Bandai DX VF-31

[sh9000]

My long experience with NY hasn't been bad.  Actually I would have preferred getting the 31F and HMR Spartans at NY.

[derex3592]

My biggest problem last night was that I got so AMPED up when ordering the 31 and Spartans I was like wide awake and couldn't go to sleep for like another hour...now I'm at work like...zzzzzzzz

[Benson13]

I'm glad you got one Derex.

[zaino]

Ordering through HLJ should it be in my private warehouse or is ship when available fine?

[yman1437]

5 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

My biggest problem last night was that I got so AMPED up when ordering the 31 and Spartans I was like wide awake and couldn't go to sleep for like another hour...now I'm at work like...zzzzzzzz

That's how I feel, got the adrenaline flowing for some plastics.....ha..ha

[sh9000]

1 minute ago, zaino said:

Ordering through HLJ should it be in my private warehouse or is ship when available fine?

It depends if you plan on shipping additional items with it or shipping it individually.  Private warehouse can save you on the overall shipping cost.

[zaino]

8 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

It depends if you plan on shipping additional items with it or shipping it individually.  Private warehouse can save you on the overall shipping cost.

Thanks for the info, probably going to keep it as is since I don't plan on ordering anything else.

when I accidentally ordered the second one from hlj I canceled one and it ended up being the one I put in first. Got an email for that one around 2:15 est and then got the second email around 2:35 est. Guess I'm slightly worried the second and current order might get canceled since it was late and hlj was up for a while.

[MacrossJunkie]

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

I've got you all beat!  I'm 47!!!  and I really didn't know why I am still doing this too.  In fact when the Bandai pre-order madness started, I would stay up to 2-3am to do the pre-order, now I go to bed at 11pm and set an alarm to wake up - that's how geriatric I am now doing this for the last decade or so.  I always still have to get up 3-4hrs later to get to work - argh.

I was fortunate with the timing of the pre-order this time. I work from home on Fridays. Otherwise, I get up at 5 AM to beat the traffic on my commute to work...

 

52 minutes ago, Benson13 said:

what is with their shipping? $97 usd for shipping isnt even realistic

Where the hell are they shipping from? Antarctica? Or are they shipping them in boxes made of solid lead?

[auberondreaming]

I set my alarm for 3 minutes to midnight, woke up and snagged one from amiami but the DOS was real.  I was also checking 1999.co while waiting for ami ami to go through in that fist minute and all I saw was immediately closed to pre-order.  Amiami was open for maybe 30 seconds on the first run.  Bandai sucks.

[sh9000]

Loopaza's shipping for just 1 HMR Spartan is $79.40.  Loopaza's shipping for 1 HMR Spartan with the DX VF-31F is $127.20.

[derex3592]

47 minutes ago, Benson13 said:

I'm glad you got one Derex.

Thanks B.  I was shocked that I actually scored one out of the gate, as AmiAmi preorder literally was gone in 2 seconds. Now I will have one Messer and Keith in 1:60 DX. That's all the love (money, except the little TomyTec kits) I'm giving to Delta..which is probably more than that dumpster fire of a Macross series deserves if I'm honest....

[MacrossJunkie]

8 minutes ago, auberondreaming said:

I set my alarm for 3 minutes to midnight, woke up and snagged one from amiami but the DOS was real.  I was also checking 1999.co while waiting for ami ami to go through in that fist minute and all I saw was immediately closed to pre-order.  Amiami was open for maybe 30 seconds on the first run.  Bandai sucks.

I don't know how people complete their orders so fast. It takes my browser all of maybe .3 seconds to refresh the hobbysearch page and I was refreshing like crazy.  People would have had to make and complete their orders in less than 2 seconds.

 

2 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Loopaza's shipping for just 1 HMR Spartan is $79.40.  Loopaza's shipping for 1 HMR Spartan with the DX VF-31F is $127.20.

Such a ripoff. Definitely padding their profits with the shipping because normally it doesn't cost anywhere near that for shipping from HK. Back when HKcollectibles was still around, I ordered some stuff from them and it didn't cost anywhere near that much. Only 188 HKD (less than $25 USD) for shipping a VF-19P, for example, and that's a lot bigger than a HMR Spartan. Granted, that was registered airmail, but EMS would have cost about the same as it would going from Japan.

[auberondreaming]

2 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Thanks B.  I was shocked that I actually scored one out of the gate, as AmiAmi preorder literally was gone in 2 seconds. Now I will have one Messer and Keith in 1:60 DX. That's all the love (money, except the little TomyTec kits) I'm giving to Delta..which is probably more than that dumpster fire of a Macross series deserves if I'm honest....

Exact same boat as you derex.  I have messer and keith coming, and that is it for me from delta.

