ThreeZero ROBOTECH (Macross) Toys

[jenius]

Miria is on it's way to me now.

Edited November 11 by jenius

[rsvictor1976]

6 minutes ago, jenius said:

Miria is on it's way to me now.

Are they shipping through DHL?

[twich]

I just got my ThreeZero VF-1S a week or so ago, while I enjoy that the arms slide on the sliding mechanism, one of the landing light things on the right wing was not glued into place and fell off.  I had to gorilla glue it on.  The airbrake mechanism does not sit flat, like it does on my ThreeZero VF-1J, so I dont know if anyone has a fix for the airbrake, but overall, I enjoy the VF-1S and this is really my first one in a long time, since the original v1 Yamato 1/60 release.

Twich

[jenius]

1 hour ago, rsvictor1976 said:

Are they shipping through DHL?

Yes, and I'm still sad that they haven't sent me the part they promised for my Roy because they cannot ship to the US... Not sure how that makes sense.

[Radioguy]

1 hour ago, jenius said:

Miria is on it's way to me now.

Lucky. I missed the Amazon offering.

[rsvictor1976]

Wasn’t Max supposed to come out at the same time?

[themarvelknight]

I noticed on the photos of the super parts that they are using a 1S with a Rick/Hikaru pilot figure. I think they said the parts are to be separate but I’m wondering if they are going to release a bundle set with Rick as the 1S pilot. Haven’t seen or heard any confirmation on a bundle yet. 

[jenius]

3 hours ago, rsvictor1976 said:

Wasn’t Max supposed to come out at the same time?

No, pre-orders we're at the same time but one month apart delivery.

[rsvictor1976]

Looks like it's out in Hong Kong.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02oM78cKjwJzeBwq9wmqFJCYAeQ4gmXfnY7pLSNmNYUZFD3ZpWgtWhSaKPovc6GSxKl&id=100064129081737

Edited November 14 by rsvictor1976

[twich]

So, my VF-1S’s canopy just broke off. I don’t know how the warranty thing goes with a ThreeZero, but I filled out the card and emailed an inquiry. 
Twich

Edited November 17 by twich

[grogall]

18 minutes ago, twich said:

So, my VF-1S’s canopy just broke off. I don’t know how the warranty thing goes with a ThreeZero, but I filled out the card and emailed an inquiry. 
Twich

Well wish you good luck, hope they send you a replacement soon!

[jenius]

For me it was the little piece that slides in the nosecone, must have pinched it during transformation. One tiny piece and I've been dealing with my approved claim for many months, hope you have better luck than me!

[rsvictor1976]

I had them send out a new stand since the first one I got was a little messed up. It took about a month to receive but this was all before the tariff mess.

[twich]

ThreeZero response:

Dear Customer,

Originally when you found these issues, you should contact us first and we may arrange the repairing service after finish the warranty registrations. But now you had glue it and also not register the warranty until now, the factory cannot help due to use the glue to fix it.

Please show us the buying receipt and the warranty sheet images for checking first. Thanks!

Best Regards,
Threezero CS

 

I know that this must be translated Engrish, but I’m guessing that this is ThreeZero speech for “tough crap”?

Twich

[Chronocidal]

Unfortunately this is kind of what I've come to expect from companies in China, but my interaction with them to replace my VF-1J's wing (came with damaged paint in the package) was nothing but smooth, if a little long.

What's tricky is when they actually want the item returned for a replacement, at which point, you're probably much better off fixing it yourself.  In my case, they just sent out a replacement wing, since it was easy to swap out, and they didn't ask for the damaged one back.  With something like the canopy, you might have to replace the entire nose section, so they might want you to send it back before they replace it.

Depending on what you buy from China, I've seen cases where someone received a faulty item, and they didn't want it back, but they wanted photographic proof that the purchaser had completely destroyed the faulty item before they would send a new one.  The product in question was a flight sim joystick, and they wanted the buyer to disassemble the entire thing, smash all of the individual components with a hammer, and send them photographic proof of the destruction before they would discuss a replacement.  That particular seller is absolutely draconic about not letting people scrounge their faulty products for spare parts.

