Anubis

And Hobby Search. Cheaper there. Don't know why. It's standard practice in Japan for stores to offer new kits/toys at a discount so they can be competitive. The cool thing about Hobby Search is they offer discount on older releases as well. HLJ has been charging everyone the full MSRP until recently, when competition forced them to offer "early bird" pre-order discounts. HLJ is always MSRP, with the exception of the early bird specials. With the onsen figures, the MSRP is higher. I think they typoed it. Way higher than it should be. Hobby Search is great because they always have the 5-10% discount on everything. Doesn't matter though about HLJ's error, because I put a pre-order for the onsen figures in at Hobby Search today.

And Hobby Search. Cheaper there. Don't know why.

The hot spring set I might get however. August. I also might get the plug suit figures in Sept.

Got Alternator Silverstreak from BBTS. Should arrive today actually.

HLJ just got the Seaside Set in. Misato is nice in that one. It's nice, but I'm not getting this one. Alrerady got the Kotubukia PVC Asuka in that outfit.

Y'know... I feel your pain, bro... but I think you're more than a little over the top in your accusations. Yamato is nothing like Toynami, even if they've had some releases lately that aren't quite as good as a year ago. The GBP armor I can't speak about, because I don't have it yet. The Millia pilot for the Q-Rau isn't exactly crappy, and when fans complained they decided to make a better one, including some variations that are most fanboys' dreams... I can't fault them for that. At least they're listening. The VF-0 is a bad design and very far from perfect transformation - but it's not as though they're hiding this fact and then forcing you to buy it. The YF-19FP - this one in particular I'm getting tired of hearing about in rants. They've said they were going to make one and they haven't yet. They haven't even shown prototypes. If they make it fine, if they don't - fine. It's their decision and again, it's really up to them to decide if such a release is what they want to focus on at this time. There may be a horde of reasons it hasn't been released at this time. For one, they may feel that their Scopedog or Koenig will make them more money. Another could be problems with the sculpt or production. It seems pretty simple to me that they didn't just slap Fast Packs on the old sculpt (like the YF-21 and VF-11B) because they wanted to make something better. All of the ranting about it is simply customer impatience. "I want it now. Give it!" You guys really need to learn that Yamato is running a business, not a wish fulfillment center. Yamato has made pretty great strides forward as a company. Their early releases were exceptionally shoddy. I haven't seen ANYTHING they've put out that rivals the craptastic quality of the VF-11 with exploding hips. Nowadays, we have members here crying because they made a paint line too fuzzy. With each 1/60, they got a bit better and constantly tried to innovate on their toy designs. With the 1/48, they scored a home run. Recently we've seen them branch out into new designs, new licenses, etc. There's bound to be some growing pains involved. But I know for a fact that I can look at my toy shelf and see some top notch toys there, all made by Yamato. I'm not trying to flame you or anything, Anubis - but seriously, I don't see these problems as anything nearly as bad as what Toynami has put out, or even better, what Yamato has done in the past. **Applause** Well said!!! OK, I overstated, I admit that, but they have been on the wrong path lately. That's what I was trying to convey. As for the -19, I too am not really waiting anymore, though it would be nice. Just ordered a Hasegawa that I'll try my hand at. My VF-19A will be sufficient for Battroid. My point is there are many things that are obvious they didn't put the effort they could have into it. I absolutely love the Q-rau I bought. Looking at the new figure set though you do have to question why that much nicer type of pilot figure didn't come with the q-rau to begin with. Listening in after thought or not. The VF-0 is obviously being made by an inferior shop. For how long they took to develop the GBP armor and even delaying it a few months, the legs should have been able to secure properly. Massive props to them for making the GBP, but they could have secured the nose cover and legs better out of common sense. I'm sorry if I sounded over-reacting, but there are a few things that don't sit right. This is Yamato here, the makers of the 1/48 VF-1! Mistakes like these should be beneath them, but have become common.

They won't. It's Yamato's "Good Enough" syndrome they have had lately. Loose GBP armor (seriously, how hard would it have been to make it attach properly ), crappy Millia pilot with the Q-rau, expecting us to buy a good one in this Millia 3-pack upcoming, crappy VF-0 that's not even really variable but basically a fix figuration figure instead, and vaporware YF-19 there is no reason not to have finished by now and released. Yamato has been on a down trend lately, and I hope that starting with the VB-6 they get back on track. I mean seriously, they are becoming like Toynami. I am going to keep my pre-order, because I want to armor up my Hikaru 1J, but that's it. No GBP -1A.

Just checked Hobby Search, and the Cina Dress Figures are now sold out again! That was quick. They must have only gotten a handful back in stock. Gotta jump on these Sega figures quick when you can.

SWEETNESS!!!

I love that Rei! Gimme gime! Can i buy it prepainted? Unfortunately no. I would have bought it already too.

