mechaninac
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Everything posted by mechaninac
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Ballistically exploding cans of shaving cream FTW! I can't wait for the How-tos on both physical effects.
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Wow, shipping from AE worked out to be quite reasonable: ~ $36.00 for EMS, and ~ $23.00 for SAL. I went with SAL since I don't need to get it fast (had the difference in shipping been only about $5.00 I would have gone EMS, but $13.00 was too much to ignore). Including the 60 cents Paypal tacked on to the exchange rate, my total going with AE came to $188.48... Amiami would've been a much better deal, but ever since after the VF-25S you stand a better chance of getting hit by a meteorite and getting struck by lighting, at the same time, then you do of securing a preorder for a Bandai renewal 25 with them. So now the waiting begins...
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Reïvaj, Thanks for posting the link; That's looking fantastic and seems to have an inpressive range of motion and much more stability than one would expect given its top-heaviness. Kurisama, Ooh, you evil man, you!
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Just put in my shipping request with AE... What an expensive year this has been, but I can't wait to get this.
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I've completely skipped this sale. Don't get me wrong, I was sorely tempted to splurge on a number of 1/60s, specially at the discounts they were offering, but I've already spent far too much on toys this year (already blew my self-imposed budget for the year... I'm weak some times, what can I say?), and I still have open preorders to last me the rest of 2012 that will push my overspending to the point that this will be a record for the amount of cash I've shelled out for any 12 month period in my collecting history. But oh were those prices ever so enticing...
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Neat, but for some reason that flight suit screams Star Wars, to me, than it does Macross...
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Not only the 17S, but the 19S and Fire as well... Sooooo tempting, but still sooooo pricey...
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That's looking pretty good, except for some of the dwarves. This is my own bias speaking, but I've always pictured fantasy dwarves to be stocky, barrel chested, bearded/hairy beings (Gimli's portrail was more in line with my expectations of those particular folk). While some of the dwarves fit the template I'm accustomed to picturing in my mind's eye, the slim, clean faced ones just look "wrong"; but this may be a case of my needing to broaden my expectations of this particular genre. I'll withold judgement until I've seen them in full context.
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So far I'm in to the tune of 164.82 USD with AE; shipping will be the determinant factor whether I got a passable deal, or a good one. MSRP was originally set at 14000 YEN by Bandai. I don't know how much NY charged when the preorders first went up, but AE's price was 12600 YEN.
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That means that AE will be sending out shipping ivoices within the next 2 weeks too. I assume they send out an email requesting your shipping method preference first, or give you all the options in the invoice, is that correct?... First time ordering from them.
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Medicom/Hot Toys and all 1/6 scale figures
mechaninac replied to EXO's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Where's the sword, black warhorse, and flaming Jack-O-Lantern for that headless Hessian soldier? -
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Gee whillikers super man, that was awful swell! Amaizing and timeless work, and the style is so fitting with the '40s look. Here is a guy who truly deserves to have his work recognized by someone at one of the networks or cable stations in a position of power, and given a chance to flesh this out into a full blown series, without the all-too-common corporate soul wrenching interference for lowest common denominator marketability.
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Wow, just wow! And having the Empire as the protagonists..... awesome!
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I plan on keeping both preorders open until at least mid November just to see how the prices will compare. I just checked HLJ's shipping cost for a Yamato 1/60 VF-22; they quote ¥2,880 ($37.13, currently) for EMS, and ¥2,980 ($38.42) for FedEX. NY's EMS shipping (their cheapest option to the USA) is $59.19. Assuming that shipping for the VF-4G will be comparable to the VF-22 (same box size and weight), and depending on the exchange rate prior to invoice time, HLJ may still be the least expensive choice.
