Hi-Metal R

[sh9000]

I still love the HMR VF-4 and all of the others.  They all look great together and I don’t plan on getting rid of any of them.  Speaking of Fighter mode, I still need to take some group Fighter pics before summer ends.

[vlenhoff]

I had to take some time to sort things out...

[Mazinger]

8 minutes ago, vlenhoff said:

I had to take some time to sort things out...

Wow, that's a lot of HMR.  Reminds me of my LEGO bins, but even LEGO isn't that pricey.

[sh9000]

You should see all of my ziploc bags of parts.

[vlenhoff]

56 minutes ago, Mazinger said:

Wow, that's a lot of HMR.  Reminds me of my LEGO bins, but even LEGO isn't that pricey.

I beg to differ. I used to love Lego, but I think it is quite expensive these days. These are the boxes I sorted. I do have a few enemy mecha, and most of the destroyers, but i think the "WOW" factor belongs to @sh9000 and others. Their collections are unbelievable, breathtaking, astonishing, and for lack of a better word current and complete!

This is my HMR section. I need to find my Regults, and the Glaug. I need another detolf.

I will change those display stands for clear ones. Maybe I'll even change the blue and red ones for clear ones. I found some for cheap, and i think it will be a nicer illusion.

Edited August 8, 2019 by vlenhoff

[sumyumgoy]

Nice display @vlenhoff.  I love how all the HMR boxes are the same height 

[Chronocidal]

57 minutes ago, sumyumgoy said:

Nice display @vlenhoff.  I love how all the HMR boxes are the same height 

If only they'd managed to give them all the same width as well, and just varied in thickness.  A lot of the boxes have pretty varied widths, and the VF-2SS ones don't stack well with the others at all.  

[beatsing]

I like the box with the cover and window on the first HM that looked like yammie boxes.  Flip over the cover and the fighter is displayed withe missiles.  

[Slave IV]

Good stuff @vlenhoff! Those extra parts are the biggest pain about HMR to me. I'm too anal to keep them all stacked in bins or bags like that so I need to dig through boxes everytime I need to switch parts out. If they made diorama stands with storage in them, I would totally use those instead.

[vlenhoff]

9 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

If only they'd managed to give them all the same width as well, and just varied in thickness.  A lot of the boxes have pretty varied widths, and the VF-2SS ones don't stack well with the others at all.  

This.

@onnasake , @seti88 & @sh9000 Yes, I adore these things, and i don't see me ever letting them go. Initially, I hated parts swapping, but then i realized this is the most complete collection ever, and these things are just a lot of fun to pose in tamashii stands, as they work for great group pictures, and displays.

@sumyumgoy Thanks for the compliment! It has taken me a looooong time to have things they way they are now. No 1S though , but that VF-4 makes up for it [thanks again @sh9000]. Yeah the boxes in the pic are, but like @Chronocidal said, not all of them are the same size, sadly. That's why i left out the VF-2SS out of the pic... and the Monster's box..., and the missile Regults... the later I never opened ever since I got them when they were released. I need a proper place to display the baddies, and that I'll leave for another time.

@beatsing Yeah, me too.

@Slave IV Yup, that's exactly why i sorted them out. It makes my "play time" more efficient, lol. I do like to mix and match parts among them, but i do like to keep a general baseline of what belongs were. I may be somewhat OCD in this aspect. I got the labeling machine like 8 months ago, and it is now, that i decided to do it. I have so many blasters and light sabers from star wars, and i labeled some bins for those as well. I was so excited that i finally did this, that i was nearly unable to sleep, lol. I have a tower of bins for my 1/48 and 1/60 parts as well. Also labeled. Also.... i have bigger bins to store the bots i am not displaying, so they keep out of dust. I just lined them with air bubble packing material, to avoid scratching stuff unnecessarily. [overkill maybe]

I guess at the end of the day, I don't want to leave things to memory. The least brain power i can put into my play time, the better.

Edited August 9, 2019 by vlenhoff

[fifbeat]

On 7/29/2019 at 5:25 PM, sh9000 said:

Yeah it was cool that time when people kept posting DM videos in the music thread.

I hope to see a new Macross HMR toy at the next Tamashii Nations event.

When is the event anyways? 

Thanks in advance.

