Arcadia YF-19 coming in 2014

[Saburo]

Just got notification that my YF-19 will be delivered today. I am hoping it arrives with out any issues.

[Moosey]

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

Some folks.......

[jvmacross]

Some folks.......

That's 2 of us!

[ChaoticYeti]

So... What's the trick to getting the shoulder fast packs in place?

[Pat S]

So... What's the trick to getting the shoulder fast packs in place?

The shoulder pieces have a sliding arm on them. The part that attaches to the YF-19 actually moves back and forth where it connects to the pack. Try playing with that little part to get it to slide back and forth and see if that gets you a better position to attach the pack.

[wm cheng]

Well, I'm sorry for Mommar & Kicker, but this has opened my eyes to AmiAmi and I for one will not order from them again. I never knew about Nippon Yasan though, are they really worst? because they have been my saviour when it comes to Valks I can't get anywhere else. I haven't had any problems yet, so I wouldn't know if they had better or worst customer service - but now I'm worried. I'd love to get it from HLJ (even if I have to pay more) but lately, I haven't had any luck finding anything from them - I'm always too late.

I think AmiAmi should know how much business they are losing because of their poor handling of the situation. Likely, they'll never know how we feel about them other than just through Mommar & Kicker.

Yes, this does sour the new YF-19 - its too bad because I was hoping that Arcadia would come back better than ever! I really wanted to like the new company. Already, finding out that they did not including any extra tampo printing (Bandai has everything printed!) other than the bare minimum, the lack of waterslide decals, the lack of an included stand, no real improvement to QC and the hike in MSRP price already puts a sour note in my initial impressions while I wait for my toy. What really justifies their 100% jump in MSRP then? I guess being able to get away with it is now the new corporate profit policy. This has got to be one heck of a toy to overcome these initial impressions.

[Delta]

Just got my YF-19 and it's great! Put it into gerwalk mode and found no obvious issues.

However I'm having a real hard time plugging the fast pack leg parts in securely. Is there some trick to this that I'm not getting?

[CoreyD]

Just got my YF-19 and it's great! Put it into gerwalk mode and found no obvious issues.

However I'm having a real hard time plugging the fast pack leg parts in securely. Is there some trick to this that I'm not getting?

Hah, no. I was having the same issues this morning.

[slaginpit]

still not paying for this over priced plastic

Edited April 4, 2014 by slaginpit

[Scyla]

*snip*

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).

I assume the rear stabilizers can fold in to give the heel room to move in Gerwalk- and Battroid-Mode. Personally I would rather have the sliding mechanism like it was implemented on the 1/60 Yamato YF-19.

I also would preferred a gun-pod that was line art accurate in color and with vents on the barrel cover. And that the Fast Packs are still as fiddly as the old ones (see JoshBs review of the old YF-19) is a slight disappointment.

Regarding the amiami refund policy. I think they are one of the major domestic Japanese online shops when it comes to anime goods. So I'm sure they know that the will earn slightly less when all of their foreign customers don't order from them anymore. This policy is not to annoy foreign customers. It is a calculated risk and they figured out that it will be more profitable to lose some customers and don't offer a full refund with included shipping for defect goods.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Scyla

[xrentonx]

I don't think it is to intentionally annoy but they could use a rewrite of those form letters they use so that it is a "softer" tone, if you understand what I mean. Either way, they lost customers due to policy.

Edited April 4, 2014 by xrentonx

[Mommar]

Sorry guys, I've been out. Amiami offered to pay back only the price of the item via Paypal dispute. Should I go for the full amount? I don't mind paying to ship back but I think they owe me it all.

[xrentonx]

I would go for it all but request this through Paypal. Worst case is that Paypal agrees that Amiami only refunds the price of the item or only refunds partial shipping with the item.

This might take a little longer than just agreeing to Amiami refunding the price of the item without shipping but it's pretty much the only chance you got if you want shipping costs too.

[skullmilitia]

You know they will get it back, and just reship it to someone else with a beat up box lol.

"It was the post office"

[wm cheng]

Sorry guys, I've been out. Amiami offered to pay back only the price of the item via Paypal dispute. Should I go for the full amount? I don't mind paying to ship back but I think they owe me it all.

What made AmiAmi change their tune with you? Did PayPal contact them or was it just the threat of going to PayPal?

[jvmacross]

What made AmiAmi change their tune with you? Did PayPal contact them or was it just the threat of going to PayPal?

Mommar said via Paypal dispute...so yes...they changed their tune under threat of paypal blacklisting....

Mommar...you have them in your crosshairs....may as well go for the kill....either way you come away better than with the original 15 dollar brush off....

