Bandai DX Chogokin 1/48 VF-1

[Shizuka the Cat]

Just now, DYRL VF-1S said:

Gone just like that

Hope someone here snagged it.

[F360]

5 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

For those who missed out on the missiles or want more, NY has it for Y12000.

https://www.nippon-yasan.com/figures/26995-dx-chogokin-missile-set-for-vf-1-limited-edition.html

 

That’s a pretty fast climb and it hasn’t even been 1 month yet . 

[beatsing]

Nope.  Flipped to that page the instant you message came up but order stop

[no3Ljm]

8 minutes ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

For that matter, so does AJ:  https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/offer-listing/B07PBWQXKH/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Third-party fulfilled by AJ.  Y14,980.  Shipping is Y1,200 via DHL so you get it in like 3 days to the states.  Might be overall cheaper than NY.

Well, Y12000 is still without shipping. If you choose EMS for US-bound, then it's Y14900. You only saved Y80. With that, just order thru AJ. It will arrive to the US first.  

8 minutes ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

Pre-order reopened?  Or maybe someone cancelled an order?

Probably it's a glitch.

 

[DYRL VF-1S]

1 minute ago, no3Ljm said:

 

Probably it's a glitch

 

The whole damn PO system is a glitch! HA

[no3Ljm]

5 minutes ago, F360 said:

That’s a pretty fast climb and it hasn’t even been 1 month yet . 

Atleast when it went up it's after it got released compared to the VF-1 where the price went up almost doubled at NY in just a span of 5 minutes. 

 

[no3Ljm]

1 minute ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

The whole damn PO system is a glitch! HA

True. And to be honest, forcing oneself to collect this new DX 1/48 line is already madness due to its PO shenanigans.

I guess, it's time to re-evaluate my life. 

 

[DYRL VF-1S]

1 minute ago, no3Ljm said:

True. And to be honest, forcing oneself to collect this new DX 1/48 line is already madness due to its PO shenanigans.

I guess, it's time to re-evaluate my life. 

 

You and me both....

See you here for next PO night?  Yuppp....me too.

[no3Ljm]

6 minutes ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

You and me both....

See you here for next PO night?  Yuppp....me too.

Sure, as long the next PO is Hikaru's VF-1A.

If not, you guys can have all the PO fun.  

 

[Matt Random]

I feel for all of you that are planning to continue this line. I've been groggy and a bit off all week following the POpallooza - where I was a loozer. I can already tell I'm going to be worried until the VF-1S and strike packs are delivered into my hands - assuming all goes well and they are indeed delivered.

[DYRL VF-1S]

I think one of the board members living in Japan should get permission from MW to start an MW web shop and only cater to MW members.    Problem solved.

 

[tjdetweiler]

Proxy said they haven't bought the item and will only be able to buy during busines hours - LOL, told them too late haha and advised to cancel my order.

Went with AE and bought there instead

[kkx]

2 hours ago, HardlyNever said:

It seems like either is a gamble at this point.

I can only give you my personal experience/opinion, so take it with the appropriate grain of salt.  Proxy services are fine, but if there is in fact a shortage, they could simply cancel your order and give you a refund.  Then you're left to your own devices to find another order.

NY on the other hand will try to source your order from other places/vendors/the ether.  Where exactly they get other stock isn't know, probably other vendors.  However they will not communicate this to you, you won't know how long you have to wait, and they will not be very responsive in the mean time.  It could take them months after release for them to fill your order. They will also probably not give you a refund, even if you ask.  At best you will get store credit, if you push them for it.  But if you're extremely patient, you'll probably get your order, eventually, at the original price you paid.

If I really wanted these parts, and I could only choose one source, I'd personally go with NY.  Just don't expect to get them in a timely manner, if there is in fact a shortage.

Thanks for the reply.

I think I clearly misunderstanding something here. Sorry, it is a bit long.

I put a request for proxy through FromJapan. They took the 8800 payment.

And inform me that when the item arrived I will be charged 300 + 200 + 660 yen for plan fee, payment fee, and domestic shipping fee.

Now the status of this order is "ordered - pending arrival".

So I assume FromJapan have placed an order on P-Bandai website and is waiting for the item for arrive at their warehouse.

This is a proxy service in which FromJapan act as my middle man for a fee to get around the no shipping outside of Japan rule.