[vlenhoff]

Oh, I just remembered. Is anyone bothered that the brownies, Max & Miria, and the VT-1 don't have a proper adapter for the tamashii stands? You can only display them in armor, or you have to sort of  wiggle it to make it work with no armor. The VT-1 adapter wont let me display it in fighter mode with armor. i was thinking of trimming some of the material down for the VT-1, so it can grab the arms, while fitting between the legs when it has the armor on.

Does anyone know if bandai or tamashii sell the adapters for fighter mode without armor separately? Bandai makes a special adapter for the VE-1 but they don't for the VT-1. So disappointing.

 

[DewPoint]

Tamashii Nation 2019 is October 25 to 27 I believe.

https://tamashii.jp/special/tamashii_nation/?wovn=en

[easnoddy]

Jeez. 2 and a half months with ZERO HMR on the horizon... I may have to check out Xabungle on blu ray and consider getting into that line.

[Felix]

2 hours ago, easnoddy said:

Jeez. 2 and a half months with ZERO HMR on the horizon... I may have to check out Xabungle on blu ray and consider getting into that line.

You wont regret it. The Xabuglue HMRs are amazing, as are the Dougram ones.

[Slave IV]

2 hours ago, Felix said:

You wont regret it. The Xabuglue HMRs are amazing, as are the Dougram ones.

Yep, I would go so far as to say they are better than all the Macross HMR releases from a toy engineering and build quality perspective.

[easnoddy]

I have the 3 Dougrams.  Xabungle designs put me off as they're on the verge of being super robots (as opposed to mecha).  I'm trying to keep my collection focused, so I have to really like the anime.

[isamu-ad]

My little HMR VF family 

 

[vlenhoff]

^ ^ ^ Nice ^ ^ ^ 

[apptt4]

6 hours ago, isamu-ad said:

My little HMR VF family

great use of the trident plus (right?) stand

[vlenhoff]

New clear tamashii act mechanics stands

I liked the smoked ones, but clear is the best way to go. 

[Pontus]

On 8/9/2019 at 1:22 AM, vlenhoff said:

Oh, I just remembered. Is anyone bothered that the brownies, Max & Miria, and the VT-1 don't have a proper adapter for the tamashii stands? You can only display them in armor, or you have to sort of  wiggle it to make it work with no armor. The VT-1 adapter wont let me display it in fighter mode with armor. i was thinking of trimming some of the material down for the VT-1, so it can grab the arms, while fitting between the legs when it has the armor on.

Does anyone know if bandai or tamashii sell the adapters for fighter mode without armor separately? Bandai makes a special adapter for the VE-1 but they don't for the VT-1. So disappointing.

 

I made a post about this very thing a while back.  The included adapter works quite well if you just trim it a bit.  See here...

[sqidd]

I'm a die hard Focker fan (the look, not necessarily the character). Focker all the things! I just looked into getting a HMR Focker with S&S parts. I'm seeing them for $300-350 on feeBay. Damn near twice what a Hikaru VF-1A w/ S&S parts is going for. Or the M&M's w/ S&S parts. Why so much for the Focker? Is there a better source? Did they not make many of them or something?

Thanks guys

[Sanity is Optional]

Mandarake has HMR VF-1S Roy, unopened, for what'll be around $220-$230 with shipping.

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1045029621

[sqidd]

19 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Mandarake has HMR VF-1S Roy, unopened, for what'll be around $220-$230 with shipping.

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1045029621

Very nice. Thank you.

I need to figure all of this out. 

I'm at the shipping section. What is the ideal choice? DHL, EMS? If I get multiple items will it amortize the cost of shipping better?

[Slave IV]

1 minute ago, sqidd said:

Very nice. Thank you.

I need to figure all of this out. 

I'm at the shipping section. What is the ideal choice? DHL, EMS? If I get multiple items will it amortize the cost of shipping better?

Yeah, you can combine shipping and once you get the final invoice, you can ask for different options. Just note that you can only combine items from the same store (stated in the listing). I always choose the cheapest shipping (SAL) personally since I see no point in paying more to end up with the same thing.

[sqidd]

2 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Yeah, you can combine shipping and once you get the final invoice, you can ask for different options. Just note that you can only combine items from the same store (stated in the listing). I always choose the cheapest shipping (SAL) personally since I see no point in paying more to end up with the same thing.

Good heads up. Thank you.

[Sanity is Optional]

For reference (following for US):

• SAL (Small Packet) ships Japan Post, and then hands off to USPS once it gets through customs. It usually takes ~2-3 weeks. Mandarake ships Registered SAL which has tracking and requires a signature.
• EMS is like SAL, except it costs more and is faster, usually within a week, sometimes within 3 days (for me).
• DHL/FedEx are roughly the same cost/time profile as EMS. Usually EMS ends up cheapest for me, but YMMV.

