treatment Posted Tuesday at 03:42 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 03:42 AM (edited) HLJ re-opens pre-ordering for the Arcadia 1/60 Roy and Hikaru Strike VF-1S (both non-PF), as of this posting: Arcadia 1/60 Strike Roy (non-PF): https://www.hlj.com/1-60-scale-completely-transformed-vf-1s-strike-valkyrie-roy-focker-special-movie-ver-aca82166 Arcadia 1/60 Strike Hikaru (non-PF): https://www.hlj.com/1-60-scale-complete-transformation-vf-1s-strike-valkyrie-hikaru-ichijo-boarding-machine-movie-ver-reissue-aca82131-2# update/edit: now on Order Stop status again as of this update/edit: If you missed out again, try ordering them again during scheduled release-date... Edited Tuesday at 05:15 PM by treatment updated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26662 Posted Tuesday at 04:57 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 04:57 AM 1 hour ago, treatment said: HLJ re-opens pre-ordering for the Arcadia 1/60 Roy and Hikaru Strike VF-1S (both non-PF), as of this posting: Arcadia 1/60 Strike Roy (non-PF): https://www.hlj.com/1-60-scale-completely-transformed-vf-1s-strike-valkyrie-roy-focker-special-movie-ver-aca82166 Arcadia 1/60 Strike Hikaru (non-PF): https://www.hlj.com/1-60-scale-complete-transformation-vf-1s-strike-valkyrie-hikaru-ichijo-boarding-machine-movie-ver-reissue-aca82131-2# Can anyone speak to the quality of these? I swore off Bandai’s HMRs for a number of reasons and these look like those HMRs (or the early 2000’s Yamatos). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no3Ljm Posted Tuesday at 05:10 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 05:10 AM 10 minutes ago, 26662 said: Can anyone speak to the quality of these? I swore off Bandai’s HMRs for a number of reasons and these look like those HMRs (or the early 2000’s Yamatos). One of the best. You can also check @jenius' in-depth review for both Yamato and Arcadia VF-1 releases here: https://anymoon.com/blog/?p=4599 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKT Posted Tuesday at 05:38 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 05:38 AM (edited) 8 hours ago, 26662 said: Can anyone speak to the quality of these? I swore off Bandai’s HMRs for a number of reasons and these look like those HMRs (or the early 2000’s Yamatos). Definitely check out the link @no3Ljm posted. I'll just say that for a 16 years old mold, the tolerances & precision beat many toys today, including the DX, and that qualifies the Arcadia as a legendary mold in my view. It may not have the heft of a DX for its size since it has very little metal, but the plastics are strong, withstands many transformation cycles (though there are one or two areas that need caution less they break), and the joints won't really go weak over time. Edited Tuesday at 01:30 PM by MKT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioguy Posted Tuesday at 06:36 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 06:36 AM Not doing PF on these either after the SDF news has me dumbfounded. I mean, Arcadia quality is the best at 1/60 scale, but if you don't even want people to think of considering Valkyrie Factory KOs as cheap alternatives, why not go back to the PF versions that they won't do to seal the deal? Are the added tampos really that cost-prohibitive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanity is Optional Posted Tuesday at 06:46 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 06:46 AM 8 minutes ago, Radioguy said: Not doing PF on these either after the SDF news has me dumbfounded. I mean, Arcadia quality is the best at 1/60 scale, but if you don't even want people to think of considering Valkyrie Factory KOs as cheap alternatives, why not go back to the PF versions that they won't do to seal the deal? Are the added tampos really that cost-prohibitive? I don't think it's the cost of the tampo as much as the added cost on the figures makes them real shelf-warmers. Moreso for some valks than others, but who here remembers how long the Max+Milia premiums and the VF-4 premium sat around at HLJ with constant discounts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioguy Posted Tuesday at 06:51 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 06:51 AM 1 minute ago, Sanity is Optional said: Moreso for some valks than others, but who here remembers how long the Max+Milia premiums and the VF-4 premium sat around at HLJ with constant discounts? I'd seen them fluctuate, but what was the lowest ever HLJ price? PF Max and Mirya with super parts are still listed there, but nowhere near this Max/Roy price right now. One might wonder if that price difference is what the PF cost is, but that's difficult to accept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanity is Optional Posted Tuesday at 07:04 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 07:04 AM 2 minutes ago, Radioguy said: I'd seen them fluctuate, but what was the lowest ever HLJ price? PF Max and Mirya with super parts are still listed there, but nowhere near this Max/Roy price right now. One might wonder if that price difference is what the PF cost is, but that's difficult to accept. Based on Arcadia's statements, it actually is what they cost, plus what is likely a larger percentage share for the vendor to justify them carrying something that sells slower/ is a higher risk to stock. The curse of being a smaller business: Smaller volume means higher per-unit production costs Smaller company means less bargaining power with stores, less marketing. Lower consumer demand, no "premium" branding due to less well known company All of the above means that