Arcadia YF-19 coming in 2014

[Gakken85]

Reading through comments here and on other sites... it seems like they made quite a few poor design decisions, and though the form of the valk is improved, the overall toy experience isn't, or is at least the same. Not using magnets for the fast packs seems really silly. That's like the best design improvement in valk history. haha.

I expected as much being their first effort. Even with guys from Yamato, it's still a different company. Hopefully they will improve significantly.

I don't trust AmiAmi as far as I could throw them.

Their inability to be flexible when I'm giving them money for plastic is insane.

Feel bad for you guys with issues though. That's an expensive piece.

At least if I buy a $300 Hot Toys figure from sideshow, and there is a defect, I can expect a no hassle return or discount.

Like I always say, Vote with your wallet.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Gakken85

[IXTL]

I'm curious why Kicker and Mommar got so vastly different answers from amiami...

Different customer service reps I reckon.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

skull, Mr. K said you need to pull up your pants. lol

Edited April 4, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[plaslid]

The same applies to me with having to go the NY route to avoid custom taxes since amiami and hlj declare the full value

Sorry to hear abt the issues mommar and kicker, as much as im looking forward to getting mine, i do at the same time feel abit queasy about the isolated issues and am praying and hoping that mine will be free from any issues

Recon, Do you mean the Import duty? In Singapore?

I thought it was free import duty in Singapore. So I have planned to order and ship this YF-19 to my friend in Singapore to avoid the taxes. May be I should hold this idea a bit.

[IXTL]

skull, Mr. K said you need to pull up your pants. lol

You forgot to rotate the upper intake/back of the hip backards.

EDIT: Shield is the wrong way around too.

Edited April 4, 2014 by IXTL

[joppewo]

Recon, Do you mean the Import duty? In Singapore?

I thought it was free import duty in Singapore. So I have planned to order and ship this YF-19 to my friend in Singapore to avoid the taxes. May be I should hold this idea a bit.

Import duty will be levied if the value exceeds $400 SGD.

I got mine from AmiAmi, and the declared valued after conversion came mighty close to the limit

Edited April 4, 2014 by joppewo

[Froy]

skull, Mr. K said you need to pull up your pants. lol

Stop the swag!

[Deadeye_281]

Having had mine for a day now, I find the Arcadia 19 lightyears ahead of the old Yamato in terms of visual esthetic and overall design. It's a much more solid valk and I have no fear pulling it off its flightpose stand to swoosh it around and not worry about parts exploding off of it. The secondary armaments that come with this valk were executed very well and the Isamu pilot is perhaps the best of any valk to date - with the exception perhaps next to the Yamato 1:48 Low-Vis VF-1 pilots (those figures rocked). I think Arcadia pulled this thing off very well, but there are design elements that piss me off TBH.

Like most, I wish that they had not implemented the high speed mode as I have concerns that the wing design/mount may fail over time. It looks cool, but I'll never display it in this mode so...yeah.

I wish that they had just left the rear stabilizers as 1 piece units like most valks as the moveable flaps are an epic fail IMO as I can't get them to stay straight 'n flush no matter how much I tinker with them.

The grey gunpod looks unfinished to me and the color choice in general just seems off. Maybe I'm just used to the old Yamato gunpod but this version looks way too big IMO. I always pictured the 19 gunpod along the lines of a submachinegun (right or wrong) so I find the size of the Arcadia to be kinda visually jarring. Maybe that's just me.

The fastpacks should have been magnetized for sure, the way that they connect is unncessarily complicated and only adds to wear 'n tear of parts (something that should be mitigated at every opportunity on a $300+ model/toy).

[skullmilitia]

skull, Mr. K said you need to pull up your pants. lol

Haha! I'm afraid to move anything else!

Next time I'll wear plaid pants and put it in my lap lol

[M'Kyuun]

For the Japanese speakers among us, I'd assume that folks throughout Japan are blogging about the new YF-19. Are the same complaints cropping up there as well, and do Mr. K and his team look at them to gauge the reception of their new products?

If I ran a business, I can think of no better way to get a brutally honest assessment of how well I've done than perusing the unrestrained comments, praise, and criticisms of my consumer base. I'm curious if any of these observations are getting back to Arcadia, and if they take any of it seriously enough to affect future products.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Gunpod too big? Nah. It's just gone back to normal size again.

