Gundam Plamodel Thread IV

[Mommar]

6 hours ago, Darth Mingus said:

That’s odd.  HLJ is normally complaining to me that I have something in the PWH for more than 10 minutes.  Saw that they are doing a second run of the nightingale for January 2022 as a Gundam Base web shop offering.  Hopefully that will free up some scalper demand.  My local shops usually offer Gundam Base web shop offerings, but I have not checked if there are markups.

I don’t know if they didn’t get them in or they didn’t get in enough for all of the orders.

[anubis20]

1 hour ago, Mommar said:

I don’t know if they didn’t get them in or they didn’t get in enough for all of the orders.

That just happened to me with the Full Mechanics Calamity. It was out for 2 weeks and I was still waiting on it to ship my PW. I contacted them and it turns out they didnt get enough and I was in line for a "reprint" whenever Bandai decided to do one. I wouldn't trust HLJ with any Gunpla pre-order. They leave them open up until release date.

I asked them why them why they left preorders open if they knew they weren't getting enough. The rep claimed they didnt have a system in place to close POs which is a bunch of BS.

[Mommar]

1 hour ago, anubis20 said:

That just happened to me with the Full Mechanics Calamity. It was out for 2 weeks and I was still waiting on it to ship my PW. I contacted them and it turns out they didnt get enough and I was in line for a "reprint" whenever Bandai decided to do one. I wouldn't trust HLJ with any Gunpla pre-order. They leave them open up until release date.

I asked them why them why they left preorders open if they knew they weren't getting enough. The rep claimed they didnt have a system in place to close POs which is a bunch of BS.

I saw an ItsAGundam video where he made a comment about never buying from HLJ before, now I understand why.

Edited August 12, 2021 by Mommar

[Darth Mingus]

There are a couple of shops around that have stopped offering POs for Gunpla because Bandai cannot deliver.  I've heard stories of shops ordering a 100 copies and getting 24.  They do eventually trickle in, but there does not seem to be a pattern to what gets released.  Thankfully I have 3 good local shops and a couple of reasonable online shops so I have stopped pre-ordering kits.  Hopefully, your kits will come in before the re-issues happen, especially the Nightingale, which isn't due to be reissued until January.

[renegadeleader1]

4 hours ago, anubis20 said:

I asked them why them why they left preorders open if they knew they weren't getting enough. The rep claimed they didnt have a system in place to close POs which is a bunch of BS.

Considering they put a stop on pre-orders for other products they offer like the Frame Arms Girl Durga kit from Kotobukiya I'm inclined to agree that their statement that they have no way of cutting off pre orders is complete B.S.

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

I saw a post on GundamPlanet's twitter stating one of their distributors (whom they declined to name) also shorted them on their order recently.

And back in early July:

 

[no3Ljm]

1/48 RX-78F00 Gundam Factory Yokohama
August 21, 2021 Release
Y13970

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

32 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

1/48 RX-78F00 Gundam Factory Yokohama
August 21, 2021 Release
Y13970

Looks nice, but for some reason I'm not sold that it can look downwards very well lol.

[anubis20]

8 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

Considering they put a stop on pre-orders for other products they offer like the Frame Arms Girl Durga kit from Kotobukiya I'm inclined to agree that their statement that they have no way of cutting off pre orders is complete B.S.

Yup and for some reason they only do it on Bandai kits. 

[Mommar]

18 hours ago, Darth Mingus said:

There are a couple of shops around that have stopped offering POs for Gunpla because Bandai cannot deliver.  I've heard stories of shops ordering a 100 copies and getting 24.  They do eventually trickle in, but there does not seem to be a pattern to what gets released.  Thankfully I have 3 good local shops and a couple of reasonable online shops so I have stopped pre-ordering kits.  Hopefully, your kits will come in before the re-issues happen, especially the Nightingale, which isn't due to be reissued until January.

What are the odds I'm going to get my RG Hi-Nu now?

[Darth Mingus]

52 minutes ago, Mommar said:

What are the odds I'm going to get my RG Hi-Nu now?