Just tell Paypal that their offer is good but you feel a full refund including shipping is what you want...especially since you will need to pay to return it....

Maybe a small secret mark inside the box to let anyone on this board know it was yours if they receive the same busted wing -19....

Good luck!

Edited April 4, 2014 by jvmacross

[Dimis]

Sorry guys, I've been out. Amiami offered to pay back only the price of the item via Paypal dispute. Should I go for the full amount? I don't mind paying to ship back but I think they owe me it all.

Once i proved that an ebay seller had knowingly sold me a used Soul of Chogokin for new and Paypal still wouldn't make him pay for the return shipping costs. I seriously doubt they'll support you on this.

[jvmacross]

Once i proved that an ebay seller had knowingly sold me a used Soul of Chogokin for new and Paypal still wouldn't make him pay for the return shipping costs. I seriously doubt they'll support you on this.

He wants his full purchase price back...which happens to include the cost of originally having it shipped to him....his cost to return to AmiAmi will come out of his pocket....assuming Paypal even requires him to return it.....

Edited April 4, 2014 by jvmacross

[Mommar]

I don't want them to pay for the return shipping costs, I only want them to pay me back what I paid for the item to be shipped to me.

[Scyla]

I just had this thought that maybe the wing broke off due to huge differences in temperature during transport. You know getting from melting hot to icy cold in a short amount of time (e.g. during air transportation) so this lead to tension in the wing part forcing it to snap. Maybe they got some fluid inclusion during molding that would make this an issue for all copies.

On the other hand I'm in no way an expert in injection molding so this could all be some weird theory in my head.

Quick question for those who have Isamus bird in hand. Does it have the molded detail behind the visor that the old one has?

[jvmacross]

So how is kicker773's refund coming along? Hope he went the Paypal route...especially now...case history and all....

Sucks to be AmiAmi right about now...

Not to defend or help out AmiAmi...but if they want to keep screwing with foreign customers...they need to include some waiver in the checkout process that foreign buyers need to check before final payment, basically saying that if you check it you agree to hold them non-liable for any mfg defects, etc. ....

Or they can just do the right thing and treat all their customers equally?

[Mommar]

Since this is my very first issue and have never used paypal I'm just wondering, based on other people's experiences, how much of a killing blow can I take with these guys?

[anime52k8]

Since this is my very first issue and have never used paypal I'm just wondering, based on other people's experiences, how much of a killing blow can I take with these guys?

Yes please, frakk up everyone elses ability to use paypal on their site, it's not like some of us have pre-orders with them that are order stopped everywhere. I mean, it's not like I actually WANTED any of the stuff I ordered.

Edited April 4, 2014 by anime52k8

[xrentonx]

In terms of refund, only what you initially paid. Any other hardships are out of their control so extra shipping costs and mental health reimbursement are out

You at least got a refund for price of item in the bag though since Amiami already offered at least that.

Edited April 4, 2014 by xrentonx

[anime52k8]

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.....

Well, if HLJ, Hobby search, Nippon Yasan, Anime Export, BBTS and every other retailer you use has closed per-orders on the thing you want and your only option is go through with ordering from amiami or pay triple retail on the after market if the thing even shows up, what do you suggest a person should do?

Edited April 4, 2014 by anime52k8

[slaginpit]

I don't want them to pay for the return shipping costs, I only want them to pay me back what I paid for the item to be shipped to me.

I think that is fair. I wouldnt push to much. Just get your money back and deal with HLJ. They have more to loose since they service global customers

[VF-Zer0S]

Mine just came in mail and it is solid! It's very sturdy and so far the only issue I had was getting out the gerwalk joint.

All in all I can say it was not worth the price. If they could have not given us so many missiles and a stand or fold booster instead, it would be worth the purchase.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

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.

Mommar if worse comes to worst I would just sell the yf-19 on ebay as a "battle-damaged yf-19 custom" complete with authentic wing damage and see how that goes. There are bound to be some stupid people online who will buy anything. I remember a story of a guy who sold a xbox box or something like that and got a huge amount of money just selling a empty cardboard box. It was a legit listing on ebay because it warned in the description that it was not the xbox game console but just a box only. But people who are dumb and don't read properly ended up with a cardboard box sent to them and couldn't do anything. Funny but true.

Edited April 4, 2014 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Scyla]

Also true is the fact (if we are talking about the same guy that is) that ebay refunded the buyer because it was listed under electronics.

And please can we stop to try harm other people because Mommar and Kicker received a defective copy?

You know for most other people money has some real value. It is not like we are all billionaires where money is used to determine the size of our d....

