HardlyNever
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Yeah, I like how this one looks (I'm mostly fine with the "over-tampo-ing"), but transforming it is not really enjoyable. It's not too horrible without the fast packs, but not something I'd call fun. Trying to get everything to line up in fighter mode with fast packs might actually be impossible. You can get it "adequate," but actually getting everything to tab in properly is... I've never done it successfully. Nice job on the landing gear, btw.
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For some reason, I'm still optimistic we'll get most of what we're hoping for with this line. The COVID situation may have delayed things quite a bit, but I still think we'll get the last two destroids, and at least one more enemy mech of some variety. Probably a few more valk repaints, too. They might all be TWE, and we'll have to pay more, but I think we'll get most of it, in the end.
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I switched my shipping with NY from SAL to EMS before EMS was delayed to the US. Had I known that was going to happen, I would have just stuck with SAL. Their UPS option was too much of a gamble for me, because like you said, there was no guarantee when it would actually ship, much less arrive. I might just break down a buy a slightly marked up one from Amazon Japan, and maybe sell one or two I get from NY next decade when they finally arrive. But the combination of mediocre execution by Bandai, and NY doing NY things, has kind of soured me on this release entirely.
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Seems to be location-specific, even within the US. The cheapest I can find that will actually ship to my address is ￥14,800 shipped.
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I think a lot of us are in this same situation. I was tempted to pay there $100+ dollar shipping fee for UPS, just so I could be done with them, but I'm not sure even that would ship anytime soon. This is the last order I have open with them, and I doubt I'll do any pre-pay order with them ever again (and do minimal business with them at all). Giving them what will probably be a 1 year, interest-free loan is not a business I want to be involved in. I'm still pretty confident I'll eventually get what I ordered. I just have no confidence in when it will arrive.
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Need help with analysis paralysis. What would you buy?
HardlyNever replied to MInsHairyLegs's topic in Toys
Yeah, it is a lot to take in just getting started. The Arcadia 1/60 Roy with SS pack is where I started a few years ago, and it is right in your price range. It's still a great toy, if a little dated. There are Max and Milia's from that same line even cheaper (if you're not getting the premium finish versions). I'm not sure what it is going for at this point, but you could probably find one at around that price. There are tons of options with regards to where to buy; I won't get into that here. You might be able to score an opened/slightly used Bandai DX 1/48 Hikaru VF-1S for something pretty close to that price (you'll have to buy the super parts separately). Alternatively, you could play the waiting game and hope Bandai releases the Roy in their 1/48 line sometime soon. But that is a bit of a gamble, because we don't know when they will release one, and getting one for MSRP is going to be quite difficult. You'll also have to buy the super parts separately. Just a word of caution: most of this stuff would have to be shipped from Japan, and shipping from Japan in nearly all forms has been delayed. -
The gunpla I ordered from Amazon got returned to sender. It had been sitting at Nagoyanishi since the end of March.
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Yeah, I noticed that when I was making a GIF a while back. What we really need a is a heat-activated, color-changing gimmick like all those cool 80s and 90s toys had. That's how true anime accuracy is achieved. Dunking it in hot water.
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That was the one thing that seemed absent from their last GBP release, especially since that is how Hikaru enters the valk with GBP in the TV show. I always just stole the seat from one of my other valks, but I'm glad they decided to include it on this one. I think they should leave the seat unpainted for this release, though, if they want to be closer to how it looked in the anime.
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Did you really just cut off half my quote so you could take it out of context? It's a few posts above yours... why even... Anyhow, the way I'm understanding the "Japan supporting firms to move out of China," doesn't necessarily mean Japanese companies are advocating for a return of manufacturing jobs to Japan. So I'm not sure we'll be seeing Japanese-manufactured DXs (or other Macross products) any time soon. I mean, I'd like to at least see what that looks like, cost-to-quality wise. I'm just not sure it's going to happen. I'm also thinking an August release date for DX Kakizaki is incredibly optimistic. Are we seeing the next DX VF-31A in the making, in terms of production not meeting demand?
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I feel like your conflating the Chinese government's economic policies and the average Chinese manufacturing laborer/citizen. They are not the same entities. Chinese citizens can't vote in any meaningful way. That said, we've seen that being the "world's workshop" can and does lift a large portion of that countries workforce into a more comfortable life-style. It happened in Japan in the 70s and 80s. Then Korea in the 90s and 00s. It has taken longer in China for a variety of reasons (not one being the ginormous population). But it can have a net-benefit, and it is doing the same in China, just on longer time line. Once that manufacturing ups and leaves to a cheaper country, though, it can be tough for a country to redefine it's workforce. Anyhow, Gunpla is still manufactured in Japan, by Japanese labor, and the costs on those kits aren't too ridiculous. Of course, when it comes to model kits, you the consumer are the primary source of labor lol. Maybe that's the big difference. I'd like to see what "made in Japan" Macross product ends up costing. I'm guessing it would be pretty expensive, though.
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You're basically asking companies to stop practicing capitalism as they've known it (at least on the manufacturing end) for the passed like... 200+ years. I'm also in favor of a more diverse, widely distributed base of global manufacturing, but that would require some kind of democratic... capitalism? No, no, that's Bolshevism! Socialism! Communism! Can't have workers and consumers deciding where manufacturing takes place! Anyhow, I'd like to believe companies, or even we as a civilization would learn something from this. But unfortunately, I'm pretty sure manufacturing will just move down the food-chain, so to speak. So (even) more in India, Vietnam, etc. Maybe even see some if it shift to central and south America.