As for NY, you are paying them 9400 yen to order the SPP which they will deliver to you at some point. This is not a proxy, NY will try to get the item and deliver it to you, but NY did not promise to place an order at P-Bandai website on your behave. They are free to source the item any way they can. Or cancel your order if they cannot find it (as others here have complained that they sometimes do).

Am I naive in believing that FromJapan is a true proxy and they are just operating in a similar way as NY?

Has anyone that uses FromJapan as a proxy for P-Bandai have their order canceled down the road?

I have ordered an item via FromJapan on Rakuten and other non-auction sites that they support. My order was canceled one time. The online shopping site claim that the item had been sold and is no longer available. These sites try to sell via multiple middlemen (or their own shop front), so there is always the risk that the request from FromJapan cannot be fulfilled. But that is not the same for P-Bandai right?

I wonder what will happen If I make a request on FromJapan for the SPP now. Given that the website shows that it is sold out. Will FromJapan just reject my request or will they take my money and wait for more stock to become available at P-Bandai. If they are a true proxy, my request should be rejected.

 

[tjdetweiler]

Looks like additional stock - saw a message for GX-88 Dairugger that they also opened some orders for that as well.

I guess my order from HLJ is safe...*phew*

[DYRL VF-1S]

4 minutes ago, tjdetweiler said:

Looks like additional stock - saw a message for GX-88 Dairugger that they also opened some orders for that as well.

I guess my order from HLJ is safe...*phew*

Did they give you an update that orders were opened for 1S or just GX-88?

[tjdetweiler]

6 minutes ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

Did they give you an update that orders were opened for 1S or just GX-88?

No sorry, I just saw a recent post here for the VF-1S and another from GX-88 boards that POs have opened again for that - looks like the exact time, so I was thinking additional units.

[DYRL VF-1S]

@Shizuka the Cat Did awesome finding random openings for the 1A as well.  Can you send some of that juju to others? haha.

[drumondo]

Seems like missiles sets are getting harder to get now, and prices are shooting up. FOMO hit and I paid an inflated price to get some.

 

It's been an expensive couple of weeks.

[Sanity is Optional]

39 minutes ago, kkx said:

Thanks for the reply.

I think I clearly misunderstanding something here. Sorry, it is a bit long.

I put a request for proxy through FromJapan. They took the 8800 payment.

And inform me that when the item arrived I will be charged 300 + 200 + 660 yen for plan fee, payment fee, and domestic shipping fee.

Now the status of this order is "ordered - pending arrival".

So I assume FromJapan have placed an order on P-Bandai website and is waiting for the item for arrive at their warehouse.

This is a proxy service in which FromJapan act as my middle man for a fee to get around the no shipping outside of Japan rule.

As for NY, you are paying them 9400 yen to order the SPP which they will deliver to you at some point. This is not a proxy, NY will try to get the item and deliver it to you, but NY did not promise to place an order at P-Bandai website on your behave. They are free to source the item any way they can. Or cancel your order if they cannot find it (as others here have complained that they sometimes do).

Am I naive in believing that FromJapan is a true proxy and they are just operating in a similar way as NY?

Has anyone that uses FromJapan as a proxy for P-Bandai have their order canceled down the road?

I have ordered an item via FromJapan on Rakuten and other non-auction sites that they support. My order was canceled one time. The online shopping site claim that the item had been sold and is no longer available. These sites try to sell via multiple middlemen (or their own shop front), so there is always the risk that the request from FromJapan cannot be fulfilled. But that is not the same for P-Bandai right?

I wonder what will happen If I make a request on FromJapan for the SPP now. Given that the website shows that it is sold out. Will FromJapan just reject my request or will they take my money and wait for more stock to become available at P-Bandai. If they are a true proxy, my request should be rejected.

FromJapan is up-front, and if they can't secure enough pre-orders from Bandai to cover, they will refund you immediately. But they do make a specific pre-order on your behalf from the store.

I've bought a number of P-Bandai items from them at this point, only with the Metal Build Gernsback was there an issue, as they could only secure me 1 PO rather than 2 and refunded me the difference, Got the second from Zenmarket.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Sanity is Optional

[kkx]

 

 

1

10 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

FromJapan is up-front, and if they can't secure enough pre-orders from Bandai to cover, they will refund you immediately. But they do make a specific pre-order on your behalf from the store.