Edited November 17 by Chronocidal

[twich]

13 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Unfortunately this is kind of what I've come to expect from companies in China, but my interaction with them to replace my VF-1J's wing (came with damaged paint in the package) was nothing but smooth, if a little long.

What's tricky is when they actually want the item returned for a replacement, at which point, you're probably much better off fixing it yourself.  In my case, they just sent out a replacement wing, since it was easy to swap out, and they didn't ask for the damaged one back.  With something like the canopy, you might have to replace the entire nose section, so they might want you to send it back before they replace it.

Depending on what you buy from China, I've seen cases where someone received a faulty item, and they didn't want it back, but they wanted photographic proof that the purchaser had completely destroyed the faulty item before they would send a new one.  The product in question was a flight sim joystick, and they wanted the buyer to disassemble the entire thing, smash all of the individual components with a hammer, and send them photographic proof of the destruction before they would discuss a replacement.  That particular seller is absolutely draconic about not letting people scrounge their faulty products for spare parts.

I had a very lengthy email discourse with the warranty people(?). It ended with them wanting me to disassemble my VF-1S(my air brake doesn’t sit flat, straight out of box) and send them the chest assembly with cockpit at my expense to Hong Kong, then they will try to fix it(take a few weeks) and then send it back to me. I told them that the cost of shipping isn’t worth disassembly of the jet and sending it to them for a non flush air brake, just send me the canopy assembly and call it good. I am waiting for a response. I have to say, my ThreeZero VF-1J had that disgustingly tight slide mechanism for the arms was a small trade off for all the QC problems I’ve had on the VF-1S.

QC issues right out of box:

-wing landing light assembly not glued to wing

-air brake does not sit flat

-canopy attachment assembly was not glued in from the factory and the canopy fell off multiple times

-the actual canopy broke off of the attachment assembly while opening canopy

Regardless of outcome, this will be my final ThreeZero VF-1 toy. Unless they offer something that curls my toes, like a 1/60 YF-4 or 1/60or 1/48 Alpha(Legioss)

for now, I just can’t open the canopy, it will still transform and stuff. Not what I want to be dealing with on a $180 transforming jet.

Twich

[grogall]

I only bought one VF-1 from ThreeZero and honestly haven't even opened it to take it out of the box! Now I'm even afraid too...😱!

But It's not the only toy that they made that has had grave issues, @jenius can tell you about his story with their 1/12 V.O.T.O.M line where almost all had issues in some form or another and that's a toy upward of $400 and I believe he had to pay to have it shipped back to China!? I think it should be on everyone's radar that this company has a quality control issue backed up by bad customer service! STAY AWAY!

Edited November 17 by grogall

[rsvictor1976]

24 minutes ago, grogall said:

I only bought one VF-1 from ThreeZero and honestly haven't even opened it to take it out of the box! Now I'm even afraid too...😱!

But It's not the only toy that they made that has had grave issues, @jenius can tell you about his story with their 1/12 V.O.T.O.M line where almost all had issues in some form or another and that's a toy upward of $400 and I believe he had to pay to have it shipped back to China!? I think it should be on everyone's radar that this company has a quality control issue backed up by bad customer service! STAY AWAY!

That's unfortunate. I've lucked out (knock on wood) and haven't had any issues with the VF-1 toys. I have both the 1J and 1S so far and was impressed with them enough to order the Max and Milia as well. The only issues I've heard of so far has been tariff related causing problems with shipping. 

Edited November 17 by rsvictor1976

[Chronocidal]

My VF-1J had the arm slider issue, along with the wing paint problem.  Fortunately the wing was a cheap enough component that they didn't balk over just sending me a new one, since it's not something they can really fix.

I never tried to complain about the sliders though, since that's a problem I knew I could fix myself.  I had to take the entire thing apart, but I was able to ream out the sliders with a small drill bit, and now they work perfectly.  The thing was completely impossible to transform until I did that, the arms would not move.

Edited November 17 by Chronocidal

[MKT]

Seeing how ThreeZero's warranty policy require customers to bear the defective items shipping cost to them, it might be a good idea to purchase their stuff from local toy stores moving forward.

