Tamashii Webshop Exclusive RVF-171EX Luca Angeloni

[Mommar]

Yeah, you'd think that by prepaying I was supporting them and had already demonstrated my willingness to buy.

I may have to go with the pay later option in future.

That's the thing, I haven't paid yet. It would be easy enough to split the bill and recalculate the shipping in my case. Maybe they would still be screwed if I backed out, but given the fact I've NEVER backed out of a pre-order over several years time it's awfully irritating when I contact them requesting to split it up because I don't want to cancel and essentially they say, "screw you."

[Loop]

I think the whole scalpers ordering up all the Ozma YF-29's and cancelling them made NY change the policies. I always thought they were a small outfit, so I bet that burned them.

The best thing they could do is just ask for a non refundable deposit for all pre orders. I think that may scare away the scalpers, but I could be wrong.

[Kanedas Bike]

I think the whole scalpers ordering up all the Ozma YF-29's and cancelling them made NY change the policies. I always thought they were a small outfit, so I bet that burned them.

The best thing they could do is just ask for a non refundable deposit for all pre orders. I think that may scare away the scalpers, but I could be wrong.

No. As I also ordered the Tornado Parts for the 25F and G on the same order, well before the Ozma 29 was released and asked them to separate the order since they ship items together and I was also told to go and pound sand. Luckily it was immediate, they cancelled the order and I placed two separate orders with no change in price.

But I tell you if there was another "easy" click and order e-tailer for exclusives my $$$ would certainly flow their there instead.

Besides, the way that they've priced items before and after release makes them borderline scalper-ish themselves. I feel no mercy towards them.

-b.

*edit because I used the wrong "there" -

Edited June 20, 2014 by Kanedas Bike

[anime52k8]

It boggles my mind when people defend NY and blame their shitty customer service policies on scalpers, when they're a bunch of scalpers themselves.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

It boggles my mind when people defend NY and blame their shitty customer service policies on scalpers, when they're a bunch of scalpers themselves.

+1

[anime52k8]

But I tell you if there was another "easy" click and order e-tailer for exclusives my $$$ would certainly flow their there instead.

The only reason I bother with them anymore is because they still tend to be cheaper than going through Yokatta or Big in Japan for web exclusives.

[Loop]

I wasn't defending them for how the customer service is currently. I thought I read somewhere during the YF-29 Ozma fiasco that they got shafted on a ton of the pre-orders or something like that. I did not order from them at that time so I missed all that. In the past I have not really had any problems getting things done with them, but again I have not tried to cancel anything recently. Last time I needed to reorganize an order (combine) I just placed a new order with the items because they were a lower price than when I pre-ordered and I wanted all 3 items to ship together for a lower shipping rate. I then told them to cancel it because I combined the items in to a new order and they were cool about it.

I also agree that they do have scalper prices once you miss the first few rounds of whatever item you are ordering. God forbid an item sits there for a while, like the $900.00 VF-4G they had listed.

So calm down guys, don't act like I am the almighty holy defender of NY because i'm not.I have voiced my opinions in the past about them.

The last post I made was an assumption based on what I thought I read in some earlier post's, hence the "I think the whole scalpers ordering up all the Ozma YF-29's and cancelling them made NY change the policies. I always thought they were a small outfit, so I bet that burned them.

I also added:

"The best thing they could do is just ask for a non refundable deposit for all pre orders. I think that may scare away the scalpers, but I could be wrong."

That was just something I suggested that they could do to maybe deter that problem. Now as far as allowing people to fix their orders I think that should be something they are willing to do with ease.

And yes I am kinda forced to use them for web exclusives also.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Loop

[xrentonx]

Don't wanna sound like I'm defending them but they probably don't care what our intentions are...just that we place the order with them or we don't. We can get the Valk somewhere else for all they care or just buy the armor packs to resell. If we preorder something that's basically a special order that they know they will be stuck with stock, they are gonna make non-cancellation policies like this and actively enforce them...or be lenient on a case by case basis. I'm not saying it's right or wrong though...just that our intentions on buying an item likely doesn't matter to the merchant.

[sreichma]

I think if someone pre-orders then they should pay. Unless something significant in life happens, i don't think they should be cancelled out of conveniance. Its really our word and a committment. I'd be pissed if someone said they were going to buy an item and then backed out for conveniance after that stock was already allocated for them.

[Loop]

Does anyone here remember the AgentGHQ thing?

[anime52k8]

Does anyone here remember the AgentGHQ thing?

