HardlyNever
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Everything posted by HardlyNever
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Arcadia rarely has this problem. They also seem more comfortable having their stuff available at retailers a while after release. Bandai seems to despise shelf warmers with a blazing fury. I don't see them changing the practice of pre-order madness anytime soon.
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Prices seem to be dipping down a bit on Amazon Japan. ￥ 29,960 shipped isn't completely ridiculous. Still a little more than I'm willing to pay, but if it creeps down a little lower, I might bite.
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Unfortunately, I don't think Bandai cares about botters/scalpers. As long as product isn't warming shelves, they don't care who buys it. I also have a hunch that word got out that this release would have a fairly low production run, making it a good target for scalpers, but that is just a feeling. This pre-order madness definitely felt worse than any others that I've been involved in, but I don't think it is going to get Bandai to change its practices. Our concerns don't even register on their radar, imo.
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Ethical issues aside, it wouldn't be that hard to to write a site-specific bot, especially once you have the product page id. Scripting something that crawls all the major vendors and places orders would be a lot more involved, but not impossible. The problem is, if you're overseas, you're still at a pretty significant disadvantage compared to the botters in Asia who have much lower latency to the retailers' servers. Fractions of a second matter in situations like that, and there isn't a way for someone that isn't in Asia to overcome that. This is what I'm hoping for. Just set up all the relevant alerts, and hope the botters have backed off, I guess.
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This is eerily similar to what happened to the concert/event ticket market about 10-15 years ago, when all those sales moved online. Botters ruined that market too, and it turns out a lot of the venues and promoters were in on the take. I'd like to assume Bandai just doesn't care that much about Macross and doesn't really care to resolve the issue. I really hope they aren't actively profiting off of the botters/scalpers.
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I'm surprised Bandai doesn't get more push back from the online retailers for these shenanigans. Certainly getting DDoS'd every time a chogokin figure goes up for preorder is bad for business. We could definitely use a change in the system.
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We should all get a discount for having to deal with this BS. It's early, I'm tired, but I with some of the others right now. This is the kind of stuff that makes me want to switch hobbies. I don't see the reason for defending retailers/sellers for this kind of stuff.
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Gonna call it. First pre-order madness where I didn't get a single one. Maybe we'll get another chance before release. I still can't believe this is the "system."
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Sums up tonight:
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Looks like we're all getting cart jacked. AmiAmi keeps teasing me.
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Pre-orders closed at AmiAmi.
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Wasn't the Hikaru a pretty much guaranteed hot seller? And discounting it means I'm more likely to buy it from them and not some other retailer... They can do what they want, ofc, just a bit disappointing.
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Yeah, just checked order history. The Hikaru went up for preorder for 16,480 JPY at AmiAmi. Now, we're technically getting less, and paying more? I really don't want to have to stop using AmiAmi, as I've enjoyed their business the most. But what's with the price hike? Is that how much it will be at most/all retailers? Smaller production run, maybe?
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This is kind of how I felt the first time. Like it was a throw back to a time when not everything was always available online at a moments notice. Now it is just a chore that I wish would catch up with the rest of industry....
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Anyone know how to escalate/ping a ticket with NY? I put in a change of shipping address for my VF-1D over a week ago, and they haven't done anything. I know their customer service isn't great, but I've never had them take this long to respond to a ticket. The VF-1D release is fast approaching, and I don't want it going to the wrong address...
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I'm feeling bold. I might just skip out on the pre-order madness and try to get it from Amazon Japan early in the morning. Maybe... Edit: Looks like I would need a new Prime account for AJ. Didn't know that. There goes that plan...
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I'm not sure what quality level you're going for, but for consumer-grade scanning and printing I've been happy with Brother's stuff. If you're looking for something that would be more useful for scanning books, magazines, etc. we use Epson scanners where I work, for archival quality photos. I'm also a web developer at my day job. I appreciate the knowledge you bring to the community, so I would be willing to help a bit on that end (pro bono), if you felt it would help. As long as it isn't too involved.
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A DX YF-21 is probably the top item on my wish list. At least for items that haven't been teased/prototyped in any way. I know it is a complicated design, but I think Bandai is at a place where they could really nail it.
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I always felt like Kakizaki wasn't so much "fat" as really just "big." I get he is supposed to be sort of the "big buffoon" type character, but I think that has been exaggerated over time by fan perception and other non-canon stuff. He is definitely the goofiest of the three, but he really doesn't do anything that ridiculous or stupid. Of course he does die... But I agree with the pilot size; Hikaru and Max can get away with being the same mold at these small scales, but Kakizaki definitely needs to look bigger. Maybe that's part of the reason they make the VF-1 cockpits so big?
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My only real complaint about the 1/48 DX is that it doesn't come with enough TV style hands, especially for Valks that are TV only. I was hoping to get a TV style fist or two with this release, since we aren't getting a special display stand. Doesn't look like that is going to happen. It looks like this is the same price as the VF-1J, even though it doesn't have the extra stand. Seems a little lame of Bandai to just give us objectively less for our money. Oh well, I guess we'll save a tiny bit on shipping.
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While this seems somewhat reasonable, we're dealing with Bandai here. They are perfectly comfortable and capable of doing unreasonable things like only releasing an accessory set that works with multiple releases, one time. If you want an idea how crazy it can get, go look at the secondary market prices for the Frontier valks super and armor parts. That would be easy money for Bandai to make if they did a reissue, but they probably never will. Even if they do, it won't be until they reissue/update those particular valks, which could be a very long time. Like Slave IV said, if you think you might want the missiles, it is a lot safer to buy now. Otherwise you're at the whims of Bandai and the secondary market. Worst case scenario, they do multiple releases and you might have to sell a set you don't want at slightly below what you paid for it. That's why I caved and bought two missile sets. Definitely a better-safe-than-sorry situation.
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Weird that the 31S is going up, it seemed like a less popular model. I know the Armor parts are driving up the price, but there isn't anything unique about the 31S body, right? Theoretically, you could put the armor on any Siegfried VF-31? I know it wouldn't really "match" the color scheme of the other valks, but it arguably doesn't even match Arad's valk . A little odd that people are paying more for it now, when we knew the armor was coming, and you don't need the 31S specifically to use it.
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I'm afraid I might be right behind you. Getting the Max 1A pretty much guarantees I'll get a Kakazaki, should they make one. And I'm still pretty interested in at least a super valkyrie of some variety. Still on the fence about another GBP set. My wallet is scared enough as-is.
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Got an email from NY claiming the VF-1D release date is now 4/20. No notice from AmiAmi, though.
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Finally ponied up for the Arad armor. Hope NY can actually deliver... But I couldn't pass it up. This is the whole reason I got the VF-31S to begin with.
