DX Chogokin VF-171 Cannon Fodder

[Negotiator]

That's what happened. If I send it back do they credit my account for purchase price? send me out a new one? Or do i wait for Bandai to fix it, then mine comes back?

From the chain of emails I've gone through, you don't get anything back, not even a discount if you opt to just accept the busted toy. You send it them, then they send it to bandai. From there, bandai will replace it, send it to them and then NY will send to you...so a GIANT HASSLE. Not even willing to exchange one from their stock. Glad I have no interest in the RVF-25 and super VF-27. Their QC is horrid.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Negotiator

[neoexcaliber]

NY has lowered the price to 14,500 yen. Might be a good time to get additional units.

The rest of you who bought one at the earlier, inflated price might want to start crying.

I wonder if the same will happen to the RVF-25.

[CHAVAKAISER]

My!!!!! \(^^)/

Brothers in arms!!!

[Roy's Blues]

From the chain of emails I've gone through, you don't get anything back, not even a discount if you opt to just accept the busted toy. You send it them, then they send it to bandai. From there, bandai will replace it, send it to them and then NY will send to you...so a GIANT HASSLE. Not even willing to exchange one from their stock. Glad I have no interest in the RVF-25 and super VF-27. Their QC is horrid.

Thanks for the help. As long as I know I'm getting it back fixed or better yet replaced with a new one I'll be happy.

I bought another one from their current sale, and will send this one back on Friday.

I may keep both just to make a nice "Flight" pose with all 3

I did fix with a bit of gorilla super glue and it's holding for now.

too bad getting the screw cover off on the green part of the shoulder was a pain( looks like crap. )

[zzgundam010]

NY has lowered the price to 14,500 yen. Might be a good time to get additional units.

The rest of you who bought one at the earlier, inflated price might want to start crying.

I wonder if the same will happen to the RVF-25.

NY did sold a few after the latest price drop. So it looks like bottom may be...

[Valkyrie2008]

NY has lowered the price to 14,500 yen. Might be a good time to get additional units.

The rest of you who bought one at the earlier, inflated price might want to start crying.

I wonder if the same will happen to the RVF-25.

I bought two at their inflated price. I'm going to weep in the corner now, please no looking!

[funkymonkeyjavajunky]

As much as I'm tempted to grab another unit at NY's better price I don't want to risk getting another poor quality/damaged toy. The manufacturing scuffs and scraped underside of my first toy leaves me wary of purchasing possibly another damaged copies from NY.

Am I the only person with this concern?

[Sandman]

As much as I'm tempted to grab another unit at NY's better price I don't want to risk getting another poor quality/damaged toy. The manufacturing scuffs and scraped underside of my first toy leaves me wary of purchasing possibly another damaged copies from NY.

Am I the only person with this concern?

Well to put it this way, if it wasn't for the hard to preorder dx valks, i wouldn't order from NY. Once the reissue of vf-25s comes out i'll be officially done with NY. I look forward to that day.

[mechaninac]

... Once the reissue of vf-25s comes out i'll be officially done with NY. I look forward to that day.

+1

[zzgundam010]

As much as I'm tempted to grab another unit at NY's better price I don't want to risk getting another poor quality/damaged toy. The manufacturing scuffs and scraped underside of my first toy leaves me wary of purchasing possibly another damaged copies from NY.

Am I the only person with this concern?

I have the same concern. But the price keep dropping. I am still on the fence...

[grymg]

I'm curious to see what other's pricepoint would be before they pull the trigger. I mean Amiami was 14000 yen. What's an extra 500 yen for going with NY.

[zzgundam010]

I'm curious to see what other's pricepoint would be before they pull the trigger. I mean Amiami was 14000 yen. What's an extra 500 yen for going with NY.

I haven't pull the trigger cause I personally don't like NY. If it was HLJ I would have done it already.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

still waiting for mine from hlj, shipped it SAL. man it's slow. it'll prob come in June.

[grymg]

still waiting for mine from hlj, shipped it SAL. man it's slow. it'll prob come in June.

I ordered a valk from HKC and it took a week from HK to my doorstep in Northern California.