I was thinking the same thing.  I said I stopped pre-ordering, then looked at my HLJ account and saw my pre-order there.  I think Bandai completely underestimated the demand for the Nightingale.  The Re100 was a shelf warmer and the re-release 5 years later was also a shelf warmer.  The RGs are smaller and tend to move so I think they devoted lines to produce these things.  Seems like the kyrios  and dynames  are also over produced at this point, probably in anticipation of a rush when the release the virtue. 

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

28 minutes ago, Darth Mingus said:

I was thinking the same thing.  I said I stopped pre-ordering, then looked at my HLJ account and saw my pre-order there.  I think Bandai completely underestimated the demand for the Nightingale.  The Re100 was a shelf warmer and the re-release 5 years later was also a shelf warmer.  The RGs are smaller and tend to move so I think they devoted lines to produce these things.  Seems like the kyrios  and dynames  are also over produced at this point, probably in anticipation of a rush when the release the virtue. 

Geezzz that's horrible (with the possibility of Bandai's gauging mechanism of the previous RE100 NG). I think some point down the road everything is going to be paid on demand with non-refundable deposits. This way manufacturers have a better idea of how much to actually produce and not fall short of under or over production.

Edited August 12, 2021 by PsYcHoDyNaMiX

[Darth Mingus]

7 minutes ago, PsYcHoDyNaMiX said:

Geezzz that's horrible (with the possibility of Bandai's gauging mechanism of the previous RE100 NG). I think some point down the road everything is going to be paid on demand with non-refundable deposits. This way manufacturers have a better idea of how much to actually produce and not fall short of under or over production.

I just want to preface this with a statement that I do not work for Bandai, I am in no way affiliated with Bandai.  But based on what I have seen over the last few years, they are trending towards moving big portions of their business direct to consumer, which makes a lot of sense:

• The Gunpla lines are produced in 1 highly automated factory in Japan.  There has been talk about moving some production out of Japan, but I believe this was met with pushback (maybe the China Red and other China exclusive items are manufactured overseas)
• Their Tier 1 retailers are the big Japanese retailers (Yodabashi Camera, Bic Camera, etc.). Unfortunately, we have to lump Amazon JP into this list.  I say unfortunately because they have extremely predatory practices when it comes to suppliers.
• Tier 2: Overseas distribution partners, like Bluefin, who run the North America operation
• Tier 3: The AmiAmi/HLJ/HobbySearch of the world: real, non-scalper sites cannot possibly compete with the tier 1s or 2s in terms of volume

This would account for 1st run, retail offerings only.

• "Unpopular" offerings are done as special batch jobs, made to order, essentially and sold on P-Bandai.  People see Premium Bandai and think the kits are premium.  In reality, they are not premium, just made to order
• Originally, P-Bandai was simply recolours, with extra parts, etc... They now do P-Bandai unique kits because it is just easier to manage shelf space.  With the sheer volume of gunpla available, I am sure the Tier 1 retailers are pushing back
  • Maybe it was the Tier 1 retailers that said they would not devote shelf space to the F-90, which is why this one went P-Bandai despite a full colour box, new molds, etc.
• Gundam Base is another outlet for retail kits.  When you visit a Gundam Base, you will find pretty much every single retail gunpla kit ever made.
  • When you see kits being made for Gundam Base Web Shop, these are kits they are planning to make to restock the Gundam Base outlets, not for the retail channel.  They open it up to pad out the production run so that they do not need to manage as much inventory
  • I started noticing more and more restock kits coming via this channel, rather than the retail channel

The Jan 2022 reissue of the HGUC Nightingale tells me that the retail channels do not want more stock for their shelves, probably because of the size of the box, the recent release of Xi vs. Penelope, the upcoming Virtue, etc.

This is all speculation, of course.  I have no insight into Bandai's operations, just what I've heard from shop owners and recent trends in announcements.