I've bought a number of P-Bandai items from them at this point, only with the Metal Build Gernsback was there an issue, as they could only secure me 1 PO rather than 2 and refunded me the difference, Got the second from Zenmarket.

Good to hear that they are more like a true proxy. Thanks for sharing.

Now I am really curious about what are the advantages of using NY vs a proper proxy? When there is a choice.

I know at some situation, NY is the only viable choice.

[no3Ljm]

54 minutes ago, kkx said:

Thanks for the reply.

I think I clearly misunderstanding something here. Sorry, it is a bit long.

I put a request for proxy through FromJapan. They took the 8800 payment.

And inform me that when the item arrived I will be charged 300 + 200 + 660 yen for plan fee, payment fee, and domestic shipping fee.

Now the status of this order is "ordered - pending arrival".

So I assume FromJapan have placed an order on P-Bandai website and is waiting for the item for arrive at their warehouse.

This is a proxy service in which FromJapan act as my middle man for a fee to get around the no shipping outside of Japan rule.

As for NY, you are paying them 9400 yen to order the SPP which they will deliver to you at some point. This is not a proxy, NY will try to get the item and deliver it to you, but NY did not promise to place an order at P-Bandai website on your behave. They are free to source the item any way they can. Or cancel your order if they cannot find it (as others here have complained that they sometimes do).

Am I naive in believing that FromJapan is a true proxy and they are just operating in a similar way as NY?

Has anyone that uses FromJapan as a proxy for P-Bandai have their order canceled down the road?

I have ordered an item via FromJapan on Rakuten and other non-auction sites that they support. My order was canceled one time. The online shopping site claim that the item had been sold and is no longer available. These sites try to sell via multiple middlemen (or their own shop front), so there is always the risk that the request from FromJapan cannot be fulfilled. But that is not the same for P-Bandai right?

I wonder what will happen If I make a request on FromJapan for the SPP now. Given that the website shows that it is sold out. Will FromJapan just reject my request or will they take my money and wait for more stock to become available at P-Bandai. If they are a true proxy, my request should be rejected.

Most of your points are correct. The reason why we always refer NY as a proxy is because they accept orders for exclusive items which other stores doesn't. Yes, you are right that they don't mention nor promise that they basically going to order direct to Bandai. Remember NY is a legit store in Japan, that probably has distribution business from Bandai itself. Who knows if this is true, right? One thing for sure is that they will try to order it directly at P-Bandai before sourcing out because if you get it directly from P-Bandai, then you'll get it cheaper. And that's from a businees POV. It's also true that they can source the item if they accept more than they can produce. But as mostly said in here, nobody can really know what's going on under the curtain and NY is not going to explain it to you no matter how many tickets you send to them for inquiry. In the end, everyone's guesses and speculations is as good as anyone else.

Any proxy sites cancel your request orders if they didn't obtain the request item. They usually cancel it ahead of time, probably in this case, a day or two after. But since the PO didn't last for a day, then I'm pretty sure they will inform the customer for cancellation and payment returns right away. The only difference here from NY is that NY will not return your payment but instead it's going to give you store credit and has bad customer service. Don't get me wrong on the last part. I still order at NY for bunch of exclusive stuff. But I still hate their customer service.

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by no3Ljm

[jenius]

I'm not aware of NY cancelling any P-Bandai orders before... but the way they've been selling things that sell out instantly does make you curious how they're going to deliver.

[kkx]

I never manage to find or score PO at near MSRP.

At this point, if I do find any, I will (provided my credit card hold) buy all of them right away. Kind of shot first as question later attitude.

If I do not want to keep them, it should be easy to "sell" it at cost (+extra shipping from me to the buyer) to the many people here who have not secure one.

I have ordered via eBay, but there is no guarantee that the seller will come through (keeping my finger crossed).

[canklebreaker]

1 minute ago, kkx said:

I never manage to find or score PO at near MSRP.

At this point, if I do find any, I will (provided my credit card hold) buy all of them right away. Kind of shot first as question later attitude.

If I do not want to keep them, it should be easy to "sell" it at cost (+extra shipping from me to the buyer) to the many people here who have not secure one.

I have ordered via eBay, but there is no guarantee that the seller will come through (keeping my finger crossed).

