1/60 Yamato VF-4G Web-Exclusive Toy

[Mommar]

So those that ordered with Nippon Yasan when can we expect a request for payment (for those that didn't pay out right away)? Should we expect a request for payment ahead of time or a few days after the 25th? They will send an e-mail to request payment right? They don't expect us to go to their website to do it do they?

Every other time I've ordered from Nippon Yasan they have sent me an invoice. This time I was curious because of the wildly fluctuating price and I decided to go pro-active with it to see what would happen. I only had a chance to pay for one of the two though, as the website is down for "maintenance" again.

[Dark_Ghost]

┣◆Relase date : 25 December 2012

┣ 1/60 VF-4G Lightning III

┃ http://www.yamato-toys.com/items/detail.php?gid=2123

Y A M A T O O N L I N E　　Vol.355

[Loop]

I decided to try the Paypal payment thing and Mommar is correct. The Paypal invoice amount was lowered to the new price, shipping charge is crap though....

[UN Spacy]

What's the full price to get the VF-4 shipped from NY?

[Loop]

Shipping was like 58-59 some odd bucks, but I get to have a VF-4.....

[MichaelS]

Just payed for my from NY! All that's left is the wait! This is going to suck

[Loop]

What's the full price to get the VF-4 shipped from NY?

$367.02 USD

Edited December 15, 2012 by Loop

[Kicker773]

[neoexcaliber]

VF-4G available at HLJ again:

http://www.hlj.com/product/YMTGK-19

[MichaelS]

LOL we had no doubt you would it was like the coming of the seasons!!!

[Kicker773]

I felt like posting it since everyone is freaking out. Accept it no one will get it before Christmas. Everyone will get it eventually. I don't understand the panic why it won't go out by Christmas or before. Is everyone expecting theirs to be delivered by Santa Claus personally. LOL

[numagus99]

Just paid for mine on NY. The price was updated automatically for me. 360.00+/- w/ shipping to USA.

[Tochiro]

Hey Thanx Tochiro for clearing all that up.

Also a thank-you to skullmilitia & Dimis for your replies.

Sorry for any stupid questions...I got abit excited didn't lol.

I just haven;t ordered a yamato product for nearly 3 yrs , was abit out of touch with all the shipping protocol.

I can't wait for this, this is gonna be the best xmas/new yr evea!!!

Hey Tochiro , any idea when the transformation pics are coming?

Thanx, peace.

Save was working on them yesterday while we were doing a podcasting session in a Firebomer themed karaoke room (Macross overload much? Lol). So, should be up soon.

[Valkyrie Magnus]

VF-4G available at HLJ again:

http://www.hlj.com/product/YMTGK-19

Thanks I placed a order.

I felt like posting it since everyone is freaking out. Accept it no one will get it before Christmas. Everyone will get it eventually. I don't understand the panic why it won't go out by Christmas or before. Is everyone expecting theirs to be delivered by Santa Claus personally. LOL

I am hoping it will be after Christmas so my account can recover from buying presents lol.

[Mommar]

I felt like posting it since everyone is freaking out. Accept it no one will get it before Christmas. Everyone will get it eventually. I don't understand the panic why it won't go out by Christmas or before. Is everyone expecting theirs to be delivered by Santa Claus personally. LOL

For me personally it's not just the VF-4G. VF-17D with the Super Packs, that's almost $400, 19P is $300, 171 Armor Packs is another $150. Plus two 4G's, which is something like $700. All dropping at once around Christmas. That's a LOT of money to spend at a time when we already spend a lot of money. Though between Christmas in the US and New Years in Japan we could potentially get this thing MANY weeks later then a usual release which is a bummer considering how long a lot of people have been waiting for a VF-4 release.

[Kicker773]

So what's another few weeks. What you have listed is a lot, but trust me with what I have coming, I can wait.

[jenius]

171 Armor packs is another $150? Jeeze... I haven't looked at my invoice yet but I'm hoping you ordered multiple sets or something.