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Yeah, I'd run a dehumidifier down there, especially during the more humid months, You might also want to consider either covering them in plastic, like a tarp or something, or getting some moisture resistant storage containers.
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I always wondered how/why Max got his gunpod around the "wrong" way in that scene. I know it's "because he's Max," but I wonder why we never see anything like that again. It would be pretty cool to see VF-1s shooting their gunpod from the arm.
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Not exactly sure what you're talking about, but if you're talking about the "armpit" area, then yea, there is a always a bit of gap there. You can't have the arms going perfectly straight down.
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- macross delta
- vf-31 siegfried
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I don't want to derail this thread any further with a referendum on the state of higher ed. I would just add that it is easy to forget that 18-22 year olds (generally) want more than just a string of courses and a piece of paper at the end. They want to get away from home, experience new things, meet new people, etc. Of course colleges play up this experience, and cater to the idea of it being amazing and life-altering. I'm not saying there are no issues with higher ed today. It's just when online courses come up, they seemed to be discussed as if they are in a vacuum; or its a very simple transaction of money for a degree, when there is more to it than that. There is a disturbing percentage of students (depending on the actual college) who attend the bare minimum of classes to pass, while doing other things, so they are there for more than just classes, even with professors actively reminding them that is expensive, and not attending class is a waste of money. For my part, more online students would make my job easier, and probably more desirable on the market (I work in web development). Anyhow, back on topic. I ordered another gundam kit back in march from Amazon, and I realized it is being shipped by Japan post. I wonder how/if Amazon plans to fulfill that order given the current situation. They have until the end of April to fulfill it; I wonder if they'll send me some notification about delaying that, too. I do wish I had stocked up on a few kits before all this...
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I can speak about the last one, anecdotally. I've been on the campus of a higher ed institution for the past 20 or so years (first as a student/grad student, then as faculty). Online learning has been the "thing that will change everything" in higher ed for... about 15 years now. And it just never happened. Physical, on-campus enrollment has increased to some degree or another at every institution I've been at for the past 20 years (some by a lot, some by a little). And that has always brought more construction, more dorms, etc. Don't get me wrong, online class enrollment has grown too. Every institution I have been at has seen increases in online enrollment as well. But the physical enrollment has kept pace, and often surpassed it. My wife works as an elementary school teacher, and I can tell you that online learning is not working out too well for her class. Sure, at lot of it is the ad hoc nature in which this all happened, but there are still a lot of things that don't work as well in a virtual environment. If online learning does in fact become the new-norm (and I doubt it will in the next decade or so), we're going to need better tools across the board. All that said, colleges and universities across the US were expecting slight decreases in enrollment over the next few years before the COVID-19 pandemic. That is mainly due to demographic shifts (less college-aged people in the coming generation). How this will affect enrollment beyond that, no one really knows. And that's the take-away from all this. We're in uncharted territory. No one knows how this will shake out in terms of changing how things operate. We know we'll see changes, but it's just impossible to predict which changes are permanent, which are temporary, and what changes we'll have to make that haven't even happened yet.
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NY responded, and they did indeed want a stupid amount of money for UPS (11,064 yen). They didn't list DHL as an option. So I just switched to EMS, at like half the cost. I know that means I might not see these things this year, but I'm not paying that kind of shipping for this.
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FYI, NY responded to my ticket. They are, in fact, allowing me to change the shipping method on the DX SSP. Right now my only options are EMS or ferry, but I asked about DHL or UPS. We'll see what they say. Of course, we still don't when they'll actually receive the product, much less send it out.
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I usually re-watch SDFM around once a year. Can't say I recall ever seeing a CF VF-1S (there is a CF VF-1J that is seen several times). Not saying it isn't there, just haven't noticed it. I'll keep an eye out for it. My personal list: Best: Yamato: I don't own any actual Yamato product out side of the launch arm display stand, so I can't really say. I think the 1/60 v2 is their best achievement, though. Arcadia: PF SDF-1 Bandai: DX 1/48 VF-1 Favorites would be the same, but maybe VF-4 from Yamato as my favorite (since the Arcadia one I have is nearly identical).
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I submitted a ticket to see if I can at least change shipping method (which may not even be an option by the time these things are actually in their hands). We'll see what they say. Not holding my breath...
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Well, that means my DX SSP from NY might not even get here... this year... ever? I don't even know if I can cancel, since this is past even CC protection, I believe.
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Famous. Last. Words. I was only going to get one single Arcadia 1/60. A few years later, and thousands of dollars later... Hope you can stick to your plan, if you want to.
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Pre-covid I would have said an Arad 31A was likely but not guaranteed (Bandai's gotta milk that 31A mold to recoup costs). Arad got armor already, so maybe he gets his super parts, maybe he doesn't. He sold well enough to justify it. Chuck is still floating around near MSRP, so I'd have said supers or armor for him were unlikely. Post-covid, it's all up in the air. I think we're still lucky to be getting any Macross product at all (like the DX 1/48 line), given the circumstances.
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No problem. I like the idea, and I think it would make a great video series, as well (wink @jenius, I thought the GBP and super parts evolution videos were awesome). As for the Hi metal stuff, Anymoon still has you covered there (Hikaru was the first release). VF-1J Hikaru Custom, June 2010, 5,500 Yen VF-1S Focker Custom, November 2010, 6,500 Yen For Hi Metal R: The GBP set (technically not Hikaru) was the first release there. Roy came out in April 2016. Similar to the Yamato/arcadia 1/60 v2 situation though, I'm not sure you need a representative from both Hi Metal and HMR. There are differences, but they are pretty subtle. I think an HMR release would be enough to represent that line, personally.