Arcadia 1/60 SV-51 Ivanov

[Sanity is Optional]

Oh, you can find 3D metal printing, it's just ridiculously expensive.

We've got a bunch of sintered tungsten-bronze pieces that we buy at my company, little ones like 1"x1"x2" and hollow. They cost us several hundred each.

[sqidd]

41 minutes ago, Anasazi37 said:

 Might be worth looking around online to see if someone can metal-print what you need.

Google just told me there are a LOT of options.

[jenius]

Sounds crazy, Arcadia is probably going to send out feet to people, just be patient.

[anubis20]

32 minutes ago, jenius said:

Sounds crazy, Arcadia is probably going to send out feet to people, just be patient.

Yea even in Japan the process is going really slow. 

[Xigfrid]

Oh thanks for the explanation, I just hope everyone get their replacement then. 

[Chronocidal]

I've been waiting to hear anything about HLJ, but I think I'm just going to email them directly to check on what they're doing, if anything.  If they can order replacement feet from Arcadia, I might ask them to just ship me a spare matched set of feet with my Sv-51 to cover all possibilities.

[Moosey]

On 9/16/2019 at 1:25 PM, anubis20 said:

Anyone get any response from HLJ besides the initial email?

Edit: Looks like the listing got pulled from Amazon Japan.

I got a response saying yes we are aware of the issue and are working with Arcadia as to how best to fix, please don’t ship from your private warehouse as your item may be affected, we’ll get back to you. 

[jodokast]

2 hours ago, Moosey said:

I got a response saying yes we are aware of the issue and are working with Arcadia as to how best to fix, please don’t ship from your private warehouse as your item may be affected, we’ll get back to you. 

Got a similar response ... which is a little odd, given that it's already been shipped to me and I sent them photos of it.

[valhary]

HLJ response answered me: 

"If Arcadia make the spares they will request and notify"

[Chronocidal]

Glad to hear they're looking into it then, I'll hold my horses in the mean time then, thanks!

[sh9000]

Wow Amiami is the best.

[Anasazi37]

9 hours ago, jenius said:

Sounds crazy, Arcadia is probably going to send out feet to people, just be patient.

That is definitely the most reasonable option. 3D metal printing would be the more mad-scientist-fun option.

10 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Oh, you can find 3D metal printing, it's just ridiculously expensive.

We've got a bunch of sintered tungsten-bronze pieces that we buy at my company, little ones like 1"x1"x2" and hollow. They cost us several hundred each.

I was working at a lab where we got to try out all of the latest 3D printers, including ones that can print houses, cars, airplane wings, etc. Crazy stuff. I never asked what the metal printing would actually cost commercially, but thought "surely it can't be that much." Sounds like it is that much...and more.

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by Anasazi37

[Chronocidal]

Little update on my end, HLJ actually contacted me first.

Quote

Hello,

Thank you very much for your order of the Macross Zero: SV-51 Gamma D.D.Ivanov Use Final Battle Ver. ACA82147.

There have been various reports about a quality control issue concerning this item. We see that you currently have one in your Private Warehouse and we want to be sure that the item we send you is up to our standards. The item currently cannot be shipped from your Private Warehouse as we await replacements from the manufacturer. Once your new item comes in, we will let you know and you will then be able to ship it out. We expect it to take about 4-6 weeks to get replacements in, but it could be quicker or take more time, depending on the manufacturer. This waiting time will not be held against you in regards to 60-day Private Warehouse storage. The 60-day timer will be reset once your replacement comes in.

If you would like to return the item, we are also happy to do that for you. Just reply to this email and we will process your return. If you are okay with waiting a bit more, we will have yours ready for you as soon as possible and will send you a message when it is here.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, have a wonderful day!

Best regards,

HobbyLink Japan

Looks like they're either getting replacement parts, or full replacement shipments.

[Moosey]

3 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Little update on my end, HLJ actually contacted me first.

Looks like they're either getting replacement parts, or full replacement shipments.

Yeah I just got that one too. 

[Dobber]

Man HLJ is second to none in Customer service. I should’ve bought from them.

Chris

[orindlt]

Thanks guys, found the HLJ notification in my Junk Mail. This is top tier service. 

[anubis20]

So was that email only for people with the figure in PW? I havent gotten any emails from them.

[Chronocidal]

That was my impression, since what they're essentially doing is reverting the purchase status to "awaiting stock," rather than being ready to ship, and they aren't going to allow those purchases to ship until they resolve the quality issues with Arcadia.  Sounds like they'll also allow you to cancel the order from that state.

I would assume they will also honor returns of received items, or exchanges, but it sounds like you would need to wait for their fixed stock from Arcadia to arrive for an exchange, and you might be pushed to the end of the line waiting for a replacement.  I do not know if their usual time limit on returns would apply in this case, since I believe you normally have 10 days after receipt of the package.  They may be flexible in this case, since the product is known to be defective.

