Bandai DX VF-31

[Kanedas Bike]

5 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Good to see that the sellers on Ebay are keeping it classy with the DX VF-31A.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DX-Chogokin-Macross-Delta-VF-31A-KAIROS-General-Machine-Action-Figure-BANDAI-NEW/132569217637?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44039%26meid%3D5816c039a4c049e3b5d136d52ea31913%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D372238356933%26itm%3D132569217637&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

LOL - indeed they are

Honestly expected the price to be higher. I'm sure it won't be long before it creeps up to something even more ridiculous...

 

*what rdrunner said

-b.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Kanedas Bike

[TrickyCustomer]

That's crazy money! 

[Sandman]

I wish there was a way to contact Bandai and voice my opinion on how they do business. I know they don't care about international buyers ut i'd still like to send them that message.

[Moosey]

56 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Good to see that the sellers on Ebay are keeping it classy with the DX VF-31A.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DX-Chogokin-Macross-Delta-VF-31A-KAIROS-General-Machine-Action-Figure-BANDAI-NEW/132569217637?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44039%26meid%3D5816c039a4c049e3b5d136d52ea31913%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D372238356933%26itm%3D132569217637&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

Indeed. Real classy. What’s the bets that’s a NY employee (or is that too much to stomach)

Edited April 5, 2018 by Moosey

[Scyla]

10 minutes ago, Moosey said:

Indeed. Real classy. What’s the bets that’s a NY employee (or is that too much to stomach)

According to their website NY is based in Matsuyama which is a good bit away from Akihabara where this item is placed according to ebay.  So if this is true it seems unlikely to me.

[Kinzoku VF]

28 minutes ago, Sandman said:

I wish there was a way to contact Bandai and voice my opinion on how they do business. I know they don't care about international buyers ut i'd still like to send them that message.

I once contacted Bandai US (or U.K...I forgot) regarding a replacement part for my DX Great Mazinger SOC (the big one with opening armors etc....). It had just been released, so it's not like if it was an old obscure toy....As expected, they told me, it's not a product that is supported by their services and that if I bought it from a reseller to contact them about their warranty, nothing to do with Bandai... Obviously they don't have the same policies, safety laws etc for products that aren't distributed outside Asia, kinda hoped they could've helped me out somehow...Yeah right....in my dreams....

So contacting Bandai Japan, you'd most likely get the exact same reply....

[Lolicon]

Got a response from Nin Nin regarding my 31A.

Dear Customer,

Your are one of our many trusted clients buying DX Chogokin items from us, and we thank you always for your patronage.

The figure "Macross Delta - VF-31A Kairos Limited Edition [DX Chogokin]" which you have pre-ordered, has just been released.
Contrary to the other products of this line, Bandai has only produced a very small lot of this item. Our supplier did not receive its allocated amounts (it was “shorted”), and therefore cancelled a large quantity of our ordered stock.


Consequently we are very sorry to have to inform you that we are unable to honor your order #85940 (ZLXJXLKTG), and have no other choice than to proceed to its cancellation.

Please find here a voucher equivalent to the amount of both of your order, with a bonus of +1000JPY as a compensation: 
(this voucher is valid on all of our online shop catalog)

Please accept our most sincere and deepest apologies for this inconvenience, which was very unexpected for us, and incredibly unfortunate.

Please believe that we are always and will always do our very best to satisfy our Customers, and to deserve your trust. 

Thank you very much for your understanding.

I replied that a store credit is unacceptable and if they can't fulfill my order then I want a refund. They promptly replied and said they'd refund me. Glad I did not rely on them as my only 31A.

Of course that leaves me without a third one, which I only decided I wanted after seeing the possibility of an armored 31A. 

Edited April 5, 2018 by Lolicon

[no3Ljm]

2 hours ago, 505thAirborne said:

Good to see that the sellers on Ebay are keeping it classy with the DX VF-31A.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DX-Chogokin-Macross-Delta-VF-31A-KAIROS-General-Machine-Action-Figure-BANDAI-NEW/132569217637?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44039%26meid%3D5816c039a4c049e3b5d136d52ea31913%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D372238356933%26itm%3D132569217637&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

2 hours ago, Kanedas Bike said:

LOL - indeed they are

Honestly expected the price to be higher. I'm sure it won't be long before it creeps up to something even more ridiculous...

*what rdrunner said

-b.

Here's one now:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BANDAI-DX-Soul-of-Chogokin-Macross-VF-31A-Kairos-general-machine-From-JAPAN/202280903727?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44039%26meid%3Dc3d0178fabaa47cdb3a8a936b275dd64%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D132569217637%26itm%3D202280903727&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

They offer an installment of $38 for 24 months. That's good, right? And like I said before, it's a great day today to be a scalper in Japan.

[rdrunner]

3 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

Got a response from Nin Nin regarding my 31A.