[Murphy]

Are you guys getting invoices, or just paying at NY? Because I haven't got one yet.

[Dimis]

Are you guys getting invoices, or just paying at NY? Because I haven't got one yet.

I'm also waiting for my invoice, but as long as it is available for pre-order at the same price i'm not too concerned about anything going wrong.

[Mommar]

171 Armor packs is another $150? Jeeze... I haven't looked at my invoice yet but I'm hoping you ordered multiple sets or something.

I got that wrong, it's $109. Still, that's just the one.

[typhoon]

I just got a response from Nippon-Yasan. They told me that when I go to pay I will be billed at whatever the current price is. Logged into Paypal and sure enough I was charged at the current listed price, $309. So there you go. Just a matter if you're not enthused about their shipping prices I suppose. Or the odd times they go down for maintenance.

Thanks for posting that Mommar. I had been waiting for a response from NY for a couple of days when I saw your post, sure enough went in and paid the invoice and it popped up at the lower price.

[Lupin The Third]

Notice the difference in tone in this thread than any recent Bandai one...

Vf4G Thread for Japanese Web Exclusive item...."Missed preorders the first round. Oh nevermind, [insert vendor] opened up another batch. Ordered! Yay for Yamato. Too bad I won't have before Christmas, but whatever."

Bandai thread for readily available Chogokin sitting in unwanted stacks in dirty toy shops..."Amiami has up for pre-order...crap, sold out before I clicked submit! Now HLJ has it up, hurry! crap...sold out again! CDjapan only got 5 units! Crap, this is my favorite Valk ever, why can't I buy?!?! Oh there it is on Nippon Yasan for 250% of retail price and climbing. Ebay sellers already at $400...this thing just went up 5 minutes ago! Crap, carp, crap.....do I pay bills or buy toy? Can I sell my organs to buy a toy? Would the spouse allow that? Arrgrgrgrhrhhrhrhhhh!"

Love how Bandai thinks denying foreign consumers the chance to buy their product and making sure that scalpers make a living is the way to keep customers and keep their product lines sophisticated. Thanks Yamato for not acting like Bandicks.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Lupin The Third

[jenius]

Are you in Japan? I just checked the going price for the YF-29 Focker on a Japanese online market that doesn't ship internationally and the cheapest anyone is selling for is about 28,000. If there are stacks of Fockers sitting in stores they need to put that stuff up online because there's demand in the domestic arena. I did find a VF-25G DX for 12,500 though but I don't read Japanese so I can't tell if it's been opened (looks like it from the pics). The only other one I see is priced at 17,800 which sounds like NipponYasan territory.

I think the difference you're seeing is Yamato selling to a much more limited audience. Do I want a $350 toy of a craft seen in a 30 minute music video several decades ago as much as I want a $150 toy from a recent hit TV series and follow up movies? I don't think it has as much to do with a conspiracy against gaijin.

[OmegaD3k]

Love how Bandai thinks denying foreign consumers the chance to buy their product and making sure that scalpers make a living is the way to keep customers and keep their product lines sophisticated. Thanks Yamato for not acting like Bandicks.

Bravo! Yamato’s handling of their products sealed the deal for me. I haven’t given Bandai a single penny since January 2011 with the VF-25S, and have since taken all my business to Yamato due to the way they handled the Frontier mecha, and pre-orders.

Mad props for Yamato for keeping their pre-orders open, and extending the dates for a web-exclusive item! You can still even get them off HLJ (up until a few days ago) and NY, and the prices have been cut by 50$ or so since it was first announced.

[raptormesh]

I don't think bandai is consciously trying to stiff foreign consumers, just that they have their own sales strategy and we're not in it.

I may have to stick my VF4 in the private warehouse as I will be away for sometime and I want to be there when the postman drops it off. Such a shameeeeeeeeee.

