Yamato toys SALE! at HLJ. Also, any review on the quality of the b

[wintermute]

I was mad I missed the 21 sale. It was posted on here and the next day it was gone.

Dude, yes. I don't remember how deeply it was discounted, but I was disappointed about that one too.

[BlueMax]

It was at 50% off....

[blacklotus]

I just got an email back from them. They're now sending SAL in 2 boxes. The shipping's only 2,860 vs. 4,980 (original EMS + SAL) vs. 6,400 (bundled EMS). I guess they thought I was a cheapskate after reading my email and decided to send the big, expensive, and heavy Mugen under SAL too?!?

I'm glad in a way that I'm saving on the shipping but now I'm also kinda nervous about the safety of the Mugen.

SAL is safe too since they're shipped in the same heavy cartons as EMS. The only problems with SAL (at least in my country) is the possibility of parcel loss/misplacement. Not HLJ's fault as the items actually reached Singapore's shores. But after that, anything goes. Since SAL has no insurance cover, the loss becomes my loss. At least with EMS shipping, my monetary losses are covered, but if the toy's a very limited collector's item, I won't be able to get another replacement.

So far, it has happened to me once in 4 SAL orders. But all my EMS orders are safely in my hands. (over 200 EMS orders thru various online shops). So I don't mind paying the 100% extra for shipping. I do know that shipping from Japan to Asian countries is cheaper than shipping to the Americas. So, I'm lucky that way.

Anyway, enjoy your new purchases. I know I will. It's been a while since I play with a transformable mecha.

[Roy Focker]

Sucks for me I had computer issues over the weekend and missed some of the items. Guess I will what for the next sale.

[wolfx]

Thankfully for me over 30-40 over SAL packages from HLJ over the past few years, none have been lost so far.

[D_Unit]

SAL is safe too since they're shipped in the same heavy cartons as EMS. The only problems with SAL (at least in my country) is the possibility of parcel loss/misplacement. Not HLJ's fault as the items actually reached Singapore's shores. But after that, anything goes. Since SAL has no insurance cover, the loss becomes my loss. At least with EMS shipping, my monetary losses are covered, but if the toy's a very limited collector's item, I won't be able to get another replacement.

So far, it has happened to me once in 4 SAL orders. But all my EMS orders are safely in my hands. (over 200 EMS orders thru various online shops). So I don't mind paying the 100% extra for shipping. I do know that shipping from Japan to Asian countries is cheaper than shipping to the Americas. So, I'm lucky that way.

Anyway, enjoy your new purchases. I know I will. It's been a while since I play with a transformable mecha.

Thanks for the info.

Yeah, I'm really excited about getting my stuff too. Can't wait till they have another sale.

[mr.chogokin]

I got my shipping confirmation yesterday, but I'm not able to track my ems stuff. In the email, they noted, "Please allow up to 72 hours for your order to appear on the tracking site." WTH? I didn't pay for ems to wait up to another 72hrs, Grr!

[m0n5t3r]

cool... x-mas came early here to MW c/o HLJ...

[eugimon]

cool... x-mas came early here to MW c/o HLJ...

I expect photos!

[regult]

I am not sure if we're blessed or doomed in Hong Kong: the toys are mostly cheap and available, but there is simply not enough space for all of them, and even when prices in some shops are in synchronization with HLJ (guess Yamato needs help clearing inventory), buying a whole bunch of 1/60 valks and whatnot is not good for the wallet.

Despite this, I could not resist getting myself a long wanted SV-51 Ivanov, despite the negative reviews and the bad experience with a floppy wing on the Nora version. I wanted to have the black one! I was happy the wings could fold correctly (hinges were right) but the next morning, I realized the second leg section (the one after the intake and before the knee) in the right had exploded and has hanging on thanks to friction in fighter mode. I got an exchange, and out of the 3 boxes available, none was really flawless (I know this is not news to most of you), I settled with one after the owner did some adjustments to it.

I wish I were more interested in the VF-1 (also on sale), which is much more solid as a toy, but I just love the SV-51's looks. At the prices they're going and the fact that I cannot get a spare wing from Overdrive/Yamato, I guess we'll not see a reissue, let alone an improved version. If you really want one, this may be the chance, but it certainly is not Yamato at it's best.