Now thats the attitude I like to see. :P

[no3Ljm]

2 minutes ago, kkx said:

I have ordered via eBay, but there is no guarantee that the seller will come through (keeping my finger crossed).

If you paid it with Paypal, then you're safe as long that the item will get released within the next 180 days.

 

[kkx]

1 minute ago, canklebreaker said:

Now thats the attitude I like to see. :P

LoL

My post is a tongue in cheek suggestion to anyone that is good at finding available PO but are not planning to buy any themselves.

I know it is a lot to ask, but the only way to ensure that a member here gets that PO is to buy it first. You will get the honor to choose who will be the deserving member to receive the boon.

I am fully grateful for those links that are posted by kind members here. Otherwise, I will not even have a slim chance for a PO. On the PO night, I was stupidly F5-ing on the special page of AmiAmi for minutes while the real page is up for ordering. So this PO-noob really need all the help he can get.

 

[HardlyNever]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

It will never cease to baffle me how content Bandai always seems to be with under-producing, even for items that they have a literal pre-paid production order for.

If there's anything they need to learn from this strike pack order, it's that yes, there is a freaking boatload of demand for the DX VF-1.  If they're that concerned about over-production, then make everything a pre-order, and just manufacture exactly enough to meet demand, and be done.

Yeesh.  I get that they have other product lines that also need attention, but at the same time, I look at how a relatively tiny company like Yamato managed to produce more than enough product to satisfy demand.  I can't honestly imagine that Yamato, at any point in their existence, had a production line with greater production capability than the facilities Bandai has dedicated to Macross products.  

Maybe something about their production process is just more destructive to the molds than Yamato's was?  I'm just really tired of the "buy it now, or you'll never see it again" approach to these things, and wish they would either revisit molds more often (anything better than never would be a huge improvement), or just take pre-paid order reservations and produce to exactly meet the demand.

My current theory on this line is that it is sort of like the Ford GT40 or similar car in the car world.  That is to say, the idea behind this line is not to make a lot of profit off of the line itself.  It is about brand management and reputation.  I believe Ford was in the black on the newer Ford GTs, but that isn't the point of the car.  It is to elevate the brand in the mind of consumers, and show what their engineers can really do.  Not everyone is supposed to afford a GT, or even have a chance to get a GT.

The same with this line.  I think it bothered Bandai that the "best VF-1 ever" was not made by them, when they have lines like SoC and DX Chogokin.  They wanted to reclaim the title of "best ever" for such an iconic mech.  

So why didn't they go even bigger and badder (and more expensive)?  I think at the end of the day, they still had to have something that the bean-counters would approve of and make its money back.  The money in Macross designs is always milking molds, and that was just too lucrative to pass up, even for a "not really for profit" line.

Plus with all their nickel-and-diming, the price on a "complete' valk is pretty high, all told.

 

[canklebreaker]

2 minutes ago, kkx said:

LoL

My post is a tongue in cheek suggestion to anyone that is good at finding available PO but are not planning to buy any themselves.

I know it is a lot to ask, but the only way to ensure that a member here gets that PO is to buy it first. You will get the honor to choose who will be the deserving member to receive the boon.

I am fully grateful for those links that are posted by kind members here. Otherwise, I will not even have a slim chance for a PO. On the PO night, I was stupidly F5-ing on the special page of AmiAmi for minutes while the real page is up for ordering. So this PO-noob really need all the help he can get.

 

I'm in the same boat buddy.

[kkx]

4 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

If you paid it with Paypal, then you're safe as long that the item will get released within the next 180 days.

 

Yeah, members here have already helped me figure that out. So my money should be pretty safe, but if he cancel last minute and sell the item for a much higher price to get more profit, I have no power to stop him.

This is making me nervous, but I still go for it because it seems like a good deal at the time. But I wonder how it will turn out in 6 months.

[Chronocidal]

36 minutes ago, HardlyNever said:

My current theory on this line is that it is sort of like the Ford GT40 or similar car in the car world.  That is to say, the idea behind this line is not to make a lot of profit off of the line itself.  It is about brand management and reputation.  I believe Ford was in the black on the newer Ford GTs, but that isn't the point of the car.  It is to elevate the brand in the mind of consumers, and show what their engineers can really do.  Not everyone is supposed to afford a GT, or even have a chance to get a GT.