I think the old yf-19 made it way too small. Longer barrel = more accuracy, and bigger size suggests good power at long distance. It's the yf-21 that uses sub-machine guns. (yf-21 kind of looks like it is dual wielding two very big machine pistols) hehe.

I do agree they need to bring back magnets. Simple but it works..

Edited April 4, 2014 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Mommar]

I told Amiami to shove it, they're liars and if I don't get my refund I'm taking to to Paypal. They offered a refund but I have to ship the item back to them at my cost. I don't trust them to refund me without an entity like paypal looming over them... oh, and look at that. They contacted me through my dispute and magically they can't process any of my orders anymore. Boo hoo.

[xrentonx]

Per USPS:

What if I’m the recipient of a damaged international shipment?

If you receive an article that was sent from abroad that is damaged or has some contents missing, take it to any Post Office™ right away. Be sure to bring the item, the mailing container, wrapping, packaging, and any other contents.

The Post Office will verify the damage and have you complete a claim form. Please do not reship the package.

I know what USPS is going to say. There is no damage to the outside shipping box.

It's a hassle but you might want to file it anyway as a matter of course. Whether they accept the damage claim or not, you will at least have another party that can verify the condition so when it comes time to get the credit card companies involved it won't be just your word against Amiami's.

[plaslid]

Import duty will be levied if the value exceeds $400 SGD.

I got mine from AmiAmi, and the declared valued after conversion came mighty close to the limit

Thanks for the infomation, joppewo.

[Mommar]

Does anybody think it's a good idea to request the refund first? I don't trust these guys.

[CRYO]

With renew VF25 super booster, wings actually cannot fit in

[xrentonx]

You can try but I doubt they'll refund first.

[Mommar]

The problem is if I have to pay to ship back first (and they aren't refunding the shipping cost either way) I don't want to pay much so I'm going to ship it as slow as possible. That'll take forever to get a refund.

Consequently, what does a refund look like via paypal?

[Dimis]

Does anybody think it's a good idea to request the refund first? I don't trust these guys.

The thing is that you need to use a tracked delivery for Paypal to cover you in case they say whatever afterwards. As long as they agree for you to return it for a refund and send it with a tracked delivery you will eventually get the agreed sum either by them or Paypal. Also you don't want to go into an argument about whether they received it or not !!!

[xrentonx]

You said your Paypal is tied to your bank account? I only have my credit cards associated but the advantage for me is that I have two avenues for a chargeback, Paypal and the credit card company. If Paypal sides with the seller (not as often as them siding with the buyer), I can still do a chargeback with the cc company.

Banks can be a little tougher to deal with for something like this.

Edited April 4, 2014 by xrentonx

[yman1437]

I suspected as much . I bought from them many times in the past , the quality of their mechandise is inferior compared with the same products from those in Japanese buyers' blogs; paint job, colouring , parts (I got items with broken parts from them also). 8 out of 10 of my purchases had problems and I got this letter (same writings as shown in above posts) from Ami Ami. At times, they tried to compensate by offering several hundred yens (not even enough to get a bowl of ramen). It is NOT the post office or the shipping, it is Ami Ami; they pick up crap and sell them to foreign buyers , probably reserve the good ones (if they do have any) to local Japanese customers.

I will never buy from them again. Is Ami Ami really cheaper than others shops after combining with the shipping cost?? They always use oversized boxes , even with more than enough rooms for impact , etc.

I won't even buy rubber bands from them!

8 out of 10 or so is definitely more than coincidence...

[Mommar]

You said your Paypal is tied to your bank account? I only have my credit cards associated but the advantage for me is that I have two avenues for a chargeback, Paypal and the credit card company. If Paypal sides with the seller (not as often as them siding with the buyer), I can still do a chargeback with the cc company.

Banks can be a little tougher to deal with for something like this.

Via a Credit Union, not a Bank. They're not quite the same level of a-hole a regular bank would be. They called me when the money was first transferred to verify it was legit.

Also, my original dispute was for the entire thing, shipping and all. That was rejected and they said they would pay for everything but the shipping. Do I have to open a new claim for that to be valid?

Edited April 4, 2014 by Mommar

[M'Kyuun]

Scyla, the hip mechanics are virtually the same as the VF-19, i.e. the fore and aft swivel attaches to the body, and the thighs attach perpendicularly to those swivels, allowing for the legs to swing laterally in and out. It's a great design, IMO, as it's much more solid than ball joints which inevitably always become sloppy. The differences are that on the YF-19, the small leading edges with small intakes that rest above the main engine intakes are on a swing bar and move to rest behind the thigh in battroid. They attach to the fore/aft swivel. The other difference is in the size of the leg position lock. It was large enough to use a finger on the VF-19, but very small on the YF-19 virtually necessitating a small tool of some sort to press it.

