funkymonkeyjavajunky Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) I have purchased several Macross toys (Yamato and Bandai) over the years and didn't seem to notice any difficulty in acquiring said toys. But, over the past year, every time I have looked into purchasing a new toy they always seem to be sold out before the actual release dates. Is every release a "limited" release? What's the chance any particular transformable toy will get a re-release? I have been particularly frustrated with the recent YF-29 and re-issues of both VF-25 renewals. The Ozma renewal is still a couple of months away and it's sold out pretty much everywhere I've checked. Also, with everything selling out so quickly, the prices on secondary markets go through the roof very quickly. Anyway, your thoughts and opinions are welcome... Edited November 1, 2011 by funkymonkeyjavajunky Quote
Archer Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 Yeah, I totally agree with you. And its not just NEW releases either. Pretty much, in my experience, you always need to buy a (popular) toy within about 2 - 3 months of its release after its in stock until you pretty much will never get a chance to buy a MISB version again unless you want to shill out 2 times its MSRP. Case examples include the VF-27 actually, which I really am wanting to buy, but can't seem to find anywhere MISB for a decent price, and a VF-0 (anything) ghost booster gift set. Truth be told though, this seems to be prevalent to more Bandai toys than Yamato, which I can seem to find most for reasonable prices. It's the nature of this market though, as you can't expect companies to make toys 5 - 10 years after their first release, and hope to make any profits on them. They gave buyers their chance to get one, and now they need to move on... Quote
Kyp Durron Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 I have been particularly frustrated with the recent YF-29 and re-issues of both VF-25 renewals. The Ozma renewal is still a couple of months away and it's sold out pretty much everywhere I've checked. Also, with everything selling out so quickly, the prices on secondary markets go through the roof very quickly. Anyway, your thoughts and opinions are welcome... When something comes up for preorder, that's when you strike, especially in the case of Bandai's VF-25's. I knew they were (both Alto and Ozma) going to sell out very fast, so I hit the preorder button the minute I knew about them. Best advice I can give you is that when you see a thread here about something you're wanting, like the VF-25 thread, check back for new posts daily, because someone is almost always going to post pre-order links in it at some point. Or, you could always keep an eye on the major retailers the same way too. -Kyp Quote
sharpnel Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) I'm in the same boat with you funkymonkeyjavajunky. I missed out on YF-29 and VF-25 renewal. Now, I'm looking for Ozma renewal but can't find anywhere to pre-order one. I hoping someone on this board can help us out.. Edited October 30, 2011 by sharpnel Quote
sharpnel Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 funkymonkeyjavajunky, I see BBTS has VF-25F renewal on pre-order. http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=BAN13876&mode=retail Quote
EXO Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 It seems like in this economy it's a better business practice to do low runs with the higher prices. Maybe the Macross market is driven more by the high end deep pocketed collector. Sadly I'm on the other side of that fence and I can't even begin to fathom a collection where each piece is between $250 -$500. But honestly I wouldn't touch Yamato toys and those new Bandais if they lowered standards just to make it more affordable. I'm hoping that they realize that they spent so much on the molds that they start to reissue them later on when the yen price starts to calm down. Hopefully that'll happen but it could get worse to where they just stop making them. Quote
funkymonkeyjavajunky Posted October 30, 2011 Author Posted October 30, 2011 I'm in the same boat with you funkymonkeyjavajunky. I missed out on YF-29 and VF-25 renewal. Now, I'm looking for Ozma renewal but can't find anywhere to pre-order one. I hoping someone on this board can help us out.. I just saw that eToysJapan still has the Alto renewal for around $183. You might want to check it out. Quote
pud333 Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 The toy market is not the same these days. Companies are sensitive to overproduction or shelfwarming. It's not surprising, considering the world economy these days. Quote
sharpnel Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 I just saw that eToysJapan still has the Alto renewal for around $183. You might want to check it out. Thanks, just placed my order. Can't wait to get it. Quote
anime52k8 Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 Case examples include the VF-27 actually, which I really am wanting to buy, but can't seem to find anywhere MISB for a decent price, and a VF-0 (anything) ghost booster gift set. Truth be told though, this seems to be prevalent to more Bandai toys than Yamato, which I can seem to find most for reasonable prices. yeah, I find the whole conundrum of toys selling out while still in preorder and becoming impossible to find after release except for at asinine secondary market prices to me a more a problem with Bandai toys as a whole rather than Macross toys. Bandai as a company seems to like short printing all of their toys and/or releasing them strictly as limited web exclusives rather than risk having a product sit on shelves for any amount of time. Quote
Archer Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 web exclusives I don't even want to get started on that rant.... Quote
Tking22 Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 I missed out on the Yamato 1/24 Ingram unit 2, I had like a month and a half where everyone had him and I said "Oh I'll get him next month it's no big deal". Now he is ONLY on ebay, for 2x what he originally cost, which was already pretty insane. The moral of the story, if you miss out on pre-orders or the first shipments, you're probably screwed. Quote
UN Spacy Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 IIRC HLJ had both 1/24 Ingrams on sale for 10,500 to 11,000 yen on separate occasions. Congrats to the folks that swooped them up for that price. Quote
eugimon Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 That ingram is awesome with a side of awesome sauce. Quote
Tking22 Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 I love my Alphonse, and I got the pit-road 1/24 command car, it really kills me that I never got to complete the set. I mean I still can, but it will cost more than I care to shell out. Quote
UN Spacy Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 That ingram is awesome with a side of awesome sauce. Can I adopt him for a few days? Quote
eugimon Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 Can I adopt him for a few days? How about supervised visitation? Quote
VF-18S Hornet Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 How about supervised visitation? More like armed surpervision. Just in case he makes off with it. Just have a 200 watt taser ready at your side. Quote
Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 Within the past year I've noticed that some toys have been more scarce, not just Japanese toys. I think companies now are doing smaller production runs to guage demand and reduce potential overstock. Labor costs have gone up in China and it affects American toy manufacturers as well. I remember for GI JOE Pursuit of Cobra, Low Light was a complete PITA to find, and waves 5 and 6 came and went. Until the economies get better I think this is how things will stay going forward, for a while. Quote
Tober Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 is etoysjapan a good reputable website? Short: Yes. Longer: I've never actually used them myself but I know several people who have, and continue to do so. Quote
Macross_Fanboy Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 I'm just upset Hkaru's VF-1D hasn't been re-issued, i would like a nice one since I fracked up the current one when I got a replacement thigh/intake part from Yamato for free.99 and was in a rush to assemble it for no apparent reason. Quote
Tking22 Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 I'm just upset Hkaru's VF-1D hasn't been re-issued, i would like a nice one since I fracked up the current one when I got a replacement thigh/intake part from Yamato for free.99 and was in a rush to assemble it for no apparent reason. The VF-1D was the actually the first 1/60 VF-1 I ever got, the last time HLJ had them in stock they were also on sale, I got one shipped for only around $115. Quote
mqvu Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 Yea I've had this same frustrating experience with pre-orders at AmiAmi. They seem to always have very competitively low pre-order prices, but for what ever reason, it seems like those pre-orders are always sold out before I ever even get a chance to make and order there ... hopefully one of these days ... Quote
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