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Chronocidal

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  1. Chronocidal
    So I understand why that version would be slightly more expensive. Comparing the P-Bandai price to Amazon adds $6 to the base price before shipping and tax. If the Gamlin version comes with the waterslides and extra parts, that's great. What I'm more interested in understanding is why an unpainted plastic kit of this size is reaching such an astounding price to begin with. These are not large kits by any means, and it feels like they're getting priced equivalent to your typical 1/100 Gundam kit, when the amount of material and parts in these feel more like they should be in the 1/144 category. I'm not terribly familiar with the current standards for 1/100 and 1/144 Gundam kits, so I might be just ranting about inflation in general, but are these getting artificially inflated just purely because Bandai sees 1/100, and goes "Oh, yeah, that's our $50 category?"
  2. Chronocidal
    Yeah, my issue is that ordering through their site vs somewhere like HLJ or even Amazon is a massive price hike. The YF-21 I ordered from HLJ was a little over $30. Amazon had them for around $50, last I checked. Pricing on the P-Bandai site for Gamlin's is over $70, due to the combination of shipping, taxes, and general Bandai markup.
  3. Chronocidal
    My personal rate was 50/50, one good and one decently bent, but fixable.
  4. Chronocidal
    Are we going to have to deal with their web exclusive nonsense again for this release, or are these going to be more widely available?
  5. Chronocidal
    The actual backpack disassembly isn't something I tried, I was just able to remove the whole thing from the backplate. Unfortunately, I think the entire thing is another glue sandwich.
  6. Chronocidal
    To be fair, the DX VF-1 probably is the easiest time I've had actually disassembling any of Bandai's valks thus far (ignoring the legs of course, which are just a mass of glued parts). The backplate comes apart with five screws, and everything's pretty easy to access, letting you pull off the wings, shoulder tabs, and the entire backpack assembly, and giving you pretty good access to the arm sliders and head. It's the one time the removable leg gimmick has actually been useful to me.
  7. Chronocidal
    I think if you're careful not to press on the antenna in any way, you should be fine. If you're worried about putting pressure on it by accident, you can twist the top hinge piece around until it slides off the peg, and you'll just be left with the peg sticking out (the one that has been getting broken). Without the panel mounted to it, there's less chance to accidentally press on it, and snap that peg. And even then, if you do happen to break it, that's one of the easier fixes to perform. Just takes a steady hand and a very small drill, so you can reinforce that mounting peg with a piece of a metal pin or wire. My personal go-to material for those fixes is to cut a small segment off of a paperclip.
  8. Chronocidal
    Yeah, I'm not going to argue for that dumb sensor bulb, it's just something that Bandai left out.
  9. Chronocidal
    Honestly? I would have no trouble believing that Bandai just forgot to tell the factory workers, "Hey, this one's tails don't fold over."
  10. Chronocidal
    Random maintenance tip, for those of you who might want to tweak things. I noticed the wing hinges on one of mine were feeling whimpy, and decided to try and tighten them up. Unfortunately.. Bandai can't make anything simple, and of course I had to disassemble the entire thing to get to the wing hinges. So, unlike most of the other VF-1s I've ever owned, while the DX does have a screw through the wing hinge-post, it does not in fact have any bearing on the tightness of the wing. No, it's a solid post that goes entirely through the wing, and the wing depends on a friction ring around that post to give it any tension. I hate Bandai's engineering methodology with more of a burning passion every time I try to adjust something they've designed. So instead of tightening the screw, I took apart the entire backplate, and slipped a piece of cellophane tape around the posts under those friction rings. Tightened the wings up nicely for the moment, but who knows if that'll have any staying power over time, since we all know how completely useless all of their joints tend to become sitting in the box.
  11. Chronocidal
    You also need a spot for the upper sensor module that the free-flying Ghosts had, and the original had a swappable part for, so it's really just a complete re-mold at that point. I'm really not expecting it, but I'd probably grab a VF-0S bundle if it drops though.
  12. Chronocidal
    "Hikaru, you're getting an early promotion." "Awesome!" "But it comes with one requirement. You have to change your helmet." ".... Deal." If Bandai is going to be throwing spare pilots at me, you better bet I'm going to be doing their work for them.
  13. Chronocidal
    Trying to remember back that far is a trick now, but I think part of why I didn't even try to get the original HM sound booster was because Bandai didn't even try and give it a fighter mode mount. I'm not even that concerned about it now, but if they ever do get around to actually making the whole band, I'll enjoy having them all mounted on that stand together.
  14. Chronocidal
    Probably something along those lines, but I think it's been mentioned in the past that both Bandai and Yamato/Arcadia contracted a third party, TRex, to do their CAD design work. Bandai usually puts more of their own spin on the designs, or makes specific requests for how to design things (excessive plastic inserts, nonsense engineering, etc), but it looks like they just decided to adopt the Yamato and Arcadia CAD designs verbatim for the past few HMR releases. Not going to say it isn't weird, but I'm not going to complain about getting slightly more affordable and compact versions of Yamato's old stuff. Frankly, I wish they'd do more of it, since they're easier to handle and display.
  15. Chronocidal
    Considering how far Yamato knocked it out of the park with the original Fire Valk release, I can't really say I'm disappointed that Bandai copied them. Being smaller will even make the sloppy ankles less of an issue. Bring on the rest of the VF-19s!
  16. Chronocidal