[Mommar]

Thanks for posting that Mommar. I had been waiting for a response from NY for a couple of days when I saw your post, sure enough went in and paid the invoice and it popped up at the lower price.

Good to hear. One of us had to take the plunge. I'm glad it's working out for all of us.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Already paid for mine too!!

[Lupin The Third]

<p>

Are you in Japan?  I just checked the going price for the YF-29 Focker on a Japanese online market that doesn't ship internationally and the cheapest anyone is selling for is about 28,000.  If there are stacks of Fockers sitting in stores they need to put that stuff up online because there's demand in the domestic arena.  I did find a VF-25G DX for 12,500 though but I don't read Japanese so I can't tell if it's been opened (looks like it from the pics).  The only other one I see is priced at 17,800 which sounds like NipponYasan territory.

I think the difference you're seeing is Yamato selling to a much more limited audience.  Do I want a $350 toy of a craft seen in a 30 minute music video several decades ago as much as I want a $150 toy from a recent hit TV series and follow up movies?  I don't think it has as much to do with a conspiracy against gaijin.

Sure at this point those releases are at after market prices, but most of us had to pay that on day one. The Bandai releases are scalped before they even leave Japan, and it's solely because they are short shipping online retailers who cater to foreign consumers. If you haven't seen the pic of the VF-171EXs sitting in a stack on the floor of a toy shop under a discounted Disney toy I'll gladly repost for you but it's been in a bunch of threads and that's what I was referring to. Or just look at Amazon Japan every time a new V2 releases...tons of no-name third party "vendors" selling them while respectable companies like Amiami, HLJ, Hobby Search, Otacute, etc barely get enough to fill 5 minutes worth of preorders. That Bandai wants to make sure that random individuals who grabbed half a dozen at a toy shop in japan to make a profit are the only people making money of their toys is beyond baffling and arrogantly Japanese in a very negative way.

Even BBTS got the first V2 release...then Bandai shafted them on the VF-25S, conspicuously right after every Japanese online retailer that ship internationally sold through their stock. In my case I almost ordered my VF-25S from Amiami, but decided not to since I would only save about $20 after the import shipping and just decided to leave my order with BBTS since it was already on file with them...two weeks later it's sold out, BBTS sends out the first wave of notices that they would be unlikely to stock the product, and scalpers instantly shoot it up to ~$300. Bandai seems to go out of their way to alienate consumers from the start.

Yamato by contrast actually seems to try to supply a good quantity to everyone to meet demand. Want a Cavalier right now? BBTS has them in stock right this moment and Amiami and HLJ have restocked on virtually every Yamato release from this year at least once. My point was simply that the "vibe" in this thread is, amusingly, completely different. Fans are enthusiastically taking about their preorders; a complete contrast to the Bandai threads. Given what this release is Yamato could easily have kept it exclusive to their online shop, excluded HLJ and others, and we'd all be paying $500+ for these at release through scalpers or proxy buyers. Clearly Yamato has at least some minor appreciation for their customers, even the ones they can't officially sell to because of Harmony Gold's absurd legal actions. So my thanks to them for actually doing what a company is supposed to...selling product to the consumers who want it.

[jvmacross]

....maybe Yamato's MSRP is high enough to keep their stuff from selling out when the preorder windows open up?

VF-17S comes to mind.....

[jenius]

I could argue the merits of what Bandai or Yamato is doing based on their own economies of scale but it seems pretty obvious that it boils down to not economics at all, Bandai is a company full of Gundam jerk-offs and haters and Yamato just wants to help Americans out. It's pretty obvious now that I think about it.

[Lupin The Third]

....maybe Yamato's MSRP is high enough to keep their stuff from selling out when the preorder windows open up?

VF-17S comes to mind.....