*sigh*

[OzmaLee74]

I'd just accept their offer and ship it back at my cost and consider it a fairly expensive learning experience. If you decide to send it back, DO NOT forget to use a trackable shipping method. I've had a similar experience on ebay before. One thing though. I'm assuming you have filed a dispute but not escalated to a claim yet correct? Inform Amiami that you only cancel the dispute once they refund you the agreed upon amount.

[Kicker773]

Went PayPal route opened a case

Awaiting for a response

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Well, I'm sorry for Mommar & Kicker, but this has opened my eyes to AmiAmi and I for one will not order from them again. I never knew about Nippon Yasan though, are they really worst? because they have been my saviour when it comes to Valks I can't get anywhere else. I haven't had any problems yet, so I wouldn't know if they had better or worst customer service - but now I'm worried. I'd love to get it from HLJ (even if I have to pay more) but lately, I haven't had any luck finding anything from them - I'm always too late.

I think AmiAmi should know how much business they are losing because of their poor handling of the situation. Likely, they'll never know how we feel about them other than just through Mommar & Kicker.

Yes, this does sour the new YF-19 - its too bad because I was hoping that Arcadia would come back better than ever! I really wanted to like the new company. Already, finding out that they did not including any extra tampo printing (Bandai has everything printed!) other than the bare minimum, the lack of waterslide decals, the lack of an included stand, no real improvement to QC and the hike in MSRP price already puts a sour note in my initial impressions while I wait for my toy. What really justifies their 100% jump in MSRP then? I guess being able to get away with it is now the new corporate profit policy. This has got to be one heck of a toy to overcome these initial impressions.

We should all transform it multiple times to make sure it passes a stress test.

That's what I am going to do from now on. If some part cracks or breaks from normal handling you'll know if they cheaped out and cut corners. I remember how scared I was to buy yamato toys back when it was discovered the different types of pins they used for v2 1/60 vf-1 and how some bad pin types they used invisibly wrecks itself the more you transform it. I am so sick of that kind of crap and having to know so much just to decide if it is ok to buy something. lol I remember having to go to jenius review just to look up a massive list of which version 2 vf-1 toys are safe to buy. The trouble of having to do it can be exhausting since they reissue the old toys later on and when you buy off ebay it can be hard to tell whether it is a good/fixed release or older 'dangerous' release. Keeping up with this must be a nightmare for new collectors. That is why I am interested to hear about a toy's long-term durability.

Edited April 4, 2014 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Kicker773]

If someone can get me a wing replacement I will drop the case. Talked to my mailman today and he said take it to post office just in case and see what they can do. I hate going there, line is long as hell

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Also true is the fact (if we are talking about the same guy that is) that ebay refunded the buyer because it was listed under electronics.

And please can we stop to try harm other people because Mommar and Kicker received a defective copy?

You know for most other people money has some real value. It is not like we are all billionaires where money is used to determine the size of our d....

*sigh*

Ok but what if you chose very careful wording? "Battle damaged" and you presented the toy as a custom where it was really damaged? As long as buyers read the description they can't say they didn't know it had the damaged wing when you say it has a damaged wing in the item description. You might even make profit because of the extra work put into the customisation and the buyer sees value from it.

I'm glad amiami is agreeing to refund. This is the best way to resolve the issue but I wonder how many other people they have screwed in the past that didn't complain and decided to just suffer in silence? If the toy was cheap it might not be that big a deal but this cost an arm and leg. If I were him I would ask them to apologise publicly admitting they were wrong to not want to take care of customers and ask them what changes they will be making in future to prevent it happening again to others who wish to continue purchasing expensive stuff from them. When the new macross tv series comes on and bandai makes it virtually impossible for overseas buyers to buy their stuff, you are going to see a lot of people ordering merchandise from these guys out of desperation..

Edited April 4, 2014 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[skullmilitia]

Ok but what if you chose very careful wording? "Battle damaged" and you presented the toy as a custom where it was really damaged? As long as buyers read the description they can't say they didn't know it had the damaged wing when you say it has a damaged wing in the item description. You might even make profit because of the extra work put into the customisation and the buyer sees value from it.I'm glad amiami is agreeing to refund. This is the best way to resolve the issue but I wonder how many other people they have screwed in the past that didn't complain and decided to just suffer in silence? If the toy was cheap it might not be that big a deal but this cost an arm and leg. If I were him I would ask them to apologise publicly admitting they were wrong to not want to take care of customers and ask them what changes they will be making in future to prevent it happening again to others who wish to continue purchasing expensive stuff from them.

Are you new to buying overseas?