For ordering from Mandarake, if I see something I want to get I'll generally search whatever else is available at that store to add into the shipment. Select SAL for shipping, and put "if SAL unavailable use cheapest of EMS/DHL" in the comment field.

Also note there is also SAL (not small packet) shipment. Usually costs a bit less than EMS, but has SAL delivery times. Generally I don't bother as EMS is only slightly more expensive.

[sqidd]

13 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

For reference (following for US):

• SAL (Small Packet) ships Japan Post, and then hands off to USPS once it gets through customs. It usually takes ~2-3 weeks. Mandarake ships Registered SAL which has tracking and requires a signature.
• EMS is like SAL, except it costs more and is faster, usually within a week, sometimes within 3 days (for me).
• DHL/FedEx are roughly the same cost/time profile as EMS. Usually EMS ends up cheapest for me, but YMMV.

For ordering from Mandarake, if I see something I want to get I'll generally search whatever else is available at that store to add into the shipment. Select SAL for shipping, and put "if SAL unavailable use cheapest of EMS/DHL" in the comment field.

Also note there is also SAL (not small packet) shipment. Usually costs a bit less than EMS, but has SAL delivery times. Generally I don't bother as EMS is only slightly more expensive.

Good copy.

[HardlyNever]

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

Very nice. Thank you.

I need to figure all of this out. 

I'm at the shipping section. What is the ideal choice? DHL, EMS? If I get multiple items will it amortize the cost of shipping better?

This may come too late but... that is a pretty absurd price to pay for any HMR valk.  That isn't out of line in terms of pricing for that particular figure; but it is still a lot of money for any HMR valk.

You can get the 1/60 Focker from Arcadia for basically the same price.  I would recommend that over the HMR one.  Unless you are trying to complete the entire HMR line, or are some sort of Focker completionist and want one in multiple scales, I would spend your money on a different Focker iteration.  Or even just wait for the DX chokogin one, even if you have to pay the scalper mark up.

[sqidd]

1 minute ago, HardlyNever said:

This may come too late but... that is a pretty absurd price to pay for any HMR valk.  That isn't out of line in terms of pricing for that particular figure; but it is still a lot of money for any HMR valk.

You can get the 1/60 Focker from Arcadia for basically the same price.  I would recommend that over the HMR one.  Unless you are trying to complete the entire HMR line, or are some sort of Focker completionist and want one in multiple scales, I would spend your money on a different Focker iteration.  Or even just wait for the DX chokogin one, even if you have to pay the scalper mark up.

I didn't buy anything yet.

The feeBay price on that Focker was silly. That's how I ended up here. I didn't/don't think $178 + shipping is too bad on Mandrake. Am I incorrect? I'd love to find some 1/60's for that.

 

I'm a Focker dork. I like all things Focker. I have a Yamato 1/48, Yamato 1/60, Arcadia 1/60 and a New Kitz 1/72. All with S&S parts. I even got a YF-29 Focker (30th anniversary)! I will absolutely be getting a couple (probably three) of DX's when they come out.  I figured a HMR would siut the trend.

[Slave IV]

Paying around $200 for the HMR makes a lot more sense to me than paying over $100 for that Toynami Box.

[sqidd]

1 minute ago, Slave IV said:

Paying around $200 for the HMR makes a lot more sense to me than paying over $100 for that Toynami Box.

That went right over my head. $100 Toynami box?

[Sanity is Optional]

1 minute ago, sqidd said:

That went right over my head. $100 Toynami box?

One of the US manufacturers sells really crappy valkyries. Think HMR, except without any sort of quality or engineering. Worse than the Kitz Concept.

They are currently selling one of theirs which is packaged in a 100% ripoff of old Takatoku boxing, anc charging $100 for it.

Some people are buying it purely for the nostalgia packaging.

[sqidd]

13 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

One of the US manufacturers sells really crappy valkyries. Think HMR, except without any sort of quality or engineering. Worse than the Kitz Concept.

They are currently selling one of theirs which is packaged in a 100% ripoff of old Takatoku boxing, anc charging $100 for it.

Some people are buying it purely for the nostalgia packaging.

Roger that.

 

I got the Kitz thing because it was cheap and Scorched Earth didn't slam it too hard. I'll be sure to stay away from one you're talking about.