Slave IV

1 hour ago, Laughingman687 said:

it's developed a loose warble above the gerwalk joint- just above the new hinge that allows for outward-side movement. 

Seems like he’s well aware of the joint. 

Nice! That's such a great movie!

36 minutes ago, aurance said:

I don’t doubt that’s your experience, but as an aggregate data shows cars are getting more reliable. There’s a lot of perception bias for some people thinking old stuff is inherently better.

I’d have to see this data you speak of and I don’t doubt it’s true in cases. Reliability depends on a lot of things and a big part of it could come down to how the owner takes care of their car. Time will also tell because there hasn’t been enough time to really say how long a new car will last since that much time hasn’t even passed yet. I have good friends that are mechanics that show me exactly where newer cars are skimping on quality and I can see and feel it in many cases. @last_raven mentioned he works in the industry and seems to be saying the same. I can see that technology has improved many aspects of cars and can give a perceived amount of quality in certain aspects. I think the difference might be more apparent in higher end cars from before compared to today as technology is replacing material quality and workmanship and many cars are becoming more similar since they are mostly being made all over the world by shared factories. Cars that used robust mechanical solutions made of metal have new solutions made with electronics and plastic. Cars are glued together instead of welded. I had cheap cars back in the day that were “reliable” but they also felt like cheap tin cans that literally fell apart over short periods of time. 

11 minutes ago, jenius said:

My 80s Corvette was junk compared to the new ones.

Yeah, from my experience, American cars have gained the most perceived value and quality compared from around the 80s-90s to today. Meanwhile, a Mercedes Benz of today seems barely better or even in some cases worse than a Toyota. But I have a Benz from the 80s that I still drive almost everyday and it still works mechanically as well as it did in the 80s. It required nearly zero maintenance other than regular oil changes and has never left me stranded once in over 30 years. 

5 hours ago, last_raven said:

Working on the corporate end of the car industry I can confirm that I would not buy my own company's cars made in the past 2+ years. Maybe even the past 10 years. In general I prefer my cars to be made in the 90s or earlier and just maintain them myself. Every single industry is in the same boat right now. Rush work in house, bad work from third parties/vendors, low morale, staffing shortages, etc etc. Little surprise that a re-design would get botched. It's not Daban levels of bad but it's not exactly what we're paying for either. Even for Japanese street prices it's a stretch knowing what I know now.

I managed to fix my wing pegs but we'll see if that doesn't present new issues when the super pack comes out, it looks like we only get 1 of 2 peg holes to use and I sloped the passive pegs for that connection (maybe just more clear nail polish? I haven't had to use that trick in awhile). I'm not gonna fuss it with for a bit but I suspect with the wings pegged all the way and the valk having been transformed some I can get both guns aligned now if I really pay attention to how the elbow joint and gun joint gets folded up and put in place. The gap between the wing and cover panels has been fixed but the issue has become the panels themselves  shifting with the slightest touch. Just a weird design overall when there is nothing to keep it in the position it wants to be in for fighter mode. It seems like one 0.25mm nub on each joint and a slight recess to index with is all it would take but with the QC we have that would probably create new issues. 

This is my first DX VF-31 period so I am a little sore about it to the point I bought the 31J w/ Speaker Pod from the movies just to have in fighter mode on the walkure stand. Being that this is also a newer release I am worried that it may have similar QC issues but everything I hear about the 31J/Walkure variants is pretty good so let's hope Bandai can't frakk up a wet dream. I'm happy with the 31AX in all other departments though. It does well in battroid mode and is great in gerwalk also. I love the big cannon for it despite it being a bear for it to hold onto without using the fixed pose hands. I enjoy the thicker proportions in the arms and the single red piece for the visor vs ketchup, mustard and relish on the 31J. The oversized guns start out feeling awkward but they do have a certain presence. Compared to the original Kairos this is definitely like a tuner/kitted version but that does have some charm to it. I'll be keeping my super pack PO but any future 31AX releases I am gonna suffer the scalper market after seeing initial reviews to find out if its worth it. The only other big Bandai Spirits thing I have coming my way is the MB Crossbone X-0 but it's not that different from the X-1 or Full Cloth so hopefully it doesn't suffer the same fate as the 31AX. I suspect this will be an interesting few years of releases. 

