Anasazi37
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Everything posted by Anasazi37
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It wasn't that much the first time around, and initial estimates from HLJ were twice that (33,720), meaning that shipping was just as much as the kit itself. I don't know what HLJ did, but they got the cost down to something more reasonable after a bunch of customers complained (myself included). It's a big box, so I get that overseas shipping will cost more, but the initial numbers were ridiculous. I'm not sure if other stores will be as accommodating as HLJ. I just went through the motions of buying one on Amazon Japan (40,101). The only shipping option to the US is AmazonGlobal International Shipping (Priority), which is 33,565. Same problem as HLJ. The 16,700 option might be the best one out there right now.
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You beat me to it. I was just digging up the same pictures. Those are definitely TV hands. I could see Bandai charging $25/set for these (just because they can), given that the missiles were $35/set. Six small pieces of plastic for $25....
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That's where I started about 17(!) years ago, quickly moved to using an ALPS printer that can handle white. Took a few years to get the process down. I "retired" from printing about ten years ago, but recently started it up again on a very limited basis because Max Factory made the very bad decision to only include stickers with their $350 1/20 scale Gerwalk kit (they eventually released decals, but I think mine are better ). PM with what you guys need and I'll see what I can do. The biggest limitation for me right now is the ink my printer requires. I *think* I've tracked down a new supplier with somewhat reasonable prices.
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Maybe for FedEx. HLJ gave me these three options when I contacted their customer support team about unreasonably high estimates for shipping to the US that their site generated automatically: EMS ￥9,840 FedEx ￥18,494 DHL ￥20,266 If you can get flat rate DHL shipping through Amazon Japan, that would definitely be better. They also look to be cheaper than 42,000. (check out the link @tekeringshared)
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Yeah...I need to put an actual site together instead of using the crappy options Google's drag-and-drop site builder gives you. If you click on the names of the sets in the dropdown list you get images, but it's all very clunky. (and thanks for the compliment)
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Drop me a message. I made a full line of decals and stickers specifically designed for the Yamato 1/48 back in the day and might be able to hook you up. Here's an archive site I threw together with images of everything: https://sites.google.com/site/tridentdesignworksdecals/ The site isn't easy to navigate at the moment. Go to the upper left, click on Yamato, then click on 1/48 to see the full list. The Standard and Standard FAST Pack sets were the ones most people wanted for the VF-1S.
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My fighter kit arrived today! I can definitely think of worse problems than having to build both of these beauties. They do take up a lot of space, though. Armament sets are still at HLJ, need to get those shipped soon. I was surprised by the flimsier packaging for the fighter kit compared to gerwalk. They basically put a light cardboard wrapper around two boxes. I can't decide if that's better or worse, but it does make it harder to move since the boxes slide around and if I do open up the boxes to look at the stickers and instructions, I'll have to tape them shut again.
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My Max showed up from NY a few days ago. No damage to the box, no shoulder hinge issues. That blue is impressive in person. I've been waiting six months to do this. Still tweaking the pose, but it's about as close as you can get with a DX.
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Went to bed early, got plenty of sleep, checked all of the usual stores at 0600 Mountain Time before heading to work, and the only one sold out was HLJ. Came home from work, checked again at 1730 and it's the same. That experience is much closer to what it should be for Macross fans outside of Japan who want Bandai stuff. HLJ is still a popular option, so it makes sense that they'd get wiped out, but there should be plenty of other options at or near retail without having to compulsively hit F5 across multiple browser tabs in the middle of the night and hoping you don't get cartjacked every time you try to check out. Was a little surprised to see how much lower NY is selling it for, but a little competition is a good thing.
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HLJ followed up on my inquiry about exorbitantly high shipping costs for the fighter kit last night. Here's what they said: Now *that* is more like it. Very happy that they were able to help us out. If you have one in your private warehouse and haven't contacted customer service about shipping, do so.
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Thoughts some screencaps might help. Good lord the armaments are big.
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Hang in there. I did the exactly the same thing and mine finally "shipped" on Friday (Japan Time). Looks like it's somewhere between Osaka and Los Angeles right now.
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Mirage's VF-31C and Super Parts are available on Mandarake: https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1120829683 https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1089784422 So are Messer's Super Parts (Jungle, too): https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1075734347 https://jungle-scs.co.jp/sale_en/products/detail/282414 They probably won't last long
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Huh. Not where I thought they were going next. The Hasegawa kits are plenty detailed and, like @TMBounty_Huntersays, they're inexpensive. Would prefer for them to get working on a 1/20 Strike Battroid kit.
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Mainly because Bandai is completely unpredictable. There doesn't seem to be any logic to what they release and when.
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I'm hoping that our collective (and understandable) "meh" response to this release won't kill the HMR line.
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Early look at what Max Factory is displaying at the All Japan Hobby Show. Is that a 1/20 fighter with no armor?
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I heard back from HLJ within a few hours and this was their response: I will give HLJ credit for having excellent customer service. It probably also helped that I provided them with all of that info. It's difficult to ignore cold, hard data. So, if you have an MF-37 in your Private Warehouse, hang in there a bit longer before you decide to ship it or cancel your order. My guess is that we'll get an EMS option.
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Just received my "in prep" notice from NY, too. And I think I was in the first wave of scalper markup POs where they secured stock from other people, so hopefully they have all of that stock in house now and will be clearing out their shipping backlog....
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Just sent a long message to HLJ asking them to honor what they did for the gerwalk kit and give us the option to use EMS for shipping. I told them that I based my purchasing decision on the reasonable expectation that they would offer that option for the fighter kit, too. It's $200 less than FedEx. I'm willing to be a pain in their backside for that much money--especially since the alternative is paying as much for shipping as I did for the kit and I can't really justify that. I pointed them to my support ticket from January where they provided lower-cost quotes across the board for the larger and heavier MF-25 box, gave them my EMS estimate from Japan Post for the MF-37, and included the picture of the box that @tekering posted which clearly shows the gross weight and dimensions. I'm hoping that they'll do the right thing.
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That's incredibly generous of you. Using the picture you shared of the box with the dimensions and weight printed on it, I got a rough EMS estimate from Japan Post's website that is waaaaaaay more reasonable: 13,400 yen. That's in line with what HLJ quoted me for EMS shipping in January for the gerwalk kit. It's actually less expensive than the gerwalk kit, but that makes sense because the fighter kit weighs about 1kg less.
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Thanks for doing that for us, @tekering. I was having a hard time believing that the fighter box was larger. When I had my gerwalk kit shipped in early January to the US, this is what HLJ quoted me: EMS: 15,500 yen FedEx: 28,713 yen DHL: 21,820 yen I can confirm that when you try to ship the fighter kit from your Private Warehouse on your own, the estimate is really high ($327 for me). That's insane.
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Holy cow those are big. I have two sets in my private warehouse at HLJ, was wondering what shipping was going to cost me...now I have a decent idea. Glad to see that decals are included (contrary to what's listed on the Max Factory site). Odd that there aren't white UUM-7 markings. I've always used the Hasegawa Weapons Set as a guide and black markings on dark paint won't show up well:
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Looks like NY still has the Fighter kit available, but for 7000 yen more than what HLJ charged: https://www.nippon-yasan.com/figures/28049-plamax-mf-37-minimum-factory-vf-1-super-strike-fighter-valkyrie.html
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That pretty much sums up everything I’ve learned over the past year...