vendors want higher profit margins. As a (rectally extracted) example, say a figure sells from Bandai to HLJ at ¥10,000 and HLJ charges ¥12,000, HLJ has a profit margin on the sale of 20%. Being a Bandai toy, it will likely sell well, and HLJ anticipates it won't cost them much in time/storage to make that 20%. A similar toy might cost Arcadia ¥12,000 to make. To get the same profit margin the MSRP would have to be ¥14,400. However, if HLJ expects that it will take 2x as long to sell, and is more of a risk for them to stock, they'll likely want a higher profit margin, say 40% which puts the MSRP at ¥16,800. So the Arcadia one ends up being way more expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidwhangchoi Posted Tuesday at 08:18 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 08:18 AM 2 hours ago, MKT said: I'll just say that for a 16 year old mold, the tolerances & precision beats many toys today, including the DX, which qualify as a legendary mold in my view. It may not have the heft of a DX for its size, as it has very little metal. But the plastics is strong, withstands many transformations (though there are one or two areas that need caution less they break), and the joints won't really go weak over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolicon Posted Tuesday at 12:07 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 12:07 PM Arcadia's VF-1 (inherited from Yamato) is the best VF-1 toy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slave IV Posted Tuesday at 07:47 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 07:47 PM 12 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said: Based on Arcadia's statements, it actually is what they cost, plus what is likely a larger percentage share for the vendor to justify them carrying something that sells slower/ is a higher risk to stock. The curse of being a smaller business: Smaller volume means higher per-unit production costs Smaller company means less bargaining power with stores, less marketing. Lower consumer demand, no "premium" branding due to less well known company All of the above means that vendors want higher profit margins. As a (rectally extracted) example, say a figure sells from Bandai to HLJ at ¥10,000 and HLJ charges ¥12,000, HLJ has a profit margin on the sale of 20%. Being a Bandai toy, it will likely sell well, and HLJ anticipates it won't cost them much in time/storage to make that 20%. A similar toy might cost Arcadia ¥12,000 to make. To get the same profit margin the MSRP would have to be ¥14,400. However, if HLJ expects that it will take 2x as long to sell, and is more of a risk for them to stock, they'll likely want a higher profit margin, say 40% which puts the MSRP at ¥16,800. So the Arcadia one ends up being way more expensive. Echoing that the Arcadia 1/60 is excellent and still I'm many ways better than the DX. To me, the original 1/55, Yamato 1/48, Yamacadia 1/60, DX and HMR VF-1's all have merit and claim to being the best VF-1s ever made in different ways and all still worth collecting to this day. The point quoted above and regarding stock sitting on clearance is simple but seemingly overlooked by people always asking about prices and "just making more". There just isn't that much demand and profit in Macross for companies to be making more than we are already getting of these things. Get what you can when you can and if you missed out, high aftermarket prices are going to be normal when stock runs out and the total amount of products is so low compared to other similar products from much more popular franchises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenius Posted Tuesday at 08:44 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 08:44 PM Every Macross fan needs at least one Yamato or Arcadia 1/60 v2. It is still great, no doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioguy Posted yesterday at 05:48 AM Share Posted yesterday at 05:48 AM Yeah, I only cited the KOs as existing and being a potential threat, but an Arcadia 1/60 is a must have. I'm glad to own a couple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treatment Posted 16 hours ago Share Posted 16 hours ago On 4/22/2024 at 8:42 PM, treatment said: HLJ re-opens pre-ordering for the Arcadia 1/60 Roy and Hikaru Strike VF-1S (both non-PF), as of this posting: Arcadia 1/60 Strike Roy (non-PF): https://www.hlj.com/1-60-scale-completely-transformed-vf-1s-strike-valkyrie-roy-focker-special-movie-ver-aca82166 Arcadia 1/60 Strike Hikaru (non-PF): https://www.hlj.com/1-60-scale-complete-transformation-vf-1s-strike-valkyrie-hikaru-ichijo-boarding-machine-movie-ver-reissue-aca82131-2# update/edit: now on Order Stop status again as of this update/edit: If you missed out again, try ordering them again during scheduled release-date... fyi new release date schedule for both is 8/24, per https://arcadia.ac/user_data/news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisaForever Posted 12 hours ago Share Posted 12 hours ago 18 hours ago, Radioguy said: Yeah, I only cited the KOs as existing and being a potential threat, but an Arcadia 1/60 is a must have. I'm glad to own a couple. There are KOs of Valks? I mean I shouldn't be surprised, just haven't ever come across any online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no3Ljm Posted 4 hours ago Share Posted 4 hours ago 7 hours ago, MisaForever said: There are KOs of Valks? I mean I shouldn't be surprised, just haven't ever come across any online. Yup, since 2017. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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