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I just emailed NY regarding the price drop; we'll see what they say. One thing is for sure, it's very hard to decide which vendor will provide the better value in the end: In NY's favor is the fact that their current price is now cheaper than HLJ (with everything that's happening domestically and abroad today the price is guaranteed to rise in relation to the Dollar, and HLJ charges in Yen) before shipping, and since NY charges US custormer in Dollars, there is no Paypal exchange rate to worry about either; HLJ's advantage at this point is that they do a better job with packaging than it's been my experience with NY, they offer peerless customer support for the Macross items they sell -- including refund and exchange, and their shipping charges may be a bit lower... this is going to come down to the wire to see which preorder I keep. Edit: Well, according to Dobber (thanks for putting my mind at ease BTW) I did not need to bother with contacting NY, but it's done and it can't hurt to be a bit of a pain in their 4$$...
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I don't do automatic payment agreements, so I'm safe on that score. HLJ, like NY, will have to invoice me first before they see a single penny. I've always felt that the convinience of auto-pay can come back to bite you in the rear too often.
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Aircraft Super Thread Mk.VII
mechaninac replied to David Hingtgen's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
I could be mistaken... hell, I probably am, but it looks like a British Harrier to me. -
Regarding canceling. HLJ's is dead simple to do before payment request. I'm not sure about NY, but I assume an email cancelation request should suffice if a site canceling option is not present. In either case, one can just opt to let the payment window slip; although that may trigger some ramifications in one's ability to place future preorders.
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Purely speaking as someone who lives in the US... How good HLJ's price ends up being will depend on the exchange rate at the time the payment is due. Anyone who preordered with NY when it first went up will be charged just under $400 with EMS shipping regardless of what the Dollar-Yen ration happens to be then. HLJ's price is given in Yen and works out to $330.45 sans shipping as of today. The question is, once shipping is factored, will HLJ's 25,700 Yen beat NY's price in December? That will depend on a lot of outside factors between now and then that will affect the value of the Dollar and the price of oil (US elections, EU PIIGS sovereign debt crisis, ME turmoil, etc.). If recent past is prologue inasmuch as Yen appreciation towards the Dollar is concerned, then that price advantage could evaporate in a 3 months; of course should events boost the greenback, HLJ's price will be even more attractive (if one can call ¥25,700 before shipping for a toy, attractive ). I suppose that the only foolproof way to know is to preorder from both vendors and wait to see which one ends up being the better value when it really counts... when payment must be made.
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The Megazone 23 Garland By Yamato Thread
mechaninac replied to Renato's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Mine never broke so I have not had any reason to take the toy apart; I'm sure you know exactly where this particular part tends to break and are engineering yours accordingly to avoid Yamato's innadequate version. My statement is more along the lines of good general engineering practice which Yamato and/or their contracted design house tend to ignore too often when designing their toy parts... in short, sharp inner edges are an engineering no-no, a .5mm to 1.0mm fillet on such geometry is a quick no-brainer addition that makes a huge difference in a component's strength. -
The Megazone 23 Garland By Yamato Thread
mechaninac replied to Renato's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Fillets, that needs fillets!... But seriously, that's where Bandai, and specially Yamato, get it wrong a lot. They seem to fail to round off a great many sharp inside corners which lead to stress facturing and failure. -
I was about a year or so between first release and reissue for the 29. I'd expect the 25s, all of them, will see reissues as well, but since there are so many more variants -- the VF-25G and RVF-25 have not even been released yet -- and there's the 30th aniversary VF-29 and, maybe, more VF-171 releases, it may be a while before we see repops of the Messiahs... maybe by this time next year Bandai could anounce or release more Alto's and Ozma's 25s so that those who missed them the first time around can have a chance of getting them without paying though one body orifice and out the other (I'm missing the S version myself and really want one to go with the Armor Pack that I got for it, but not at today's 3 - 3.5X MSRP); but you'll have to be quick on the trigger for any reissues if the YF-29's second round is any indication.
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YF-29 Durandal.
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I stand corrected. I never noticed the canards on any of the Mig 29s from Macross Zero before. Personally, I still don't think it looks that good -- the design, not Zubique's execution which is incredible--, but having it in context gives it validity.