WHAT'S CURRENTLY SHIPPING OR SHIPPING ISSUES...

[Vostok 7]

Never had a problem with HLJ and I've bought from them for years.

I would also hazard to guess that it was Customs that did it, and if it was customs, then it would definitely be USA customs. The only other way it could be is if it was HLJ's packer, since the tabs were found in the box of the 1/60, that's what makes it suspiciously sound like Customs.

Problem is, if you called Customs on it, they'd just shrug their shoulders and say "Too bad!", and there's no way of proving if it was HLJ's problem.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Vostok 7

[aquilon]

My latest delivery was in A1 condition ( a Hasegawa VF1) it was vac sealed and shrinkwrapped to some card and then placed in the carton. I guess luck has struck for me again.

My 1/48 VF-19 and 1/72 Minmay Special from HLJ also arrived the same way. Here in the USA, Amazon ships their books, DVD's & CD's the same way; I like it as it minimizes the use of foam peanuts and I can recycle the cardboard insert & box.

Edited February 4, 2010 by aquilon

[anotheran]

I also ordered stuff from the sale and all my valks came in excellent condition from HLJ. I never order collector quality from BBTS so I usually get dented boxes but good thing I open and play with my valks. I haven't had a problem with HLJ or BBTS and I've ordered from both numerous times.

It sounds odd that the pieces got wrapped into the milia. At least HLJ will take care of it but the shipping will suck

[Loop]

HLJ Japan has also been good to me. I still think some of the prices are crazy high.

Also I hate how you never really know the total until they ship it.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Loop

[ChristopherB]

Hello,

I finally had time to visit the local post office and found (5) boxes waiting for me, (4) of which are pretty big.

Looks like my limited edition GBP armor with smoke effect arrived very quickly.

I was pretty upset to find out that I was expected to pay $400 in customs tax, which brings my grand total up to about $3,000.

My plan is to upload some pictures to Photobucket and then post them to this thread.

I checked the MW Forum Rules & Guidelines and couldn't find any information as to the recommended image size.

Please let me know what would be a good size so as to not use too much bandwidth, etc.

Thanks in advance,

Christopher

[eyesonme78]

My VE-1 Arrived today in perfect condition, i love the valkyrie!!!! but however my mighty stand which shipped out earlier then my VE-1 by 8 days has yet to arrive...

i am really wondering is it lost??

Counting the days it took to to reach my doorstep, it's more then 29 days.. sighs and i am still waiting for my mighty stand...

[Dio]

Thankfully, the delay for the VF-11C made my mind up as to which one of my next valk purchases would be. VF-22 GAMLIN on his way!

Of course, the choice between the 11C and a VF-27 will be a hard one, though I'm having a M7 renaissance right now and will probably go for the 11C (that, and the potential for one day having some armor parts to put on that baby).

[Loop]

Got my VF-1J today! Seems like lead times from Asia are speeding up.

Seems like US customs has been the thing slowing me down lately.

The box was packed perfectly and the box is in awesome shape.

Good first experience with Overdrive!

Detailed Results:

Out for Delivery or Available at PO Box, February 05, 2010, 9:15 am, BOTHELL, WA 98012

Sorting Complete, February 05, 2010, 8:45 am, BOTHELL, WA 98012

Arrival at Post Office, February 05, 2010, 7:57 am, BOTHELL, WA 98012

Processed through Sort Facility, February 05, 2010, 5:16 am, SEATTLE, WA 98168

Inbound Out of Customs, February 04, 2010, 10:50 am

Inbound Into Customs

Inbound International Arrival, February 03, 2010, 2:42 pm, ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS)

Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

Foreign International Dispatch, February 03, 2010, 4:40 am, TOKYO INT CONTAINER 1, JAPAN

Foreign Arrival at Outward Office, February 03, 2010, 2:17 am, TOKYO INT CONTAINER 1, JAPAN

Foreign Acceptance, February 02, 2010, 7:17 pm, JAPAN

My 1/60 GBP Web shop exclusive armor shipped amazingly fast!

If it were not for US customs I would have had it earlier this week.

The item was packed well, and the box is flawless.

Detailed Results:

Arrival at Unit, February 03, 2010, 4:18 am, BOTHELL, WA 98012

Inbound Into Customs

Inbound International Arrival, January 30, 2010, 9:57 pm, ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS)

Foreign International Dispatch, January 30, 2010, 1:46 pm, HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE, HONG KONG

Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

Foreign Acceptance, January 29, 2010, 4:40 pm, HONG KONG

Edited February 5, 2010 by Loop

[Damaramu]

Well, I'm now a member of the 1/60 ver. 2 club!