Haha, totally agree. My cars are all over 10 years old (most over 20 years old) and they are better made than anything comparable or even most higher end cars made since. It's such a simple matter of the unsustainable system of ever increasing profits we created for ourselves. The easiest way for corporations to maintain the model is to keep cutting costs where ever they can and quality is one of the main cuts. Definitely for the car industry where it also serves to make their products more disposable so they can sell you another car after you realize your "new" car is a pile of junk after a few years while cars made back in the day are still running strong after 20-30 years and more. Some car manufacturers are trying to force people like us to buy their crappy new cars now by eliminating supply of parts for older cars so yeah, more junk for everyone!💩

Wow, sucks to hear about the slop on this release. I like all the DX releases since the 31 but there is still a big difference IMO compared to Yamato/Arcadia Valks which are so precise and not sloppy.

11 hours ago, jenius said:

This is very unlikely... imagine just trying to run a business that way. All the extra effort you would create for less profits. You would be so much better served simply notifying customers that the item was out of stock and refunding their payment. It's much more likely that they save money by having the fewest number of employees and less automation so it just takes forever to get items out. It might be that they received several shipments all at once and some toys are buried behind others. My guess for NY would be more like layaway with distributors... they ran into cash problems so they only received stock as they were able to pay for it once their credit soured. We were just amazed at the slow trickle of stock they had... not realizing it actually meant they had become a insolvent. 

This makes a lot of sense to me. The claims that a shop would go out of their way to buy items on the second market to fulfill orders especially at a loss or significant reduction in profit seems quite unbelievable. Even more so when the same shops are also claimed to be scammers by the same people.

Yeah, I don't know if there are such a thing as store fanbois. The only thing I really care about from any store is if they deliver what I want for the lowest price. NY did that for me for a long time and saved me thousands of dollars. I cut back on using them once they seemed to raise their prices and had major delays on delivery but it was a good run for me while it lasted. Nin-nin on the other hand, I wouldn't touch long before NY had any issues. I wouldn't be surprised if they were involved in some way but at this point, I don't care since neither are of any use now.

5 hours ago, Solo Wing Pixy said:

Many thanks to @Slave IV for his recommendation. It is even more beautiful in person.

Oh nice! That is a beautiful piece!

T minus 10 mins for my showing. 

7 hours ago, Podtastic said:

Are such life size figures  normally modular? Could you pop Sheryl and Ranka's heads and limbs off for ease of transportation and storage?

Just thinking about the PT and logistics involved in moving larger statues around.😓

 

More importantly, are they anatomically correct?

3 hours ago, Podtastic said:

I use large durable plastic containers. They take up more space, but you can stack them mile high with no issues, they dont attract pests, and if I ever need to move their basically already packed (would just need to add cushioning material - which is how I move my clothes.😄)

I have a bunch of those too and use them as the base layer of my stacks so any less durable boxes are on top and more protected. The problem is if I bought enough of those boxes, it would take up even more room and cost me a ton of Valks worth of money. 

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

Where do you keep all of this stuff? For fun I tracked your purchases over a 30 day period and it was somewhere around 100 figures like above and 120 "Matchbox" type cars (plus other random stuff). What do you do with all of that stuff? If you extrapolate that out to multiple years that is a lot of cubic feet of toys. Do you display them? Do they sit in boxes? How big is your house?!?!

In my head I imagine you have a basement that looks like a Toys R Us with rows of retail displays packed with stuff.

FWIW, this is a pic of one of my spaces from over a year ago:

I can't even get an angle like that to photo anymore and I have another equivalent space filled to the brim and a garage that is completely filled floor to ceiling minus a spot for one car. 

4 hours ago, Stranger said:

You really think they'll sell badly? It just seems that HM-R did decently overall and now we have all these pent up demand. Pl;us, original series stuff is the most popular stuff.

They might sell out fairly quickly but they likely don't make enough of them to be very profitable. If they make more, them they will shelf warm for a bit and they probably don't like that for such a small margin item.

