Boobytrap

Is this the first metal robot damashii from Dunbine? I tried an internet search and only came up with the non-metal ones. Not much of a fan of the Billbine but I'd really like a metal RD Dunbine

Great minds think alike. Here's what I am using for mine. Also putting magnets in a few places

Yeah, I tried there too. They were all too large, too expensive, the wrong style, or some combination thereof. Thanks for the thought though.

Unfortunately for me it's turning out to be quite the inconvenience. Since these are for finger joints I ideally need them in 2 or 3mm (4mm if forced to). I've tried searching for Revoltech, Figma, and Figurart joints. I've gone to every site I can think of including Shapeways. The best I can find is eBay where they are charging $5 for ONE joint. It's especially frustrating because apparently Max Factory was taking orders for sets of 20 2mm figma joints for only 660 yen through April this year. So before I spend $30 + shipping does anyone else here know a more affordable place to get these things?

Thanks for the tip. That should make the search easier. Any idea what the mm on those are? I'm planning to leave the head static. I could probably mount a post inside the torso with a ball or Hot Toys joint on the end and carve out a hole in the head to put on that (edit* after thinking about it I would instead put a plate inside the torso with a ring magnet on top and another ring magnet on the underside of the helmet. That would give good adhesion, perfect rotation, and no torque) but it would all be for naught. This is the commander type so the chest lamp (or what ever that thing is) and back thrusters would limit any movement other than an ever so slight turn to the right. Definitely not worth the effort.

Agreed with both parts. The test fitting was pretty easy and customizing it is what makes it all yours. Right now I am working on the joints. My goal is to make it a completely stable action figure. So far I have replaced the post in the shoulder with a screw and a washer in between the two halves. A screw in the elbow. The part of the screw in the forearm doesn't have threads so it can rotate easily. Replaced the ball joints for the the wrists and toes with Hot Toys joints. I've got a bunch of them filling up my parts bin so it was nice to find a use for them. I then did a screw and slot in the hip ball joint. That last one was a really difficult decision as I knew it would be the hardest to hide but I couldn't think of a better solution so just bit the bullet and did it. I haven't figured out how to do the fingers yet. I don't have small enough ball joints for those. Hopefully I can find something on ebay that will work. I'll probably just pin the thumbs and swap them out as needed. ** unless of course cap somehow has some extra palms laying around so that I can make two sets of hands with the different thumbs 😁** I still need to recess some things a little better (and eventually put covers on the elbows and hips) but overall they are functioning as expected.

Returned from vacation to find this waiting for me. I couldn't wait to get started. This is the initial test fitting. Me admiring it... Beautiful.mp4

I can't even express how excited I am for this! It's always amazing to me how quickly you get things out the door. I'm used to waiting a year or two for many of the things I purchase.

OMG It's really happening!! Woo hoo

With this being a holiday weekend for those of us in the US I doubt there will be much of a chance for additional orders. One last bump to keep hope alive for the second run. I have my tissues of disappointment ready just in case.

How close are we? Biting my nails hoping we get to 12.

Payment sent. So that makes at least 1. Come on MW make my second run dreams come true.

Shameless selfish bump to keep this on the first page. I really need the second run to happen. You don't want this to be me if we don't get to 12.

I am IN for a second run!!

I really hope you end up doing another run of these. Funds were tight the first time around. I have created a BIO LLOYD fund just so that I can drop some dollars the moment it becomes available (even if that moment is years from now). This work of art is just too beautiful to not have in my life. You are doing God's work good sir.

@Sanity is Optionaldid a better job with his pictures illustrating it but since I went to the trouble of pulling out the more ivory Yamato and taking the picture I figured I would show mine as well. I'll let you all decide which is which :P

I have not noticed this issue with any other Arcadia valk I own. My PF VF-0S is a nice white. At most, like you mentioned, my VF-1S Roy and VF-1S Hikaru have an ever so slight purple but you really have to strain to see it. It confounds me why they couldn't have used any of those versions of white plastic and insisted on going back to this one.

Yes. I had completely forgotten about this issue with their first release and was sadly reminded when I opened it up.

This is an untouched photo. I don't think there is any doubt that it is not a pure white. The only argument might be whether it is more pink or purple. While under normal viewing conditions it isn't this bad it becomes much more pronounced in the recessed shadows under bright lights.

