mechaninac

I've said it before and I'll say it again, and I'll keep repeating it until it sinks in for everyone: Play-Asia should be avoided like the plague; the kind of stunt they pull with these pre-orders is beyond underhanded... it's borderline dishonest, definitely unsavory, and truly bad business practice.

D'oh! After such a great hour, having to wait 3+ month will indeed suck.

^ Sanity is overrated...

To me, Bandai takes the win, by a hair, in the Fighter Mode category: It looks a bit more dynamic overall; It's slimmer in profile; It lacks the slight hump evident on the spine of the Arcadia version; It has a clean transition from intake to thigh to leg, unlike Arcadia which sports that unsightly black hole disconnect; It's intake shape and angle are much more complimentary for fighter... and no thick lip; The larger, more prominent, canopy; The way the canards sit; On the minus side -- all nitpicks: The rear landing gears are too small; The front landing gear doors are really tiny; The feet stick out a bit too much; It tips forward on its rear gears; Bandai could've fixed this by making the front gear longer to compensate -- it already folds anyway; The hard-points are too closely spaced; Arcadia's rear stabs look better; Clearly, Bandai went for Fighter mode supremacy, while Arcadia paid slightly more attention to Battroid mode in their design process. The fact that Bandai's looks almost as good as Arcadia's in Battroid is a testament to Bandai's engineering. Both renditions of Isamu's 19 are top notch... Yamato's is just embarrassing by comparisson.

Que in the black clad, asthmatic villain!.. Season 2 premieres tonight at 9 PM on Disney XD. Cannot wait.

Ditto on the CDJ shipping notice: but since I chose SAL, I won't get mine for at least 2 weeks...

In Stock at BiJ as well; 26,990¥, but they offer 2800¥ FedEx shipping.

The overall sculpt of the 1/100 Bandai kit is so far superior to Evolutions rendition of the VF-2SS (head, chest, upper and lower legs, forward fuselage and shield, feet... just about everything) that it's not even funny, and it's conversion to a non SAP equipped version, while not perfect, is quite slick; it just looks right. The only area where I can clearly see the prototype toy being superior is in the way the wings tuck in in Battroid mode; the toy's is perfect, while the model's looks like a cape. The cockpit of the model and its canopy also leave a lot to be desired, as does the front landing gear, but I ascribe those flaws to the kit's scale and vintage. I'm still looking forward to the 1/60 toy, however. I'm definitely getting one to test the waters - Silvie's I assume; if it impresses me I'll get Nexx's and any other color variant Evolution produces. If I'm disappointed, the first will also be the last, but at least I'll have one piece to represent this most unlikely of Valkyries in toy form; other than Bandai's tiny 1/250 fighter gashapon, that is.

At least they included a stand with the Valk as a standard accessory... Yes, I'm looking at you, Arcadia!

I'm not sure if this is the most appropriate thread for this, but thought I needed to share it with the community; here is something I came across online that may be of interest to anyone needing to repair broken plastic parts on their toys, specially when plastic weld is not an option, 2-part epoxy is too messy, CA is inappropriate, and anything else just won't work: Liquid Bonder by Bondic Full disclosure disclaimer: I have not tried this myself, but it is intriguing and presents some interesting possibilities.

^ You should be able to snag one upon release, at N-Y, if nowhere else. In the meantime, keep an eye on CDJ and HLJ, as they're likely to have at least one more PO opportunity.

Nice! If I didn't have one prepaid at CDJ, I'd jump on HLJ (still open as of this post); alas, I don't need 2 copies.

N-Y invoices 1-2 weeks before release, while HLJ charges upon release or once in stock. I doubt N-Y has them in already, but they must be getting all the shipping labels and boxes ready once they come in.

^ Brick mode...

^They're actually offering you more than they've done in the past. Their standard response used to be that they could do nothing for international buyers on certain products not licensed outside of Japan, and Macross merchandise are the poster children for this category -- they even included a disclaimer card in the box to let you know upfront that you're SOL if something was defective/broken. That's not to defend AmiAmi; they should stand behind everything they sell 100%, as a matter of best business practice; however, to the best of my knowledge, HLJ is the only online retailer that refunds the total cost and offers to cover return shipping.

