technoblue

It's true that we don't know the actual weight of the shipping box, but I do think BnJ and the proxies are giving a better estimate. I looked up the old Yamato SDF-1 on HLJ and the retail box weighed 1730g. Arcadia's standard and premium finish boxes should be close to that. I'll be surprised if the shipping box, bubble wrap, and whatever else gets stuffed inside with the SDF-1 tip the scales so to speak.

To be fair, the VF-2SS set the high standard of 15k. It is a totally new mould, though. The VE-1 shares a number of parts with other HM-R Valkyries, but also has a good number of mould-specific parts. I don't know if it will be as pricey as the VF-2SS but I tend to agree with the 12k guess that was already posted. In any event, we'll see when Bandai posts the official pre-order and MSRP info.

Yeah. I have an older oppo BD player that does a good job. I guess a better way to word my post above is to say that the manufacturing companies don't support aftermarket region free modifications.

The US is part of region A and the UK is part of region B. Sometimes discs are made region free. I notice this a lot on first-press UK BDs. Also, there are region free players/region free modifications although some countries have restrictions against such player modifications.

I'm not one to buy placeholders, but these do sound like good budget-priced alternatives if you are aware of the compromises and want a full cast of characters. I'm actually surprised the only other company working on them is X-Transbots. However, they seem to be making an extra effort to improve their QC reputation. Personally, I've decided to wait and see since the X-Transbots versions were due out this quarter. If the reviews are as positive as Klaatu/Cosmos then I'm thinking of going with them because the official Takara MP releases continue to be all over the map.

Fair enough. I'm all in on the HM-R releases, especially the VE-1 and hopefully the VT-1 isn't too far off. I'm not building a small-scale army though, so I can afford the spendy Arcadia reissues that I'm into as well.

And I'm standing by what I wrote both times. The fact that you are unable to see past your own bias is unfortunate.

And yet you bought the Yamato releases, so how does this make any sense at all? It's not like you skipped on 1/60 scale completely. Give the trolling a break, dude.

I would rather see something new, even though the BGC Kickstarter taught Robert Woodhead a few things about planning and perks. I'm quite happy with how the blu-rays turned out.

Thanks for clearing that up. Insurance helps the seller as much as it helps the buyer, so yeah it doesn't really make much sense to cap EMS coverage at the standard 20000JPY value. And here's the fine print on the subject from NY (scroll down to EMS): https://www.nippon-yasan.com/cms.php?id_cms=1

https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/ems/service/damage_en.html According to this table, it looks like it is possible to increase insurance coverage for EMS up to 2 mil JPY. Given what NY is charging for shipping, the additional insurance coverage for the SDF-1 should be included with the EMS payment. It's only 100 to 150JPY extra and NY is seriously padding the shipping price.

NY isn't kidding with those shipping prices. I'm glad I went with the proxy service this time, although I'm also curious about whether or not Anime-Export is going to put up pre-orders...

Oh, definitely. I went with buyer protection myself and I'll be using EMS or FedEx when shipping day rolls around. Given the way the new fees work, I think the basic plan is only worth it for cheap items (maybe $25 or less) and I can't see myself using FJ for the small stuff.

I decided to go with fromjapan and use my points. The fees and shipping costs will come later, and that's a-okay. With regard to domestic shipping, I found an FAQ entry on auctions. It seems it might be relevant to store purchases too. Even if an auction listing indicates free domestic shipping, it may be limited to methods which do not include tracking such as nonstandard mail (定形外) and mail post (メール便). When placing your bid, if you select our Buyer Protection Plan, or "a safer, insured domestic shipping method" as your preferred domestic shipping method, we will ask the seller to provide an insured shipping method with tracking. Insured shipping methods with tracking may incur additional shipping costs, and are added to your Charge 2 payment. If you wish to have your items sent via free domestic shipping provide by the seller, please make sure that the "safer, insured domestic shipping method" box is not selected when placing your bid. Additionally, auctions covered by our Buyer Protection Plan will be shipped with a shipping method with tracking whenever possible. On something as expensive as the PF SDF-1, I seriously doubt that Arcadia would skimp on tracking and insurance, but I guess it is worth knowing that FJ will upgrade the free domestic shipping at their discretion. The only way to avoid it completely is to opt for their basic plan, which has no insurance (and no customer benefits).

I'm not the only one! Our mad hatter friend must have watched the horrible ADV dub. That's the only explanation I can think of for his pronunciation.

Tell me about it. I caved and requested a price quote at lunch. Now I wait.

From Japan has a shipping fee calculator too: http://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/estimate

Yuck. That would stink if FJ charges their personal shopping fee for Arcadia's on-line shop order. I didn't think of that. I thought the fee only applied to walk-in store or event purchases.

Nice price. That's more in line with what I was expecting to pay before shipping. If the regular stores can't beat that, then I'm going to go with From Japan. I have some points to spend there which will offset the cost.

Oh! I understand now. Yeah, that would be very irritating if you set the clock to wake up on time. With luck, we'll see a better price from one of the other stores and a longer pre-order window. Cool. I'm going to wait one more day to see what other options pop up, but I'm thinking of doing this too since I'm concerned the regular shops are charging higher fees.

Yeah. It is frustrating. You're not the only one who chose sleep over a crazy pre-order schedule. I was thinking about using my proxy service this morning. It might be worth it too, given the built-in fees that the regular stores are charging for this version of the SDF-1. The only problem with that is my proxy service will want payment up front like Anime-Export. Now I'm left waiting to see all options...

Hm. This sounds more like a proxy service question to me. @Astralith: If you are using a proxy service to order directly from Arcadia, then you should review their policy on special order/pre-order items. Most proxy services require customers to pay an initial payment up front to cover the cost of the item (MSRP plus tax). You will then owe shipping plus fees to the proxy service when Arcadia finally ships the item in April 2018. For shipping, you will be charged domestic AND international shipping costs. I don't recall how Arcadia handles pre-orders, but their policies only apply to people living in Japan. Anyway, a proxy service is a good fallback choice, especially when pre-orders are hard to get from the usual places. As far as payments go, using one is like ordering from Anime-Export.

49800 / 8 = 6225 JPY (w/out tax) Around the cost of eight Figmas or SH Figuarts...Must focus... Arcadia notes that orders are opening at 4pm August 22, Japan time. Orders are closing September 7. If the usual stores elect to carry this as well, we should see those pre-orders pop up soon.

Arcadia's site still lists April 2018 as the release date. And boy, it's expensive, but I think I'll shoot for the moon on this one.

Yeah. As far as I know HareBrained Schemes has a good reputation. They completed the Shadowrun Kickstarter PC games, and they have also released a third-person style RPG adventure called Necropolis. Battletech is their next turn-based strategy game, and it's looking like a modern-day MechCommander.