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Chronocidal

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  1. Chronocidal
    I picked up both of the old HM VF-19 releases years back, and they're distinctly "okay" in most respects. They work well, and transform easily enough, but they're pretty long in the torso, and pretty gappy in fighter mode. I think the biggest issue many had with them was the complete lack of any landing gear (they eventually made a base with gear that you could rest the valk on), and I don't believe they were able to mount the gunpod at all (whether the later VF-19S fixed this, I don't recall at the moment).
  2. Chronocidal
    This is actually kind of the reverse. The production line is complete, and all they have to do is make more. The problem is that making more takes production line time away from other products. Going off of how they tend to produce everything in one go, adding more stock to a production run will absolutely throw a wrench in whatever schedule they have for that factory.
  3. Chronocidal
    I don't want to defend the price increases, but from a distribution and manufacturing standpoint, I can see why it had to happen. Consider that Bandai's production and distribution planning for Macross products has always been focused on the Japanese market alone, since international distribution wasn't "possible," at least not from an official point of view. So, how are you going to begin addressing the international demand officially? What changes have to be made to manufacture enough for the perceived international demand? You don't want to hike prices for Japanese customers for the same products to support expanded production lines, and you don't want to even consider expanding them until you're sure sufficient international interest exists to support that expansion in the first place. So, I'm kind of in the mindset that the WWM releases are a market study. I don't even know if Bandai is producing more stock. What they are doing is studying whether there is enough demand outside of Japan to start paying more attention to their international customers. I'm thinking the international markup accomplishes two things, really. On the one hand, it'll help cover the costs of increased production and distribution without passing that cost onto the Japanese market that didn't ask for it. On the other, it gives them a measure of international interest, determining whether the extra cost hurdle is enough to offset the convenience of getting stuff from places like Amazon. The exchange rate and current economy being what they are, I'm curious whether they'll think it's worth the effort. If prices keep everyone buying from Japanese stores anyway, Bandai really doesn't have any incentive to expand.
  4. Chronocidal
    Thanks for the comparison, I never ship anything as small as a single HMR, so I never see shipping that low.
  5. Chronocidal
    BBTS actually has a pretty good price on this one, considering you get it for $4 shipping, but you also wind up adding sales tax, so that could be better or worse depending on where you live. Overall though, for a single shipped item, you'd probably come out about even with most of the international vendors. I tend to stick with HLJ just because there are so many other things they sell that I use (mostly modeling supplies), so even on the rare occasion I'm only shipping one item, I can always throw other small things in the box to make it worth the shipping cost.
  6. Chronocidal
    Not exactly new... it's a shrunken Yamato VF-19. But yes, very different from the original HM Fire Valk.
  7. Chronocidal
    Could be there just isn't that much interest in this one as well, which is kind of a nice change. Got a pair from HLJ and AE without much hassle, so I'll just pray that any further releases of this mold are just as easy.
  8. Chronocidal
    And of course the hampsters powering HLJ's servers all just had strokes. Phew.. think it actually got through. Got a confirmation email, and it's still showing as up, so hopefully people who want it can get it.
  9. Chronocidal
    Up at AE https://anime-export.com/index.php?product=79186
  10. Chronocidal
    Actually that discovery is very much appreciated, since it really is hard to find a proper match for touching up, and some of the edges have long since flaked on my 262s.
  11. Chronocidal
    In theory (minus AmiAmi who seems to want to push them to 5:30pm), though I seem to recall there being some oddballs that didn't adjust to daylight savings in the past?
  12. Chronocidal
    Not wrong, but still a fair chunk above most of the shipping options from Japan. Does take a bit of the pain away if you can't manage to order one from Japan though (and don't mind waiting an extra 4+ months).
  13. Chronocidal
    The scrawny look is probably due to the bicep sleeves not being dropped.. assuming they actually do drop on this version. The Yamato ones slide down to cover the secondary arm hinge.
  14. Chronocidal
    YEEESH... $110 markup. I guess that's where they make a profit. They upcharge you over $100, and then pick slowboat shipping. I feel like a lot of these shops are trying to take advantage of the old status quo that gave a roughly 1/100 dollar to yen exchange rate, and hoping people don't keep tabs on current market rates.
  15. Chronocidal
    The arms do look goofy, but I'm not sure why. Maybe the huge hands? There also might be some mistransformation going on as well. The legs though, yeah, have to agree, but that's what you get adapting the Yamato 1/60 mold, and all the benefits and detriments associated with it. The original HM didn't have to worry about making room for gear or missile bays, and didn't deal with the whole extension gimmick, so they could be much slimmer. Having the entire gear bay molded in is fancier, but I actually wish they would go back to swapping the gear doors out like they did on the VF-1. Having those giant door hinges sticking out isn't doing the design any favors when scaled down like this.
  16. Chronocidal
    Depending on the markup... Luna Park might actually be cheaper.
  17. Chronocidal
    I want Bandai to prove they can De-Waldo Basara.
  18. Chronocidal
    Decided to grab a couple from Amazon, will probably do a breakdown/comparison to the Bandai kits when I get them, as well as to the old Action Fleet version. Also grabbed a pair of the Y-Wings, but I've got no interest in what they did with the X-Wing (ugly/sloppy molding and bad paint) and the A-Wing (just seriously wtf?).
  19. Chronocidal
    I don't even give two shakes about the exposed strike parts, the only reason I want this release at all is to get the reprinted tail that fixes Bandai's boneheaded unwillingness to admit their own stupid production blunder on the original.
  20. Chronocidal
    Probably a dumb thought, but the DYRL issue can't still be related to the "Clash of the Bionoids" release, can it?
  21. Chronocidal
    At this size, metal is really not useful for anything more than they've already been using it for. Anyone who owns any of the early DX Chogokin releases will be able to tell you that the metal parts are a stark mismatch in molding quality, and that was on figures almost twice as big. Internals are fine, but all the larger parts accomplish is losing paint with every transformation. All of the DX VF-25 figures (and the YF-29s) have die-cast hips, and they're not helpful for anything. They finally got it right when they went to plastic intakes on the DX VF-1 and VF-31, while keeping the internal hinges metal. I'm happy to see the internal joints and hinges made from metal on things like the HMR VF-1s and VF-0s, but making anything more than that die-cast is asking for it to just look horrible, both from sloppier molding, and lost paint.
  22. Chronocidal
    To me, the worst thing you can do in a transforming toy is to throw in copious amounts of painted metal just to make it feel heavy. Bare metal? Fine. Just don't go painting all of the parts that have to grind on each other to function, because that's the quickest way to ensure it stays in the box forever. Really though, I prefer plastic all around, because when metal pieces break, you are pretty much SOL for repairs.
  23. Chronocidal
    I hope someone tells them they have the wings collapsed.
  24. Chronocidal
    Yeah, this. If you can't write a coherent stand-alone story without requiring the viewer to go digest all of your DLC, that's not the fault of the viewer.
  25. Chronocidal
    I did notice that the quality of the plastic on the re-release is very different, even from the original EX version. The shoulder triangles (both the upper shoulder joint, and lower folding panel) seem to be a dark gray instead of solid black. It might be partially due to the change from gloss to dull, but they don't look like the same color.
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