I ordered a Hikaru VF-1S from Overdrive, which is aptly named btw. It took only 3 days to reach me here in Houston.

Had a little trouble transforming the 1S at first. Snapping legs into place in battroid was tricky, but I got it! NO problems what so ever with the shoulder joints or the shiny canopy layer, even after multiple transformations. What a great toy! Now to get the Strike Pack set!

Wasn't someone here selling side covers? I'd love to buy some...

Details:

Delivered, January 25, 2010, 11:58 am, HOUSTON, TX 77024

Out for Delivery or Available at PO Box, January 25, 2010, 9:14 am, HOUSTON, TX 77024

Sorting Complete, January 25, 2010, 8:44 am, HOUSTON, TX 77024

Arrival at Post Office, January 25, 2010, 6:18 am, HOUSTON, TX 77024

Processed through Sort Facility, January 24, 2010, 11:36 pm, NORTH HOUSTON, TX 77315

Inbound Out of Customs, January 23, 2010, 10:36 am

Inbound Into Customs

Inbound International Arrival, January 23, 2010, 10:24 am, ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS)

Foreign International Dispatch, January 23, 2010, 6:39 am, TOKYO INT CONTAINER 1, JAPAN

Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

Foreign Arrival at Outward Office, January 22, 2010, 6:51 pm, TOKYO INT CONTAINER 1, JAPAN

Foreign Acceptance, January 22, 2010, 3:18 pm, JAPAN

[Loop]

Well, I'm now a member of the 1/60 ver. 2 club!

I ordered a Hikaru VF-1S from Overdrive, which is aptly named btw. It took only 3 days to reach me here in Houston.

Had a little trouble transforming the 1S at first. Snapping legs into place in battroid was tricky, but I got it! NO problems what so ever with the shoulder joints or the shiny canopy layer, even after multiple transformations. What a great toy! Now to get the Strike Pack set!

Wasn't someone here selling side covers? I'd love to buy some...

Details:

Delivered, January 25, 2010, 11:58 am, HOUSTON, TX 77024

Out for Delivery or Available at PO Box, January 25, 2010, 9:14 am, HOUSTON, TX 77024

Sorting Complete, January 25, 2010, 8:44 am, HOUSTON, TX 77024

Arrival at Post Office, January 25, 2010, 6:18 am, HOUSTON, TX 77024

Processed through Sort Facility, January 24, 2010, 11:36 pm, NORTH HOUSTON, TX 77315

Inbound Out of Customs, January 23, 2010, 10:36 am

Inbound Into Customs

Inbound International Arrival, January 23, 2010, 10:24 am, ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS)

Foreign International Dispatch, January 23, 2010, 6:39 am, TOKYO INT CONTAINER 1, JAPAN

Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

Foreign Arrival at Outward Office, January 22, 2010, 6:51 pm, TOKYO INT CONTAINER 1, JAPAN

Foreign Acceptance, January 22, 2010, 3:18 pm, JAPAN

Nice shipping times! My stuff used to float in and out of customs like your shipment, but they have been holding stuff that comes through SF CA.

[nukatsuka]

You pay customs tax to shipments to the US? I never had that before.

Hello,

I finally had time to visit the local post office and found (5) boxes waiting for me, (4) of which are pretty big.

Looks like my limited edition GBP armor with smoke effect arrived very quickly.

I was pretty upset to find out that I was expected to pay $400 in customs tax, which brings my grand total up to about $3,000.

My plan is to upload some pictures to Photobucket and then post them to this thread.

I checked the MW Forum Rules & Guidelines and couldn't find any information as to the recommended image size.

Please let me know what would be a good size so as to not use too much bandwidth, etc.

Thanks in advance,

Christopher

[ChristopherB]

You pay customs tax to shipments to the US? I never had that before.

Hi Nukatsuka,

I'm an American (W.A.S.P.) from Houston, Texas, but I live overseas (expatriate). Although I'm patriotic, you couldn't pay me a million dollars to live in the US again. Too expensive, recession, unemployement, racial tension, stress, obesity, so many chicks with big "tunnels", materialistic, large prison population, and so forth.

