No 1/48 VF-1S anytime soon

[Nightwing]

Sweet Merciful Crap!  I just got my 1S Roy from chibitokyo.  I had mentioned in my order that I was hoping for a mint box.  So I don't know if they take this much care with all orders. . . but WOW!

This thing arrived in a huge outter box that was very sturdy.  Not a ding on it!  Then I opened the box to find coarse packing paper.  At first, I thought "Hmmm, that could really mar some of the glossiness of the black parts of the box."  After the first layer, there was another layer. . . very thick protective packaging. . . and then. . . believe it or not, they had actually taken the time to shrink-wrap the valk box itself!

Now, I don't know how familiar y'all are with shrink-wrapping (I used to shrink wrap video game boxes when I worked at Software Etc. in High school about 15 years ago!).  But it doesn't hurt anything.  You just put it in a loose shrink-wrap material bag. . . and then use a hair-dryer type blower to heat the plastic, and it shrinks down and clings to the item.

That's what they did.  So I now have a 100% mint box that arrived in pristine condition.  And I'm going to leave it shrink-wrapped, since this is my "backup" 1S Roy.

I know it sounds like I'm praising these guys too much. . . but this is the best packaging job I've ever seen on the part of a toy seller.  No offense to VE or TMP! 

Anyways, it's too bad that they had to raise their price by $20 in the last few days, otherwise, I'd give them 10/10 stars.  Outstanding!

H

P.S.  They packaged and shipped before I emailed them about spreading the word on MW and asking them if they had sold a lot lately.

Yeah, I received my two VF-1S's yesterday as well. The packaging was indeed impressive. I plan on opening both up (I've already done so with 1 of them), though. Like you, they earn a high score with me!

Edited September 4, 2004 by Nightwing

[doodler7]

Check the FS section of the forums OR go to ebay.com, I believe there's one right now that's going for $300, or what some might call here "an arm 'n a leg"!

connor99,

yeah, i saw that low viz for $300 with buy it now.

has anyone of you bought from that seller? the item has been opened and displayed. in my mind i was thinking, that thing must reek of smoke...heh heh...not to put him down or anything.

but the search goes on, i had my friend from japan bid on a low viz on ebay.japan...those things sell like gold!

is chibitokyo.com still selling vf-1s? i don't see it on thier site.

tisinc99.com has a low viz for $389! (cough!)

is anyone planning to make a purchase like that? or have made a purchase at that price for a 1/48? ... let me know about your justified decision.

[Hurin]

is chibitokyo.com still selling vf-1s? i don't see it on thier site.

No. They are now out of stock. For the record, they raised the price by $20 on only their last two Roys. And those two were only made available after they initially ran out of stock. . . and the owner decided to sell the only remaining two from his personal collection. That's what I was told via email in response to my (emailed) praise for their packaging and (light) criticizm of their raised price.

I'd definitely buy from these folks again. It's too bad that they haven't seemed to carry any 1/48 releases other than the first two. Though they do have quite a few 1/60s and Bandais. I'll be keeping an eye on their site from now on. . .

[Hurin]

I had a chance to speak w/ one of the guys from tisinc earlier this week and he said that they have specially made boxes for sending out 1/48 valks to their respective buyers. Upon hearing that, I got to thinking--if they cared so much about shipping the valks 'n their containers, now why would one of my fellow MWer get a 1/48 box w/ a big ass warping crease  ?!

Dude. . . that actually chaps my hide quite a bit. I don't mind it when someone raises prices to ridiculous levels. I just don't buy it. More power to whoever does. . .

And I wasn't very upset that my 1S Hikaru arrived creased, in a standard (nearly too small) box.

But when someone starts acting like a used car salesman and spouts obvious falsehoods. . . that's when they lose my business forever.

That will be the last thing I ever buy from TISINC99.COM. I'm just going to try to be more careful and not let things get out of stock again at dealers I trust before I'm ready to buy. . . so I won't have to go grovelling back to TISINC ever again.

Best Regards,

H

[Hurin]

And, for those of you wondering just how much built-up demand there was here on Macross World for the 1/48 VF-1S. . . here are two quotes that I hope Chibitokyo doesn't mind me sharing (can't imagine that they would):

You getting the word out really helped. We have never sold so many of one product in a week, ever

This was one of the most amazing things to happen in our ten years of being in business.

Everyone's a winner! And, to be honest, I think Chibitokyo is the real winner here. Because they continued to sell the Roy at a fair price, and anyone who receives a valk from them will be very impressed with their customer service and attention to packaging. . . I think they have made quite a few fans here (and among visitors and lurkers who might have seen this thread).