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

9 minutes ago, Darth Mingus said:

I just want to preface this with a statement that I do not work for Bandai, I am in no way affiliated with Bandai.  But based on what I have seen over the last few years, they are trending towards moving big portions of their business direct to consumer, which makes a lot of sense:

• The Gunpla lines are produced in 1 highly automated factory in Japan.  There has been talk about moving some production out of Japan, but I believe this was met with pushback (maybe the China Red and other China exclusive items are manufactured overseas)
• Their Tier 1 retailers are the big Japanese retailers (Yodabashi Camera, Bic Camera, etc.). Unfortunately, we have to lump Amazon JP into this list.  I say unfortunately because they have extremely predatory practices when it comes to suppliers.
• Tier 2: Overseas distribution partners, like Bluefin, who run the North America operation
• Tier 3: The AmiAmi/HLJ/HobbySearch of the world: real, non-scalper sites cannot possibly compete with the tier 1s or 2s in terms of volume

This would account for 1st run, retail offerings only.

• "Unpopular" offerings are done as special batch jobs, made to order, essentially and sold on P-Bandai.  People see Premium Bandai and think the kits are premium.  In reality, they are not premium, just made to order
• Originally, P-Bandai was simply recolours, with extra parts, etc... They now do P-Bandai unique kits because it is just easier to manage shelf space.  With the sheer volume of gunpla available, I am sure the Tier 1 retailers are pushing back
  • Maybe it was the Tier 1 retailers that said they would not devote shelf space to the F-90, which is why this one went P-Bandai despite a full colour box, new molds, etc.
• Gundam Base is another outlet for retail kits.  When you visit a Gundam Base, you will find pretty much every single retail gunpla kit ever made.
  • When you see kits being made for Gundam Base Web Shop, these are kits they are planning to make to restock the Gundam Base outlets, not for the retail channel.  They open it up to pad out the production run so that they do not need to manage as much inventory
  • I started noticing more and more restock kits coming via this channel, rather than the retail channel

The Jan 2022 reissue of the HGUC Nightingale tells me that the retail channels do not want more stock for their shelves, probably because of the size of the box, the recent release of Xi vs. Penelope, the upcoming Virtue, etc.

This is all speculation, of course.  I have no insight into Bandai's operations, just what I've heard from shop owners and recent trends in announcements.

Wow...! Thanks! That's really great info/insight. I was never aware of the tier system nor any of the companies in the tier 1 category (expect az jp). I guess I should've realized amiami, hlj, hs were more on the lower tier of businesses, since they only sell to consumers and are willing to facilitate international shipping. I don't know why I lumped them in with Bluefin, but I guess we know Bluefin actually distributes to a good number of other NA/US based businesses (iirc usag, gp, maybe bbts, etc etc). 

[Mommar]

On 8/12/2021 at 2:27 PM, Darth Mingus said:

I was thinking the same thing.  I said I stopped pre-ordering, then looked at my HLJ account and saw my pre-order there.  I think Bandai completely underestimated the demand for the Nightingale.  The Re100 was a shelf warmer and the re-release 5 years later was also a shelf warmer.  The RGs are smaller and tend to move so I think they devoted lines to produce these things.  Seems like the kyrios  and dynames  are also over produced at this point, probably in anticipation of a rush when the release the virtue. 

Well that's a bad sign, reviews for RG Hi Nu are showing up online and I've heard nothing from HLJ yet.

[Darth Mingus]

On 8/14/2021 at 1:44 PM, Mommar said:

Well that's a bad sign, reviews for RG Hi Nu are showing up online and I've heard nothing from HLJ yet.

I think the official release date is September 2021.  I would not be concerned yet.

[Big s]

Some of those YouTubers actually get gifted early samples. Kinda like free advertising, but they should be available soon 

[anubis20]

MG Enhanced ZZ Ver Ka complete. I went with the enhanced version because it looks mean AF, however I feel the enhanced parts affects the articulation of the base kit and maybe I should have gone vanilla ZZ. For posing I had to cheat by unplugging the backpack to make sure the shoulders had enough clearance. Otherwise the shoulders cant rotate forward at all. I am not 100% happy with the end result of this build. There were a few messed up decals and and a couple of paint scratches

 

 

 

[tekering]

Jesus, what a labor of love! 😍

Mean AF indeed.