[bluemax151]

I see someone(s) in here has already received shipping notifications.. Funny enough I ordered several sale items before Blacklotus even made this thread and my order only just started "processing"

On the EMS shipping side of things like mentioned before it's not only a weight/size thing but a cost issue. Any order over $200(?) automatically goers EMS. Last time I made a large order of a 1/48 valk, 1/48 amrour, 1/48 fast packs and a ver 2 VF-1S Roy the EMS cost was just a little over $100. It's kind of a let down that it costs so much but I've gotten an EMS shipment from HLJ in literally 2 days (obviously not standard) since I received the shipping notice which is a whole lot faster than SAL to say the least.

[blacklotus]

Just got my shipping notice this Wed morning (SG time). That means I'll either get my stuff on Thu or Fri morning.

For those that want your items shipped quickly, there's an option in your orders screen that says "ship available items". It'll cut down on the normal processing time for HLJ to prepare your orders for shipping.

I usually just wait patiently. The thrill of anticipation.

To regult: Wow! You're lucky. No local SG retailer will allow any exchange for damaged goods after one pays for them and takes them out of the box to play with, even if it's a manufacturing defect. Consider yourself blessed to be in HK with cheap toys. Heck, even if you need to ship limited edition items from Japan, it's cheaper than SG.

If I'm correct, lots of Japanese toys manufacturers have local support branches in HK. e.g. Bandai, Megahouse. So you definitely can get the latest stuff faster than the rest of the world, sometimes even faster than in Japan itself, especially if one is not staying in major cities like Tokyo or Yokohama.

BTW, transporting stuff internally in Japan isn't cheap either. Sometimes, it costs more than certain EMS shipping.

Anyway, enjoy the SV51-Ivanov. It's one of my fav mecha too because of its unique profile. Unfortunately, Yamato didn't do a good job on the QC part. sigh...

[treatment]

As nice as this sale was, i'm really getting quite ticked off at HLJ for such a painfully slow order processing and shipping.

I know they're busy, but c'mon!

It's like they're letting my small order (just one valk+parts) sit and stew there until they get a better yen-to-dollar exchange-rate before doing any final processing and final shipping. I mean, I placed and received confirmation on my order when the rate was still at 98.5something.

Now the rate is at 95.77 (and possibly going down more) as of this writing and my order still hasn't final-processed/shipped so i still don't know how much wallet-damage SAL-shipping has dinged me this time. It's funny coz SAL is supposed to be cheap, but the horrid exchange-rate is really making it quite expensive more than necessary.

*sigh*

[shiroikaze]

As nice as this sale was, i'm really getting quite ticked off at HLJ for such a painfully slow order processing and shipping.

I know they're busy, but c'mon!

It's like they're letting my small order (just one valk+parts) sit and stew there until they get a better yen-to-dollar exchange-rate before doing any final processing and final shipping. I mean, I placed and received confirmation on my order when the rate was still at 98.5something.

Now the rate is at 95.77 (and possibly going down more) as of this writing and my order still hasn't final-processed/shipped so i still don't know how much wallet-damage SAL-shipping has dinged me this time. It's funny coz SAL is supposed to be cheap, but the horrid exchange-rate is really making it quite expensive more than necessary.

How long have some of you guys been waiting usually for HLJ shipping notices? I have never waited more than three days from payment confirmation to shipping notice =\.

[Talonvar]

I ended up paying 20$ on the SAL shipping for the vf-1a + sup/str parts dealy. I put the order in on Friday and had it go through on Tuesday with shipping, so turn around time is definetly a few days which isnt too bad

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

How long have some of you guys been waiting usually for HLJ shipping notices? I have never waited more than three days from payment confirmation to shipping notice =\.

Same here, in my experience, they only take long during holidays(word of advice, don't order something during any holiday, or celebrations like golden week!).

[Agent-GHQ]

As nice as this sale was, i'm really getting quite ticked off at HLJ for such a painfully slow order processing and shipping.

I know they're busy, but c'mon!

Try ordering $1000- bucks worth of toys. They work alot faster than train wreck!