Dear Customer,

Your are one of our many trusted clients buying DX Chogokin items from us, and we thank you always for your patronage.

The figure "Macross Delta - VF-31A Kairos Limited Edition [DX Chogokin]" which you have pre-ordered, has just been released.
Contrary to the other products of this line, Bandai has only produced a very small lot of this item. Our supplier did not receive its allocated amounts (it was “shorted”), and therefore cancelled a large quantity of our ordered stock.


Consequently we are very sorry to have to inform you that we are unable to honor your order #85940 (ZLXJXLKTG), and have no other choice than to proceed to its cancellation.

Please find here a voucher equivalent to the amount of both of your order, with a bonus of +1000JPY as a compensation: 
(this voucher is valid on all of our online shop catalog)

Please accept our most sincere and deepest apologies for this inconvenience, which was very unexpected for us, and incredibly unfortunate.

Please believe that we are always and will always do our very best to satisfy our Customers, and to deserve your trust. 

Thank you very much for your understanding.

I replied that a store credit is unacceptable and if they can't fulfill my order then I want a refund. They promptly replied and said they'd refund me. Glad I did not rely on them as my only 31A.

Of course that leaves me without a third one, which I only decided I wanted after seeing the possibility of an armored 31A. 

Thanks for sharing your experience with this shop.  Consistent with what I've read so far, I think Bandai is the root of the problem here (shorting the suppliers) and some companies have been quicker and more transparent in acknowledging the problem, issuing refunds and move on (e.g. Mykombini), while others (ahem) are being extremely coy about the whole situation which understandably pisses off their customers.

This is my first order for a Bandai Macross DX toy and depending on how things go with N-Y, which is the only order I placed, I may be permanently scarred by the experience and never bother with Bandai DX toys again...

[rdrunner]

3 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Here's one now:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BANDAI-DX-Soul-of-Chogokin-Macross-VF-31A-Kairos-general-machine-From-JAPAN/202280903727?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44039%26meid%3Dc3d0178fabaa47cdb3a8a936b275dd64%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D132569217637%26itm%3D202280903727&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

They offer an installment of $38 for 24 months. That's good, right? And like I said before, it's a great day today to be a scalper in Japan.

Now $800 is really starting to take the piss.  Would it be long before someone breaks the $1000 price mark?

Edited April 5, 2018 by rdrunner

[F360]

40 minutes ago, Lolicon said:

Got a response from Nin Nin regarding my 31A.

Dear Customer,

Your are one of our many trusted clients buying DX Chogokin items from us, and we thank you always for your patronage.

The figure "Macross Delta - VF-31A Kairos Limited Edition [DX Chogokin]" which you have pre-ordered, has just been released.
Contrary to the other products of this line, Bandai has only produced a very small lot of this item. Our supplier did not receive its allocated amounts (it was “shorted”), and therefore cancelled a large quantity of our ordered stock.


Consequently we are very sorry to have to inform you that we are unable to honor your order #85940 (ZLXJXLKTG), and have no other choice than to proceed to its cancellation.

Please find here a voucher equivalent to the amount of both of your order, with a bonus of +1000JPY as a compensation: 
(this voucher is valid on all of our online shop catalog)

Please accept our most sincere and deepest apologies for this inconvenience, which was very unexpected for us, and incredibly unfortunate.

Please believe that we are always and will always do our very best to satisfy our Customers, and to deserve your trust. 

Thank you very much for your understanding.

I replied that a store credit is unacceptable and if they can't fulfill my order then I want a refund. They promptly replied and said they'd refund me. Glad I did not rely on them as my only 31A.

Of course that leaves me without a third one, which I only decided I wanted after seeing the possibility of an armored 31A. 

I received the same “no vf-31a for you” email from nin-nin-games .   Sigh.....  guess no vf-31a for me.  Should’ve made backup plans on this .   Sucks..

[Kinzoku VF]

Wonder if Slave IV is still keen to buy off a NY preorder knowing the extremely high likelihood that they will most probably not deliver.....

They better make up for it with some re-runs or whatever. How incompetent can their marketing/distribution team really be??. Until they do, a big FU to Bandai. .

As for Eb scalpers they can shove theirs you know where. 

[CrossAir]

37 minutes ago, rdrunner said:

Now $800 is really starting to take the piss.  Would it be long before someone breaks the $1000 price mark?

My Kairos has touched ground on Frankfurt Airport this morning (yeah). If the aftermarket prices will stay that high, I think I'll keep it in its box in mint condition as an investment case 

[kajnrig]

So I think we can all agree now that it wasn't the shops that were intentionally holding back stock for whatever reason, but Bandai. The same thing happening to all of the major resellers (and only the one item, remember, everything else from Bandai has been smooth sailing) and even to those in local territories... The conspiracy theory that NY are artificially creating demand in order to drive up scalping prices later down the road is kind of dead in the water, yes? Yes?

