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mantisfists

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  1. mantisfists
    Same.
  2. mantisfists
    It'd be my guess that was from the removable side covers scraping the fuselage while connecting the front and rear of the plane during transformation into battloid mode. While it sucks that happened, whether it was a decal or tampo, I'd still be wary of letting it scrape for fear of scraping.
  3. mantisfists
    This, I totally get and is a very valid reason for staying away (not to say price point isn't).
  4. mantisfists
    I don't want to speak for Stampeed Valkyrie, but I think the contentiousness (I wasn't even sure that was a word but spellcheck didn't flag it so, hey....) might be partially due to the assumption that everyone most people a lot of people more than a few people are able to get DXs at anywhere near MSRP. Lets face it, there's a window that's MAYBE a few minutes.....at 0200-0500 in the US, depending on what time zone you live in. Many people might not have the access to the connection speeds, hardware or whatever to even get through in that tiny window which, again, is at a time of day that most people can't reasonably expect to stay up till and be productive in any way the next day. Not to mention most "normal" people don't have the time to spend away from their family or career responsibilities to hunt for the best deals for a toy. So, while it's "possible" for a select few to get them for a good price, for the majority of people, it's just not realistic. How many people actually get these things at MSRP outside of Japan who aren't using bots, anyway? 50? 100? I'd be skeptical at more than 100. That's not a lot. I'm with the insane people here that stay up to crazy hours and scour to get what I want, and I'm cool with that. I'm also used to getting little to no sleep or waking up at any time and being able to function at work or at home. I totally get somebody else not being able to do that and the frustration that could come from somebody saying that it's easy or even realistic for somebody to do what is needed to get these valks for a reasonable price....or even worse, doing all of those things and still not getting one and feeling like they just wasted their time. I'm not hating on being able to get a great price on these things, but you're the top 1%. The other 99% of people have a totally different price they have to pay. I think, DYRL VF-1S, the fact that you love the rush that comes with getting these toys speaks volumes to just how difficult it is to get them at anywhere near MSRP. And, while I don't let it bother me when people say it's easy and everyone can do it, I can see how somebody could get frustrated. Just trying to give another perspective. That being said.....like I mentioned a bit earlier, I agree with you DYRL that the price is getting close enough to the DX that any further price raises would make me question getting one over a (or another) DX. It's still priced well enough (20-50% cheaper is not a small margin), and has enough different features that I'm more than willing to bite.....but, it's getting close.
  5. mantisfists
    That's good eyes. I was on there today looking to see if the GBP was up for preorder and didn't even see that. I got a V2 with fast packs because....why not? But, $139.90 is getting close to DX pricing and, while I love the KC line, that's pushing it, price wise.
  6. mantisfists
    Hey, thanks. It actually wasn't that bad. It took a few hours. Since I'd never used this wash before (and the only other wash I'd done was a pastel wash 15 or so years ago) I did the removable chest side panels first to get a feel for it. Was super easy. I did it in stages. Started in fighter mode with the wings and stabilizers. Once those were dried and wiped, did the main body. From there, I did separate the legs from the upper body via the body swivel clasp, but that was the extent of my disassembly. I did kind of a half way transformation of the upper body just to expose everything and got the rest from there. I didn't use any kind of finish or coat to seal it. I probably should have taped the canopy but I just opened it to keep it out of the way and it worked out fine for me. The beautiful thing with that Flory wash is that any mistakes I made, I could wipe away with normal tap water. The TV hands look like crap. But, I wanted to use them anyway to get the good booty pic. The gaps in between the fingers were too wide for the wash to look good in. I think I'll go back over them with a pen. It's not perfect by any means, but I'm very happy with how it turned out, and me being able to say that, I believe, is a testament to how easy and fun the process was. I had a blast doing it. I can definitely see how some of these guys can get so into customizing their valks.
  7. mantisfists
    Git em, Roy! Guess we should be calling him Royy Focker Fockers from now on.
  8. mantisfists
    Been trying to get ahold of one of these little mamas for a while now and finally snagged one..... Not 1/100 scale, unfortunately....but, still scales well enough to party with some of the boys last night! Happy New Year, everyone! 2021 has GOT to be better, right? Right?
  9. mantisfists
    Now, that would be cool!
