close313 Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 I never had anything unopened before except for my MP-13. It was a torture waiting for it to sell since I wanted to get the Hasbro version with all them tapes.
Duymon Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 I never have that problem. I consider all my valks money spent and not as an investment. That's what Forex and the Stock market are for.
ULessa Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) i'm facing the same dilemma, i don't think it's coming back for a while if they reissue or ever... Well, the reissue would take around half a year if I'm correct. I'm going to wait as there is still a chance to get it at retail price so why not. At the end of the day we're toy collectors I personally wouldn't save a toy I bought just for its value to go up (unless its an emergency or the value triples, dat Mazinkaizer SKL :X). Edited May 29, 2014 by ULessa
Falcon18 Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 I never have that problem. I consider all my valks money spent and not as an investment. That's what Forex and the Stock market are for. 50202810.jpg This right here.
Guest davidwhangchoi Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) i'm the opposite. too much collector blood in me. i love to swoosh stuff but if it becomes 4-500 like ozma it's going right back in the box. edite: just to add i brought ozma without any intention of collecting. i thought he was not going to be worth much with the pre-orders re-opening several times and lasting very long. i brought the supers for him to swoosh him around but now i'm not so sure i want to open him seeing the prices skyrocketing. lol Edited May 29, 2014 by davidwhangchoi
Pedro2k6 Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 I never have that problem. I consider all my valks money spent and not as an investment. That's what Forex and the Stock market are for. 50202810.jpg Totally agree with you....this is not a business for me....is a pleasure and a dream, since I was a kid, I always want one of this....now I have like 23 and I want more pleasure
Gakken85 Posted May 29, 2014 Author Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) I don't see it as an investment, but I do see it as having value. I want to be able to get my money back out, or most of it, if I need to. I can either put it back into my collection or take the money with me. It's hard to guess which piece will be "rare" and worth a lot in a years time, or 10 years time, so in that sense it's total speculation. There are some hints and guidelines that would make sense, but it's all guess work. You just have to be willing to hold on to stock for a long time, and you have to be willing to keep your ear to the ground and know when to sell. Imagine if you hoarded Bandai Chunky monkeys and had no idea they re-issued them. Now you're stuck with items that will never be worth what they were. Thats why they say buy low and sell high. haha. At any rate, it is a hobby, but it's a serious hobby. Part of the fun of collecting for me is the hunt. Finding it cheap, and then selling it later for something I might want more. I know people get addicted to buying and having something "new" show up all the time. I'm past that for sure. Edited May 29, 2014 by Gakken85
Kanedas Bike Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 i'm the opposite. too much collector blood in me. i love to swoosh stuff but if it becomes 4-500 like ozma it's going right back in the box. edite: just to add i brought ozma without any intention of collecting. i thought he was not going to be worth much with the pre-orders re-opening several times and lasting very long. i brought the supers for him to swoosh him around but now i'm not so sure i want to open him seeing the prices skyrocketing. lol Generally speaking I'm the same way, I like to have multiples for a few different reasons. One to open and the rest to just sit. Sometimes the one I open get's broken, sometimes I want to have them in different modes for display. And while I don't buy to invest, if by having a copy sealed or unopened means I can sell it and get money for another purchase or some real world activity well then even better. Re: Ozma 29, I only have (1) and it's open on my desk as I type this. -b.
cyde01 Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 i don't buy to invest either, i bought this because i wanted it but the honest truth is i'm probably not in a financial position where i should even be buying these things lol. out of sheer dumb luck, i got this for close to retail at plamoya, the way the vf-25s and earlier yf-29's prices are skyrocketing now it's hard not to think about it. meh, i'll probably cave in and open it later tonight.
Saburo Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 I opened mine to inspect and take pictures. Also to swoosh it around.
xrentonx Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 I open anything that isn't blister-carded. I hate blister-cards cause you can't open them neatly. I just stare at the toys in their plastic and cardboard prisons and sigh longingly It's a good thing I don't have many of those
Guest davidwhangchoi Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Just in: just an update: i opened the bubble wrap tonight and discovered that the no paint version is sealed taped(like the ve-1 boxes) and the vf-1s 30th was in mint. tape still on the front landing gear as well as on the paint app that wrap around the tip of the wings.
ULessa Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Shall pick up my YF-29 Isamu tomorrow so excited! Wish I had the money for 2 so I could have one in GERWALK and Battroid
Kanedas Bike Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 just an update: i opened the bubble wrap tonight and discovered that the no paint version is sealed taped(like the ve-1 boxes) and the vf-1s 30th was in mint. tape still on the front landing gear as well as on the paint app that wrap around the tip of the wings. That's why I like Mandarake so much, just about everything I've purchased from them has come in better than advertised condition. -b.
Guest davidwhangchoi Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 That's why I like Mandarake so much, just about everything I've purchased from them has come in better than advertised condition. -b. agree, but you get a few bad apples here and there bc some seller doesn't disclose a damaged part and disguises it well from mandrake(not mand's fault but there's a little risk)
close313 Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 agree, but you get a few bad apples here and there bc some seller doesn't disclose a damaged part and disguises it well from mandrake(not mand's fault but there's a little risk) Yea there's still a risk, one of the Supers I got from them are missing both of the single reaction missile's attachment part to the wing. I had to mod one of the micro missile attachment part from my unpainted kit into those attachment parts since mandarake didn't reply to all of my emails. Luckily the DYRL movie skull team didn't use those. A few months before that, my YF-21 from them has the face detached with signs of super glud. For that I managed to get a refund on the shipping for compensation. It was easy to fix though. Other than that, i got great items from them. The VF-171EX i got was listed as opened. But actually only the box was opened and the cardboard layer was still untouched and taped. Same with the VE-1 (opened but contents were obviously untouched)
ULessa Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 So what is the general consensus on buying 2nd hand stuff from Mandrake? At this point its the only place I think I'll ever find the YF-29 30th Anniversary for a reasonable price (And the Alto). I'm gonna go crazy trying to get the YF-29 30th Anniversary version...
