Bandai DX Chogokin 1/48 VF-1

[DYRL VF-1S]

1 minute ago, Rhubarbarian said:

Honestly, as someone whose December-order DYRL Super Strike Parts finally shipped from Nippon-Yasan today, I'd just wait until the parts are released rather than pre-order through NY. The SSP were not hard to find on the secondary market and the mark-up was not that much - certainly less than the extra I had to pay to ship during COVID. Just my recommendation!

I concur!

[Shogun93]

If you guys want, you could try your luck with the proxy buyer White Rabbit for TV Super Parts. It’s a simple process and isn’t TOO bad price wise. Haven’t tried it myself, but the reviews look good.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Shogun93

[kkx]

6 minutes ago, Rhubarbarian said:

Honestly, as someone whose December-order DYRL Super Strike Parts finally shipped from Nippon-Yasan today, I'd just wait until the parts are released rather than pre-order through NY. The SSP were not hard to find on the secondary market and the mark-up was not that much - certainly less than the extra I had to pay to ship during COVID. Just my recommendation!

+1

 

[kaiotheforsaken]

27 minutes ago, Rhubarbarian said:

Honestly, as someone whose December-order DYRL Super Strike Parts finally shipped from Nippon-Yasan today, I'd just wait until the parts are released rather than pre-order through NY. The SSP were not hard to find on the secondary market and the mark-up was not that much - certainly less than the extra I had to pay to ship during COVID. Just my recommendation!

 

26 minutes ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

I concur!

 

19 minutes ago, kkx said:

+1

 

Cheers all, I'll take the wait and see approach.

[fry]

38 minutes ago, Rhubarbarian said:

Honestly, as someone whose December-order DYRL Super Strike Parts finally shipped from Nippon-Yasan today, I'd just wait until the parts are released rather than pre-order through NY. The SSP were not hard to find on the secondary market and the mark-up was not that much - certainly less than the extra I had to pay to ship during COVID. Just my recommendation!

Problem is with surging Covid cases in the US the shipping situation could be even worse by release.  We haven't been handling Covid well and I don't see it changing until there's a vaccine. Praying for a miracle.

[kkx]

37 minutes ago, fry said:

Problem is with surging Covid cases in the US the shipping situation could be even worse by release.  We haven't been handling Covid well and I don't see it changing until there's a vaccine. Praying for a miracle.

The Covid situation is worrying for many reasons, including shipping of our toys from Japan.

Still, the wait till release day and see strategy is still better. For example PO at NY with a selected shipping method does not work when item is released. The buyer end up have to go through a lot of trouble and pay extra to get their item shipped.

If you are shopping after release, at least you select a seller/shop that provide a shipping method/cost that you think you can accept at the point of commitment.

[dragontype]

I reached out to Okini and to NinNin to see what shipping options I can get, if any, once the toys are available for shipping.  I was betting on the US getting their act somewhat together enough, to where other countries will start shipping here using the usual post/SAL/etc.  Okini was more, we'll let you know if it's available and you can change.  NinNin told me nope.  It is set in stone basically.  

Not sure why they would not allow me to change shipping since this is just preorder for now.  I was thinking about cancelling to save some money, but if they won't let me change shipping, I doubt they will let me cancel an order.

[myk]

56 minutes ago, dragontype said:

I reached out to Okini and to NinNin to see what shipping options I can get, if any, once the toys are available for shipping.  I was betting on the US getting their act somewhat together enough, to where other countries will start shipping here using the usual post/SAL/etc.  Okini was more, we'll let you know if it's available and you can change.  NinNin told me nope.  It is set in stone basically.  

Not sure why they would not allow me to change shipping since this is just preorder for now.  I was thinking about cancelling to save some money, but if they won't let me change shipping, I doubt they will let me cancel an order.

Who, Nin nin?  They charge a cancellation fee of like....98% of the preorder price...

[Norland]

58 minutes ago, dragontype said:

I reached out to Okini and to NinNin to see what shipping options I can get, if any, once the toys are available for shipping.  I was betting on the US getting their act somewhat together enough, to where other countries will start shipping here using the usual post/SAL/etc.  Okini was more, we'll let you know if it's available and you can change.  NinNin told me nope.  It is set in stone basically.  

Not sure why they would not allow me to change shipping since this is just preorder for now.  I was thinking about cancelling to save some money, but if they won't let me change shipping, I doubt they will let me cancel an order.

That sucks. I know that with 2 of my orders that I placed with NinNin they automatically upgraded my shipment to DHL and didn't charge me anything extra. I guess they changed that policy now that the Covid is lasting longer than expected.

 

[Bahamutzyro]

36 minutes ago, myk said:

Who, Nin nin?  They charge a cancellation fee of like....98% of the preorder price...

lmfao

[Slave IV]

10 hours ago, borgified said:

Since we're discussing packaging from Amazon.jp, I got a second hand Arcadia 1J Max that I bought from a 3rd party seller and it was packaged in the Kleenex type box. 

Got dents on the outside box, however the box was not opened like @Slave IV's DX VF-1j upon getting it.

