Pontus

Noice! Yr fly is open tho, lol. Er, well, I guess it's just showing some cleavage.

Isn't that the intention of every seller? I'm not calling anyone here a scalper, I'm just saying that scalping is just a vendor seeing an opportunity just like every other vendor. Is that not what every retailer does, see demand and order product with the intent to sell at a higher price? Why is that so awful? If it's not worth it to you, don't buy it. And these "scalpers" aren't even intending to sell "immediately". They are storing that product until it sells, sometimes for years at some cost and risk to themselves. I have appreciated that. But someone graciously selling their toys on this website for their cost does not fill the need for the general public, and if that was my only option, I'd never get what I have. And I'm just calling for people to have a little more respect for the market, but this is an outright insult to me as someone who has paid scalper prices (I'm not upset or anything yr entitled to your opinion). I wanted the toys and paid what I felt it was worth on the open market for a limited run toy, which was usually the same price or close to what you guys charge from what I've seen. Most people reference ebay or other sellers for values. Sure, I could have done the Mandarake thing, but after shipping, it's usually close to the same price. I could waste a heck of a lot of time finding the right price, waiting for someone to sell here, maybe be the first to PM someone and get it... but my time is worth more than the little extra cost from a quick, easy sale on ebay. Does that make me an idiot? I don't think you're an idiot for wasting hours finding good prices and undervaluing your time. If you find it fun, then it was worth it, but I want the thing I want now without any fuss. I wouldn't have a DX YF-19 (or some HMR) if it wasn't for scalpers, or if I did, it'd be for the same price as I have seen here, and/or I would have had to check the for-sale section (or other sites) religiously to catch it.

Star Trek; A New Hope. My favorite in the series.

What happened to supporting a free market Sqidd? Seems like quite a conspiracy theory for a simple, free market, retail business practice. I highly doubt any reputable Japanese seller (the only ones I would buy from for the cost) really needs to get involved with the Chinese mob to make money. They probably simply have a vendors license in Japan that entitles them to pre-order in bulk. The MSRP is a "suggested" retail price. Bandai doesn't care what you sell it for. You all call them scalpers as if they were the scum of the earth, but this is just a normal retail business practice that every retailer does to make a profit. They take the risk by buying in bulk and selling internationally, why shouldn't they expect a profit from their investment and risk? They lost their butts on the Max VF-1A which is now going for only a little over cost. Honestly, without resellers buying from Bandai in bulk and keeping them at higher than "suggested retail prices" until sold, there wouldn't be nearly as big a demand, Bandai would make less of them and thus wouldn't continue to make them, they wouldn't be available for years after release, and many of us wouldn't even get these toys. I know I wouldn't have much of my HMR collection since I started collecting well after they were released. And many of YOU would be selling them for much higher prices for the relative rarity, but we don't call you scalpers for it.

I hope that means it will ship soon.

The bigger question is, how does air get from the intakes to the jet exhaust with those legs in the way, and where is the jet/reactor engine? It was just badly designed from the get go.

Hup.bup.bup, now wait just a minute... Oh, dangit. Yeah. I probably will. But I was perfectly happy in my delusion. Thanks.

I'm happy they are making it, but the more I see of this the happier I am that I picked up a Yamato, especially if the DX comes out looking anything like that. Why tf are the legs attached in the armpits? I bet it's to make gerwalk more stable, but battroid isn't going to work well. At least not if you want the legs to go back in any way. And why does it need working rudders? Knowing Bandai, they'll fall off at the slightest touch. Also the Yammie did a fair job of allowing head movement, but the DX looks like the intakes are in the way. Also, as long as we're baggin on Bandai, who did they get to pose these things at the convention? I would think that would have been a priority, but it appears they didn't bother positioning the shoulder flaps or the wings properly on the 19. Shoddy posing.

Well, fortunately these lovely ladies found their way to my doorstep unlike the last one. Is it wrong to collect figures yr not even familiar with as characters simply because they're super cute and awesome looking? I think I have a problem because I can't stop buying these things. I am actually familiar with Hatsune Miku, but I'm not a fan.

CRI is probably the most important factor when buying white LEDs, especially for display. But most bulbs don't list it because it's a direct number that pretty much indicates quality that they have skimped on. If you look at the individual LED driver components that they make bulbs with, CRI is required in the data sheet for engineering. The best LEDs are made by Cree and Philips, but there's a lot of chinese producers making cheap ones that get used in most LED bulbs. Frankly, I think cheap white LEDs are dangerous because, if you look at just one frequency of light, it can harm your retina because, in order to get enough light in fewer frequencies, it has to be a lot brighter in those frequencies than your eyes are telling you it is.

Thanks for the clarification and sorry for my misleading info. I read "a small amount" and thought that having even a small amount would add up over time in a display cabinet that's lit much of the time. But I just checked with my lighting engineer who said the fact that they use them in museums is testament to how little they put out. So LEDs are great, although I usually hate LED lighting because the light is usually very limited to certain bands of color which hurts my eyes. High CRI (color rendering index) bulbs don't bother me, so I go out of my way to find them. My favorite right now are the Cree brand that they sell at Home Despot. Most other brands don't even list the CRI rating anymore, but it's an important factor in buying LED lights.

How do you report them?