[anubis20]

I got the package on September 3rd and contacted them on the 8th. They responded on the 9th and havent said anything since so im guessing this will be an exception to the rule. I sent them an email today asking for an update. If they keep stringing me along ill just ask for a return and wait for the new stock. 

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, you should be fine, I'm guessing they are busy chugging through the stack of reports and return questions.  You contacted them plenty fast, so no reason they shouldn't take the exchange no questions asked once they get fixed stocks.  That's just going to take a while for Arcadia to unscrew the situation.

I really hope Arcadia can weather another QC ding on their record though.  I think this is only their second original Macross release since Yamato folded, and both have been plagued by QC/factory/assembly issues.  Could possibly count the YF-19, but I still think of that as a Yamato really, and I don't know if that one used the same factories as the VF-0s and Sv-51s.

[anubis20]

Woot! HLJ is coming through 

Quote

We can get parts for you, the manufacturer has taken full responsibility and is delivering us replacements with instructions on how to affix the new parts.

We are finalising when we will get the parts but it may be mid October because they have to make them all again.

When I have a clear answer I will get back to you.

 

[Chronocidal]

Wow, great news!  That's some massive production snafu though.  I wonder how they wound up with so many of one ankle.. maybe the factory broke one mold, and didn't tell anyone?

[Lolicon]

A Chinese factory cutting corners? You don't say... 

I should contact HLJ and see if I can't just get a refund and just wait for a PF version later on down the road. 

[Chronocidal]

The email I got sounded like they'd be plenty willing to take the return, so it's probably worth a shot.

[Sanity is Optional]

Wow, looks like HLJ is coming through.

CDJapan, however, is not. They gave me a 1000¥ credit for the back of the foot falling off, and said they can't help (and didn't offer discount) for the Left/Left issue.

Fortunately Arcadia themselves might be willing to help, since I have a Japanese shipping address (via Tenso).

Kinda disappointed with CDJapan.

[Lolicon]

This is why I prefer HLJ for such expensive items. 

[jenius]

I just asked anime-export about the one I haven't shipped from them yet... curious how they'll respond.

[Berkut]

On 9/17/2019 at 4:37 PM, sh9000 said:

Wow Amiami is the best.

I purchase from AmiAmi, but the email I got from them was I ship the item back, get reimbursed for shipping costs, and once the item is back in their warehouse then I get a full refund. They did not mention about any parts replacements nor product replacements or even when. 

[Berkut]

But yeah . AMIAMI purchased and I got 2 left ankles.

[Dobber]

3 hours ago, Berkut said:

I purchase from AmiAmi, but the email I got from them was I ship the item back, get reimbursed for shipping costs, and once the item is back in their warehouse then I get a full refund. They did not mention about any parts replacements nor product replacements or even when. 

I didn’t even get the shipping reimbursement offer from them unless it was implied by the full return/refund offer. Not worth the hassle.

Chris

[MacrossJoe]

I ordered from nippon and because I have other items on pre-order, my SV51 has not shipped yet.

I created a ticket asking them to check to make sure my item is ok before they ship and this is the response I got:

 

Thank you for your message

We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the defective parts. 

We can inspect the product if the item has not been shipped yet. When we find the defective parts by the inspection, we will require the maker to resend the correct item, In these case, please kindly understand that it is possible that it takes a time for the replacement and that you will receive the item in an opened box.We would like to apologize again on behalf of the manufacturer. Please rest assured we will do our very best to have the proper parts delivered to you as quickly as possible.

Please don't hesitate to send another message if you need anything else.

Kind Regards

Nippon-yasan.com
Customer Service

 

This sounds pretty reasonable.

 

[technoblue]

Thanks, MacrossJoe. That's good news.

I'll have to file a customer ticket for my own defective copy then, and see if NY will allow a return/replacement.

[TrickyCustomer]

Mine is on its way back to Ami Ami. They told me a full refund would be given once recieved. They also said they would refund me the return shipping cost, as long as it was under 10,000 yen and had tracking.

[Berkut]

2 hours ago, TrickyCustomer said:

Mine is on its way back to Ami Ami. They told me a full refund would be given once recieved. They also said they would refund me the return shipping cost, as long as it was under 10,000 yen and had tracking.

Yep pretty much the same email I got from Amiami. Honestly I rather get a corrected product in exchange from them because I really doubt how its going to be possible to buy this again without knowing its a defect unless the retailer gets the right ones from Arcadia again. So with that said, I emailed amiami the twitter post by Arcadia about them correcting the issue if Amiami can obtain the corrected model. *crosses fingers

[VX31]

so, whats really the distribution of bad ankle joints? did they say when they think the bad batch started?

mine was shipped from AmiAmi around 9/3.  upon inspection I lucked out and L/R ankles are ok on mine.  My BIL's from NY is inbound and he hasn't received his yet to check..