Pontus

Yeah, it looks awesome... but the important part is, (much like our valks in fighter mode) how does it swoosh?

Regarding the standalone HMR Hikaru VF-1J (the first one), is the blue canopy tint removable in some way or is it just made of clear blue plastic?

^^^That's awesome!... but where in the heck did they dig up a 50yr old fossil of a valk to paint for this (imagined) event?

Very nice correction of typical Bandai oversite! I know it's never been canon, but shouldn't the missiles on a trainer valk have orange tips (or entirely orange) to signify that they're dummy rounds? I guess he did have actual live rounds since he was blasting regults in the first ep, but I don't recall him using missiles.

I meant "you" in general. Other than the tv, I've pretty much cobbled together what I've got from DIY speakers and used gear over the years. In doing so, I found the current marketing bs in av is so overly complicated in the extreme that it's difficult to even know if you're truly getting what you paid for without mountains of research and a maze of settings on every device. Even then, as I found out, I'm still not getting it! Anyway sorry for going off topic (altho in my case it is regarding some new av toys).

You haven't lived until you've experienced a properly setup home theater with 4k on an oled or UST laser projector. Even my modest living room setup is better than most movie theaters. I bought a 65" oled for 2021 xmas, and have been slowly upgrading the rest of the system including a recent ceiling speaker install. I only just finally got 4k HDR with the addition of a PS5... only to find out Sony didn't bother paying for proper licensing, so I still need a $500 4k player just to get lossless 3d surround audio and Dolby Vision to get the full experience. Even so... it's like looking thru the world's clearest window! Light sources no longer look like just white spots and actually make you squint. This means sparkly shiny things look amazing! 4k Attenborough is truly moving and seriously makes me cry. Streaming is great, but unless you have fiber internet that isn't being optimized (never), it has nothing on a 4k disc. jmho tho.

Thanks to @sh9000 for this recent purchase! I haven't messed with my other HMRs in a while and forgot how nice these are, solid, transform easily, sharp details, etc etc. I swapped the canopy for a clear one here in case anyone noticed.

Also saw the Macross Frontier Sheryl Nome (Anniversary Stage Ver.) 1/7 Scale Figure by Good Smile on BBTS. And the more I look at this one, the more I want it. I love the mid action posing, awesome figure!

Maybe the person setting up this shot thought so, but it's almost nothing like his last meal. No veggies, no gravy, and no cast iron plate... and that certainly isn't an "XL steak". Also, I'm very disappointed that none of the very few Kakizaki toys made this an included accessory. That's a major oversight in my book. Mmm, now I'm hungry for a real XL steak... speaking of, where the heck did they get steak on board the Macross, lol? If anyone wants to recreate this and doesn't wanna spend a fortune, I highly recommend either a thick steak or a thin roast from the chuck eye cut. It's an often overlooked cut that's usually well marbled with plenty of delishus fat, thus has a lot of great flavor, is very tender despite some occasional sinew and gristle, and yet it's also one of the cheapest cuts. I've been fasting and am very hungry now... can you tell?🤤

I understand the marketing behind limited releases, even why Bandai stalls releases for things (basically to smooth and pad out their income streams). But doing a lottery for prizes where I can't control what I get and might get something I don't even want (and I'm assuming can't return) still sounds insane to me. I've purposely ignored anything from Zero, 7, or Frontier to save my poor wallet, so no Sheryls for me. I was interested in the Gorgeous version if that's what you're talking about, but only because it looked cool. But I'm not paying $250+ (now going for over $400) for a figure purely on aesthetics... although now I think about it, that is exactly why I started collecting Delta stuff. Done with that now... unless they come out with an Elvis SV-262.

Yeah, I bought this one when it came up on my Mandarake alerts for what I thought was a very good price of 8000¥... until US DHL shipping was added making it 15k¥/$116! But this one seemed worth it imho. Btw, what the heck is this Ichiban Kuji prize thing? I see references to it being some sort of lottery for prizes, but why would anyone want to enter a lottery for a random prize when you usually only want a specific one? And they seem to be for sale individually, which makes the whole lottery thing make even less sense. Is this a protoculture thing that I just can't seem to wrap my giant, Zentradi brain around?

I finally got one of these from BBTS (super happy they still had them in stock) and opened mine up to transform to battroid and back. Happy to report absolutely no issues on mine. Everything is tight and right. I love that they even added some light panel lining in spots but not too much. And the copper covers... What an amazing bird! This is my first and only VF-25/29 (or anything from 7/Frontier), and my only complaint is the transforming design. Even watching @jenius transformation video (thank you thank you! ), I still had trouble and it's very delicate with fiddly bits sticking out ready to snap off if you're not very careful. At least they give you an extra antenna, but those canards are doomed. I certainly won't be doing much transforming of this toy if at all. Fighter mode without the super parts is gorgeous imho, so I think it'll stay that way with Freyja singing its praises!

Can't wait to watch the new Delta movie!

