Anasazi37

That's exactly what my plush gunpod is missing, too!

Test print came out pretty well. I'm not 100% happy with the handle. I think it was under-supported during the print. Will fix that this weekend and run the print job again. Light sanding takes care of the slight faceting on the barrel.

Let's give this a shot....

Took a break from working on the 3D scanner to modify the GU-11 gunpod so it's closer to the anime. Fun project for a Sunday morning. Will definitely print this in resin for all of my 1/55 customs instead of modifying existing gunpods (my original plan). Thinking I'll keep the front part separate for ease of printing and painting.

Among other things, I told them that their markup on Worldwide Macross items was shameful, that they put far too much tampo printing on their toys, that limiting TWE items to Japan was insulting, and that they ruined a perfectly good Angel Birds release by stamping that ugly logo all over it. Stick to canon, finish your existing lines, don't artificially limit access to items, and don't tease us with prototypes (Destroids, Regult Scouts, YF-21, etc.) if you're not going to follow through. I didn't pull any punches.

That's my current theory. Or we're dealing with an elaborate hoax. I couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes after reading this. I check out both Target *and* Walgreens. Amazing selection of Macross products at both stores.

I now can't unsee that crotch piece. And I was planning to display this valk in Battroid. Guess I'll have to rotate it at least 45 degrees, in some kind of dynamic pose, so I don't have to look at it.

I just fired up a VPN with a connection through Tokyo and can only see the "Change of Ownership" page. Interesting.

Gave them a piece of my mind.

Same here. Opted to pay up front at AE to take advantage of the current exchange rate. It's how I was able to justify (to myself) purchasing Arcadia's plush gunpod, too! I was curious to see how big of a markup we'd be dealing with for the worldwide release. Given that the MSRP in Japan, without taxes, is ¥26,000 ($180), the markup is $100. That's 56% higher, which is significant. It's not the fault of BBTS or the other stores offering it outside of Japan--unless they're all part of some extremely well-organized secret toy store syndicate that ensures higher prices. I think we've established, after a few of these WWM releases, that Bandai just decided it was in their best interest to jack up the prices for stores overseas, who then pass that additional cost on to us. They're probably wagering that we're all more willing to hand over 56% more money instead of having to deal with PO Madness and scalpers. Are they right? I don't know.

WWM is stamped on the wings of the first worldwide valk:

Except one wing will have "NO STEP" markings and the other will have "ꟼƎTƧ OИ" to maintain visual symmetry

I pre-ordered the two latest Tiny Session releases, that also went live today at 4pm JST, from HLJ: https://www.hlj.com/tiny-session-vf-31j-siegfried-hayate-immelmann-machine-with-freyja-wion-bans64152 https://www.hlj.com/tiny-session-vf-31f-siegfried-messer-ihlefeld-machine-with-kaname-buccaneer-bans64153 Looks like they are both still available. I figured everyone would be fighting it out for the VF-25 Alto, so I focused on getting that one first (from AE), then circled back to pick up the two Tiny Session releases. I got all three items, across AE and HLJ, over the span of a minute. That's the game these days, unfortunately.

Agreed! On HLJ you now get a whole minute to try to secure a PO instead of seeing the item instantly sold out after an F5 page refresh. As I was buying mine at AE (they posted first), I was also refreshing the HLJ page to see how long it took to sell out. It took long enough that I probably could have bought one there, too, but opted to not be greedy and let someone else have it. I did grab the next two Tiny Sessions on HLJ, though. ...and those of us who are set in our ways! I'm having a hard time letting go of my mistrust of Bandai's international distribution plans and buying from a store in the US. I know that doesn't help with respect to encouraging Bandai to keep doing worldwide releases, but they also shouldn't jack up the per unit price for overseas customers by such a large amount. AE is sold out now, BTW.

...now with worse quality control....