  10. mantisfists
    Just finished giving Max's 1A a wash. Thanks to Lolicon for the Flory wash suggestion. Very happy with the results. Cue the BeeGees..... ...or Cardi-B.... You can look but don't touch. Max's milkshake bring the Meltran to the yard, and they're like "It's better than yours". *edit* You're welcome for that little ear worm, Macrossworld. Don't say I never contributed anything. :P I'm sorry, but this is what the DXs are supposed to look like. I really wish Bandai had done this themselves (much like Kitzconcept does) or, at the very least, offered a Premium Finish version. I don't have the best lighting, so the pics don't do it justice....nor did I do a fantastic job....but, the panel lines just make the DX look fantastic, in my opinion. Even sitting in his clamshell, Max absolutely pops I was honestly more than a little underwhelmed with the DX line. While I was getting at least one of every release (so far), I was really only doing it because I didn't want to have to sell my wife and daughter's cars if I decided to get them later and I figured if I decided to just stick with the Yamies (which are still great), I could simply sell them off and be none the worse off. But, the DX, with the tampo printing AND the wash? Man...it makes my heart flutter every time I glance at it (maybe my wife is right to hate these things). I still prefer Yamato's more flat finish to Bandai's gloss, but other than that.....wow. What a difference. I can't imagine what Lolicon's, RedComet's and the other resident customizers' work looks like in person.
  11. mantisfists
    Me looking at RedComet's pic.....
  12. mantisfists
  13. mantisfists
  14. mantisfists
    In the last 6 months, I've bought at least 10 items from Mandarake and I've been happy with the condition and price of every item I've received. The only issue I've ever had from Manda was some of the shipping rates being inconsistent. Even then, the DHL they use got here extremely fast and the items were packed very securely. For the most part, the items I got were described as having damaged packaging/unopened, but I couldn't find a single blemish on the boxes. Obviously, their standards are WAY higher than mine. Definitely recommend using them.
  15. mantisfists
    Hmm. Mine still shows as pending. Limbo it is, I guess. Has anybody received a "Order Completed (awaiting arrival)" designation?
  16. mantisfists
    Has anybody gotten an actual confirmation from FromJapan or are people only receiving cancellations? I haven't received anything from them and they still haven't cancelled my payment so I'm hoping that means they've secured the two I ordered from them but I'm curious if anybody has gotten anything from them.
  17. mantisfists
    First Transformer purchase for myself in over 30 years and man was it worth it. If this thing had been available back then, I'd have lost my damn mind. I wanted to take it with me to my in-laws for Christmas dinner like I was 12 again.
  18. mantisfists
    Well, dammit. I haven't heard boo from FJ (where I've ordered 2) or Big in Japan (where I've ordered 1). I'm guessing the Big in Japan one went through since they posted more inventory well after I'd put in my order but I was hoping to know if my FJ order had fallen through or not so that I could try and get one more, if needed. Looks like I'll be glad I ordered the "just in case" 1D from BiJ so, hopefully, at least I have one. But, since I haven't heard from either of them....who knows? Would have been nice to know I'd secured one before I went to bed. Oh, well. Such is my luck. Congrats to those that have confirmed.
  19. mantisfists
    Does a Tenso account allow you to order straight from the Bandai website?
  20. mantisfists
    That's a bummer, man. I'd still contact KC over this, though. I ordered a 1J on ebay that came with a bent head laser. When I tried to straighten it out, it snapped off. When I contacted KC about it, they offered to send me a new head to be shipped with another 1J I preordered for the GBP armor set. Their customer service seems to be pretty good (at least in my experience), so they may be able to help you. I'm sure they'd at least look at options to do so. At this point, what have you got to lose I guess, right? That does suck, though, man. I felt really nervous about flexing that joint too much as there doesn't seem to be a way to know how far you can flex it before it would break. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up every time I manipulated it. I'll make sure to be extra careful. Thanks for the heads up.
  21. mantisfists
    Hey, thanks man. Just ordered some of Flory's wash and I'll try it out. I've used ink pens before on some of my Yammies and, while I liked the results, I liked the wash much better. Haven't tried a mechanical pencil, though. Sounds interesting. I might have to try that as well. Thanks for the thread and video links as well. I could (and have) read and watch those for hours.
  22. mantisfists
    I like the color of the TV super parts MUCH better than the movie strike parts. I'm glad I ordered the 3 that I did. To all the members doing custom panel lining....are there threads or would one of you mind doing a step by step thread on your process and techniques. I did a pastel wash on one of my Yamato strike parts years ago based on suggestions from these forums and I loved how it came out, but there were no moving parts on those. I'd love to do the same on my DXs as well but wasn't sure if you guys were disassembling your toys, if you were applying a top coat over your work, etc. Everyone's work on here is so beautiful, I have no illusions of doing anything comparable, but I loved doing it, loved the results and would love to do it again. Not to mention, seeing how some of you artists work your magic is fascinating to me. I've searched the forum for threads about this subject but I've only seen how people have done their models, nothing on people working on these toys. Of course, my lack of intelligence is well established on these forums, so there could be multiple threads on this subject right in front of my face and I just didn't see them. If that's the case, a point in the right direction would be great. Short of that, anybody thought about doing this? I, for one, would really enjoy it.
  23. mantisfists
    What's hurtful is what that color does to my eyes...
  24. mantisfists
    I hope they go with that color......vs.....the alternative.....
  25. mantisfists
    I've always preferred the matte look, so I'd say 2 for me.
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