mantisfists

That would go great with a hover tank.

I had no idea Soul Plane was a documentary on HMR shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HI-METAL-R-Macross-VF-1S-STRIKE-VARKYRIE-ROY-FOCKER-SPECIAL-with-STAGE-BANDAI/143722759519?epid=1168723585&hash=item21768b455f:g:YasAAOSwOGdfVI85 That shipping, tho!!

Anybody know if IT is going to do another run of their Megatron KO? I'd like to pick one up but don't want to pay a premium price for a KO toy.

So, I finally got my hands on another FP last night (Hallelujah, I can get some sleep). A while back I was lamenting about the differing shipping prices from different stores on this thread, so maybe somebody can help me understand this. Here's my invoice for the first FP I bought. Which was from the Nakano site. Here's the invoice from the new FP This is from the Fukuoka site. Regardless of shipping costs for this one, I'm paying it. I'm just trying to understand it. That's almost three times the amount as the fast packs sent to me last month. I'm not trying to beat a dead horse. Again, just trying to understand. *edit* By the way, holy $#!+ is Fukuoka fast. It wasn't 10 minutes after I made payment to them that I got a notice that it'd shipped. Mandarake's DHL has always been super fast getting to me as well, so there's that, at least.

These two make perfect sense to me as to why they would abandon the idea of engine and leg panel detail. It would have been cool to have it, but I could see how hiccups like these could nix those features. I actually learned something today. Now, what was my daughter's name again......

I don't think there's any denying the Bandai has WAY more poseability than the Yamato. I don't think that's even close. I agree with you on the mean look of the Bandai as well, though, I think the adjustable head lasers have a great deal to do with that. I also love all the tampo (hahaha!!! auto correct keeps wanting to change tampo to tamponed) on the Bandai. Look, you're talking typing conversing with a guy who's saying all of this while still staying awake until 3am for the last 2 weeks trying to get his hands on one more SSP at a reasonable price from Mandarake. My issues with consistent logic are real (which is why I've never lost an argument.....no wait, that's my wife). I do think that one of the reasons I'm not as high on the Bandai is I hate the glossier look to it. I also really like the color of the fast packs on the Yamato way more than what Bandai went with. Other than that, I can't really explain it. I think Bandai went with that swing bar that they did to enable people to use the swiveling hip feature they included. The compromise there being perfect transformation still being possible, just more.....fragile. So, I don't know if I'd call it cheating, as they didn't do it to avoid perfect transformation, they did it to include added articulation. Personally, I love the option, even if I wouldn't/don't use it. I'm not a design engineer, but I don't agree with this at all. I could be (and probably am) wrong, but I think that if Bandai were looking at every feature and weighing the investment vs return, they could've removed a lot of the features. How many people use the articulation in the FP boosters? Would anybody have cared or noticed if they hadn't added the extra joint in the FP cannon to allow it to aim lower? Or who wouldn't buy the DX line if they'd removed the functioning air brake? My point is, it's the accumulation of these little details that (to me, at least) make items like this so enjoyable....and people like features, even if they never use them. Shoot, Elon Musk made the windows for his new truck frickin bullet proof. When asked why, he said "Who wouldn't want their windows to be bulletproof?". Funny thing is, a lot of the people who would buy that truck would probably brag to their friends about their bulletproof windows, even though they'll (hopefully) never need them, even though the cost of that bulletproof glass definitely went into the truck. I think, if anything, Bandai, and other companies, know this....especially in the toy industry. That's why they're packed with as many options as they can cram in(removable fuel cells in the MOSPEADA ride armors, anyone?), because they know they can charge a premium price for them. I think that's their return on investment. They know the people and market who would be targeted with these products would pay for more, not less, features. *edit* I don't know anything about toy design and engineering. I break things, not build things, for a living, so the creative process for me is an unknown but fascinating process. Please don't take anything I've said as an insinuation that you don't know what you're talking about or that you're wrong. Probably, it's the opposite. I'm just saying what seems logical to me in my primitive brain. By all means, I'd love to learn about anything that goes into making these types of things. I guess my point is, please don't take my disagreement or ignorance in the subject as an insult or attack.

I've gotten one of each variant and the only one I've opened and handled was the 1S. It had the two features I was most looking forward to.....the hands and the adjustable head lasers. Those two features lived up to what I thought they'd be but the rest of the toy left me a bit underwhelmed, which is something I never felt with the Yamatos. The DX looks amazing in every picture I see. I don't know.....I can't explain it. I never actually had them side by side, either, so once I do that, maybe it'll change my mind. I'm still going to do my best to get my hands on a Roy but, seeing as I don't have a place to display anything at the moment, I think the unopened VFs I have will stay that way for a bit. I honestly can't see myself getting rid of them, but you never know.