[anubis20]

6 minutes ago, tekering said:

Jesus, what a labor of love! 😍

Mean AF indeed.

Thanks! This was a tough build and im glad its out of the way. Only problem is that I am no longer looking forward to working on the FAZZ 😅

[General Rasp]

Amazing work as always Anubis! And yeah, that FAZZ is going to be a huge time suck.

[Mommar]

2 hours ago, anubis20 said:

Thanks! This was a tough build and im glad its out of the way. Only problem is that I am no longer looking forward to working on the FAZZ 😅

I was not happy with how the armor on the FAZZ attached/affected articulation at all.  I’m not a big fan of the Red/Blue/Yellow so I do prefer the Grey color scheme more.  I’ll be happy to see what a talented person can do with it (I certainly have zero paint skills.)

[anubis20]

4 minutes ago, Mommar said:

I was not happy with how the armor on the FAZZ attached/affected articulation at all.  I’m not a big fan of the Red/Blue/Yellow so I do prefer the Grey color scheme more.  I’ll be happy to see what a talented person can do with it (I certainly have zero paint skills.)

Not only is the color scheme better on the FAZZ, it doesnt have those annoying arm wings that get in the way of everything. That alone makes the FAZZ superior 😅

[Darth Mingus]

1 minute ago, anubis20 said:

Not only is the color scheme better on the FAZZ, it doesnt have those annoying arm wings that get in the way of everything. That alone makes the FAZZ superior 😅

It also have better articulation in the elbow because it does not have the transformation mechanism.  I enjoyed the naked FAZZ and did not mind the armoured one either since I was expecting a brick.  I am hoping they take the FAZZ and make a Theta Gundam Ver. KA from Moon Gundam.

[no3Ljm]

Love the DoubleZ, @anubis20.   

 

 

Quick question. Does anyone here have those 1/100 scaled third party LED light sabers on their kits? I was wondering if anyone here with a 1/6 scale figure too and post a picture of it with the hand. Just want to see how big it is with the 1/6 hand holding it or just side-by-side. Thanks!  

 

[anubis20]

MG Eclipse Gundam uses the Freedom, Providence, and Justice hip joints 😖. Time to by diecast replacements. 🙄 I used the diecast replacement J4 parts on my Providence and they just needed some tightening but saved me the headache of ending up with a broken leg.

 

[pafy6285]

https://en.gundam.info/content/onlineexpo2021

seems like P-Bandai US will be selling exclusive Gundam base items listed in the event, and seems like there will be metal builds as well

[Mommar]

5 hours ago, pafy6285 said:

https://en.gundam.info/content/onlineexpo2021

seems like P-Bandai US will be selling exclusive Gundam base items listed in the event, and seems like there will be metal builds as well

They've been doing that.  They sold the Version 3.0 RX-78 on their website last year along with the RG Unicorn already.

[Sanity is Optional]

Managed to snag the one thing I really wanted: The plated MG Epyon

[General Rasp]

4 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Managed to snag the one thing I really wanted: The plated MG Epyon

Nice! I was tempted to one also but was worried about the nubmarks from the runner. 

[Mommar]

17 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Managed to snag the one thing I really wanted: The plated MG Epyon

I didn’t even know it had gone up.  Wasn’t quite sure about it, though.

[Mommar]

On 8/27/2021 at 12:59 AM, Sanity is Optional said:

Managed to snag the one thing I really wanted: The plated MG Epyon

After seeing a review video I'm bummed I missed out on that.  Stumbled across the Special Coated Deathscythe Hell up for sale today and went ahead and got that.

[sh9000]

 

[Big s]

I like the fact that he was surprised by molding technology that has been used by Bandai for what feels like over 20 years. I remember being impressed back in the 90’s with the Eva kits as far as the arms being molded with working joints under rubber coating or the old school pg fingers

[anubis20]

I remember the Providence being a pain but all that work paid off.

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by anubis20