[jvmacross]

Is Ami Ami really cheaper than others shops after combining with the shipping cost??

Does it matter? All it takes is one shafting from a big ticket item to lose all your savings from past purchases.....

Cheap stuff is expensive in the long run.....

[xrentonx]

Via a Credit Union, not a Bank. They're not quite the same level of a-hole a regular bank would be. They called me when the money was first transferred to verify it was legit.

Also, my original dispute was for the entire thing, shipping and all. That was rejected and they said they would pay for everything but the shipping. Do I have to open a new claim for that to be valid?

Amiami rejected or Paypal?

[rkiyo]

The problem is if I have to pay to ship back first (and they aren't refunding the shipping cost either way) I don't want to pay much so I'm going to ship it as slow as possible. That'll take forever to get a refund.

Consequently, what does a refund look like via paypal?

Paypal will clearly state 'refund' when you receive it. If you are having this much trouble with Amiami, I would steer clear of Nippon Yasan. They are way worse than this if you run into a similar situation.

[aaajin]

Man you guys are poisoning my mind with those images!

*click*click*. There. Ordered one. It better be good.

[xrentonx]

Paypal will clearly state 'refund' when you receive it. If you are having this much trouble with Amiami, I would steer clear of Nippon Yasan. They are way worse than this if you run into a similar situation.

To add to this, Paypal will refund whatever institution you inject the funds with...so credit card, bank, credit union, etc. They aren't gonna give you Paypal funbucks or something if you're worried.

Edited April 4, 2014 by xrentonx

[jvmacross]

Via a Credit Union, not a Bank. They're not quite the same level of a-hole a regular bank would be. They called me when the money was first transferred to verify it was legit.

Also, my original dispute was for the entire thing, shipping and all. That was rejected and they said they would pay for everything but the shipping. Do I have to open a new claim for that to be valid?

I would not recommend working with them directly.....what has paypal said?...Did you initiate a dispute?...Are they making you the offer of a refund before having the paypal dispute initiated or did they offer refund minus shipping after you initiated a dispute with paypal?

paypal is your "big (only) stick" in this case.....use it wisely

Edited April 4, 2014 by jvmacross

[xrentonx]

^^ Very true! If you are working with Amiami directly then they are able to refund you the price of the item minus shipping and Paypal will see this as a valid resolution of the dispute. If you want to try to get full refund, then work only through Paypal's dispute resolution if you can. You'll still have to ship the item back on your dime though

Edited April 4, 2014 by xrentonx

[jvmacross]

Yes, paying for return shipping is to be expected. Only huge retailers can afford to offer free return shipping due to negotiated shipping deals with the UPSs and FedEx's of the world.....

I'd still like to know when AmiAmi changed their tune from 15 dollar refund to Full refund minus shipping......I'm guessing AmiAmi does this BS enough times to know they can get away with it ALOT, but knows that screwing with their business relationship with Paypal is not worth it when confronted with the "biggest sabre rattlers" .......Paypal can BLACKLIST just as well as they can I guess....

[Moosey]

So sorry for you guys experiencing difficulty with Amiami and your busted Valks.

It seems so far removed from everything you experience as a visitor to Japan when they are courteous

and polite to a fault and can't do enough for you (assuming they can understand you ).

Amiami have undoubtedly "lost face" through this issue and more importantly, they've lost my confidence

and my custom as well as that of others around here.

In other news I just laid out another £53 in import tax so I can have mine (ordered from HLJ - fingers crossed) on Monday.

(If I get home from work in time).

[OzmaLee74]

To add to this, Paypal will refund whatever institution you inject the funds with...so credit card, bank, credit union, etc. They aren't gonna give you Paypal funbucks or something if you're worried.

With a CC or debit card, yes. But if you used a bank transfer then your refund becomes a paypal balance first and you would have to manually transfer it later. So I guess it in a sense it does become PayPal funbucks. =)

[jvmacross]

Nah! Folks will be glued all night to the AmiAmi site during the next Bandai DX 2 minute pre-order party!

The lure of a 15% discount is just too powerful.....

[xrentonx]

I stand corrected

I don't want Paypal messing with my bank account so I only use my credit cards with them.