I'm fortunate to live in a foreign country and have a loving wife who only slept with me since the day she was born. Unfortunately, I had to pay customs tax, but the cost of living here is so good, that everything more than works out. I have a (4) bedroom (3) bathroom US style house with a full time maid, yardboy, plenty of American restaurants (McDo, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, Tony Roma, TGIF, etc) English is taught in the schools, and I get treated with respect by the locals.

If you ever want to visit, just let me know via PM.

Back on topic, here are some pictures of my recent Hobby Link Japan order:

Just arrived from the post office:

Macross items only:

Complete order including Transformers:

Sincerely,

Christopher

PS: You can check out my Ford here: 2010 Escape w/ 20" rims

[Damaramu]

Nice shipping times! My stuff used to float in and out of customs like your shipment, but they have been holding stuff that comes through SF CA.

Thanks! I was pleasantly surprised myself! You know, that Macross Quarter is a sexy toy. I think it shot to the top of my "next to buy list".

Edited February 6, 2010 by Damaramu

[nanoplasm]

Never had a problem with HLJ and I've bought from them for years.

I would also hazard to guess that it was Customs that did it, and if it was customs, then it would definitely be USA customs. The only other way it could be is if it was HLJ's packer, since the tabs were found in the box of the 1/60, that's what makes it suspiciously sound like Customs.

Problem is, if you called Customs on it, they'd just shrug their shoulders and say "Too bad!", and there's no way of proving if it was HLJ's problem.

I reinspected the shipping box, nothing was tempered: original seal on packaging tape, original box (it had Japanese export stamps), no "inspected by customs" tape. Highly doubt it was customs, since the shipping box was perfect.

The best option HLJ offered was to give me a refund if I sent back the whole thing.

For an 1000 yen item, it's not worth the trouble of send it back and filing a refund with HLJ for the return shipping cost.

But both me and my customer who's been waiting on the valk with the screwy packaging will probably never order from HLJ again.

[Valk-1S]

Has anyone been having trouble communicating with overdrive? I have emailed them twice to info@over-drive-inc.com and also once on their website. I have an open order with them which I ordered on their old database and wanted to update the shipping address. Lack of response makes you worry but they have been updating their website.

[Tober]

Has anyone been having trouble communicating with overdrive? I have emailed them twice to info@over-drive-inc.com and also once on their website. I have an open order with them which I ordered on their old database and wanted to update the shipping address. Lack of response makes you worry but they have been updating their website.

They're there, their response time has slowed down allot tho. They used to respond within a few hours to inquiries but now it takes a few days. I hope everything is ok and it's temporary.

You just have to be patient, and avoid using free webmail accounts as they are sometimes filtered out(Hotmail, Yahoo etc...). Oh, remember to check your junk folder if you are using webmail accounts too.

[Dashgtr]

Normally how long does SAL takes for delivery in ASIA? Any Idea? I got the email from HLJ on the 27 of Jan claiming it have been shipped. It's been 2wks and still no new. This is my 3rd order from HLJ and so far this is the longest.

[Impreszive]

Waiting on Vols 8 and 9 of Macross Frontier on Blu Ray, and Macross Quarter. Thinking about driopping by Katsucon this weekend to see if anyone has a VF-25 with super parts.

[Tober]

Normally how long does SAL takes for delivery in ASIA? Any Idea? I got the email from HLJ on the 27 of Jan claiming it have been shipped. It's been 2wks and still no new. This is my 3rd order from HLJ and so far this is the longest.

Anywhere between 7 to 21 days is the normal time. Begin to worry if it goes over 30.

[eyesonme78]

Normally how long does SAL takes for delivery in ASIA? Any Idea? I got the email from HLJ on the 27 of Jan claiming it have been shipped. It's been 2wks and still no new. This is my 3rd order from HLJ and so far this is the longest.

Mine has exceeded 35 days and still counting.. HLJ has been reminding me each time i send my email regarding help to trace, stating the item will take longest 45 days to reach, and only after 90 days then japanese post office will begin to investigate.

I am so unhappy with their so call customer service and i am feeling so helpless... but lucky it's the mighty stand, not my VE-1..

otherwise i will be even more unhappy.

[anotheran]

Mine has exceeded 35 days and still counting.. HLJ has been reminding me each time i send my email regarding help to trace, stating the item will take longest 45 days to reach, and only after 90 days then japanese post office will begin to investigate.

I am so unhappy with their so call customer service and i am feeling so helpless... but lucky it's the mighty stand, not my VE-1..

otherwise i will be even more unhappy.

how is it HLJ customer service's fault when you shipped SAL and they clearly state that SAL is not trackable? maybe you should blame the mail service. HLJ already did their job by packing it up and shipping it.