In my case of the 1J arriving with a missing rear landing gear, it just so happened I procured it locally and the local toy store covered the cost of shipping the entire lower legs assembly back to ThreeZero in HK for repairs. TZ will cover return shipping of repaired item back to customer though.  

[twich]

I purchased mine through BigBadToyStore.com, guess I should contact them next since ThreeZerosaid that there is no postal service to the USA.

Twich

[jenius]

50 minutes ago, twich said:

I purchased mine through BigBadToyStore.com, guess I should contact them next since ThreeZerosaid that there is no postal service to the USA.

Twich

Grumble... No postage but they can still deliver the toys... They do not take customer service seriously.

[twich]

2 hours ago, jenius said:

Grumble... No postage but they can still deliver the toys... They do not take customer service seriously.

So I emailed BBTS, I will wait to hear what they say……fingers crossed!

Twich

[twich]

Update:

Much as I had anticipated, BBTS said that they can only offer a refund for the item returned.  While this is very generous of BBTS, I am not going to take them up on it.  I will just keep the canopy glued closed and move on.  Like I have said before, unless ThreeZero comes out with something like a 1/60 transforming YF-4 or a transforming Legioss, I am done with ThreeZero.  I like the design of their VF-1's, but the QC is just not adequate.  my $0.02 cents.

Twich

[Pontus]

11 hours ago, twich said:

Update:

Much as I had anticipated, BBTS said that they can only offer a refund for the item returned.  While this is very generous of BBTS, I am not going to take them up on it.  I will just keep the canopy glued closed and move on.  Like I have said before, unless ThreeZero comes out with something like a 1/60 transforming YF-4 or a transforming Legioss, I am done with ThreeZero.  I like the design of their VF-1's, but the QC is just not adequate.  my $0.02 cents.

Twich

They have VF-1S in stock currently.  They offered a full refund but not a replacement?  Or are you talking about a different model they don't have in stock?

[twich]

5 minutes ago, Pontus said:

They have VF-1S in stock currently.  They offered a full refund but not a replacement?  Or are you talking about a different model they don't have in stock?

Full refund, not an exchange.

Twich

[tekering]

7 hours ago, Pontus said:

They offered a full refund but not a replacement?

I would think that would be the preferable option.  You can buy yourself a replacement if you want it, or be content with the broken one you got for free. 😋

[m0n5t3r]

9 hours ago, twich said:

Full refund, not an exchange.

Twich

It wasn't an option to get the refund and just purchase a new one, or is there a substantial price difference? 

I didn't realize that there were others with QC issues with the 1S. I got my replacement parts from 3Z a little over a month after requesting them... for a scratched vertical stabilizer and damaged right shoulder pouldron out of the box. They gave me the whole backpack with both fins and 2 shoulder pouldrons. 

[twich]

3 hours ago, m0n5t3r said:

It wasn't an option to get the refund and just purchase a new one, or is there a substantial price difference? 

I didn't realize that there were others with QC issues with the 1S. I got my replacement parts from 3Z a little over a month after requesting them... for a scratched vertical stabilizer and damaged right shoulder pouldron out of the box. They gave me the whole backpack with both fins and 2 shoulder pouldrons. 

I went to ThreeZero first.  At first they told me to ship them the item at my cost and then they would maybe be able to repair it and then ship it back.  I told them to just send me the replacement canopy and attachment piece and they said that postage was not operating to the United States because of tariffs.  I was not expecting for BBTS to have replacement parts for the ThreeZero VF-1S, but I was hoping they could facilitate receiving the replacement piece and forwarding it to me.  They offered for me to ship it back as defective and they would credit me what it was worth, so technically, I could do that and buy another, but I thought that this would be another crap shoot for QC issues.  I would rather deal with a permanently glued canopy on a toy that can still transform and zoom around my bedroom then take a chance on some new problem on a different ThreeZero VF-1S.