Anyways, too bad they don't ship my stuff in their original factory cases! Fukkers.....

Edited June 18, 2009 by Agent-GHQ

[MacrossMan]

Try ordering $1000- bucks worth of toys. They work alot faster than train wreck!

Anyways, too bad they don't ship my stuff in their original factory cases! Fukkers.....

I guess I can understand that to have each case checked after packaging for insurance purposes but at least re-package the items in their origingal packaging if its being bought as a case.

Edited June 18, 2009 by MacrossMan

[eugimon]

Eh... as someone who's worked in the back room before, when the delivery truck comes in EVERYTHING gets broken down. Stock shelves aren't designed to accommodate manufacturer's shipping boxes and we don't have time to check and see if there's some fussy customer who wants the "original factory case" and even if we knew about it, we wouldn't care.

A modern stock room is being constantly reshuffled with more popular items and fast movers having priority and sale and clearance merchandise moved around. Stock shelves and shelf real estate are vital and we're not going to waste precious space trying to keep keep a case of 2 deep x 2 high intact on the off chance someone is going to order it like that.

The time it takes to rebox those items for shipping is minimal and the wasted space would hardly make up for whatever convenience would come out of those rare orders.

[MacrossMan]

Eh... as someone who's worked in the back room before, when the delivery truck comes in EVERYTHING gets broken down. Stock shelves aren't designed to accommodate manufacturer's shipping boxes and we don't have time to check and see if there's some fussy customer who wants the "original factory case" and even if we knew about it, we wouldn't care.

A modern stock room is being constantly reshuffled with more popular items and fast movers having priority and sale and clearance merchandise moved around. Stock shelves and shelf real estate are vital and we're not going to waste precious space trying to keep keep a case of 2 deep x 2 high intact on the off chance someone is going to order it like that.

The time it takes to rebox those items for shipping is minimal and the wasted space would hardly make up for whatever convenience would come out of those rare orders.

Yeah, but seeing that you are catering to overseas collectors who might be intetested in a "case pack" at least offer as an alternitive and re-coup your costs if any....at least that is what I think.

[eugimon]

Yeah, but seeing that you are catering to overseas collectors who might be intetested in a "case pack" at least offer as an alternitive and re-coup your costs if any....at least that is what I think.

nope because those guys aren't going to pay enough to make up for the lost time and space. Think about what land costs in Japan or hell anywhere with enough of a transportation system to allow for quick and easy international shipping. Do you really think they're going to cut the useable real estate of a shelf by 50 or 75% just on the off chance GHQ is going to order? And do you think GHQ would be willing to pay the several thousand dollar premium to make up for that lost space and decreased worker productivity?

I can tell you, performance in the backroom is measured in seconds. We calculate out how fast a worker can pick, sort, package and place on a palette down to a fraction of a second. I'm in no way exaggerating here. Part of a stock room worker's evaluation is to see how closely he can meet those theoretical goals. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars (easily for a small company) or more for the latest software that tracks sales and creates optimized floor plans and stock placement. Stock is cycled every time new merchandise is brought in which can be several times per day for high volume operations.

Just in our stock room, a single day would see 2-3 deliveries, several hundred next day air shipments and 3-6 thousand regular shipments with 4-5 items per order processed by a stock room team of around 10 full time employees.

[Agent-GHQ]

What? Are you telling me that rertailers as large as HLJ opens up ALL their cases and put on the shelves?? They don't have at least one or two sealed cases available?? I mean, I'm pretty sure ALL the shelves can not accommodate ALL items.

When I was in retail, we would open what we need to put out on the shelves. There's no point in opening up a sealed case when the the shelves are stocked!

[eugimon]

What? Are you telling me that rertailers as large as HLJ opens up ALL their cases and put on the shelves?? They don't have at least one or two sealed cases available?? I mean, I'm pretty sure ALL the shelves can not accommodate ALL items.

When I was in retail, we would open what we need to put out on the shelves. There's no point in opening up a sealed case when the the shelves are stocked!

psh, retail. A retail stockroom is a fraction of the size of an operation the size of HLJ. A retail stockroom is a closet compared to a warehouse which is where operations like HLJ take place. Retail may order a case or two of any given product as stock goes down, imagine whole trucks full of stuff coming in 2 to 3 times a day, 3-4 days a week.