Edited February 13, 2010 by anotheran

[Crimson9]

I'm waiting for my 1/60 vf-11b and luca custom from ebay, and I just ordered a yf-21 from bbts (on sale). I got my box of stuff from bbts that I ordered last week, yf-19, and bandai dx alto and micheal customs.

[Chet]

Almost 3 months for SAL to the Philippines

[twich]

My wife ordered me a Yamato 1/60 SV-51a from HK Collectibles for our anniversary/Valentines Day present. She ordered it on Tuesday 2/9/10 and payed for speedpost. As of checking the status, it says that it was shipped from the Hong Kong PO, but no details on when it is set to arrive. The website indicates that Speedpost is 3-4 Business Days delivery.

Twich

[Excillon]

I'm waiting on a 1/60 God Gundam kit from ebay right now, that's it.

[eyesonme78]

how is it HLJ customer service's fault when you shipped SAL and they clearly state that SAL is not trackable? maybe you should blame the mail service. HLJ already did their job by packing it up and shipping it.

I did some research on the shipping, and EMS provide a tracking number for the customer, same for Air parcel.

But SAL does not comes with the tracking number for us to track but according to my local office and japan post, they have ways to track it as well.

Thus that is why i wan HLJ to start asking about the parcel.

There is no way i could get in the contact with japan post and blame them since they do not provide email address for me to enquire on.

The reason i am unhappy with the HLJ customer service is that they give u such standard SOP answers, and it does not answer my questions when i need clarifications. imagine you're asking a question on XXX, and they give you an answer to question YYY.

Until today when i received the email replies then i am satisified with the explaination and clarification ( This time round they did a better job in explaining as it is not the usual SOP answers) But i am still waiting for the parcel still.

[ChristopherB]

Hello,

I always use EMS or registered airmail from Hong Kong. They both cost more, but the speed and tracking are worth it in my opinion.

Personally, I don't care what condition my item box (Yamato, Bandai, etc) is in, as long as the toy inside has no damage. I don't collect boxes, they go straight to the trash/recycling bin as soon as possible. If I have no time to display for a while, I'll store the valkyries in tuperware. I always wondered why some people treat toys like an investment commodity similar to gold/silver/antiques. It's not like the kids of today are really into Macross, so who's gonna buy our VF-1 in (20) years.

I just received my shipping notice from HLJ, EMS (2) boxes:

Order Number: 02219927

Item Code Item Name Quantity Price Extended Price

BAN956811 Robot Damashii Crossbone Gundam X-2 Custom 1 3,800 3,800

BAN957701 Robot Damashii Nirvash type Zero spec2 1 4,500 4,500

BAN958095 Armor Plus EX-Gear Alto Saotome Ver. 1 7,500 7,500

BAN959023 Robot Damashii Queadluun Rare Klan Klang Custom 1 3,200 3,200

CSP29545 Roy Focker Special VF-1S T-Shirt Black L 1 2,900 2,900

CSP34732 SDF-1 T-Shirt Indigo L 1 2,900 2,900

CSP36483 Regult T-Shirt White L 1 2,900 2,900

KBYZD19 Highend Master Model Geno Breaker 1 8,800 8,800

KOB90124 Valkyries: Tenjin Hidetaka Art Works of Macross 1 4,000 4,000

MAX07008 MAX Gohkin XD-01 Dragonar-1 1 21,714 21,714

YMT00183 VF-1S Roy Focker Weathering Special Version 1 14,800 14,800

Merchandise Total: 77,014

Shipping Charge: 12,000

Total: 89,014

My card was billed about $1,000 so it's a lot less than my last order from HLJ. Unfortunately, I collect from several different anime, when I would rather focus on just Macross/Gundam.