Which one? There have been many a memorable things said by him on this board.

Edited June 21, 2014 by anime52k8

[Loop]

Which one? There have been many a memorable things said by him on this board.

I was referring to this statement made by sreichma. There were some shenanigans with people ordering whole cases of valks then the buyer backed out. Did not really want to go in to details or rub salt in old wounds. But that statement reminded me of that type of situation.

"I'd be pissed if someone said they were going to buy an item and then backed out for convenience after that stock was already allocated for them."

[Kanedas Bike]

I think if someone pre-orders then they should pay. Unless something significant in life happens, i don't think they should be cancelled out of conveniance. Its really our word and a committment. I'd be pissed if someone said they were going to buy an item and then backed out for conveniance after that stock was already allocated for them.

Philosophical differences, I'm the customer and if you as the business can't except that things happen, from significant life events to me simply changing my mind then we probably shouldn't exchange my money for your product.

That said, of all the retailers that are generally used on these boards, HLJ, AmiAmi, Hobby Search and N-Y, N-Y is the ONLY one that cried shenanigans over pre-orders, but yet they ALWAYS manage to find stock to mark items up from 10-100% more than retail. Taking the Ozma YF-29 as a prime example AFTER they couldn't fulfill the paid orders of other customers.

So again, I say "no" to that line of reasoning, especially when it comes to N-Y.

-b.

[ULessa]

I think if someone pre-orders then they should pay. Unless something significant in life happens, i don't think they should be cancelled out of conveniance. Its really our word and a committment. I'd be pissed if someone said they were going to buy an item and then backed out for conveniance after that stock was already allocated for them.

I would agree only up to a deposit (25% total price absolute max). Allocated stock is also easily sold to other customers as we're talking about toys here. Its a luxury item that no one NEEDS but want. Unless its something that really has no demand.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

There were some shenanigans with people ordering whole cases of valks then the buyer backed out. Did not really want to go in to details or rub salt in old wounds. But that statement reminded me of that type of situation.

The person wasted my time as well, i'll never do business with him, but NY is not the same thing, it's silly that they blamed cancellations for the reason their supplies didn't deliver. The word i got was aside from the Bandai preorders for the ozma yf-29, the normal stores that stock these valks, were short to very small to nil. as my contact told me after he shipped the pre-orders there were none on the street around.

What really prob happened was: NY get a certain # of preorders that is legit from Bandai, as amiami and hobby search and hlj does. once that was filled. they re-open preorders it is not bandai but them marking up prices with the hopes of buying them up off B&M at cost once it's released and then shipping them out. These are not legit suppliers. and they mark up cost depending how bad people want them (scalping) btw, that is not a proxy service, charging a finders fee. it's more like lets buy up tickets and then sell them to desperate buyers at a higher cost. ok, that is the definition of scalping, and this is even before the product is released... prxy is just buying or bidding on something and charging a finders fee for it. they don't intentionally mark up prices.

well it backfired on NY and the B&Ms were short supply all over. so these guys then blamed cancellations... please...lol

my guess is they had to buy it at scapler prices themselves just to fill the orders and made no profit and they're just being bitter about it.

the only legit pre-orders from them are the first wave. Everything after is them gauging the demand and setting the prices for it.

once ozma came back in stock they pretty much had it @ 320 and then adjusted down to 280 which is about what they are going for on amazon and yahoo jpy.

but the good side of them are i think they are pretty good for web exclusives and charge a bit cheaper then other proxy services.

Edited June 21, 2014 by davidwhangchoi

[ULessa]

My 2 cents is that I think actual online stores shouldn't sell anything at a marked up price unless its a site that sells "collectibles" and whatnot. Just keep it simple like HLJ/ Amiami/ etc...

Back on topic: Feels like theres so many Macross stuff coming out lately :X My wallet is too dry to do anything

[Loop]

David, I was not even really referring to NY. I just commenting on the statement that sreichma made about being pissed that if he bought and allocated stock for someone and they backed out.

Ulessa, I think it's great that we are getting so much Macross stuff. I remember back in the day when I dreamed of getting a valk, but the prices were insanely high due to the rarity and the drought of Macross toys. I agree with the pricing thing too for stores like NY and such. They should go no higher than RRP, if anything a pre-order discount would make the best sense.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

David, I was not even really referring to NY. I just commenting on the statement that sreichma made about being pissed that if he bought and allocated stock for someone and they backed out.

yeah, sorry i should've specified i was not addressing you but just commenting on that "guy", then i talked about contrasting him to NY, my bad.

i read your posts but just laughing about the "guy" and just wanted to address NY foolishness as well. should've made a separate post.