Pickers don't know what they're picking up, they have little guns that wireless send them a new order and they do it by shelf and lot number like a library but a library where the books are constantly moving to new locations to ensure the popular books get moved quickly and efficiently. If you went to a stock room and said, "get me 4 hikaru vf-1s" they'd stare at you but if you said, "qty 4 row C shelf e-23" then they'd understand.

Retail and e-retail are completely different beasts.

[Agent-GHQ]

Yeah, exactly... a warehouse! If anything, I thought I was making it easier for the staff as the quanities are what I want in a case. Wouldn't that be easier to just grab a case instead of from the shelves or where ever it is stored.

I mean, when I bought cases from Toy-wave, they ship to me in the sealed factory cases.

[eugimon]

Yeah, exactly... a warehouse! If anything, I thought I was making it easier for the staff as the quanities are what I want in a case. Wouldn't that be easier to just grab a case instead of from the shelves or where ever it is stored.

I mean, when I bought cases from Toy-wave, they ship to me in the sealed factory cases.

nope. Trust me, there's only few places for over sized packages and those places already have occupants. You don't use up one of those valuable oversized shelves when you can use one of your many regular shelves because where would you put the oversized items? You're not grasping the volume and speed that HLJ and similarly sized stores can process. Over-Drive is a mom and pop organization in comparison.

Here, try to understand it like this, HLJ probably receives a tractor trailer worth of merchandise every day and ships out an equivalent everyday and this is during non peak, non holiday periods. I bet they do 2 tractor trailers or more during the holidays. That means around 6 THOUSAND plus orders a day with each order most likely having multiple items. Those workers are being clocked by the second. Over-drive does maybe 2 UPS trucks worth a day.

Trust me, HLJ doesn't give a sh!t what you want. Their only concern is to ship quickly and safely.

I'm speaking from experience, I've been a supervisor/manager for operations that have around 70% of the SKU's of HLJ and for operations that have around the same amount of items as Over-drive. With the smaller store, yes, it was possible to do stuff like simply slap a shipping label on a factor fresh case and send it out especially with that model where the items we bought are the items we ordered. But with the larger model with stock on hand it's just not feasible.

Edited June 18, 2009 by eugimon

[Agent-GHQ]

Trust me, HLJ doesn't give a sh!t what you want. Their only concern is to ship quickly and safely.

Apparently, that is what happen to me.

[blacklotus]

Just to add: my 1 piece of 1/350 space Yamato did shipped in from HLJ in the original factory box. Since that box holds 2 pieces, I wonder how HLJ shipped the other piece out? Hmm...

I never keep these shipping cartons as they're usually damaged by the postal handlers.

Anyway, I just want the items inside to remain safe and undamaged.

Edited June 18, 2009 by blacklotus

[BlueMax]

That is why I love visiting MW. You can learn something out of no where! I appreciate the insight into backroom operations for warehouses.

Edited June 18, 2009 by BlueMax

[treatment]

I ended up paying 20$ on the SAL shipping for the vf-1a + sup/str parts dealy. I put the order in on Friday and had it go through on Tuesday with shipping, so turn around time is definetly a few days which isnt too bad

whoa! you only paid $20 for the valk+parts deal? which part of the world are you based?

The SAL-cost for mine was 2960-y for the same deal (1480 per box), which is about US$30 with the current sucky exchange-rate of 95-yen to a US-dollar.

Wonder how much EMS cost for the same deal. iirc, EMS usually starts at 4000-y.

[wolfx]

I was quite disappointed to find out that SAL shipping for a 1/60 Hikaru + Super/Strike packs became SAL Parcel instead and i had to pay a very big premium on shipping.

For those who intend to buy the big Yamato stuff from HLJ, just go with EMS....its cheaper and faster. I was abit annoyed that they chose SAL Parcel despite being more expensive than EMS. There's no way I could find out what shipping method they will choose for me (mine is by default SAL) in my stuff can't fit in the normal SAL small packet.

So advise to all is....

