count?). On my very first watch through of Macross Plus long long ago, I never even realized they had extra bits on them.

I do agree that the fast packs on the YF-21 and YF-19 are pretty subtle in terms of overall size and added bulk to the valks. The only way you'll find out they have them on is because the fast packs come in the standard grey add-on colors. :-)

I take it from the other threads that everyone who pre-ordered the super parts from NY are having the same delay problems? I'm not in any particular hurry to get mine, but I do hope they don't end up cancelling because of stock shortage.