Twich

[m0n5t3r]

1 hour ago, twich said:

I went to ThreeZero first.  At first they told me to ship them the item at my cost and then they would maybe be able to repair it and then ship it back.  I told them to just send me the replacement canopy and attachment piece and they said that postage was not operating to the United States because of tariffs.  I was not expecting for BBTS to have replacement parts for the ThreeZero VF-1S, but I was hoping they could facilitate receiving the replacement piece and forwarding it to me.  They offered for me to ship it back as defective and they would credit me what it was worth, so technically, I could do that and buy another, but I thought that this would be another crap shoot for QC issues.  I would rather deal with a permanently glued canopy on a toy that can still transform and zoom around my bedroom then take a chance on some new problem on a different ThreeZero VF-1S.

Twich

Fair enough. I myself very rarely open the canopies on any of my VFs anyway 😅. As for my 3Z VF-1S, and any other VF-1 I may acquire from them in the future, they're gonna stay 99% of the time in battroid cuz that's mode they shine the most in, imo.

Edited yesterday at 07:28 AM by m0n5t3r

[Chronocidal]

That's pretty much the only reason I bought the ones I have.  They've got some nice features that improve battroid (minus the ugly elbows), but they just fall behind in fighter mode in general when compared with most of the other recent releases.

[Pontus]

7 hours ago, m0n5t3r said:

they're gonna stay 99% of the time in battroid cuz that's mode they shine the most in, imo.

I respectfully disagree.  With great balance in the mode, a backpack that folds up nicely with an antenna, a gunpod strap, crystal clear canopy with good interior/pilot detail, the flaps on the legs that allow the feet to articulate, perfect scale SDMF fixed pose hands, not to mention the head that drops down perfectly underneath, I would submit that this is by far the best in gerwalk in which mine stays on my shelf at work here.  THAT HEAD DROP THO!  It's beautiful!  All that batroid has but with the wings out and canopy cleared.  I hate gerwalk in almost every later valk, but I will always have a soft spot for VF-1 Gerwalk.  And this one nails it!😍

[m0n5t3r]

5 hours ago, Pontus said:

I respectfully disagree.  With great balance in the mode, a backpack that folds up nicely with an antenna, a gunpod strap, crystal clear canopy with good interior/pilot detail, the flaps on the legs that allow the feet to articulate, perfect scale SDMF fixed pose hands, not to mention the head that drops down perfectly underneath, I would submit that this is by far the best in gerwalk in which mine stays on my shelf at work here.  THAT HEAD DROP THO!  It's beautiful!  All that batroid has but with the wings out and canopy cleared.  I hate gerwalk in almost every later valk, but I will always have a soft spot for VF-1 Gerwalk.  And this one nails it!😍

Touché!

I have to admit that I almost always skip Gerwalk mode during transformation . Plus, out of all the VF toys I own, only 1 is displayed in Gerwalk (≈75% in Fighter and the rest in Battroid). All very good points for this VF-1 Gerwalk mode and very cool pose too.

I did transform my 1S to fighter and propped it on its stand... that lasted less than a day cuz I just really prefer that beefy Battroid mode with that glorious 1S head with its perfectly green, transparent visor.

If 3Z makes a 1D or Max's 1A, I would definitely consider displaying those in Gerwalk mode. 

Edited 19 hours ago by m0n5t3r

[Big s]

6 hours ago, Pontus said:

I respectfully disagree.  With great balance in the mode, a backpack that folds up nicely with an antenna, a gunpod strap, crystal clear canopy with good interior/pilot detail, the flaps on the legs that allow the feet to articulate, perfect scale SDMF fixed pose hands, not to mention the head that drops down perfectly underneath, I would submit that this is by far the best in gerwalk in which mine stays on my shelf at work here.  THAT HEAD DROP THO!  It's beautiful!  All that batroid has but with the wings out and canopy cleared.  I hate gerwalk in almost every later valk, but I will always have a soft spot for VF-1 Gerwalk.  And this one nails it!😍

I’ve seen a lot of battroid pics and it tends to look a bit chunky in spots and the fighter kinda has the same issue, but i think you’re really on to something by leaving it in Gerwalk. 

[jenius]

The first VF-1 toy optimized for GERWALK.