[ULessa]

Question. So is the death triangle only present on the Nightmare Plus version or also on the Alto?

Kinda want to get a stealth fighter Valk but can't decide between the 3 versions of the 171 or the Yamato 17S

[Silverstreak]

Answer: Only on the Cannon Fodder version. Although we won't know about the Luca custom until it's released.

[ULessa]

The Alto 171 now seems very tempting knowing that it won't blow up on me

[Kanedas Bike]

The Alto 171 now seems very tempting knowing that it won't blow up on me

Re: the Alto 171, go for it.

I'm betting the triangles will be safe on the Luca 171, and yes I have mine ordered as a sign of confidence.

-b.

[ULessa]

Always loved stealth fighters and the 171 is definitely interesting enough for me. Problem is $$$. I can probably afford 2 more Valks absolute tops and one of my goals is to find another YF-29 30th Anniversary. Unless I can sell off my guitar soon I won't have any money for toys :X

I've definitely been buying alot this year but a few purchases is to sell it/ trade off later. I have a RAH NEO Eva-01 sitting in its box doing nothing right now and I keep questioning myself why I bought it everytime I walk pass it. Also planning on getting the new Fewture release so I can resell it later when the stock runs out If the market is right then I should be able to get a few Valks after selling it (NO SHAME!)!!!

EDIT: Would definitely like a Luca 171 as I think the antenna thing looks great on a 171 but the white and green kinda bothers me. I'll come to terms with it when I have the cash to pick one up.

Edited June 21, 2014 by ULessa

[Vagabond Elf]

Philosophical differences, I'm the customer and if you as the business can't except that things happen, from significant life events to me simply changing my mind then we probably shouldn't exchange my money for your product.

There's a cultural difference too, as I understand it - I'm told that in Japan, a promise is still very important. (Unlike North America, where we routinely ignore them.) So when you place a pre-order, and then cancel it, you're not just handing them with stock they need to move, you're also breaking a promise - and I could see how that would cause them to view you as the sort of arrogant jerk whose business they don't want anyway.

I dunno, I see their side, even with a NorAm cultural perspective. When you place a pre-order, they spend time and money on fufiling it. When you cancel simply because you "changed your mind," that costs them more time and money. I've got friends with small stores, and I've seen them take a real bath on some things because of the "oh, I changed my mind" attitude. So I can't fault N-Y for being unhappy with folks who cancel.

[matic]

I was tempted to cancel my yf-30 and recently the yf-25 from ny but kept them even though they popped up cheaper at other sites. Hopefully ny appreciates that. On a side note still waiting for my yf-25 to ship.

[Gakken85]

I think all shops should move over to what CDjapan does. They have had stock up all weekend because they have a sane policy.

They show how many they have in stock, and limit to 1 per customer.

These PO's sell out super fast on NY and HLJ/AA because people order 4 or 5. Some do it to resell and some do it to build collections. Who knows.

Now, if you want to pay upfront, you can PO as many as you want, or if you're a long time customer they would create a system where you can PO 3 or something, but they need to reduce the slots.

A place like NY tries to get more stock elsewhere in Japan and ups the price.

I don't hate NY for doing that. It's an opportunity to profit on a situation. You see all these online toy shops going out of business and they are trying to turn a profit.

I always "defended" it by saying that

1. They are doing the extra work to secure the stock. It's just like If I do the work to hunt down a toy in real life and people expect you to give it to them for MSRP. No. It doesn't work that way. If it was so easy to find you can go get one. haha.

2. They are making an item available that you might not be able to find online in other circumstances.

3. The price bumps weren't huge in most cases.

If you don't want to pay $20 dollars more, find it elsewhere or wait.

No, what pisses me off about NY, is that they are inflexible and won't combine shipping on items that are both in stock at the same time. I had two items in their store and they refused to combine shipping. I had to pay close to $30 on both pieces and that's just too much. So I cancelled about $800 bucks worth of PO's and moved them all over to other sites.

Also, I want the ability to cancel PO's as I change my mind all the time about things, and if a product isn't even coming out for 6 months or more, I should have the right to cancel it and they can open it up to other people. It's not like they are going to be left with dead stock on these valks.

And no, people shouldn't be able to PO a case and then cancel it, but that's just bad policy to allow people to PO a case in the first place. NY doesn't have a wholesale service that I'm aware of, so they shouldn't act like it.