[Lorindor]

4 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Now I will have one Messer and Keith in 1:60 DX. That's all the love (money, except the little TomyTec kits) I'm giving to Delta..which is probably more than that dumpster fire of a Macross series deserves if I'm honest....

Completely agree. Only I chose Hayate and Keith.

[auberondreaming]

3 minutes ago, MacrossJunkie said:

I don't know how people complete their orders so fast. It takes my browser all of maybe .3 seconds to refresh the hobbysearch page and I was refreshing like crazy.  People would have had to make and complete their orders in less than 2 seconds.

The crazy thing to me was I was on my nexus tablet.  Was pretty dubious I was going to get it as it took literally 30 seconds for the preorder to "think" about it before getting to the confirmation page.  Then the terror of can I complete this order before they rip it away from me, on a tablet after being asleep for an hour and half.  I feel like I won the lottery, and that is horse poop for trying to preorder a product.

[no3Ljm]

50 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

My long experience with NY hasn't been bad.  Actually I would have preferred getting the 31F and HMR Spartans at NY.

Ditto on NY. It lacks Customer Service compared to HLJ. But overall experience with them is still great. So NY, bring it on! Release the Kraken!

 

26 minutes ago, MacrossJunkie said:

Where the hell are they shipping from? Antarctica? Or are they shipping them in boxes made of solid lead?

Hahaha! True. I totally agree. I don't get it why it's so expensive. And I have a feeling that they only use Registered SAL instead of EMS for their 'Standard International Postage with Tracking' option. It's really weird when online shops take advantage when it comes to shipping prices.

 

22 minutes ago, auberondreaming said:

I set my alarm for 3 minutes to midnight, woke up and snagged one from amiami but the DOS was real.  I was also checking 1999.co while waiting for ami ami to go through in that fist minute and all I saw was immediately closed to pre-order.  Amiami was open for maybe 30 seconds on the first run.  Bandai sucks.

Hahaha!  I still don't understand why people keeps on blaming Bandai for this preorder madness. I mean, we're not ordering directly to Bandai, right? It's so happens that these so-called proxy stores is just alloting numbers for preorder. And for sure they forward this numbers to Bandai agents and see if they're going to produce this amount of numbers. And if they see that all the numbers are met then for sure Bandai will decide to increase the numbers if there's demands and forward it to the online stores to open the preorders again for certain numbers. Remember that when Bandai produce is not the same numbers as the other company (e.g. Arcadia). Just saying.  

 

16 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Loopaza's shipping for just 1 HMR Spartan is $79.40.  Loopaza's shipping for 1 HMR Spartan with the DX VF-31F is $127.20.

Wow.  The shipping for Spartan is more expensive than the product itself. 

 

[auberondreaming]

2 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Remember that when Bandai produce is not the same numbers as the other company (e.g. Arcadia). Just saying.  

Thats exactly why I am blaming bandai.   They don't produce as much as Arcadia, it's not like the stores favor Arcadia and cause this preorder madness only for Bandai.  This is exactly Bandai's decision.  

[no3Ljm]

14 minutes ago, auberondreaming said:

Thats exactly why I am blaming bandai.   They don't produce as much as Arcadia, it's not like the stores favor Arcadia and cause this preorder madness only for Bandai.  This is exactly Bandai's decision.  

I don't think Arcadia produces more lately. I think they're just producing based on the order numbers given to them by these stores. And probably they produce a little bit of extra numbers just in case. And I don't think the stores favor more of Arcadia. Yes, some of the Arcadia stuff is putting on sale sometimes. But I'm just guessing that probably the stuff that were put on sale is the ones from cancelled purchases. Whereas Bandai I think produces more. And since their price point is lower is much more accessible to everyone compared to Arcadia's intial price point. Hence, most of the local people there are hoarding it to sell it online -- YJA. And always remember that they just only cater it locally first and not internationally.

 

Edited January 6, 2017 by no3Ljm

[Slave IV]

7 hours ago, Tober said:

Personally, I didn't quite have the budget for this and restoring exotic Ferraris...

Because the cost of a DX Valkyrie would have equated to maybe one knob or air cap on the Ferrari?

 

Lol at the talk of our ages and what we do to get these toys. I had my wife up hitting refresh with me in last night.

As for shipping cost of some of these places, crazy but if they are based in HK, it might mean they are dealing with additional shipping costs that they have to pass on to customers. I don't even bother with any place that is going to end up costing me almost $100 more for the same thing.

[Raptor One]

2 hours ago, derex3592 said:

My biggest problem last night was that I got so AMPED up when ordering the 31 and Spartans I was like wide awake and couldn't go to sleep for like another hour...now I'm at work like...zzzzzzzz

Haha same here, but I'm vacation so it's cool

 

12 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

I had my wife up hitting refresh with me in last night.

