Tamashii Webshop Exclusive RVF-171EX Luca Angeloni

[Mommar]

Just fyi, nobody I'm aware of on this board has their YF-25 in hand yet.

[ULessa]

Well thats awfully slow...

[Kanedas Bike]

Just fyi, nobody I'm aware of on this board has their YF-25 in hand yet.

Posted an hour after you Mommar, but someone does now;

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=40713&p=1129626

-b.

[ArchieNov]

People complaining about NY again? Hasn't this been done too many times already? Seriously, if you don't like their way of business, then please STOP ordering stuff from them. No one is forcing you to do so.

No matter how you think they should be doing things, it does not matter. They can do what they want, how they want. It's their business. If we dictate how they should do their work for them just so it meets our needs, then we're just coming off as feeling entitled. Now if their business style will put them out of business, then they will only have themselves to blame. But at least it was on their own terms.

The only time we should complain is when they fail to fulfill something that they said they would do, not for things they never said they would.

As for myself, my experience with them has luckily been favorable/acceptable, so I will continue to order stuff from NY because they are convenient for me and I can afford their prices (just like for this RVF). When I place my preorders with them, I can clearly see the price I'm expected to pay for it and when. So it's not like they're robbing me blind.

Anyway, sorry for the rant but this has gotten really old already.

[Kanedas Bike]

...sigh.

-b.

[Gakken85]

People complaining about NY again? Hasn't this been done too many times already? Seriously, if you don't like their way of business, then please STOP ordering stuff from them. No one is forcing you to do so.

No matter how you think they should be doing things, it does not matter. They can do what they want, how they want. It's their business. If we dictate how they should do their work for them just so it meets our needs, then we're just coming off as feeling entitled.

The only time we should complain is when they fail to fulfill something that they said they would do, not for things they never said they would.

Anyway, sorry for the rant but this has gotten really old already.

I did. As I mentioned, I cancelled about $800 bucks worth of stuff.

I don't think it works that way. Maybe you feel a person looking for decent (not even good mind you) customer service is "entitled", but that's your opinion obviously. A fool and his money is soon parted.

People can complain about anything that upsets them. This is a discussion forum and as long as people don't make it personal, I see no problem with bitching about things that don't make sense.

Also, it's quite common for sites to read forums and social media for feedback. Business change their model all the time based of social interaction.

The smart ones anyway.

[Vagabond Elf]

You've made a lot of assumptions in your post, but I still appreciate your perspective. Since this appears to be about me as the "arrogant jerk whose business they may not way" I will say that I do honor promises I make - to friends, family, professional associates, etc.

Now I don't see that with a vendor that is competing with other vendors for my business, and maybe this is a cultural North American "thing" but I have the right to spend my money how I see fit and where I see fit.

I didn't mean to suggest that you, personally, were being a jerk; if I did so by accident, I apologise. I'm merely saying that I can understand why their pre-order policy exists.

Indeed, I believe you started out by saying you'd taken your business elsewhere because you dislike they way they do things - and that is the perfect response.

For myself, I think their policy is excessive and their enforcement erratic, which does not lead to an ideal customer transaction. Particularly with something that they will almost certainly be able to sell on to someone else. (And with 21 years of retail experience, I have both a lot of sympathy for any seller - but also high standards; I expect them to be at least as good as I am.) So I prefer not to deal with N-Y myself; though in this case I have because the only other pre-orders I'd seen were notably more expensive. So, that shows how strong my dislike isn't.

(For discussion's sake, if it was my store, my official policy would be something like: Pre-orders are contracts that cost us time and money, and so you are expected to fufil your end of the deal and pay for them. Persons who repeatedly fail to complete their pre-orders may be refused further service. Nevertheless, we understand that exceptional circumstances may arise; if you wish to cancel a pre-order, please contact us, and it will be considered on a case-by-case basis. And then my criteria for allowing it or not would be: 1) how easy it will be to sell on; 2) how dire the customer's circumstances apparently are; and 3) whether this has happened before.)

[Reïvaj]

[...] They say it's a Japanese thing to honor a deal, but I say it's my American money and I'll spend it how I want or spend it elsewhere.

Aren't they French?

[Sildani]

To bring this somewhat back on topic, anybody thinking there'll be a Super pack release for this scheme? Or a Ghost drone pack?

If not, which of the existing Super parts sets do you think would look best?

[Scyla]

To bring this somewhat back on topic, anybody thinking there'll be a Super pack release for this scheme? Or a Ghost drone pack?

