Montarvillois Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 It had to happen, Yesterday, my low viz took a 6' plunge down the shelve in gerwalk mode and fell flat on its back. The back pack hinge thingie broke and I am left with a severely "battle damaged" Low viz. Do you guys know where I can find spare parts. I think there was a thread once about ordering parts from somewhere but I can't find it. Oh, and yes, I sent an email to HLJ last night... Quote
Sumdumgai Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 Oh geez, there seems to be a lot of that happening lately... Good luck on fixing it! I'd point you to Monkey Nugget, but I remember reading that he had said that Yamato stopped doing the spare parts thing (check the "Latest 1/48" thread). Quote
kensei Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 Sorry to hear that mate......and I don't think it could get any worse but I have to tell you.....it's a wirte-off. Yamato will NOT give out any more parts to fix broken valks. That repair thread was unpinned months ago due to yamato's stingeyness. Again I offer my condolences. *salutes* Quote
Bub Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 I feel bad for you. Good Luck in your quest. Share any highlights of the pusuit for future reference should anything similar happen to anyone of us. Quote
GobotFool Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 Why did they stop selling spare parts? Greed? People abusing the service to get parts for custom jobs? Both? Quote
Uxi Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 Why sell parts when it could interfere with selling whole valkyries? Quote
Pat Payne Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 I really wonder if the whole process of making spare parts -- basically casting extras to sell if the need arises was starting to lose them money. According to Graham (And correct me if I'm wrong, O Sithlord,) there have been only a handful of breakages of the backpack hinge (most but not all due to mishandling) yet for a time they were churning out replacement backpack assemblies to sell. If they have backpacks collecting dust in a wharehouse somewhere (because people are heeding the instructions on not forcing the backpacks) that's money wasted and backpack units that could have gone onto new VF-1s. Although it does the cynic in my heart good to agree with you, Uxi, I'm pretty sure that the profit motive inherent in another complete unit sold is only a part of the story. Actually, I was surprised that they even offered the service in the first place. With most toy companies, if you've broken it, you've broken it -- they're not going to expend good plastic to send out a replacement widget for your GI Joe Ultra-super-secret fortress playset. Quote
VF-1Guy Posted November 2, 2003 Posted November 2, 2003 I've often wondered if Yamato put a stop to the replacement part service due to abuse of the system. I'm sure they had a huge number of requests for 001 wings, S heads and heat shields (you don't have to look to hard to see how common these requests are). I can't say that I blame them since they are in the business of selling complete products, not selling parts for projects. Quote
EXO Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 I wanted to buy parts to upgrade my previous valks... newer nose cones, newer wings with flaps that don't fall off and fins that weren't crooked. Yes, I wanted to be part of the abuse... It seems kinda strange though because I had toys that were broken too, Like my new FP YF-21. I'm guessing that the orders were too overwhelming to the point that extending the staff or overtime hours was not a logical monetary solution (plus the abuse factor)... Quote
Uxi Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 I really wonder if the whole process of making spare parts -- basically casting extras to sell if the need arises was starting to lose them money. i don't see how. I'm not talking about making spare parts specifically but simply using the production line for regular valkyires (1/48 in this case) a few extra parts. Even if they didn't paint them it could suit us well. And they wouldnt need to produce extra of any ancillary parts like landing gear and cockpits. I'm actually not bitter at all about spare parts, though it would be a good customer relations feature, especially for one that has known QC issues. The 1/60 FP upgrades is another story. <_< But mostly because the only reason I bought a 1/60 Roy and Max was because I thought there would be upgrades later on... And HLJ's sale was pretty good. Quote
SuperSkylineGTR Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 BAD TIMES DUDE! Sorry to hear about that. That's why I keep most of my Valks in Fighter mode. The main reason is I live near an airport and I ALSO have a set of train tracks behind my house. So it tends to shake things at times. Quote
Montarvillois Posted November 3, 2003 Author Posted November 3, 2003 Screw Yamato, I'm buying a new one and it's gonna be spare parts galore on Ebay for what I havent used to repair mine... I am soooooo pissed. Quote
Hurin Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 Maybe you can take the valk apart and sell its parts piecemeal? You'd probably get more than the valk is worth as a whole. Then you can buy a new one. With Yamato not offering parts, there is quite a market for Valk parts. . . which would of course plummet if Yamato started offering them. Someone made quite a lot of money selling Yamato parts on Ebay quite a while back. H Quote