8 minutes ago, CrossAir said:

My Kairos has touched ground on Frankfurt Airport this morning (yeah). If the aftermarket prices will stay that high, I think I'll keep it in its box in mint condition as an investment case 

These things are appreciating on the level of bitcoins.  By this time next year, you'll be able to sell this for the price of a car and still have people tripping over themselves to give you money.

[Kinzoku VF]

Still find it odd that  NY didn't manage to source enough to at least to cover the first month of preorders. How many did they get, like 6? Or was the case of hoarders buying 10 at a time. ( some still don't seem happy they didn't manage get more than 3 or 4 *sigh*.) I wanted one....not 2 not a squadron. 

Pretty odd NY are still stalling the info, asking for a refund if I don't hear from them by by tomorrow. If they knew all along WTF were they doing? Waiting for what? A shipment from the heavens? 

Whatever.

Case closed.

[Bahamutzyro]

This is wat they sent me......

 

[Scyla]

Well they have my money since the 7th of October so they can keep it a bit longer.

[CrossAir]

30 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

These things are appreciating on the level of bitcoins.  By this time next year, you'll be able to sell this for the price of a car and still have people tripping over themselves to give you money.

Thinking about that I could beat myself for skipping the preorder for Arad's valk 

[Moosey]

For those with outstanding NY preorders, the demand for this valk basically guarantees that there will be an Arab custom -31A at some point. If NY don’t come through with stock, you should all simply demand that your store credit gives you an auto pre-order on that one (skipping the F5 marathon and top of queue). 

The Arad -31A will happen. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but so(metime)on. 

I’ll be having one of those too hopefully. 

[Chronocidal]

1 minute ago, Moosey said:

For those with outstanding NY preorders, the demand for this valk basically guarantees that there will be an Arab custom -31A at some point. If NY don’t come through with stock, you should all simply demand that your store credit gives you an auto pre-order on that one (skipping the F5 marathon and top of queue). 

The Arad -31A will happen. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but so(metime)on. 

I’ll be having one of those too hopefully. 

When and if that day comes, if the Arad custom is the only one I can get, I'll be shoving it to anyone who wants one for a trade.  Really kinda sick of the tramp stamp logos at this point.  

[spanner]

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Got a response from Nin Nin regarding my 31A.

Dear Customer,

Your are one of our many trusted clients buying DX Chogokin items from us, and we thank you always for your patronage.

The figure "Macross Delta - VF-31A Kairos Limited Edition [DX Chogokin]" which you have pre-ordered, has just been released.
Contrary to the other products of this line, Bandai has only produced a very small lot of this item. Our supplier did not receive its allocated amounts (it was “shorted”), and therefore cancelled a large quantity of our ordered stock.


Consequently we are very sorry to have to inform you that we are unable to honor your order #85940 (ZLXJXLKTG), and have no other choice than to proceed to its cancellation.

Please find here a voucher equivalent to the amount of both of your order, with a bonus of +1000JPY as a compensation: 
(this voucher is valid on all of our online shop catalog)

Please accept our most sincere and deepest apologies for this inconvenience, which was very unexpected for us, and incredibly unfortunate.

Please believe that we are always and will always do our very best to satisfy our Customers, and to deserve your trust. 

Thank you very much for your understanding.

I replied that a store credit is unacceptable and if they can't fulfill my order then I want a refund. They promptly replied and said they'd refund me. Glad I did not rely on them as my only 31A.

Of course that leaves me without a third one, which I only decided I wanted after seeing the possibility of an armored 31A. 

well that certainly sucks doesn't it. At least they agreed to fully refund you rather than forcing their store credit on you regardless of the bonus 1000yen.. 

I can't help but a little guilty having ordered and received three of them but definitely not in a position to sell my duplicates off. Sorry gotta be a little selfish with these!

Hopefully more pop up on Mandarake and other similar webshops.. 

[Slave IV]

1 hour ago, Kinzoku VF said:

Wonder if Slave IV is still keen to buy off a NY preorder knowing the extremely high likelihood that they will most probably not deliver.....

They better make up for it with some re-runs or whatever. How incompetent can their marketing/distribution team really be??. Until they do, a big FU to Bandai. .

As for Eb scalpers they can shove theirs you know where. 

Absolutely! That's what I'm offering to anyone who wants to take me up on it. I'm betting that they will deliver, I just don't care about worrying about it everyday and can just wait for it to come when it comes. If not, we all get our money back. NBD.

11 minutes ago, Moosey said:

For those with outstanding NY preorders, the demand for this valk basically guarantees that there will be an Arab custom -31A at some point. If NY don’t come through with stock, you should all simply demand that your store credit gives you an auto pre-order on that one (skipping the F5 marathon and top of queue). 

The Arad -31A will happen. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but so(metime)on. 