If not, which of the existing Super parts sets do you think would look best?

If you look at this picture posted earlier posted in this thread you can see that the RVF-171 has not a full set of Armor parts. Since it has the same base color than Altos and the Armor Parts don't have a highlight color I would say that the add-on set for the VF-171EX would fist best. On the other hand you can see in the picture that the Valkyrie is equipped with missiles you would need to paint the red highlights on the wings green to get fitting wings.

Since every release so far got/will get their add-on set I'm sure Bandai won't miss out on this one. I don't know if it would come with drones because I can't remember Luca having them in the show.

Need glowy parts!

[skullmilitia]

I'm pretty sure Luca didn't have the Ghosts during their stint with switching to NUNS.

[Kanedas Bike]

I didn't mean to suggest that you, personally, were being a jerk; if I did so by accident, I apologise. I'm merely saying that I can understand why their pre-order policy exists.

Indeed, I believe you started out by saying you'd taken your business elsewhere because you dislike they way they do things - and that is the perfect response.

For myself, I think their policy is excessive and their enforcement erratic, which does not lead to an ideal customer transaction. Particularly with something that they will almost certainly be able to sell on to someone else. (And with 21 years of retail experience, I have both a lot of sympathy for any seller - but also high standards; I expect them to be at least as good as I am.) So I prefer not to deal with N-Y myself; though in this case I have because the only other pre-orders I'd seen were notably more expensive. So, that shows how strong my dislike isn't.

(For discussion's sake, if it was my store, my official policy would be something like: Pre-orders are contracts that cost us time and money, and so you are expected to fufil your end of the deal and pay for them. Persons who repeatedly fail to complete their pre-orders may be refused further service. Nevertheless, we understand that exceptional circumstances may arise; if you wish to cancel a pre-order, please contact us, and it will be considered on a case-by-case basis. And then my criteria for allowing it or not would be: 1) how easy it will be to sell on; 2) how dire the customer's circumstances apparently are; and 3) whether this has happened before.)

Gotcha, what you're saying makes perfect sense. And what strikes a chord with me is the erratic or inconsistent experience that they provide (from rules enforcement to shipments going out etc.).

Let me say that while I am a very vocal critic of N-Y I think they provide a great service making exclusives available with ease. But there are some things that absolutely need attention to get them to the level of an HLJ or AmiAmi - if not from a volume/revenue perspective than from a "respectability stand-point" (if that makes sense).

If you look at this picture posted earlier posted in this thread you can see that the RVF-171 has not a full set of Armor parts. Since it has the same base color than Altos and the Armor Parts don't have a highlight color I would say that the add-on set for the VF-171EX would fist best. On the other hand you can see in the picture that the Valkyrie is equipped with missiles you would need to paint the red highlights on the wings green to get fitting wings.

Since every release so far got/will get their add-on set I'm sure Bandai won't miss out on this one. I don't know if it would come with drones because I can't remember Luca having them in the show.

If there's a dollar to be made from some exclusive or add-on set you can bet that Bandai will explore the possibility.

-b.

[ULessa]

I just imagined that bottom fin as some sorta blade and the 171 just flys at superspeed cutting things up :X

[Scyla]

You obviously have played too much Zone of the Enders.

[Loop]

Yeah the RVF-171 did not have any ghosts at all.

[Gakken85]

Found a state-side shop that has it in stock... $289 bucks.... lol.

[Kanedas Bike]

Found a state-side shop that has it in stock... $289 bucks.... lol.

That has Luca's RVF-171 in stock? Well that extra cost must be to cover time travel expenses for their trip to the future to get it.

-b.

[Scyla]

When does the preorder period for the RVF-171 ends?

[Kanedas Bike]

When does the preorder period for the RVF-171 ends?

Best guess, I think shops selling this end them as Bandai closes the pre-order window. The date may be on the Tamashii Nation website.

-b.

[Gakken85]

That has Luca's RVF-171 in stock? Well that extra cost must be to cover time travel expenses for their trip to the future to get it.

-b.

PO in stock, as in it's still open to PO

[Kanedas Bike]

^Figured that's what you meant, but there's a difference between something being available for order and being in stock.

Just had to give you a hard time.

-b.

[Saburo]

I have been debating back and forth on getting Luca 171, but I decided the money spent on getting the Luca 171 and then getting the Alto + armored parts and CF + armored parts will go to getting more camera equipment. Maybe in the future I'll try and get them.