That's awesome. That's the kind of relationship I'm holding out for, lol

[Slave IV]

1 minute ago, Raptor One said:

That's awesome. That's the kind of relationship I'm holding out for, lol

Haha yeah, definitely worth waiting for the right one and I hit the jackpot!

[derex3592]

17 minutes ago, Raptor One said:

Haha same here, but I'm vacation so it's cool

 

That's awesome. That's the kind of relationship I'm holding out for, lol

True Story.

[Lolicon]

22 minutes ago, Raptor One said:

That's awesome. That's the kind of relationship I'm holding out for, lol

Aren't we all?

[no3Ljm]

^ Hahaha!

 

And all the white I thought we have to give them bags and shoes in return.

 

Edited January 6, 2017 by no3Ljm

[beatsing]

Hi guys,

 

is this valk mold substantially improved over the VF25 ver2 mold?  Seems the preorder madness is similar.  I watched the anymoon review, but not sure if it's my bag, since I'm not into the backward wing aesthetic.  I do like the transformation, the improved waist/hip area with the ratchets, but the skinny arms in the wings I don't like.  I also don't really like the weird huge gunpod thing at the back that looks like the vf-30.  What do you guys think that have it in hand?

haven't been collecting these as the 25's were madness to collect

thanks

[sh9000]

  She gave him the Armored Parts to the wrong VF-25.  Undevoted wife.  

Edited January 6, 2017 by sh9000

[HG Blows]

Anyone ever had a cdjapan order where the credit card declined?  My order processed, but the card declined, and I don't wanna lose the order.  Will cdjapan just wait to sort it out, or will they just try a second time and cancel the order if it doesn't go through?

[no3Ljm]

19 minutes ago, HG Blows said:

Anyone ever had a cdjapan order where the credit card declined?  My order processed, but the card declined, and I don't wanna lose the order.  Will cdjapan just wait to sort it out, or will they just try a second time and cancel the order if it doesn't go through?

Usually what I've read here based on CDJapan and US Credit Cards is that your CC Company will call you and say that an international company is billing you for something. And then you authorize it then that's the only time the payment will be made. If, your CC Company didn't call you, I suggest you go ahead and call them and let them know that you purchase something abroad using that specific card. It wouldn't hurt to try. And email CDJapan and tell them that you're speaking with your CC Company. Unless, they ask you to pay PayPal then that's a different story since most of what I've read regarding members who paid with PayPal is that you're paying it now.

Hope that helps.

[derex3592]

My CC went right through last night with CD Japan, no muss, no fuss.  It's Visa.  Kinda forgot it was full up front payment!!...but mehh, whattaryougonnado...

[F360]

3 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

My CC went right through last night with CD Japan, no muss, no fuss.  It's Visa.  Kinda forgot it was full up front payment!!...but mehh, whattaryougonnado...

Thats just a temp charge to check if you have enough money to pay, it will go away in a couple of days

[F360]

54 minutes ago, HG Blows said:

Anyone ever had a cdjapan order where the credit card declined?  My order processed, but the card declined, and I don't wanna lose the order.  Will cdjapan just wait to sort it out, or will they just try a second time and cancel the order if it doesn't go through?

When happen you should see a meassage page from cdjapan telling you whats going to happen next .  Pretty much they ask you to take care of the issue with your CC first .  They will also sent you a email in a coulple of days telling you that it was declined and that they will run it again once you solve tge issue.  You should have solved the problem by then so you can just reply back to for them to rerun it .

[Scyla]

I have a favor to ask from the people who got their VF-31J already. Could you please tell me if it is possible to lower the beam gun-pod in Fighter-Mode so that it looks like it is shooting in flight? If so, would it be possible to make a picture of it?

[Sandman]

20 minutes ago, F360 said:

Thats just a temp charge to check if you have enough money to pay, it will go away in a couple of days

Is that really how it goes? Another poster last night said they hold the charge until they are ready to ship and then release the hold and charge your card. Your way sounds more realistic. Otherwise they might as well just charge up front if they are going to keep the hold until the product is released.

[Duymon]

It has more to do with authorizations and then actually Posting.

Credit cards process in 2 steps. Authorization and then posting.

Authorization reserves the cash, but it isn't actually paid out of your account until the seller finalizes the transaction. Then it will Post to your account.

This is why you get an authorization that may or may not disappear after a while (depending on your CC company rules). However, you need to make sure that if it did fade off your transaction history that you have enough balance for when the charge actually posts.

[Chronocidal]

So, a belated thank you to all those posting the HLJ link last night, I wasn't able to camp any sites because I was picking someone up after a flight into LAX.  The timing worked out impeccably though, we decided to get a late dinner, and I happened to check the forums on my phone while we waited for the waiter.  Bam, first post of the newest page was the HLJ link, and I was in and out in 10 taps or less.

I think I'm going to be fine with just one for Messer, but I'm going to need at least doubles of Mirage.