moose Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 The same thing happened to me is there anybody out there who has spare back back hindges or no of anyplace i can get them. thanks man i feel your pain my 120 investment just got smaller Quote
Montarvillois Posted November 4, 2003 Author Posted November 4, 2003 Maybe you can take the valk apart and sell its parts piecemeal? Exactly what I'm gonna do. Just bought the valk, when I get it, I'll get the backpack hinge and sell the rest. I just wonder how much I'm gonna get for the pilot alone ?... hehe, maybe it's not such a bad ordeal after all... Guys, can you suggest the best way to sell my new canibalized VF-1a when I get it. Here's what I think I'll do, I'll post an auction on ebay for the following items: -head -legs and swingbar without the intake covers -intake covers -heatshield -pilot -chest -back, arms and wings without the backpack hinge -backpack without the hinge -cockpit and front assembly -nosecone -gunpod -strap and "o" rings -Large missile pods -small missile pods -Unused sticker sheet -Box & instructions I think this should work Quote
Hurin Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Sounds good to me. Some advice, start the bidding low, (like at $1). . . and let it go up from there. If some parts don't go up, oh well. You don't need them anyways. Just make sure you charge enough for shipping that you don't actually lose money on the gas driving to the Post Office to mail a $1 part. But, I've found that putting a high initial bid on an item will scare off people. . . but once they're in on a low bid, they'll work the bid amount higher until they are well above what you would have initially set as the starting bid. I hope that made sense. Be prepared, however for people calling you a vulture for just trying to get the maximum amount of value out of your parts. I actually usually feel guilty when I don't sell Macross stuff here mano-y-mano. But my last batch, I just needed top-dollar, and so far the most reliable way to do that seems to be to go to Ebay and then post the auctions here in the auctions section. Good Luck! H Quote
Hurin Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Montarvillois's avatar finally loaded. . . and now I'm mesmerized. H Quote
imode Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Maybe you can take the valk apart and sell its parts piecemeal? Exactly what I'm gonna do. Just bought the valk, when I get it, I'll get the backpack hinge and sell the rest. I just wonder how much I'm gonna get for the pilot alone ?... hehe, maybe it's not such a bad ordeal after all... Guys, can you suggest the best way to sell my new canibalized VF-1a when I get it. Here's what I think I'll do, I'll post an auction on ebay for the following items: -head -legs and swingbar without the intake covers -intake covers -heatshield -pilot -chest -back, arms and wings without the backpack hinge -backpack without the hinge -cockpit and front assembly -nosecone -gunpod -strap and "o" rings -Large missile pods -small missile pods -Unused sticker sheet -Box & instructions I think this should work You could start here of course. Although, too bad it was a low viz that broke on you. Apparently you can sell a 1S head for $50 on ebay Quote
Montarvillois Posted November 4, 2003 Author Posted November 4, 2003 DAMN !!! Just tought of something I could do with the crippled low viz... Since the Elintseeker's backpack is always up, I could probably buy an Elintseeker recast kit and convert the damn thing into a perfect looking Elintseeker. What do you guys think ? Quote
ComicKaze Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 Graham was incredibly kind to me, mailing me a replacement tail pack for my 1/60 a year ago. A wonderful fellow. Same with Shawn who personally alerted me to a GBP-1S armor auction when I needed a part. But I wouldn't want to encourage all of you to ask him for parts, or to abuse his kindness. He just can't supply them so easily. I have a suspicion he may have raided one of his own Valks and for that I am very very indebted to him. Thanks you guys! Quote
Uxi Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 DAMN !!!Just tought of something I could do with the crippled low viz... Since the Elintseeker's backpack is always up, I could probably buy an Elintseeker recast kit and convert the damn thing into a perfect looking Elintseeker. What do you guys think ? NO I think you should sell the scrap to me for cheap. Jk, sounds good enough... or you could just get some FP and leave em on permanently, maybe. (Prefer Super/Strike valks to ELints)... But if you wanna sell, I'm gonna want some things (stickers for one). Quote
Lightning Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 DAMN !!!Just tought of something I could do with the crippled low viz... Since the Elintseeker's backpack is always up, I could probably buy an Elintseeker recast kit and convert the damn thing into a perfect looking Elintseeker. What do you guys think ? um....Yamato hasnt made a 1/48 Elint yet, but it sounds like a great idea. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.