Will see how the boxes are this time when my re-release Arcadia VF-1J with GBP gets in. If I'm not mistaken, the boxes are better constructed this time round. 

Lol, this?

Gotta love the Kleenex boxes they used to use! Thankfully the shrink wrap helped keep the box inside safe. 
For packing, Mandarake and AmiAmi are the best. Followed by CDJ and NY. HLJ can be iffy because they will sometimes shrink wrap like AJ, sometimes there will be items just bouncing around in the shipper with one air bag with it that is doing next to nothing. 

Edited July 16, 2020 by Slave IV

[Kenny G]

44 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Lol, this?

Gotta love the Kleenex boxes they used to use! Thankfully the shrink wrap helped keep the box inside safe. 
For packing, Mandarake and AmiAmi are the best. Followed by CDJ and NY. HLJ can be iffy because they will sometimes shrink wrap like AJ, sometimes there will be items just bouncing around in the shipper with one air bag with it that is doing next to nothing. 

At least you got a box. Amazon US shipped my DX SOC Combattler in the buff. There was no shipping box, just the actual packaging with a huge shipping label stuck to the front plus about another 10 stickers with barcodes. I returned it today. I mean, I am easy going and will overlook some box damage, but not when I am spending $500+ for a collectible. 

[myk]

2 minutes ago, Kenny G said:

At least you got a box. Amazon US shipped my DX SOC Combattler in the buff. There was no shipping box, just the actual packaging with a huge shipping label stuck to the front plus about another 10 stickers with barcodes. I returned it today. I mean, I am easy going and will overlook some box damage, but not when I am spending $500+ for a collectible. 

Did you take pictures of that mess?

[Jade20X]

1 hour ago, Kenny G said:

At least you got a box. Amazon US shipped my DX SOC Combattler in the buff. There was no shipping box, just the actual packaging with a huge shipping label stuck to the front plus about another 10 stickers with barcodes. I returned it today. I mean, I am easy going and will overlook some box damage, but not when I am spending $500+ for a collectible. 

Amazon US did that with my SOC GX-88 as well. I returned it and went with BBTS.  It cost an extra $70, but it was worth it for MIMB condition.

Edited July 16, 2020 by Jade20X

[MacrossJunkie]

Ugh... finally got my shipping quote from Mandarake for the Hikaru VF-1S I ordered.

¥7810 for DHL shipping. Wow, what the heck? I thought it would be around $40-44 for DHL as I've had in the past for similar sized/weight packages. Did they up their rates dramatically?

[chyll2]

4 minutes ago, MacrossJunkie said:

Ugh... finally got my shipping quote from Mandarake for the Hikaru VF-1S I ordered.

¥7810 for DHL shipping. Wow, what the heck? I thought it would be around $40-44 for DHL as I've had in the past for similar sized/weight packages. Did they up their rates dramatically?

not only DHL, it happened during this pandemic.

 

edit: Finally got my Super Strike parts from NY, preordered during the first batch window (though after a few weeks it opened). Had to upgrade to Airmail to have it shipped. If I knew earlier that I can downgrade to Ferry, I would have done so.

Edited July 16, 2020 by chyll2

[Slave IV]

1 hour ago, Kenny G said:

At least you got a box. Amazon US shipped my DX SOC Combattler in the buff. There was no shipping box, just the actual packaging with a huge shipping label stuck to the front plus about another 10 stickers with barcodes. I returned it today. I mean, I am easy going and will overlook some box damage, but not when I am spending $500+ for a collectible. 

Haha, that’s ridiculous! Glad you got your money back. I complained to them when some Amazon exclusive figures came to me in a crushed padded envelope. I don’t seem to have any problem since. They sent a replacement in a nicely packed box and even though I have still received items in bags, they are surprisingly still in good condition. I’ve never received anything just in the plain box the item comes in though. Sorry that’s hilarious that they did that and thought it would be ok. 

[Milk Krispy]

Anyone have any speculation on future releases?

[jenius]

Just now, Milk Krispy said:

Anyone have any speculation on future releases?

Only baseless speculation at this point. A DYRL VF-1A Max and a TV Hayao are curiously staggered. Seems a TWE TV Hayao is in order. That would probably be followed by a DYRL VF-1A Hikaru...

[RedComet]

13 minutes ago, Milk Krispy said:

Anyone have any speculation on future releases?

They will announce a TV Hikaru 1S a day before the Roy November release, just to punish all the scalpers 

Edited July 16, 2020 by RedComet

[eggy99]

2 minutes ago, RedComet said:

They will announce a TV Hikaru 1S a day before the Roy November release, just to punish all the scalpers 

It will be a TWE TV 1S Hikaru with Supers just to piss off everyone who has POed TWE Super to go with their TV 1S Fockers, which is completely non canon...

[Grey728]

A VF1-D would be kick-ass but I think it will be something more mundane like a VF1-J Hikaru re-issue (with some improvements) followed almost immediately after by GBP Armor

[Milk Krispy]

I really want to see Max and Milia 1J's

Definitely interested in anything that might come as a 2 seater

[myk]

1 hour ago, Milk Krispy said:

Anyone have any speculation on future releases?