[VF-Zer0S]

Wow I just got my first vf-171 and you guys were not kidding on the transformation being unpleasant.

[Scyla]

Well it is not really unpleasant when you know exactly what to do and how everything works imho. Expecially when the joints are not terribly stiff after a few transformations.

It is actually a pretty cool transformation. The only thing I don't like is the trapdoor that hides the canopy from under the head turret.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Scyla

[Chronocidal]

It's a cool transformation on paper, or in a computer model, but the mechanics behind it don't work out very well in real life.

See, I like the design.. but there's a few little things that have bugged me since I first tried to transform the 171, and they haven't gotten any better with later releases.

I'll spoilerfy this so I don't flood the thread with a wall-o-text, but there's a lot going on with the VF-171 that makes no mechanical sense.

1. The hip swing-bar design.

It's not well thought out at all, and doesn't do anything even remotely like locking in place on either of the ones I have. The swing bars either flop around like a limp noodle, or you press them inwards, and it stresses the crap out of the landing gear doors. I've actually knocked the gear doors off trying to get the hips to be stable, because there's just no room for them.

2. The hip joints themselves.

For whatever reason, all of the Frontier designs have the entire nonsense involving a complete 180+ rotation of the hips to get the legs into place. It's not usually a problem on the VF-25-ish line, but the hips on my 171s are soooo freaking tight, that I was concerned I would snap the die-cast joints off entirely. They're never tight once in place.. but the rotation through 90 degrees to get them facing the right way? It's insanely difficult and scary.

3. The brainless design behind the knee joints. There is no reason for the stupid interlocks they built in to keep the legs from rotating unless they're extended at the knee.

They never work correctly for me, and always wind up leaving me worried I'm going to snap the legs off entirely when I try to twist them the 90 degrees to come out of fighter mode. They could have saved a ton of trouble, and just made the joints stiff enough to hold in place without some useless lock, but nope. They had to overcomplicate the joint, like everything else.

4. The overcomplicated triangle pieces... don't think I need to explain my distaste for those.

5. The @#&*#*$ stupid wing pivots. Worst hinge design in history, and expressly for the purpose of ripping their customers off, no less.

6. That double fold backplate hinge is just a pain in the backside, period. I've had my 171EX for several years now, and it still won't fold all the way, because the tolerances were screwed up on the parts.

Anyway.. yeah.. there's a lot of reasons my 171s will remain In fighter mode indefinitely. There are just enough bad design elements incorporated there to make my engineering senses weep. it's really sad too, because I really do like the 171 battroid.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Chronocidal

[IXTL]

Fighter mode on display at Akiba Showroom.

[Mommar]

Well it is not really unpleasant when you know exactly what to do and how everything works imho. Expecially when the joints are not terribly stiff after a few transformations.

It is actually a pretty cool transformation. The only thing I don't like is the trapdoor that hides the canopy from under the head turret.

Even when you know how to do it, the transformation sucks. The fold down boob plates that like to pop off when you transform back to Gerwalk/fighter are irritating too.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Mommar

[Saburo]

Fighter mode on display at Akiba Showroom.

Wow, that looks nice!

Thanks IXTL for taking and posting the photo.

[Kanedas Bike]

^agree, nice looking photo (even with the mis-transformed/aligned nosecone) and many thanks for putting it up IXTL

-b.

[ErikElvis]

looks great. now i would be nice if they ran a couple thousand extra triangles with it.

[skullmilitia]

I'm not sure why you guys have such a hard time transforming the 171's. My Alto was easy to transform, and as long as you followed the instructions, it all worked pretty well together.

[Kanedas Bike]

I'm not sure why you guys have such a hard time transforming the 171's. My Alto was easy to transform, and as long as you followed the instructions, it all worked pretty well together.

It's a frustrating experience. I've transformed my Alto 171 about 3 times and it was a pain in the ass each one. If anyone finds it easy then I say kudos but it's not a "transformation friendly" design.

-b.

[mechaninac]

... Never mind ...

Edited July 9, 2014 by mechaninac

[Duymon]

I don't understand how people find the VF-171 transformation frustrating. But then again I'm one of those masochists that regularly transforms his VF-22's......

Edited July 9, 2014 by Duymon

[Pedro2k6]

I don't understand how people find the VF-171 transformation frustrating. But then again I'm one of those masochists that regularly transforms his VF-22's......

Lol.......you are not alone....transform my VF-22's is just amazing and very masochists....if you or anyone do F to B....and B to F on a VF-22's ...i think you can transform anything