Shizuka the Cat

Just got the email from Yoyakunow that my VT-1 is ready to ship. Here are my shipping options: FedEx International Priority 5,285 yen approx. 5 days DHL Express Worldwide 5,823 yen approx. 5 days UPS Worldwide Express Saver 7,542yen approx. 4 days EMS 9,100yen approx. 10 to 20 days Airmail Internatinoal 9,200yen approx. 3 to 6 weeks I guess I will go FedEx, it being the cheapest option and one of the faster ones.

I think Dreamcatcher's "Justice" song would work very well with any Macross battle.

I will say one nice thing about ordering from Amazon US is that the YF-21 is eligible for free return or replacement. So, if it does arrive damaged, it is pretty hassle free to get your money back. I did have an Amazon pre-order for the YF-21 as a backup in case my order from Japan had problems, but fortunately mine seems fine so I went and cancelled my Amazon pre-order, which was also easy to do. If only Amazon prices were not so marked up... sigh

If I am not mistaken, you will want the plastic to go to between 200 - 225 degrees in order to be soft enough to bend. Maybe use a hot glue gun that gives you fine control over setting its temperature, applying some onto the bent location to heat it up, bend the item back straight, and clean off the applied hot glue? I have heard of using this method with plastic rods, but for the YF-21's head laser....

AmiAmi packed mine exactly the same way. It was great. The top of the YF-21 box had so much free space above it that there was no risk of pressure pushing down on the antenna at all. There was no need for even bubble packing material that could have pushed down on the inner box to risk the antenna. I am very happy with AmiAmi's packing work.

My YF-21 just arrived from AmiAmi via DHL... and the antenna is good! Thank god! Now I can cancel my backup pre-order from Amazon. I hope the rest of you receive good antennas as well.

Oh no! That sucks. My condolences. Still looking forward to watching your review of the YF-21. Mine is on its way from HLJ and should be arriving early next week. Praying it is okay.

I am wondering, what is the difference between this and the original/previous VF-4 HMR release?

I am hoping that the Revival version of the 31 is an improvement over the original, in the same way that the Revival version of the VF-171 Nightmare Plus improved things by having better wings and upper legs than the original.

VF-31J still available at AmiAmi.... though I think that is possibly due to a site glitch. I noticed that, when using either Chrome or Opera browsers, when I tried checking out my order, the browser would bug out (Chrome would give me that "Oh Snap" error message, for example) repeatedly and never let me finish checking out the order. However, I was successfully able to place an order using Firefox. Not sure if this site/browser issue is happening to other people on AmiAmi, but if it is, that would explain why AmiAmi's pre-order is still open.

Is this a WWD release?

Hi-Metal R VF-19 Fire Valkyrie is now available for pre-order on Amazon US: $130 https://www.amazon.com/TAMASHII-NATIONS-Macross-Valkyrie-Hi-Metal/dp/B0CZQKGSQ6/ref=sr_1_9

Hmmm.... I wonder how much difference there is between the Hi-Metal R Fire Bomber VF-19 and the original Hi-Metal Non-R version of the same valkyrie. I don't own the Hi-Metal Non-R version, so I have no idea how good it was. Considering the differences between Hi-Metal R and non-R VF-1 Valkyries are relatively minor, I wonder if that is also the case for the VF-19.

Up on HLJ... https://www.hlj.com/hi-metal-r-vf-19-kai-fire-valkyrie-banc660855

Up on Yoyakunow... https://www.yoyakunow.com/en/robots/21127-hi-metal-r-vf-19-kai-vf-19-kai-fire-valkyrie.html

Free US shipping though, at least.

Awesome! No need to stay awake to pre-order from Japan when I can just pre-order from Amazon US. (I love my sleep) P.S. It is a lot easier for me to justify buying Macross toys again, ever since my husband discovered a hobby where he spends way more than me.... luxury watch collecting. *sigh* (I am sorry Valkyria that you have 2 parents who are so irresponsible with money) LOL! My husband just said that his watches are investments! I felt that way about the Yamato Elintseeker until the Arcadia Premium edition was released.... *sigh*

Wait.... is Basara's VF-19 a WWM release? So it will likely be available on Amazon US for pre-order in like 2 weeks?

Ahhh! I see now. Thanks! I am new to AliExpress. Wow, thiat site is a bit confusing for me to figure out.

Saw this on AliExpress... https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805534143813.html Is this a Chinese knock-off of the DX Chogokin YF-19 original release, plus the addition of a light-up fold booster? I wonder if it is worth buying at about $70, including shipping to the US....?

BBTS wants $450 for the VT-1... before state tax and $4 domestic shipping?! They know that it is 147 yen to the US dollar right now, right? At current exchange rates, the VT-1 retails for almost $240, including Japan's 10% sales tax, but not including shipping to the US. Assuming BBTS is able to acquire VT-1's at retail and it costs about $30 to ship each from Japan, I am guessing that BBTS makes about a 67% profit margin on each VT-1 pre-order (of course, my assumptions could be way off base). Was that the case with all their other DX Chogokin Macross pre-orders?

I do wonder how they went from selling out on pre-order day to now having 17 more available for pre-order? I don't really see that happen with pre-orders from AmiAmi or HLJ, as far as I am aware.

Thanks!

Hi guys, I saw that a couple of Macross toys were on clearance sale at Crunchyroll... https://store.crunchyroll.com/products/vf-0s-phoenix-roy-focker-use-ver-macross-zero-hi-metal-r-figure-4573102637420.html https://store.crunchyroll.com/products/yf-29-durandal-valkyrie-maximilian-jenius-use-full-set-pack-macross-movie-absolute-live-dx-chogokin-figure-4573102634733.html Just in case anyone was interested. Have a great weekend! Update: ERRR, I just noticed that these are the same price or cheaper at Amazon US, so..... nevermind.. My apologies!

Thanks for this!