My Pre-painted Hobby Fan Misato came with the shoulders red as well. Doesn't bug me at all. As for the Gothic Lolita Asuka, she is expensive. 12160 yen at Hobby Search Hobby Fan has this one available for pre-order. $47.84 Still very good, and much cheaper. If I could paint figures, Hobby Fan would be my best friend. They have so many good Eva figures it's crazy.

Why did they put a Danger sticker INSIDE the intake? The Alpha looks pretty good. Does look like the final prototype. Still waiting to see the finished product though when it comes out. I'm still probably just going to get the Green one, but who knows. At least it appears Toynami is making a genuine effort here. I hope they give the Cyclone as much attention.

Clear hair for Ishtar and Mylene, solid for everyone else.

No prob, gotta take care of yourself first. Hope you're healing ok.

I think we're still in the 30's somewhere despite the hundred or so that "said" they were interested... 30's total ?!? That a lot of crap. Especially when the poll shows over a hundred "yes" votes. Unless people are waiting for the M+ box to be ready as well before they pay. Still a lot lower than I would have thought. In the 30's each would have been nice to see. We're lucky Paul's been so cool about this.

Have you ordered from them before? How do you rate their service? I personally like the Asuka Soryu Langley (Popsicle Ver.) I got my Mizuho Swimsuit PVC from Hpbby Search a couple months ago. They are cheaper than HLJ generally, and it shipped pretty quick. The key is getting to them while the item is in stock. I have started checking there every day or every other day to see what comes out. Their closing acceptance could be nice though, because you can probably rest assured the order you made before that will be filled. They update daily the stuff that comes back in stock. Good site. One of these days I'll give them another try.

Hobby Fan's similar Rei.

Btw, is there a Rei version of that? There is actually. Don't think it's a mass produced one, but I know Hobby Fan has a similar one with Rei. That ""Gothic Lolita" Asuka is a nice kit. Very nice.

So much for Yamato's "no interest in American market"

How many orders have been made so far on the SDF Boxes?

Once they crank out a brown CF 1/48 VF-1 they can give the VF-1 line a rest. It's time to do some new stuff, though I still want a CF. The VB-6 is already on the way. VFX-2 also allows for the VA-3 and VF-17, they can get the YF-19 out finally, then do a second blue VFX-2 variant VF-19A. 1/72 is the perfect size for the VFX-2 stuff. A new better YF-21 would be great, though Yamato seems to have a serious "good enough" attitude lately, so I fear they'll just reissue the current YF-21FP when the new improved -19 comes out someday. One would think they'd want some return on the time and cost they spent tooling the damn thing and release the -19 already. New VF-11 would be great, but the same "good enough" syndrome applies. First on the new valk list for me after the VF-19 and VB-6 is the VF-4. That would be so good. One thing is for sure, it's time to stop milking the VF-1 and flooding us with variants. It's time for the other valks. The VB-6 is a good sign for me that they are getting serious about doing other valks. This one actually does need to sell good if it's made right. The VF-0 1/100 still leaves a bad taste in my mouth after how crappy it is turning out. They really need to dump the sub-shop that designed this thing, then learn their lesson and do better M0 mecha. The low price point sounds tempting but we don't even know for sure how much Yamato will want for it. 30 bucks sounds fine but that's about it for that level toy. The "good enough" approach they have been using lately seriously needs to go, and hopefully soon. I seriously wonder why Yamato stopped talking to Graham, can it be because we stopped kissing Yamato's ass? The YF-21 was disappointing, and the reviews noted that clearly, and the Q-rau was not welcomed close to as well as I would have thought. A lot of people felt cheated by it's cost. Yes it was expensive, but at least the final product was exquisite, at least the Q-rau itself, no one really disputed the Q-rau looked great. The upcoming Millia PVC figure set is what should have come with the Q-rau to begin with at the price they charged for it though with that crappy bundled pilot. This I believe firmly. We were nothing but praise almost when the 1/48's kept coming, but we were quite critical on the other stuff, maybe that's a reason? Yamato doesn't want to risk bad reviews? Kind of a slap in the face really.

Great News: Hobby Search has the Asuka and Rei China Dress figures restocked if anyone else wanted them. They also got the expensive Aizu 1/4 swimsuit statues restocked as well for those with deep deep pockets.

Oooh I want one of those. Very kawaii indeed.

Great news, Anubis. Trust me, it's worth all the effort when you see how the box will actually turn out. Now that you've got your hands on some new images, it should be all fun from here. Yep, it should be a far simpler procedure now. What will be in the test section will be the entire pool to work out of. If it's not in there we don't have it, no more "how about this pic" requests. It should be easy to finish it now. I think there's enough collages to keep people happy. Just finding the right mixture. BTW: How are the order counts on the SDF Macross boxes going now that the designs are finished? Also, can I assume/hope that those of us that are actually working on this stuff will get the low numbers? Mechamaniac, Blaine and DA first though of course for the SDF box.

M+ update: I scanned the book this morning. Got a number of good .tif's. I'll post .jpg versions of the pics later on in my test thread for others to work with, and work on a few more mock-ups as soon as I can.