This makes me not want to buy any more DXs and just buy the Hi Metals until the more premium line gets released. I'm already on the fence as the 1/48 DX line is almost a wash, in my opinion, over the Yamatos (the DX hands are amazing, I must admit). Even if it were only a 1 or 2 off....that would be enough for me.

Does this count? Just got a new training dummy for my daughter (and I) to work play with.

Unless you want the weathered versions. Ouch.

I beg to differ. I think Dragonslayer is by far the best dragon movie made to date. I'd even argue that the dragon design even rivals Game of Thrones' dragons, especially when you take into account when it was made and it's use of practical effects for the creature. It also has one of the best creature reveals ever and it's use of music to further enhance the dragon is the cherry on top. It's true that you have to sit through a middling story at best, but the payoff is well worth it, in my opinion. I would argue that Hollywood topping the last half hour of Dragonslayer would be very hard, indeed. However, for an example of how NOT to make a dragon movie, see David Carradine in Q.

No good dragon movies!? C'mon!! Enter the Dragon and Return of the Dragon are cinema gold.....and didn't need a frame of CGI.

I don't know. Why would they do that? Seems to me that rather than redesigning the booster, they'd just design the upper and lower covers on the boosters to be removable and glue them in place like they did the legs. Both booster covers would need to be removable and, looking at the movie version, it would seem that in order to make that happen, it would take a redesign (doesn't seem like there's a bottom "cover" to even pop off). I think Bandai knows they can sell out on their fast packs (like they have) and then package a whole new set of fastbacks with the Max/Millia and sell out those as well. I'm all for a good conspiracy theory, though!

It's saying something when the Mandarake 1S is still available 12hrs later. I'm surprised Sqidd's is still available, too.

Sqidd still has one for sale in the FS section for about $20 cheaper when shipping is taken into account.

I bought a missile Regult set from this seller in the FS section here and currently am waiting on a strike Roy. So, if anybody orders from him, I have no doubt they will be happy with that they get.

Apparently, the shipping was too much for the most recent buyer as well, as the Monster is back available.

If you preordered from NY, by 2022 you could get a SAAB Peugeot from their used section with store credit.

....and you'd have to buy the rims and tires in a separate release.

Yeah, I always felt like muscle cars were SUPPOSED to kind of drive like sh*t. That was part of their "charm". My wife hates riding in my car, but hot DAMN does she look great when she drives off in it. I thought about trading mine in and getting one of the new GT500s, but they've kind of lost the muscle car vibe (I'm saying this, without having driven one). The 13s were the last of the true muscle ponies and the last that Shelby had a hand (small as it was, at that point) in designing. I don't take many pictures, but here's a pic my wife sent me when I bought it I found from the dealer when I bought it. Editied the other pic out because I posted it without asking my wife if she was cool with it. I'm such an idiot. I was always dead set against all the Euro sports cars until it was time to get my wife a new car. My wife wanted an X5, so we test drove the M. Oh. My. God. There's no way a 5k lb vehicle should move like that. I'm so blessed in now, no matter what vehicle I get in/on, I get a completely different, amazing drive/ride and think to myself "Man, I gotta ride/drive this more!" ....and I love what every dumb kid growing up in my neighborhood loved. Going fast, guns, kung fu movies and transforming robots.....with guns. I ask you, what's not to love?

Hahahaha!! I know that pic's of a restomod. I put it up because it was beautiful. Should have known somebody would call me out on it. You and I are from different worlds, my friend. I live on the streets, so to me a perfect car is rough and angry and heavy. It smells like old leather, oil and exhaust and has no power steering. It shakes and rattles you at every stoplight and the back end wants to kick out on you every turn you hit the tiniest bump in. I want my wife to hate being in it in any way, but be struck by how hot she is when she drives away in it. Sadly, I'll never be able to afford a true 429. The GT500 was always my dream car, anyway. I was lucky enough to grab a 13 GT500 and I absolutely love it. It's not the classic version but I needed something to reliably get me to work and back and the new (at the time) version was unassuming enough for me to be able to justify parking at a firehouse.

If shipping weren't so crazy right now, I'd be all over this. I almost bought this when it came available this morning. Sooooooooo tempting.

I beg to differ, sir. 52 years down the line, and there's still nothing better than a '69 Boss 429.

The $292 number comes from the fact that Bandai's price for the three items comes out to just over that amount. The reason you paid what you paid, isn't because that's what Bandai charged you, it's because the toys are so hard to come by, people are charging more for them. So, I believe their argument is that the problem with these toys isn't the price of them, or what you get for that price, it's their availability (or lack thereof).