I’ll be having one of those too hopefully. 

This is one scenario that I can bet will definitely not happen (the part about getting auto pre-orders). No way in hell they are going to deal with that logistic.

[Lolicon]

Hmmm I guess I can just get an Arad 31A for my regular version and use the two I have now for the super and armored sets. If Bandai ever releases one.

[Ignacio Ocamica]

Well, I'm hoping for an Arad 31A version. I refuse to pay $400+ now, so no regular 31A for me.

[PsYcHoDyNaMiX]

59 minutes ago, Scyla said:

Well they have my money since the 7th of October so they can keep it a bit longer.

Uhh i ordered mine october 6th and the last day for a paypal dispute was the 4th. So if yours is the 7th then the last day for a paypal dispute is today the 5th.

[Slave IV]

For those of you worried about Paypal dispute deadline...As long as you didn't use Paypal funds to pay, don't worry about it because your bank/cc company will cover you. You should be using a no foreign transaction fee credit card to pay (using paypal as a gateway) if you haven't been because it will not only protect you in cases like this, you will save a lot of money in conversion fees. 

Edited April 5, 2018 by Slave IV

[Bahamutzyro]

They didn’t say we were not getting the kairos. They said they hadn’t received all their stock. I would assume they are waiting for more shipment as I believe they would’ve refunded us by now knowing they wouldn’t be getting them.

[jenius]

They hadn't received their stock... And the manufacturer has shipped all of its stock out so they most likely are never receiving their stock.

[rdrunner]

15 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

For those of you worried about Paypal dispute deadline...As long as you didn't use Paypal funds to pay, don't worry about it because you bank/cc company will cover you. You should be using a no foreign transaction fee credit card to pay (using paypal as a gateway) if you haven't been because it will not only protect you in cases like this, you will save a lot of money in conversion fees. 

That’s exactly what I did (paid with credit card through PayPal) and I agree it should give us protection should we need to put our foot down for refunds instead of store credit. 

While I understand that it’s not NY’s fault that the 31A is in short supply, their handling of the situation was really poor and I will definitely think twice before giving them business again. 

[neoexcaliber]

32 minutes ago, Bahamutzyro said:

They didn’t say we were not getting the kairos. They said they hadn’t received all their stock. I would assume they are waiting for more shipment as I believe they would’ve refunded us by now knowing they wouldn’t be getting them.

Considering how other online retailers have initiated refunds and refuse to say if they'll even get more, I think that's just optimism at this point. 

NY probably received the most orders for the VF31A so it would be troublesome for them to refund all the orders in a single go. No doubt they would be able to fulfill some existing orders but whether they can fulfill every order seems dubious at this point. Most of us are just waiting to see if we're lucky enough to get those few extra units.

Edited April 6, 2018 by neoexcaliber

[kajnrig]

59 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Absolutely! That's what I'm offering to anyone who wants to take me up on it. I'm betting that they will deliver, I just don't care about worrying about it everyday and can just wait for it to come when it comes. If not, we all get our money back. NBD.

If I had ordered from NY I would have gladly taken you up on that offer, somewhere around five pages ago. But alas, my non-precognizant self going to Mykombini instead... 

Anyway, I think I'm out of this discussion now. Best of luck to the rest of you, whether it's in getting the item, a refund, store credit, a gold bar... But someone PM me please if suddenly there's a new production run announced.

And remember, this one was Alpha 03, and Arad's -31A is Alpha 01, meaning there's at least one other Alpha to hope for...

[Slave IV]

9 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

If I had ordered from NY I would have gladly taken you up on that offer, somewhere around five pages ago. But alas, my non-precognizant self going to Mykombini instead... 

Anyway, I think I'm out of this discussion now. Best of luck to the rest of you, whether it's in getting the item, a refund, store credit, a gold bar... But someone PM me please if suddenly there's a new production run announced.

And remember, this one was Alpha 03, and Arad's -31A is Alpha 01, meaning there's at least one other Alpha to hope for...

haha, all good! I lost my mykombini order too.

On the plus side, I just checked my refund and I made about $6.40 because of the exchange rate! Mykombini paid for my lunch!

[spacemanoeuvres]

12 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

haha, all good! I lost my mykombini order too.

On the plus side, I just checked my refund and I made about $6.40 because of the exchange rate! Mykombini paid for my lunch!

Oh shoot you’re right. I had it backwards. You would make a few bucks if refunded in jy 

[Slave IV]

14 minutes ago, spacemanoeuvres said:

Oh shoot you’re right. I had it backwards. You would make a few bucks if refunded in jy 

Yep! Too bad I didn't anticipate this and order 100 from them so could make enough from the exchange to buy a 31A on the aftermarket. 

[IXTL]

NY folded at the first sight of PayPal.

Money returned in full back to PayPal, no questions asked.