xrentonx

Yeah, it's all white plastic underneath

Go slow and very careful, unfortunately...if you did it right, there is room enough that the very tip won't touch the underside of the head plate.

Yeah watch out when locking the nose into the chest when going to Batty mode because PAINT SCRAP-AGE

Yeah, I want a 27 renewal because the announcement that Bandai released months back about a re-release of the original mold ain't gonna cut it. It's renewal or nothing for me and preferably in the canon-fodder scheme from the show...or give me a Grace custom!

Got two coming so I'm all set!

Interesting! Wondering if they were just holding a few more of their allotments for the second round...

I wanted that green canopy with fold crystals so bad!

Does anyone remember if Otacute opened their preorders previously? Congrats guys Was this for the 25F?

Glad I picked it up when I did then!

Yeah, whenever I have time, space, and the means to do it, that pink head detail is coming off. Don't care about anime accuracy!

^^^ Yeah, that is clear white plastic painted with clear red paint. Personally I would not buy these stands because I can't risk one day forgetting to position them so they don't touch painted surfaces. They're nice and all but I can forget these little details to watch out for and accidents happen. These things are either fully safe with my collectibles or no sale. Sorry

That's a big MAYBE... Sometimes people cancel out their preorders and the preorder is placed back up on the sites and that's a chance to get one...but it is very random. Other times, stores may hold a few allotments from their preorders and put them up for sale on release day. It is really up to the store though. Best bet is to keep watching this thread for now. Most of us are pretty helpful and will post when we see a preorder open or if there is a chance to purchase one through other means. Good luck, man! A would hate for a situation like this to happen to me

It's not perfect but it's pretty damn great. I'm just sad we may never see the mold refined into the yf-19

Ozma is my favorite and I have one already but I'm in for two more. His gun is a different color than the one in the show and it's perfect

All the complaining and bitching that we do, we pretty much all got one in the end! Fun times! ...not that fun

Yeah, give it some time. It's the weekend over there so you won't hear anything until tomorrow night at the earliest. Relax, you lucky ducks! I wish I got in on that HLJ order

I'm pretty familiar with e-commerce, buying/selling, working with distys and vendors, etc from helping run a small systems integrator business here in CA so I think I might be able to explain a little of what's going on. Keep in mind I'm not saying this is exactly how it is but it is an educated guess on my part so here goes. NY purchases from the regular distribution channels like every other toy reseller/e-tailer out there. Bandai allots them a number of stock for their preorders (probably through their distributors as I doubt Bandai sells direct to any e-tailer). People need to realize that they are NOT Bandai's customers. Bandai's customers are the e-tailers and brick & mortar stores that sell their toys to you. Probably even one removed from that...Bandai sells to the toy distributors out there who in turn sell to the e-tailers and brick & mortars. So on preorders, if you check all of the toy websites out there like HLJ, NY, Amiami...their prices are all within the same range on that initial preorder period (ignoring any 5%, 10%, 15%, etc discounts they may offer). Once all of the preorders run out, that's it unless Bandai increases their scheduled production numbers and adds more units into the market. Once something is sold out, most resellers like HLJ, Amiami, etc don't offer any more units for sale. They cannot get more stock from their distributors so the preorder is SOLD OUT. NY however operates a little differently. They have this initial preorder period where their prices are usually all in line with the other e-tailers out there. Stock is obtained through the regular distribution channels same as every place else. However, after they run out, they don't stop there like HLJ or Amiami. Once NY runs out of their initial stock, they go to the grey market to obtain additional stock. This grey market is perfectly legal but is not an authorized channel like going through the normal toy distributors. This grey market can exist between retailer to retailer, especially if they are a small mom & pop type store. Basically there is nothing in the rules that say NY cannot purchase additional stock from sources outside of their distributor(s). Any store can do this. What basically happens is NY's buyers make calls to other stores and buy up their stock if they are offering it. Or they send a guy out to the local brick and mortar stores and buy up stock in person if that is an option. Hell, they can purchase from a broker if one exists. This makes the price go up since these stores are likely not going to sell to NY at their cost (the cost they purchased from their distributors). Those stores that are selling to NY are going to make a profit off their stock one way or another so they may sell to NY at whatever price they want to offer and NY can take it or leave it. You can call it a finders fee or whatever, but NY in turn marks up the price on the stock they obtained in the grey market in order to make a profit themselves. Basically this cost is passed onto their customers. The two prices you are seeing is a result of this grey market. The two product pages are likely the result of purchasing the stock from two different stores/sources in the grey market and the different prices (one being higher at about $50 more) are a reflection of that. Now NY can sell that $258.91 unit at a loss if they want but that is unlikely given the fact that these are highly sought after collectables that will sell in the long run. It may sit in stock for a long time but there will (may) be a customer who is willing to pay that higher price. For now, they'll sell out of the lower priced stock but once that is gone, there will be no choice but to purchase the units at $258.91 or they mark it up again. Just buy the lower priced one for now if you are looking for one. The Valks are physically the same in every way though. Where they are sourced from is a different story entirely.

Probably not til Sunday here in the U.S. but it's winding down...

I don't collect third party stuff or RC or many TFs but that RC is now on my radar!

Moral of the story is NEVER count out HLJ because they WILL put up preorders at weird-ass times ...now if I can be awake during those times I'd be golden!

These are strange times in Macross fandom.

Hlj is hard to predict most of the time compared to other places

I knew I'd sleep through hlj! Totally collapsed into bed last night. Ah well at least I have what I want preordered.

Yeah, there's no way a situation like this would happen where Bandai allocates that many to NY. If that was the case, NY wouldn't be allowed to mark up the units like they do.They're working outside of the usual distys...in a grey market.

Now that they've started reissuing the Valks, when are they gonna get around to Michael's super packs? Feels like I've been waiting ages for that announcement.