But ordering from Japan always takes a minimum 2 weeks. And Japan is 1000mi closer to the US than Hong Kong is. Still waiting for my CF as well.

Edited May 28, 2013 by grymg

[Edi]

As much as I'm tempted to grab another unit at NY's better price I don't want to risk getting another poor quality/damaged toy. The manufacturing scuffs and scraped underside of my first toy leaves me wary of purchasing possibly another damaged copies from NY.

Am I the only person with this concern?

I just received my second CF unit, this time from AmiAmi, and it has the same scuffs and scrapes as the first unit that I ordered from NY. I haven't transformed any of the two so far though. I still have a lot of pre-orders open at NY, and majority of the time I don't mind their markup prices, as it helps me get some rest as I can never get into the tiny pre-order windows at AmiAmi or HLJ.

[Loop]

Guys, the quality issues of the VF-171 CF are not isolated to NY at all. I was reading a few posts on Amazon Japan and they were also complaining about the quality of the finish on these. One reviewer actually mentioned that he thought it was "used". Honestly Bandai just seems to have lower standards than some of us would expect. I think they could have learned a thing or 2 from the "Later years of Yamato".

Don't get me wrong, Yamato had it's problems in the past but I feel like they stepped it up before their demise.

So the real question in my mind is: Would you be willing to pay more for a better QC on the Macross Product that Bandai sells?

I have all of the Metal Gundam builds and I swear the QC is pretty f*cking good on those, although one member here on MW did have an isolated issue were one of the replaceable shoulder pauldrons did not fit on correctly. I almost wonder if the QC issues on the VF-171 are affecting sales in Japan hence the "Sales" that we are seeing on these. I mean most of the wings on the 171 look like they were slid across the ground LOL. My copies don't look as bad as some I have seen, but I also keep my house dimly lit as to avoid as much sun light as possible.

Not to mention I should live in a dark cave some where that neutralizes all sunlight and only has shelving for valks.

[raptormesh]

I just received my second CF unit, this time from AmiAmi, and it has the same scuffs and scrapes as the first unit that I ordered from NY. I haven't transformed any of the two so far though. I still have a lot of pre-orders open at NY, and majority of the time I don't mind their markup prices, as it helps me get some rest as I can never get into the tiny pre-order windows at AmiAmi or HLJ.

You may want to transform them at least till you'll be able to check for the commonly missing parts.

[Kicker773]

And that's the reason why didn't buy multiples of Bandai. This and Brera's minions were the only exception. All of bandai's finishes of Mac F valks makes them look used.

[Loop]

You may want to transform them at least till you'll be able to check for the commonly missing parts.

^^^ I would do this, because it will be kind of hard to try to get a replacement if you wait too long. I had to go through this with my Alto YF-29 30th reissue, took a bit of time, but I got back a unit without the " gimpy flipper" head fin.

And that's the reason why didn't buy multiples of Bandai. This and Brera's minions were the only exception. All of bandai's finishes of Mac F valks makes them look used.

Like in the days of being Yamato'd, I am calling it Bandai'd. "Damn I got a Bandaid valk :("

Edited May 29, 2013 by Loop

[neoexcaliber]

Makes you wonder if those units that both amiami and hobby search sold weeks after the initial release were actually returned products.

[TCracker]

i open up all my stuffs anyways.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

finally came from hlj late to the party....

[/url]

... but at least if there's any issues they'll take care it:)

Edited May 30, 2013 by davidwhangchoi

[TCracker]

for the premium price we are paying, scratches and scruff marks are inexcuseable. my171 have some of them on the wings, the worst was my alto vf25f renewal. beneath the right and left wings, it looks like some child just did a few drops and rough swooshing.

[Dimis]

Guys, the quality issues of the VF-171 CF are not isolated to NY at all. I was reading a few posts on Amazon Japan and they were also complaining about the quality of the finish on these. One reviewer actually mentioned that he thought it was "used". Honestly Bandai just seems to have lower standards than some of us would expect. I think they could have learned a thing or 2 from the "Later years of Yamato".

Don't get me wrong, Yamato had it's problems in the past but I feel like they stepped it up before their demise.