I think it's a little bit of greed, where being a good business gets the best of you, and allowing too many people to take advantage of bad rules.

Eventually both sides are going to get burned.

Until they offer real customer service and better programs they will have these issues.

They say it's a Japanese thing to honor a deal, but I say it's my American money and I'll spend it how I want or spend it elsewhere.

Edited June 22, 2014 by Gakken85

[ULessa]

I think all shops should move over to what CDjapan does. They have had stock up all weekend because they have a sane policy.

Agreed for the most part but I'm still annoyed that by using Paypal I cannot do anything to my order except cancel it... Should've read the policy properly first.

[Gakken85]

Yeah that's your fault

[Kanedas Bike]

There's a cultural difference too, as I understand it - I'm told that in Japan, a promise is still very important. (Unlike North America, where we routinely ignore them.) So when you place a pre-order, and then cancel it, you're not just handing them with stock they need to move, you're also breaking a promise - and I could see how that would cause them to view you as the sort of arrogant jerk whose business they don't want anyway.

I dunno, I see their side, even with a NorAm cultural perspective. When you place a pre-order, they spend time and money on fufiling it. When you cancel simply because you "changed your mind," that costs them more time and money. I've got friends with small stores, and I've seen them take a real bath on some things because of the "oh, I changed my mind" attitude. So I can't fault N-Y for being unhappy with folks who cancel.

You've made a lot of assumptions in your post, but I still appreciate your perspective. Since this appears to be about me as the "arrogant jerk whose business they may not way" I will say that I do honor promises I make - to friends, family, professional associates, etc.

Now I don't see that with a vendor that is competing with other vendors for my business, and maybe this is a cultural North American "thing" but I have the right to spend my money how I see fit and where I see fit. This whole discussion began because N-Y claimed that they could not fulfill pre-orders because of cancellations, which is a complete lie.

One; N-Y does NOT allow cancellations

Two; Cancellations occur only after the time frame given in the payment request window expires

Three; It was Bandai's supply, or lack thereof that caused the issues N-Y experienced by accepting more orders than they could fulfill

Four; N-Y somehow magically found stock of the Ozma YF-29 to mark up to "aftermarket" prices - I guess it's a good thing so many people broke their promise.

Now perhaps it is "acceptable" in Japan, or maybe in your own perception of Japan, to place blame at the feet of others, but I'm the type of arrogant jerk that spotted the lie for what it is.

-b.

[xrentonx]

Well...they SAY they don't allow cancellations...but they have allowed them in the recent past. Honestly, it's a mess and many customers here have had different experiences with NY. I'm assuming that their policies don't allow cancellations except on a case by case basis. Now what criteria they use to allow cancellations...hell if I know

[Kanedas Bike]

Well...they SAY they don't allow cancellations...but they have allowed them in the recent past. Honestly, it's a mess and many customers here have had different experiences with NY. I'm assuming that their policies don't allow cancellations except on a case by case basis. Now what criteria they use to allow cancellations...hell if I know

And it's that same inconsistent customer experience that's also frustrating for customers, promise keepers and non-promise keepers alike.

But back on topic, I wonder how minty-green Luca's 171 will look in person...I hope that it's the same shade as his RVF-25.

-b.

[ULessa]

Don't know what to think about the Alto and Luca. I mean its supposed to be a stealth fighter (or inspired by) but its white

[Gakken85]

Truth be told they "allow" them because you don't have to pay for it if you don't want to. They can't force you to pay.

They bully some people into keeping them with their "policy" but it is what it is.

It's ridiculous as fast as these things sell, they act like the sky is falling and they couldn't sell it to somebody else in a minute.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Gakken85

[chyll2]

apprently, NY selling copies of yf-29 at bloated prices in their store while people who paid for theirs during PO are not receiving any shipment notice is keeping their promise

[twich]

to add my opinion into the mix, I have a very poor outlook on NY right now, but they were the only company I could get my YF-25 preorder through. I ordered a VF-27 Renewal and the jet stayed in fighter for 2 weeks before I tried to transform, well the first time I tried it, the nosecone came off because the plastic had crumbled/cracked at the joint. I contacted NY about this, and they said that since it was out of the 7 day window of receiving the toy, Bandai would not allow them to do anything, basically blaming Bandai for them not wanting to do anything. It left a real bad taste in my mouth, but I had already pre-ordered the YF-25 and I would really like the jet, so I hope that they dont screw me. But, I have yet to receive shipping notice and some on this board already have this valk in their hands, so my prospects are looking grim.

twich