The Gorgeous figure was listed for 25k¥ when the conversion was roughly 100:1 ($250). The new figure is listed on Goodsmile in USD as $250 and 29k¥. Honestly, for such high detail figures, $250 isn't expensive at all. I was expecting to see $600+ when I clicked. I buy a lot of cast off figures from China for $20-50 on occasion based purely on how cool it looks having no knowledge of where it comes from... which I would argue is NOT morally reprehensible because I don't mind repairing or living with flawed figures that would normally go into landfills/oceans. AITA for not giving my money to a Japanese company making millions off of cheap chinese manufacturing for pennies on the dollar/yen? Anyway, once I buy them, I look up what they actually are and how much they cost with big surprises every time. I have one figure that was $1200 new that I got for just $50. Most are anywhere from $200-600, but very few are any cheaper, so $250 sounds like the low end to me. Goodsmile has lines that are cheaper, but never with this much beauty and detail. I just wish they'd always do 2 versions; a cheap one with no paint that requires assembly, and an expensive assembled and painted version for those who don't mind the price. That way there's no cast off market, they sell most of what comes out of the mold, anything that gets messed up in paint can be stripped and sold, and everyone is happy. The marketing and manufacture of collector stuff just seems stupid to me.

I'm in the same boat, but it says we can pay anytime before the pre-order deadline which is June 2, so that's nice.

Thanks. I had assumed that and thus didn't order because I don't have the money. Btw, if you're paying with paypal, expect them to screw you over on the exchange rate. I recently got a figure (non-macross) from Mandarake, and the current exchange rate was supposed to make it come out to $345 but Paypal said it came out to $363. Read the fine print, and it says they can basically pad it out however they like. Also, it seems that although we currently seem to be saving a good amount on the current exchange, it's made up for by exorbitant shipping costs, and DHL is no longer the cheapest. I went to cancel that Mandarake order when it came back with 18k¥ for DHL shipping and they wouldn't take paypal, but they came back offering to do paypal with only 11k¥ shipping EMS.

HECK YEAH!!! SDFM Kakizaki FTW! Finally. Guess I can undo my hack job and put my Hikaru 1J and brownie 1A back together. Edit: Aw, it's a TWE bullpoop? Guess I'm paying scalper prices again. Better keep the hack job for now just in case. Still need Max tho.

Great idea! As a DIYer, I'd go with an acrylic shadow box from a craft store and just stencil on the details I wanted, making it totally custom (which I'd want to do anyway instead of being restricted to Bandai's or whoever). This one's only 3" deep, so not super far off the wall yet just enough to mount a valk. Kinduv expensive tho. Using a standard wood frame shadow box would be much cheaper, but not nearly as good looking or visible.

I'd propose that the tumbler and other such angular designs were in no small part influenced by the same fighter design as the VF-17 was itself based on, the "Stealth Fighter" F-117 Nighthawk (according to this fandom wiki page). Personally, although it may be good for evading radar, I'm not convinced that it influenced design for the better. I'm looking at you Cadillac. Awesome display tho, not casting shade. Speaking of awesome displays...

Has anyone gotten a reply/invoice after confirming their order? I sent a confirmation Monday afternoon which was 3 days ago for Hong Kong now.

My 2¥... If you want all the cool accessories and features, go Bandai. If you want accuracy and ease of transformation, but doing your own decals or want to customize (unless you go premium) go Arcadia. I feel like Arcadia is much more picky about quality than Bandai. I only have one Arcadia, the VF-1J GBP, and it's a beauty, but imho, it's all plastic. I know Bandai puts metal weights in things to make it feel better, but it must be effective because it just feels sturdier to me. Like I said tho, and as others have pointed out, expect some quality issues with the Bandai if you get it. You can find replacement head lasers on shapeways iirc if you get a broken one (I did). I also had to loosen the hips which requires taking out a couple of easily accessible screws, a pretty simple easy job. My arm cannon fell apart and had to be glued back together too. The Bandai is fiddly to transform, but I sorta like that personally as long as it's solid when done and well engineered, and the Bandai is indeed solid imho. That said, after seeing the Anymoon review of the Yamato YF-21 and knowing Bandai may never even release theirs, not to mention I wasn't a fan of the appearance, I decided to buy the old Yamato (which became Arcadia if you're new to this). I liked it better than the DX if I'm being honest. Oh, and you'll definitely want to grab that X-9 Ghost that's in the for sale section to complete the set!

I think I will have to keep such a great figure. I usually try to limit myself to just one of each character (already have the Kitz Hikaru in flight suit), but early and late Hikaru are a totally different person. That's my justification anyway, lol. I also have a weakness for Freyja figures for some reason... they're just so cute! This will make my third now... wait fourth, forgot about the VFG VF-31J that I stuck my figuarts on in place of the generic figure. Taxes weren't great, had to pay some federal, but state came through with a decent refund, so I'll bite the bullet.

Thank you very much for the reminder! In my case, I ordered it on 7/2021 using an old email address I rarely check, so even though I have since changed and confirmed my new email address with them, they sent the confirmation to the old email which I don't check often anymore. I would've missed it without your reminder.

I really wanted to get this, but after Mandarake said it was 6600yen shipping tacked on, I just couldn't justify the purchase sadly. Just remembered I haven't filed for my tax returns yet. Guess I better get on that since I just changed my mind. Edit: Sorry if I teased anyone by posting the link and then buying it afterall.

Is it ok to contact them directly for purchase of individual kits instead of waiting for them to come up on ebay? Or should I just buy what comes up and wait for them to list the ones I want one at a time? I'd rather combine shipping for a large order, but I understand that this could take some time to sort through.