To me, that's a more sound long-term business model than the gouging we've seen by others. Respected, trusted, fair sellers who pack their items well like Valkyrie Exchange (Kevin), Twin Moons (Tam), Neova, and now Chibitokyo, really do expose and hilight the less than stellar behavior and practices of stores like TISINC99.

H

[connor99]

Hurin Posted on Sep 4 2004, 01:04 PM

To me, that's a more sound long-term business model than the gouging we've seen by others. Respected, trusted, fair sellers who pack their items well like Valkyrie Exchange (Kevin), Twin Moons (Tam), Neova, and now Chibitokyo, really do expose and hilight the less than stellar behavior and practices of stores like TISINC99.

H

Amen to that, Brother! Amen to that!

[aaajin]

Dude...tisinc just raised the price of his 1S Hikky up to USD 175...gosh ..that's 40 bucks more than when I bought em from him about 2 weeks ago...

see it HERE

aaajin

[Godzilla]

And that surprises you that Tinsc is doing this? I never will buy stuff from him.

[kensei]

And that surprises you that Tinsc is doing this? I never will buy stuff from him.

Someone ought to tell him that this is just rpbbery, but then would he care? I wonder what would happen if they rereleased the VF-1Ss in November. People would see him for the hog that he really is.

[Neova]

I get asked a lot (other dealers probably do too) if Yamato will re-issue the VF-1S and thats a big maybe. As a business, if there is enough demand, they will, provided the factory can produce enough.

If there are still stock available or if the demand is actually low but voiced loudly by the vocal majority but consists of a very small number of people, say a few hundred, there probably won't be another run. I'm guessing its the latter cuz the Macross market is actually very very small compared to the other markets Yamato is branching into. I'm pretty sure the minimum order is around 2K (small run) to 5K (normal run) cuz those are industry standards and realistically, I think only a world wide release would soak up that 2K order.

If you asked Yamato to ramp up the production for a few hundred VF-1S vs a few thousand of another line, you'll get laughed out of the factory.

Now, if Yamato was to re-release another variant of 1S, then it would be very easy for them to re-issue Roy, Hikaru, Max and others in one consolidated shot cuz its just a repaint of the same plastic. Best bet would be to hope for a limited custom version 1S to be followed by re-issues and why not?

I can see this happening. We had the Low Viz 1A, and now the Stealth 1J. We need a custom 1S to finish off the Holy Trinity so bet on that to bring more 1S to the table. Xmas possibility then? If it was planned by Yamato before and green lit now, definately possible. Any later? Don't bet on it with all the new toys scheduled to be released.

My suggestion: Buy it while you can.

Edited September 6, 2004 by Neova

[Wabbit]

I don't know if it belongs here, but I saw an auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

[do not disturb]

look at this focker tisinc again...

A-HOLE

now hes got it up for $275.

[Mallet21]

LOL !!! I like how they've got the regular price at $300 crossed out w/ a sales price of $275.

[Hurricane29]

$220. for a max, dam. I'm happy I got mine yesterday for only $155.

[Blue vf-1]

I was going to start getting into 1/48's (just completed my 1/60 and 1/55 collection).. but after this madness I think it's safe to say "no thanks".

[Eternal_D]

LOL !!! I like how they've got the regular price at $300 crossed out w/ a sales price of $275.

better jump on that! You're saving 8%!!! lol it should read more like, You're being gouged 100%

[do not disturb]

I was going to start getting into 1/48's (just completed my 1/60 and 1/55 collection)

big mistake, you should've gone for the 1/48's first, then gotten the rest. the 1/60 are plentiful and the prices are way low, same goes for the 1/55 minus the M&M's.

don't give up hope, they're still guys out there that aren't trying to rip you off.....entirely.

[1 VF-1 2NV]

I was going to start getting into 1/48's (just completed my 1/60 and 1/55 collection)

big mistake, you should've gone for the 1/48's first, then gotten the rest. the 1/60 are plentiful and the prices are way low, same goes for the 1/55 minus the M&M's.

don't give up hope, they're still guys out there that aren't trying to rip you off.....entirely.

Yeah. Look HERE. Only $175 per Yammie valk .

Edited September 16, 2004 by 1 VF-1 2NV

[kensei]

$220. for a max, dam. I'm happy I got mine yesterday for only $155.

I'm happy I got mine a few months ago for $89.

[Smiley424]

Man, after reading this post I'm so glad I got my 1/48 VF-1S Hikaru off Soze's buddy for the list price. The prices for 1/48s are getting crazy. I never imagined the 1/48 prices would go Low-Vis crazy.