Nope. Preorder madness is part of the fun and satisfaction. Plus, it still ends up being slightly cheaper.

13 hours ago, jvmacross said:

I've said it before, but if Bandai will be judging the international demand for Macross based of non-SDFM/DYRL merch.....their numbers in my opinion will be way off....

At this early stage all we can do is support Macross with purchasing what they release if we like what is being released...I personally changed my purchase  decision on the VF-25 WWM, but have zero interest in the "microphones"...I may have went for a Minmay DYRL mic....but that's not part of the allowable Macross merch at the moment...

Even though for me it is bittersweet, I cannot deny that these recent events are the most positive for Macross collectors in decades....I am hopeful that all parties involved will eventually make the business decisions that will be good for everyone, especially the fans...

For now just going to grab some popcorn and see how this all plays out....

Yep, this is all good stuff for sure and I will be ordering whatever I can from US shops if this first example holds true going forward. 

I do think all the indicators still show that Macross is just not a big seller/money maker relative to many other properties so we are lucky to get what we have. I mean, these things sell out in seconds at the Japanese shops and don’t even come close to making the top selling lists on sites that show ratings like AmiAmi and CDJ.

3 hours ago, wmkjr said:

Hopefully Bandai takes note of international demand.

International demand huh?…

3 hours ago, VX31 said:

the crazy part is its now been.. over 12 hours since presales have opened with US retailers.... and these are still available to order!!! and from multiple sites!

Not looking so in demand…

🤪 Love the roller coaster, here for the ride and enjoying my Valks. 

9 hours ago, sqidd said:

I'm a hard pass on the 25 too. It's the best looking anniversary edition IMO. But that's not a high bar. It doesn't do anything for me.

I have a M&M display and I would be tempted to get the 29 for that. But it's pretty full..........and right now there is a M&M of everything. Having a Max 29 and no Miria would throw it off balance and my OCD would murder me.

Just get the Alto set that came out not long ago. Miria’s 29 wouldn’t look much different right?

6 hours ago, seti88 said:

Now i see the prototype pictures for the phalanx again, the missile door hinges and the red side bubble light are too large compared to the lineart..

lineart from the macross mecha manual site..

How could they?! Preorder cancelled!

 J/K, those differences don't concern me.

Anything that I ever got from Mandarake that was described as just “opened” was mib as far as I’m concerned. Basically, a new item but with an opened box and even the box is basically mint. If they say the box is “damaged”, it may have a minute crease that you have to examine carefully to even notice. Basically, their standards are better than any I’ve ever seen when it comes to grading the items they sell. I’ve bought a lot of items from Mandarake and have never been disappointed. Only problem with them is they are a endless mine of treasures and it would be great if less people knew about them for my own selfish sake. 😅
 

Edit: Not helping my interests but will also go as far to say that it is actually better to buy opened items from Mandarake than new for items you are worried about. Why? Because their meticulous inspection will basically guarantee you won’t have a manufacturing defect and they will point out any areas of concern if there are any.

Lol😆

Damn, I didn’t know there was a woke Macross collecting movement too. 🤣

I buy Macross toys because I’m intrigued by the designs and especially the Gerwalk modes. All iterations of Valkyries are interesting and worth collecting to me. The original Chunky is the best toy ever made period imo and I love seeing how other versions of them have come out since and most of those are definitely worth collecting too. It just so happens I like all the media as well but I’m not dependent on any particular scene or bound to toys that must slavishly match every detail I see in them to be happy. 

2 hours ago, fenrir72 said:

Does this scale with the HMR Valkyries? Iirc they are 1/100. Is this 1/100 too?

It’s a bit smaller. Can work if you are ok with using some forced perspective. 

1 hour ago, F360 said:

But that’s cheating , if you have unlimited storage space you will not stop . 😜

Now you’re getting it. 😁

1 hour ago, F360 said:

Its when you run out of room. 

Wrong.
 

You make more room by renting space, buying storage, adding on to your property and buying bigger property.

I think the most realistic alternate reality where Bandai didn't completely bend us over is if they released the yet unreleased Super Packs or Armor Packs with these included. Kinda like how they included missiles with the 31C Super Parts.