I totally agree, and never scream at people that aren't at fault (or even that are). Despite my posted aggravation, I was quite reserved and polite this morning with the person behind the counter as I see no reason to ruin their day for something they didn't do. When I ask to speak to their manager tomorrow it will be with polite firmness without any other recourse. But it is satisfying to get results with firm application of persistent, polite pestering. There's been many occasions where my wife gives up, and I'm like, "NOPE!" and got results. I'm told people are scared of me (I'm a big, bearded tall guy), and it's off putting when I unexpectedly complain politely. It's a winning combo apparently.

I actually love the USPS over all other options, and have great respect for the grueling work they do (at least the ones that have to walk to each house front door like they do in my hood). And thus, I have no problem with occasional issues that require me to pick it up at the post office. BUT WHY DIDN'T THEY KEEP IT FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE CARELESSLY TOSSING IT?! You have to know someone is expecting that package and WILL come looking for it. I still think he kept it. I'm going back there for one more try tomorrow, and then I'm going to ask to speak with a manager and/or how to report this guy. He is constantly mis-delivering mail, throwing it where ever on my porch to blow away, dropping packages, etc.. He simply has no respect for the position and importance of a postal carrier. Probably because they are desperate to hire people for too little money, so I don't completely blame him, but still... grrr.

Speaking of fleabay, I WOULD be posting about my new figure here, but the god d@%# f#*%^@&... excuse me... postal carrier - whom we've seen first hand be utterly lazy in delivering mail - decided he didn't need to deliver my package with all that furren' language on it. Which btw got all the way to his GD truck without flagging or issue, and got all the way through customs without issue. And then it was marked return to sender after he finished his shift. And this morning it was marked "disposed of by postal service" whereupon I promptly risked being late for work this morning to ask wtf was going on and if they had my package back in the bin. But no, they had already disposed of it apparently. WTF HAPPENED TO THE POST OFFICE KEEPING PACKAGES AND MAKING SURE THEY GET DELIVERED NO MATTER WHAT?! HOW DO THEY NOT KEEP PACKAGES IN CASE THE OWNER COMES LOOKING FOR IT?! No, they toss in in the garbage IMMEDIATELY?!!! And I basically got a shrug at the post office. "Sorry, it probably didn't have a clear address." Followed by a lecture on proper address labeling. Go F yrself. I've gotten other packages from the same seller without issue from other carriers, and it is well packaged and labeled. I think he kept it. These emoticons are woefully inadequate to express my anger and frustration, but that's probably a good thing.

I was referring to products meant for theatre or architectural display, but the RGB LED color changing tape lights sold on Amazon might work. You could stick them up in the corners of the display frame. I don't think they make a MR-11 color changing bulb because it's too small and only has positive and ground.

They're warm white LEDs, so that should be good.

Oh yeah. Fluorescent can also have a lot of UV depending on the phosphors used or if they are old and the phosphor is damaged. Your best cheap option is warm white LEDs or fluorescent. Your best expensive option is RGB (or more than 3 colors is best) LED lighting (usually the type that change colors) set to display white light by mixing. But that can cause colors do display oddly, although it makes a great rainbow shadow effect.

Unless you are using a specific light that doesn't have it, if you are lighting your toys with white light, they are still getting hit with some UV, maybe even a lot. Warm white LEDs have very little UV, but I see a lot of displays with very blue, cool white lighting which has more. edit thanks to @Lolicon: LEDs have almost no UV if any. And if you're using halogen, those are a significant source of UV.

I work for a company that makes specialized control interfaces/desks. We released a high end console that everyone complained felt cheap. So we added steel plates inside, and it was much more "professional feeling" simply because it was heavier. If we make consoles that are powerful yet small, portable, and of eminent utility, in high end installations they will be passed up for large, heavy, all-in-one consoles because they "feel more professional," (even if they have identical function) so now we're going back to making behemoth consoles again. Public perception is a fickle thing that has more to do with "feels" than anything else. Oh, and don't even get me started on the soft-touch craze. Yes, let's put the worst paint in the world in the worst place you could possibly put it (where it gets touched all the time), and where it will look like crap after the first use and peel like crazy. Because it FEELS good and therefore somehow makes a product "professional" which gets perceived as high quality somehow... at least for the first couple of weeks.

I love how the Japanese use bad english for names, especially in DBZ, but the Zentradi commanders seem to be mostly englishisms as well. Like Britain (not sure about Kridanik), Exdoll Form (a hint that they were giant "dolls" perhaps?), Bulldozer, Moruk(?) Lapis Lazuli (that might be a stretch). No idea about Quamzin tho other than possibly Kami Jin (person of spirit/god). Any other examples I'm not thinking of?

Whoa! Wtf is that? Looks cool!

Awesome guys! Thank you. Those look like some cool fan art at that link. I love this one by a certain "Ruak", gonna have to do it next. I gotta get some lighting behind that face tho.

I found a nice sky background at Michaels today, and I've been meaning to snap a pose of my new Rahxephon figure. I was planning to do the iconic drawing bow pose, but then I thought, "this is a Japanese show, why isn't this giant robot drawing the bow in the proper kyudo style." I can't replace the bow with a properly shaped yumi, but I did pose him mid draw of a kyudo inspired style (and yes, the arrow is in line with his feet). I took several angles, but I'm not sure which is my favorite...

I couldn't find the scene from @Sanity is Optional 's avatar, but I've always wanted to recreate it. Now that I inspected it closer, it looks like an illustration. Could we get the full pic plz? Was it from a particular scene in the full miniseries? (I was just searching youtube) Anyway, here's my first attempt, but it wasn't quite right... ...So, I gave Guld some lift. Now I just need some jet exhaust effects, but I haven't found much online. Anyone know of a source for that?