I'm out after I get a Roy...

[Kyp Durron]

4 minutes ago, myk said:

I'm out after I get a Roy...

As am I, unless they make a TV Hiakru 1S, then I'm out.

[orbitalharvest]

4 minutes ago, myk said:

I'm out after I get a Roy...

 

1 hour ago, Milk Krispy said:

Anyone have any speculation on future releases?

pure speculation, but anyone think we'll see ostrich and elintseeker?

[myk]

1 minute ago, orbitalharvest said:

 

pure speculation, but anyone think we'll see ostrich and elintseeker?

F**K.  Lol.  I don't know why but I always liked the Ostrich and never got one.  I could do without the 'Seeker...

[Anomaly]

On 7/14/2020 at 8:10 PM, Agent-GHQ said:

I don’t suppose I can get some kinda compensation for this unacceptable packing from AJ. Shipped in a padded envelope, cmon man!!!

 

 

I thought I am the unlucky one who got hit by their poor packaging......I bought the 40th anniv GFFMC Gundam from Amazon Japan in May, when I received the package , I was more than appalled , the toy box was damaged due to their lousy packaging ( A large padded envelope  with a piece of cardboard  )  ....they only offer refund if I return the item which I didn't  do so  due to high return shipping cost.   From now on,  I will refrain myself from purchasing pricey item from AJ...

Edited July 16, 2020 by Anomaly

[Kyp Durron]

3 hours ago, jenius said:

Only baseless speculation at this point. A DYRL VF-1A Max and a TV Hayao are curiously staggered. Seems a TWE TV Hayao is in order. That would probably be followed by a DYRL VF-1A Hikaru...

Seems like they're only interested in the most iconic versions of the VF-1, but that's just my speculation. If that's the case, then we should be seeing a TV VF1-S Hikaru, Hikaru's VF-1A from DYRL, Max and Millia's VF-1J's (With supers at some point), and CF VF-1A. They will also most likely do Hayao Kakizaki's at some point, probably soon. 

As to the 2 seat variants, that's going to greatly depend on whether or not this was engineered from the get go for two seaters, but I'd frankly be shocked if they didn't plan too, it would be like printing money for them, but I've seen stranger things.

One thing's for sure, I highly doubt they're going to issue anywhere near as many variants as Yamato/Arcadia did. 

[seti88]

Dear bandai, can I please have an angel birds DX release fully decked in glorious tampo.......for the heck of it? 

[sqidd]

2 hours ago, myk said:

I'm out after I get a Roy...

 

2 hours ago, Kyp Durron said:

As am I, 

I'm also out after TV Roy. .........probably. A TV M&M would be very tempting but I alreday have three of each in Yamato 1/48. I'm not THAT interested in replacing those with DX's.

[lechuck]

Curious, would anyone be interested in getting VF-1EX variants from Delta if Bandai made them?

As far as I remember there are no physical differences, just a VF-1J with different colour scheme.

Edited July 16, 2020 by lechuck

[eggy99]

They already teased HMR of those. 

I wouldn’t be interested. It’s all about OG for me. 

[vladykins]

I predict that Bandai will announce the DX GBP Chest and Waist Armor Set release (¥25,000) followed six months later by the release of the GBP Arm and Shoulder Armor Set (¥15,000) followed by the release eight months later of the GBP Leg Armor Set ($17,500), followed by the release three years later of the GBP We Haven't Given You the Missiles in the Pods Set (¥20,000).

 

Edited July 16, 2020 by vladykins

[Anasazi37]

7 hours ago, MacrossJunkie said:

Ugh... finally got my shipping quote from Mandarake for the Hikaru VF-1S I ordered.

¥7810 for DHL shipping. Wow, what the heck? I thought it would be around $40-44 for DHL as I've had in the past for similar sized/weight packages. Did they up their rates dramatically?

That seems high--even by current standards. @sqiddhas bought a lot of stuff from Mandarake over the past few months and I don't remember him quoting numbers that high. We've talked a lot here about how Mandarake's DHL prices seem to be much better than most other stores. Maybe that's changing. I just had Tenso ship me a Yamato 1/60 Queadluun-Rau using DHL, and that comes in a box much larger than the VF-1S, and they charged me ¥5525 for shipping plus a ¥1150 handling fee. Tenso jacks up their shipping prices because they know that they offer a unique service (other package forwarding companies do exactly the same thing), and I've grown accustomed to the handling fees because they do ensure that everything is packed nicely--even if they have to put your box in a larger box. So yeah, that seems high.

54 minutes ago, vladykins said:

I predict that Bandai will announce the DX GBP Chest and Waist Armor Set release (¥25,000) followed six months later by the release of the GBP Arm and Shoulder Armor Set (¥15,000) followed by the release eight months later of the GBP Leg Armor Set ($17,500), followed by the release three years later of the GBP We Haven't Given You the Missiles in the Pods Set (¥20,000).

 

Don't forget the TWE releases of the left and right GBP hands (individually), followed by a Full Set Pack general release of both hands together about five years later.