Possibly. But then everyone argues that Yamato makes and sells less units than Bandai does so perhaps it's a moot point either way. I just did a quick look and both Amiami and HLJ are selling Cavaliers and VF-1S for ~$100 US. But then, as you mentioned, other Yamato pieces are closer to $300 in cost. I don't think cost is a factor though, as Yamato products are obtainable for retail cost, or less, without much effort. In this case the obscurity and price of the Valk may be a factor, but everything else they've release this year can still, for the most part, be obtained for around retail price. Bandai valks do have the advantage of being part of a newer, more in demand series so I wouldn't discount that as playing into the scalping but I don't think Yamato's MSRP is a huge factor. Look at it this way; the VF-4G has never been available and might never again due to it's obscurity, but people are paying the same price for a YF-29 that has now been issued three times. Popularity and newness is definitely a factor but then so too is catering to fans' desires with such a unique release like the VF-4G, especially in a high-end toy market built around predominantly catering to hardcore fans.

I could argue the merits of what Bandai or Yamato is doing based on their own economies of scale but it seems pretty obvious that it boils down to not economics at all, Bandai is a company full of Gundam jerk-offs and haters and Yamato just wants to help Americans out. It's pretty obvious now that I think about it.

Haha..lol. Yeah, those damn Bandai Gundam-Gobblers! Yamato has our backs! We should all have a Battle-Royale fight to the death. Bandai and fans in one corner, Yamato and fans in the other! May the best Valk maker win!

Honestly though I don't think Yamato wants to "help Americans out". I think they want to make money. Bandai on the other hand almost acts like they're averse to it. But this is a happy thread where happy members are dreaming of Santa sleighing their VF-4Gs across the pond to their loving new homes. So let us not speak of the evil gundam-whores again, lest they sour our holiday cheer.

[Loop]

Lupin has a point, I am actually always happy when Yamato releases something because I can almost guarantee it will be in my collection. With Bandai I get anxiety over the release dates and pre order windows, drives me absolutely nuts. I have yet to get a Bandai pre order at the normal price from one of the bigger online retailers like HLJ or Amiami. I am still having nightmares thinking I will miss out on the V2 RVF-25 so I can complete the set.

[jenius]

I totally understand about how Bandai has added stress to collecting and I like knowing I'll be able to get my Yamato preorders as well. I'm a business man though, and I've crunched the numbers to help decide what my company does and doesn't do and how we go about it. I guarantee Bandai does what they do because they crunch numbers, not because they don't want the best return or because they want to piss people off. As an outsider looking in, it seems like Bandai is much more afraid of over-producing whereas Yamato is very concerned about getting enough preorders to warrant a round of production at all.

[Loop]

"As an outsider looking in, it seems like Bandai is much more afraid of over-producing whereas Yamato is very concerned about getting enough preorders to warrant a round of production at all."

That statement is almost misleading to me. Yamato's normal products are available throughout the year and easily obtainable. The VF-4 was meant to be a webshop exclusive due to the obscurity of the valk. It had like 3 seconds of screen time. I think it was a smart move to test the market, and they even found there was more demand than they thought. Now getting back to Bandai, they have the exclusive rights to the most current Macross IP and afaik the most popular in Japan right now. They are afraid of over producing? That makes no sense to me as they can see the things were flying off the shelves.

[Major Focker]

agree with jenius' points, though i don't think Bandai is afraid of over-producing. they are big enough that they can easily write-off overruns. but their size also means that the will always have to juggle and do trade-offs with their multiple toy lines, each of which will be competing for their huge but finite production and marketing capacity. so it boils down to a production mix that maximizes returns whilst balancing sustainability against risks. Bandai aren't necessarily forfeiting income from unproduced valks. for all we know, they may have several production runs for other toy lines that deliver not only better returns %-wise but also bigger quantum in absolute terms. hence longer production runs for valks may in fact be costing them more in opportunity losses, perhaps to a degree that can't be compensated by raising valk prices or selling more units because of their underprojection. so i think it's less about fear of overruns, rather it's simply that they need to prioritize other income streams. sucks that our beloved franchise may not be that high on their list, but i don't think Bandai is averse to Macross nor to making money from it.