Here is a recent list of eBay items I'm waiting to arrive or pick-up at the post office:

Macross Frontier Chogokin VF-25G Gallia 4 Fold Booster

Sale date: 02/12/10

Tracking number: --

$89.99

Macross Frontier Chogokin RVF-25 Ghost & Weapons Set

Sale date: 02/12/10

Tracking number: --

$89.99

BANDAI Chogokin Macross RVF-25 LUCA CUSTOM Super parts

Sale date: 02/12/10

Tracking number: --

$159.00

BANDAI Chogokin Macross Frontier VF-25G MICHAEL CUSTOM

Sale date: 02/12/10

Tracking number: --

$159.00

1:18 GMP 1993 Yellow LX 5.0L Mustang Convertible SN 05

Sale date: 02/12/10

Tracking number:

$129.95

SMS 1/100 MSN-06S Sinanju MG Conversion kit Gundam

Sale date: 02/11/10

Tracking number: --

$72.50

SMS RMS-154 "Barzam" MG Conversion parts Gundam RMS154

Sale date: 02/11/10

Tracking number: --

$105.90

SMS 1/100 NZ-666 Kshatriya NZ666 resin model Gundam kit

Sale date: 02/11/10

Tracking number: --

$225.00

Yamato Macross 1/60 Clear Parts for Super figure LE NIB

Quantity: 2

Sale date: 02/04/10

Tracking number: --

$69.98

Yamato Macross 1/60 Super Parts Clear Color (Limited)

Sale date: 01/31/10

Tracking number: --

$34.99

Yamato Macross 1/60 VF-1 Armor Part+Missile Effect LE

Sale date: 01/30/10

Tracking number: --

$129.99

I'll post some pictures when everything arrives.

Sincerely,

Christopher

[Valk-1S]

They're there, their response time has slowed down allot tho. They used to respond within a few hours to inquiries but now it takes a few days. I hope everything is ok and it's temporary.

You just have to be patient, and avoid using free webmail accounts as they are sometimes filtered out(Hotmail, Yahoo etc...). Oh, remember to check your junk folder if you are using webmail accounts too.

Thanks Tober. I emailed them a while ago twice using my yahoo account. Then on the 10th Feb using their website interface. And yesterday again using my ISP account.

I don't know what they are doing but if they continue like this, they will end up losing alot of their customers. They have to be aware that stores like Amiami and HWJapan are now available to us and they provide discounts as well on their stuff.

[eyesonme78]

Thanks Tober. I emailed them a while ago twice using my yahoo account. Then on the 10th Feb using their website interface. And yesterday again using my ISP account.

I don't know what they are doing but if they continue like this, they will end up losing alot of their customers. They have to be aware that stores like Amiami and HWJapan are now available to us and they provide discounts as well on their stuff.

HWjapan doesnt need upfront payments for items, until its ready then they ask for payment.

i think u can ask save for help..

[Duymon]

I'm waiting on 2 1/72 VF-25G kits so that I can make some CF VF-25's (Though can you really call them Cannon Fodders since you see alto's 25F get blown up more than the brown 25's )

Edited February 16, 2010 by Duymon

[Valk-1S]

HWjapan doesnt need upfront payments for items, until its ready then they ask for payment.

i think u can ask save for help..

Aware of that which makes it better in some cases unless the currency fluctuates too much.

May have to ask Save but will see what happens as the last item for my order to be in stock is the VF-11C which just came in. If I don't get a shipping confirmation, then definitely something is wrong with them. Will stay clear of OD until they start improving their correspondence again.

[Cyclone Trooper]

Ordered a 1/60 Hikaru Valkyrie with GBP armor almost a month ago from Overdrive and thus far, I haven't even had the order processed yet. I paid via Paypal and the payment went through, but none of that information reflects on my Overdrive account. In a previous thread, I showered Overdrive with accolades for processing a Destroid order in what seemed like record time...but like a lot of other people have noted, it almost seems like its under new management or has changed its business model completely. Maybe it doesn't give equal priority to international orders as it does to local ones anymore. What is the NEW average wait times for Overdrive to get orders shipped? Anyone know?

Edited February 22, 2010 by Cyclone Trooper

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Two weeks ago I had an order with OD processed and shipped in two days. I pay with credit card, never used paypal with OD. Works fine for me, I'm aware some people had issues though

I'm in Argentina, South America by the way. I pay EMS and all my orders reach my country in one/two days, then I have to wait 'cause of the a$$holes at my local post office but that's another story

[kanedaestes]

Currently I am waiting for the VF-27, the Hot Toys Battle Damaged Iron Man, Hot Toys DX Batman, Hot Toys Wolverine

[UN Spacy]

Uh oh.

I forgot I had preordered the VF-27 from HLJ in November. Today I get an e-mail that says my item is being processed for (SAL) shipping. My fault for still having that blasted Paypal billing agreement active.

I have already sent an e-mail to their custom service department. Keep in mind that it's almost 3am over there. Do you think they'll be able to intercept it?