DON'T BOTHER TO SAVE WITH SAL SHIPPING especially for big stuff like the Yamato Macross. You just might get a more expensive shipping than you expected.

[bluemax151]

My order shipped! EMS was like 60ish for 4 items total.

On the subject of factory cases.. HLJ has shipped things to me in the past in their original case. I think the MSIA Big Zam was an example as I got the whole Bandai case of three. More recently though the only thing I get in manufacturer boxes are the trading figures and that's because they are sold by the case generally.

[MacrossMan]

nope because those guys aren't going to pay enough to make up for the lost time and space. Think about what land costs in Japan or hell anywhere with enough of a transportation system to allow for quick and easy international shipping. Do you really think they're going to cut the useable real estate of a shelf by 50 or 75% just on the off chance GHQ is going to order? And do you think GHQ would be willing to pay the several thousand dollar premium to make up for that lost space and decreased worker productivity?

I can tell you, performance in the backroom is measured in seconds. We calculate out how fast a worker can pick, sort, package and place on a palette down to a fraction of a second. I'm in no way exaggerating here. Part of a stock room worker's evaluation is to see how closely he can meet those theoretical goals. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars (easily for a small company) or more for the latest software that tracks sales and creates optimized floor plans and stock placement. Stock is cycled every time new merchandise is brought in which can be several times per day for high volume operations.

Just in our stock room, a single day would see 2-3 deliveries, several hundred next day air shipments and 3-6 thousand regular shipments with 4-5 items per order processed by a stock room team of around 10 full time employees.

I crashed and burned last night after all this discussion took place.

I've worked in a warehouse and a distribution center before and what's mentioned above is not always the case. The Sharper Image distribution center is based in Little Rock and I worked there as a warehouse worker during their Christmas help season to earn extra money. Talk about seeing loads of cool gadgets by the truckloads! There was always a constant flow of inventory being delivered, unloaded and staged in the warehouse and not all items were opened.

Here's a funny example. I was working in the smaller "hand-pick" area. Of all things I was preparing for shipment was a device used to exercise Kegal muscles (Google it ). I should have taken down some of those addresses of the women they were being delivered to! Anywho, some orders were for multiples those were the easiest to prepare for shipment because you only had to grab a case and slap the shipping label on the box. No tedious packing for a single Kegel .

All my shipments from HLJ have come to me just fine with their packaging methods, but it seems to me that it would make more sense to keep some products packed because it makes for easier and safer shipping for multiples of the same item if the items are kept in their original cases that were designed to protect its contents. Besides that if a store has to RTV (return to vendor) an item, their loss isn't as great because the distributor is able to re-distribute case fresh product.

I think what eugimon has explained above is the case with HLJ though. I watched the video that was posted in another thread about HLJ's warehouse. Most items were removed from their case "stocked" or staged rather for picking. Their fast moving products were placed on pallets in their cases for easy access to speed up the shipping process.

[shiroikaze]

I was quite disappointed to find out that SAL shipping for a 1/60 Hikaru + Super/Strike packs became SAL Parcel instead and i had to pay a very big premium on shipping.

For those who intend to buy the big Yamato stuff from HLJ, just go with EMS....its cheaper and faster. I was abit annoyed that they chose SAL Parcel despite being more expensive than EMS. There's no way I could find out what shipping method they will choose for me (mine is by default SAL) in my stuff can't fit in the normal SAL small packet.

So advise to all is....

DON'T BOTHER TO SAVE WITH SAL SHIPPING especially for big stuff like the Yamato Macross. You just might get a more expensive shipping than you expected.

I guess their shipping quote on the product page is kinda misleading...

Edited June 18, 2009 by shiroikaze

[CF18]

Another strange factor to the cost thing: For all my orders from HLJ or HWJapan, all EMS orders got sale tax and handling cost charged by Canadian custom when it was delivered, while all SAL orders got through custom without any extra charge.

[Chowser]

yeah, my order was for two 1/60s and a super fast pack, shipping was about $63 for EMS. I haven't gotten charged any extra tax by customs for any EMS or SAL mail before.

I order stuff out of hong kong monthly for work and only ever had one customs call on one order.