Pinkish white unfortunately. I don't have the first Arcadia release to compare against to see if it has been improved or not. I have the Yamato VF-1J and the pink is pretty obvious on the Arcadia when I put them side by side. So for me the Arcadia will will staying in perma-GBP mode to hide as much of the valk as possible and if I want to display one without armor I'll pull out the Yamato.

I've built every PG except for the RX-78 and Zaku and I would agree with other assessments that the Strike (w/ Aile pack) is probably the best PG Bandai has made. It fell right into the sweet spot between Bandai's philosophy change in PG design. With the early PG's (other than W0C but we won't go there) they focused more on the inner frame details (pistons, gears, pipes, rivets, etc...). They look great with the armor removed and a little paint to highlight those details. I also really enjoyed the builds as there was a lot of complexity and novel approaches. The problem was that once you put the armor on they were soooo plain. No parts separation, no panel lines, no bumps, no recesses, just giant pieces of plastic. Articulation, while pretty good for its time, is only so-so compared to more modern models especially with the added weight and restrictions when the outer armor is added. With later PG's (starting with the 00) Bandai shifted its focus almost exclusively to the outside adding all of the things I mentioned above (including articulation) that were missing. The trade off was that they pretty much eliminated all of the great inner details and build complexity (other than maybe adding LED's) the previous PG's had. They are OK builds but I always got the feeling that I was building an oversized MG. Even though they might be more pretty and have some fun light features I have definitely had a much greater sense of satisfaction in completing an earlier PG vs a later PG. With the Strike they were in that transition period so you get the best of both worlds; great detail on the inside and outside with fantastic articulation. I also have a preference for the body proportions they used and think it is the best looking of any Strike in any scale. In regards to durability I have found them all to be pretty consistent. While all PG use friction joints they hold their positions and I have not noticed any decline in their tightness over the years (I paint all of mine so I'm sure this helps). The only exception would be those that have large heavy weapons, the 00 being the worst offender. Something to keep in mind should you get the Perfect Strike. The regular Strike has no issue supporting the sword/shield/gun it comes with in extreme poses for long periods of time but I'm not sure how well the Perfect Strike would do with its large cannon and sword. Hopefully the new bits they have done for this version will take that into account if necessary.

Ordered a gundam kit from NY in January and selected JP. It's been in preparation in progress status since 5/1. I wasn't in any rush to receive it and figured they would just hold it until JP started to ship to the US again. Apparently they created a ticket on their own and are giving me a free UPS upgrade without me having to do anything. That was a nice surprise to see this morning. I definitely wasn't expecting that from them. Ticket message below: Hi ! Thank you very much for your order, unfortunately there seems to be something preventing us from shipping it to you… Do not worry though, we can fix this ! It appears that the shipping method you chose is not available for your country at the time. This year has not been easy for anyone, a lot happened already and we would like to brighten your day, even if just a little. So as a special thank you and with hope of better days to come, we would like to upgrade your order to UPS completely free of charge ! If for some reason you do not want your order to be sent this way, please let me know by replying directly to this ticket within the next 3 days and we won’t do anything. So in short, if you do not reply, you get a free UPS upgrade it’s just that simple I sincerely hope you will enjoy this special offer and that everything is going well for you. Have a great day, and stay safe !

They did the same thing to me with the MB Strike. They don't get their stock until very late so they didn't let me know until months after it had been released. Not the easiest of chores to secure one at a reasonable price at that point. The other thing they do that I don't like is list the release date on their site as the actual release date of the product, not the date they expect to receive the product. Then every month they send out a status update pushing the release date out to the next month. They do this for many months until they finally deliver to you or cancel. My MB Qan[T] they eventually delivered months after the release date. My MB 007SG I cancelled after waiting 5 months with no delivery in sight. When I cancelled they assured me they would be getting it but I wasn't willing to wait anymore. My MB Strike they cancelled 4 months after the release date. I won't even use them as a store of last resort anymore due to all of this. If I have to I'd rather pay a marked up price on YJA or eBay for more peace of mind.

Oh heck Yeah! So is all of that being sold together as one pre-order package? If so, is it already up for pre-order somewhere or is there a date it will be?