So the real question in my mind is: Would you be willing to pay more for a better QC on the Macross Product that Bandai sells?

I have all of the Metal Gundam builds and I swear the QC is pretty f*cking good on those, although one member here on MW did have an isolated issue were one of the replaceable shoulder pauldrons did not fit on correctly. I almost wonder if the QC issues on the VF-171 are affecting sales in Japan hence the "Sales" that we are seeing on these. I mean most of the wings on the 171 look like they were slid across the ground LOL. My copies don't look as bad as some I have seen, but I also keep my house dimly lit as to avoid as much sun light as possible.

Not to mention I should live in a dark cave some where that neutralizes all sunlight and only has shelving for valks.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Dimis

[Mechapilot77]

yeah overall i'm quite displeased with the finish (particularly on the wings for some reason) of 2/3 of my Vf-171 CF. The marks look mostly like what on cars would be described as "swirl marks" and they are somewaht round or circular in nature usually. There is also at least once scuff mark on one of them. you can't feel them but in the right like you can see them. I think the darker coloring of the vf-171 CF makes it much more obvious. I almost don't want to go back and check my Vf-171 alto under good lighting to see. i'm sure they are there but much less obvious due to color. I wonder if putting a coat of clear coat (or what is it you guys use, future mixed with clear/matte paint?) would "fill in" these really light scratches or would it magnify it? anyone got tips?

anyway i almost think that they heard people complain about the oily nature some of the older DX's had (no doubt due to mold release use) and instructed the workers to merely wipe it off with something as a last step before packing. unfortunately they seem to be wiping it with something that scratches the plastic/finish. :-( what they should have done is design the molds (or specify to the molder) that mold release is not be used for the parts or in lieu of that have the parts cleaned properly degreased/cleaned prior to assembly.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Mechapilot77

[anubis20]

I think all those scratches come from parts just being thrown in a bucket. They don't baby all these parts at the factories.

[Chronocidal]

If they're throwing plastic parts in with plastic parts, it shouldn't be that big a deal, my legos can take a lot of shaking without much punishment... but throwing around die cast parts with their plastic ones in the same bin would explain a lot.

Heh.. one more potential reason to hate die-cast.

[raptormesh]

Don't hate on diecast, a guilty pleasure of mine is to touch the diecast parts in autumn/winter and feel the cold. Always brings a smile to my face.

[Chronocidal]

That is fun to do, I admit, but I'd gladly give that up if it meant my valks wouldn't need repainting after every transformation. I'm just seriously beyond sick of Bandai's stupid engineering choices.

[erikos0311]

Nightmare vf -171 on sale for $142.00 UsD at NY!!!!!! Get them while they are hot!!

[Matt Random]

Nightmare vf -171 on sale for $142.00 UsD at NY!!!!!! Get them while they are hot!!

That caused me to relapse back into my Macross addiction. I also pulled out my old Yamato TRU CF that had been in storage for years. Had forgotten that the v1s aren't bad.

[erikos0311]

Was this sale already posted ? I got an email this morning from NY about it.

[Mechapilot77]

I think all those scratches come from parts just being thrown in a bucket. They don't baby all these parts at the factories.

i seriously doubt that, lots of these swirls are almost circular. someone was wiping them try to get stuff off of it. i think random nicks scratches etc may be from the bins or buckets etc but i'm really doubting the siwrl mark scratches are. It pains me that bandai has to relearn how to make transforming high end toys (and that our macross is the test bed) when they apparently knew how to do it almost 30 years ago without issues like these. FWIW yamato doesn't have these issues and even with all the pain finish issues on takara MP TFs, they don't have molded plastic finish issues. bandai has just been doing gunpla too long. i'm going t ostand by my guess of the use of mold release and subsequent wiping.

[zzgundam010]

Was this sale already posted ? I got an email this morning from NY about it.

They have been selling at 14500 yen for a while now.

[TCracker]

Opened up my 3rd piece of CF171 and I got Bandaied.

No biggie, but this problem don't seem to happen to 2 of my 171EX Nightmare Plus. (The White ones) and my first 2 CF171

Edited June 1, 2013 by TCracker