Kanedas Bike Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 agree, but you get a few bad apples here and there bc some seller doesn't disclose a damaged part and disguises it well from mandrake(not mand's fault but there's a little risk) Yea there's still a risk, one of the Supers I got from them are missing both of the single reaction missile's attachment part to the wing. I had to mod one of the micro missile attachment part from my unpainted kit into those attachment parts since mandarake didn't reply to all of my emails. Luckily the DYRL movie skull team didn't use those. A few months before that, my YF-21 from them has the face detached with signs of super glud. For that I managed to get a refund on the shipping for compensation. It was easy to fix though. Other than that, i got great items from them. The VF-171EX i got was listed as opened. But actually only the box was opened and the cardboard layer was still untouched and taped. Same with the VE-1 (opened but contents were obviously untouched) Well heck, you could end up with issues like that buying brand new from Yamato/Arcadia and Bandai. And agree, there's always an inherent risk when buying something that is second-hand or left-over stock, but I think with how Mandarake lists items you have a better chance of a positive surprise vs. a negative one. -b.
YF-29 Durandal Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 (edited) So what is the general consensus on buying 2nd hand stuff from Mandrake? At this point its the only place I think I'll ever find the YF-29 30th Anniversary for a reasonable price (And the Alto). I'm gonna go crazy trying to get the YF-29 30th Anniversary version... Mandarake is a good place to buy used valks because I don't think that they would buy broken ones. Yahoo Japan might be cheaper but more uncertainty about the quality. Here is a link to the auctions section: http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/ Edited May 30, 2014 by YF-29 Durandal
ULessa Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Mandarake is a good place to buy used valks because I don't think that they would buy broken ones. Yahoo Japan might be cheaper but more uncertainty about the quality. Here is a link to the auctions section: http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/ Just saw Buyee. Is that thing trustworthy?
Pedro2k6 Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Yahoo japan is cheaper than mandarake?....can someone teach me how i can bid there. Thanks.
Falcon18 Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 ^ YJA may seem cheaper. But it all comes down to the final bid and if you actually win it. That price doesn't include shipping to the proxy, proxy fees and shipping from proxy to you. Those itself may cause it to cost slightly more. Just saw Buyee. Is that thing trustworthy? Used Buyee before. No problems with it. Simple and easy to use.
ULessa Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 ^ YJA may seem cheaper. But it all comes down to the final bid and if you actually win it. That price doesn't include shipping to the proxy, proxy fees and shipping from proxy to you. Those itself may cause it to cost slightly more. Used Buyee before. No problems with it. Simple and easy to use. So in addition to the WInning bid price I would assume that the shipping would total to at least $40? Some really tempting items.
YF-29 Durandal Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 (edited) Just saw Buyee. Is that thing trustworthy? I use Japamart. http://www.japamart.com/ Sendico might be better for some of the cheaper stuff though. http://www.sendico.com/ Edited May 30, 2014 by YF-29 Durandal
YF-29 Durandal Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Yahoo japan is cheaper than mandarake?....can someone teach me how i can bid there. Thanks. Use a proxy bidder as in someone who bids for you such as Japamart.
ULessa Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 Urgh, 10% proxy fee. Don't think its worth it anymore :X
Falcon18 Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 So in addition to the WInning bid price I would assume that the shipping would total to at least $40? Some really tempting items. Been a while so I can't really rmb. Some of the sites have a price estimate for winning bids. Check it out and convert it to your currency. Proxy fees vary from site to site if I'm not wrong. Check out which is best or convenient. Even with the fees, some might come out cheaper or there may be items on YJA that can be rare to find on the other 2nd hand webshops. Like I said, use the price estimate and you can guess how much you're paying.
ULessa Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 Bleh, I have to pay import ta fees and all that... Had to pay 26% of the price I paid for my RAH NEO Unit 01. There goes the idea of buying stuff online... I'm just going to wait till I get back to the states till I order stuff online again. So for now I'll stick to the local stores. What a bummer.
arrow Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 I got a VF-25A and VF-171 Alto from Mandarake. Been scared to transform the 171 even if its not the CF.
Guest davidwhangchoi Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 this came in yesterday nice grab. the 30th vf-1s dyrl hikaru is the best revision out there
SterlingMax Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 Was trying to post my latest Macross haul but it looks like I'll need to upload to a site. Anyways since First Macross is my favorite but I like Macross Frontier I picked up Macross 30th Anniversary SQ Figure Lynn Minmay Kosukoro. Let's see if this photo load works Cool it works my camera on my phone always darkens the pics for some reason, going to get new one in a couple weeks. Also debating to put back up my Ichiban Kuji Premium Klan Klang figure since I'm running out of shelf space.
aaajin Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 nice grab. the 30th vf-1s dyrl hikaru is the best revision out there good to know that! will be my 2nd 1/60 (1st was the 30th anniversary aka ugly duckling)
Tking22 Posted May 31, 2014 Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) It's here, it's finally here! After years of never owning one myself to complete the set, I now finally have one, the mother-frakking Dragonzord! I pre-ordered this guy about 7 months ago, then I waited, then it was delayed so I had to wait some more, but it finally arrived and it is beautiful. No it's not the original one, this is the just barely released Legacy Dragonzord, it's a heavy die-cast filled beauty. Edited May 31, 2014 by Tking22
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