And here: https://ameblo.jp/arcadiaac

Absolutely

Starting with filament (PLA) instead of resin is not a bad idea. PLA printers tend to be a lot less expensive and you don't have to worry about the messy prep and cleanup that comes with resin. I have both types, and both serve clear and complementary purposes for me (PLA for larger less detailed stuff, resin for smaller more detailed stuff). I started with PLA and am very glad that I did. Spent several months getting the hang of it, learning to effectively use the software and get reliable prints. Involved lots of reading advice online (especially Reddit threads) and experimenting. I bought a Creality CR-6 SE, mainly because it came with a bed auto-leveling feature that is VERY useful. Most companies selling PLA printers will give you a custom-branded version of the open source Cura slicing software (https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura), but I highly recommend just going straight to the source and downloading that instead. Way more flexibility in how you can print and it's updated regularly. Most companies also run some custom-branded version of the Marlin firmware on the printers themselves, and it tends to limit the capabilities of those printers. There are communities of developers that have put together better and more flexible firmware for a lot of printers and if you're brave enough to install it, you do get better results. I've been running the "community" firmware on my CR-6 SE for more than a year and don't regret it one bit. I eventually picked up a resin printer when it was clear that I needed more than a few parts for the kits I was working on and I didn't want to pay exorbitant prices to have someone else print them for me (using an online service like Craftcloud). My breaking point was a project where outsourcing the resin printing would cost more than just buying a printer and figuring out how to use it. Resin is a completely different animal compared to PLA. Even the slicing software is different. I use Chitubox (https://www.chitubox.com/en/index), but Lychee is another option. I really don't like Lychee, though, because you're subjected to ads, your activities are tracked by the developers, and it can't do certain basic things like mirror parts that are already on supports. I bought an Elegoo Saturn, which has been more than sufficient for my needs. Standard resin, like standard PLA, costs about $25/kg. The printer needs to be on a level surface in a well-ventilated area that doesn't get a lot of direct sunlight (or just put a cover or box over the printer when it's in use, which is what I do because there's a window nearby). You'll also want to have a good mask (I keep a KN-95 handy) so you don't breathe in the fumes and good nitrile gloves so you don't get uncured resin on your skin. Printed parts have to be cleaned before they are cured and that's a multi-step process. I rinse in Mean Green, then water, then isopropyl alcohol. I use an Elegoo Mercury curing station, but you can also put parts out in the sun to cure. It takes a lot longer and results can be inconsistent, though. Whether you take the parts off of their supports before or after curing depends on the part. Cleaning up the printer afterwards, including pouring unused resin back into the bottle and cleaning the tank, is a bit of an art form. I developed a routine for everything I just described, but it took experimentation over time. There are a lot of scanner options out there and until you get to the ones that cost thousands of dollars, they all suck in different ways. I've tried several and ended up building my own because I was so frustrated. Some have good hardware but crappy software. Others have good software but crappy hardware.

I'm glad that Bandai decided against putting WWM on the wing and adding a gigantic, ugly, non-canon squadron logo in multiple places under the guise of "some markings have been added" (statement found on the Google Translate version of the product page).

It likely will be since anything that isn't SDFM is fair game, but stores outside of Japan generally don't start taking orders until after PO Madness happens in Japan. About 1-2 weeks later, I think, but that's just a rough guess based on the first few WWM releases. LP is usually one of the first stores to post a link. I won't buy from them, based on the experiences of many MW members.

Looks like Freya and Kaname are up next:

I still call it Future as well. Just easier that way. Still made by Pledge and is called "Pledge Revive It Floor Gloss" now: http://www.finescale.com/how-to/tips/2018/05/reader-tips-pledge-future-gloss-has-a-new-name Actually, I stand corrected. Just checked online and Pledge discontinued it in January of this year. Crap.

I only have one VF-25 in my collection right now, a later-run Ozma with Armor. Cost me a lot on the secondary market to get it, so I couldn't justify picking up an Alto as well--much less one with accessories. I'm mildly happy about this reissue because I might be able to get an Alto, with Super Parts, as MSRP. With my luck, I'll end up with one that has some serious QC issues, but that's the risk these days.