My copy, purchased from HLJ, also sports the misaligned intake markings. It's not a deal breaker, but it is a bit annoying because once you notice it you can't not notice it every time you pick up the toy, and it is inexcusable on a ~ $300.00 collectible. However, to me, the too dark blue is a far more egregious "error" than that bit of print... you can remedy the latter (remove it and apply decals or stickers), but you're stuck with Arcadia's choice of plastic and paint colors.

They spread like a plague that consumes shelf space and bank accounts...

Wow! The Bishouju Black Canary looks fantastic. http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-011722&page=top

According to the Macross Mecha Manual the Koenig's arms, and Mac II's for that matter (ground to ground), are single-shot long-range anti-ship heavy missile box launchers, so the VB-6 would have a six missiles load-out. As for the 4 main "battleship" guns, they're listed as 320mm rail guns; therefore, it's possible that a magazine with additional slugs are kept in the back-pack -- say 3-4 extra shots per gun. The barrels would have to retract back into the munitions box for reload through some type of breaches on their "sides", ahead of the engines/bell housings; there would be no propellant needed, no shell casings to eject, and any back pressure could be evacuated through a relief valve system connected to the engines. So, as unlikely as it seems at first glance, the hole munitions aspect of the Koenig Monster could physically work.

I suppose this could make for a passable rental when nothing else is available...

Ouch! I hate inadequate packaging that does little to nothing to protect the contents within from the manhandling ravages of the couldn't-care-less shipping gorillas.

Whatever you do, and I can't stress this enough, DO NOT use super glue on the break; it won't hold, and you want clean surfaces for a real repair to be attempted. You'll need a small diameter drill bit (0.3mm or so, but no more than .06mm), a pin or metal wire (a seamstress pin is ideal), and ABS compatible plastic cement (methylene chloride based like Ambroid Pro Weld) in order to effectively repair something like that break. If the peg can be accessed from bellow, push it out. If not, drill into it about 2mm deep and work a small screw into the hole (self-tapping would be best) to use as a holding surface you can grab with a pair of pliers to pull the peg out of the socket. If you have penetrating oil (WD40 works well), try to get a small drop on the edge of the peg an see if it seeps in... this will help reduce the friction and make removal easier. If you use oil, make sure to wash the parts with soap and rinse thoroughly before proceeding. Take the peg remnant and place it on the surface from which it broke and move it around until you find it's natural position; you don't want to cement it crooked, and you'll actually feel once it keys in properly. Place a small drop of the plastic cement on the break's seam so that capillary action carries it into the crack; you can help it along by carefully shifting the peg and then applying a bit of pressure until you see a small amount of material ooze out of the seam -- plastic cement melts the plastic so the two pieces are "welded" to each other, turning the two pieces into one, so the ooze is a good thing and it can be filed, sanded, cut, or scraped off later. Let the joined pieces rest for about an hour. Drill the part through the peg, concentrically. Add a drop of plastic weld into the hole and push the metal pin into it, all the way; if you use a headed pin, make a countersink into the plastic so that it will be recessed, then snip any exposed length of metal flush with the plastic surface. The metal inside the part will help stabilize it and make it even stronger than the original, which wouldn't have broken if it were strong enough in the first place. Once successfully repaired, sand/file down the peg's diameter to clean any extruded weld and to make it fit into it's corresponding socket with a bit more ease; this will reduce stress on both parts for the future. Remove only a very small amount of material at a time and test constantly... better to remove too little than too much. Hope this helps, and good luck.

Well, BiJ has responded to my query. Their answer is as follows: Big in Japan is officially the least expensive source for acquiring the VF-0 (AE's price is the same but they require EMS on this), with a total delivered price of 32380 yen; however, there is a caveat, they require immediate payment of the full amount upfront because it exceeds 20000 yen.

SW-XA1