    Hi-Metal R

    Chronocidal replied to joppewo's topic in Toys

    Having a nice concise list is a really good way to start, since it narrows things down considerably. I think if you're going to pick up one VF-1, I'd try and find either a Yamato or Arcadia strike set if you care about the packs, or even a Bandai DX release, if you want a centerpiece, but sounds like you're not after big ones. The HMRs aren't bad at all, but they might actually be harder to find, and the 1/60 is still a manageable size, with less fiddly parts to deal with. If you don't care about the fast packs, the ThreeZero VF-1S is coming out still, and should be pretty easy to pick up from some US sources, if you can't find a Yamato/Arcadia version. VF-4, you're in luck, the HMR re-release is coming up soon, they should be pretty available from many stores, both foreign and domestic. VF-17F and VF-22 you're going to have to hunt down, because only the Yamato versions exist of those so far, and they're 1/60 scale. They'll be pricey, and pretty big. YF-19 has a couple options, but all in 1/60 scale. If you don't care about fast packs and missiles, the budget Bandai DX release can be picked up on Amazon for about $220. The version with all the weapons, or the Arcadia release will both be harder to find and afford, but they definitely are out there. For the VF-19s in general though, while there is an older Hi-Metal release of it, I would be patient. Since Bandai is repurposing the old Yamato VF-19 designs and shrinking them down for HMRs, I expect we'll see more HMR VF-19s coming up fairly soon. The Fire Valkyrie was just released. If we're lucky, maybe we'll get an HMR YF-19 and YF-21/VF-22, and maybe even a VF-17 or VF-11 while they're on their Macross 7 kick. Otherwise, the VF-11 is going to be hard to track down now, unfortunately, especially the C model. The VF-2SS is probably worth picking up if you find a good deal. It's a crazy pile of fiddly joints, but it's probably the best version of that valk that exists. Good luck, and happy hunting!
  17. Chronocidal
    There needs to be some consistency in where "height" is measured from. The strike cannon doesn't count. Doesn't surprise me though, the HMR scales are generally in a "range" between about 1/100 and 1/80. The VF-1s are on the larger end of that margin, and the old VF-19s were on the smaller end, so it wouldn't surprise me if they targeted the same size, rather than being properly in scale. Also have to remember that the VF-19 isn't very tall though. It collapses a whole lot to get that stocky battroid. I'd rather see a fighter mode comparison. Also.. yeah, Bandai. Yeah. Landing gear. Just please, extract your brain from your upper colon already. White, silver, black, I almost don't care anymore, just freaking commit to something.
  18. Chronocidal
    Yeah, the weathering always gets overdone on the TOS version, no matter who produces it, it seems. The color issues on the TMP version are more specific though, and TOMY have made some really baffling choices for the prototype that make you wonder what they were thinking. The bridge especially is horribly off, but the general tint of the details looks too green. Maybe they just have terrible studio lighting for the publicity shots? But that's what makes it so much more baffling. If you're going to all this trouble to produce something at this level, why didn't you invest in a good lighting rig before taking your publicity photos? I know it's not going to look right to many people in their houses, but the least you can do is make it look right in your sales pitch.
  19. Chronocidal
    Available at Anime Export as well now. If I don't order anything else there, I might ship the Fire Valk and stand together when it arrives next year. https://anime-export.com/index.php?product=82820
  20. Chronocidal
    Yeeeesh. For that price, I'd expect it to actually function as a personal health device, digital wallet, and media player. May as well 3D print your own, and build all of that with an arduino.
  21. Chronocidal
    Still kind of sad we never got a PF VT-1 from Arcadia, seemed like the logical thing to do after the VE-1 came out, but it just never happened. Probably not enough demand? I would have thought the VT-1 would be more popular than the Elintseeker, but who knows.
  22. Chronocidal
    I really want to like this, but after hearing how the complaints about the TOS version really weren't addressed, I don't know if I would even trust them to fix the obvious issues the prototype has, which is really irritating for something this expensive and exclusive.
  23. Chronocidal
    See, I want to say I had the same sort of experience, but it wasn't just AE, and it wasn't just DHL. I had two separate shipments by two separate methods just held up with no explanation and no update for several days shipping recently, one by DHL, and one by EMS. They just stalled out after the tracking number was sent to me, and then I received no updates until the day they were out for delivery.
  24. Chronocidal
    I guess maybe it's too early to hope, but the extra mounting points would be nice if we get a MAXL and VT-17. I'll probably try and pick up one when they pop at AE, hopefully they don't sell out too quickly. Would be nice to have the whole band in booster mode.
  25. Chronocidal
    I think I did once, and regretted it. As I recall, it was far slower than advertised, and the tracking didn't work correctly for much of the trip. That might have been their other ECMS Express option, but I don't know if I would recommend either of them. If you want reliable tracking information, I'd go with one of the major US carriers. I think my best experiences lately with HLJ have been EMS or FedEx (which I find funny since their faster shipping is cheaper ). EMS tends to be the cheapest option for me when shipping larger Warehouse shipments, probably due to some difference in weight vs volume charges. DHL is alright, though I have issues with them specific to my location, since they don't have a delivery hub nearby. They tend to contract out deliveries to third party couriers who don't use the normal DHL tracking, and have no idea how to consistently communicate delivery and tracking information. And whoever I use, it seems like no one rings the doorbell anymore. If I'm not watching the tracking updates, a lot of times I'll just open my door to find a package sitting on my patio for some undetermined amount of time.
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