The same with this line.  I think it bothered Bandai that the "best VF-1 ever" was not made by them, when they have lines like SoC and DX Chogokin.  They wanted to reclaim the title of "best ever" for such an iconic mech.  

So why didn't they go even bigger and badder (and more expensive)?  I think at the end of the day, they still had to have something that the bean-counters would approve of and make its money back.  The money in Macross designs is always milking molds, and that was just too lucrative to pass up, even for a "not really for profit" line.

Plus with all their nickel-and-diming, the price on a "complete' valk is pretty high, all told.

 

So, putting how ludicrous it sounds to compare these toys to a limited production sports car aside for the moment..  the disappointing thing is, despite all the design innovation they made, I'm still not sure I would call it "the best VF-1 ever."

Just from a detail, accuracy, and quality perspective.. Bandai still proves with every release that they don't quite "get it."  They overblow the tampo to the point that it looks dumb, inaccurate, excessive, and just ugly.  The tabs don't lock it together as well as the Yamato.  They don't pay attention to some key details that Yamato nailed from even their first version.  They tend to cut corners in ways that make things functionally not quite as good.  And try as I might, as much as I paid for the "privelege" of owning them, I can't do anything but cringe at how bad the missile sets look slapped directly under the wing with not even as much physical pylon as the HMR valks have, at half the scale.

I can't argue that the mold, detail, and articulation are impressive, and really pretty.  But in a big-picture sort of way, while Bandai's positives are definitely better than Yamato's, I also consider their negatives quite a bit worse.  It all kind of averages out, and between the things I wish they had done differently, and the constant frustration with even acquiring the stupid things, they leave a bad taste in my mouth that just sends me back to having fun posing and transforming my old Yamato valks.

Don't get me wrong, I'd say the DX VF-1 is still one of the best VF-1s ever made... but if the only reason Bandai is making these is as some sort of VF-1 ego trip, they need a reality check.  They make toys.  Not sports cars.  Not private jets.

Making the best product in the world means jack squat if people can't actually enjoy it.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Chronocidal

[Shizuka the Cat]

58 minutes ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

@Shizuka the Cat Did awesome finding random openings for the 1A as well.  Can you send some of that juju to others? haha.

I am lucky enough to spot a random opening, but not lucky enough to take advantage of it most of the time...  Not sure if you call that awesome or torture. LOL.... CRY

I figure I will probably stay away from the 1/48 DX VF-1 line.  Separate bills for the fighter, missiles, and super/strike pack kind of annoy me.  Just too expensive to fully deck-out a valkyrie., when all is said and done.  Plus the high probability of missing out on pre-orders makes me even less inclined to own them. 

I know that it is the new hot thing, but as it stands, I am seriously thinking of selling off my VF-1A Max and set myself free.

[RIBFIR]

2 minutes ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

I am lucky enough to spot a random opening, but not lucky enough to take advantage of it most of the time...  Not sure if you call that awesome or torture. LOL.... CRY

I figure I will probably stay away from the 1/48 DX VF-1 line.  Separate bills for the fighter, missiles, and super/strike pack kind of annoy me.  Just too expensive to fully deck-out a valkyrie., when all is said and done.  Plus the high probability of missing out on pre-orders makes me even less inclined to own them. 

I know that it is the new hot thing, but as it stands, I am seriously thinking of selling off my VF-1A Max and set myself free.

This thought has crossed my mind more then once as well. Just dealing with the pre-order madness is enough to drive one crazy.

[Shizuka the Cat]

2 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

So, putting how ludicrous it sounds to compare these toys to a limited production sports car aside for the moment..  the disappointing thing is, despite all the design innovation they made, I'm still not sure I would call it "the best VF-1 ever."

Just from a detail, accuracy, and quality perspective.. Bandai still proves with every release that they don't quite "get it."  They overblow the tampo to the point that it looks dumb, inaccurate, excessive, and just ugly.  They don't pay attention to some key details that Yamato nailed from even their first version.  They tend to cut corners in ways that make things functionally not quite as good.  And try as I might, as much as I paid for the "privelege" of owning them, I can't do anything but cringe at how bad the missile sets look slapped directly under the wing with not even as much physical pylon as the HMR valks have, at half the scale.

I can't argue that the mold, detail, and articulation are impressive, and really pretty.  But in a big-picture sort of way, while Bandai's positives are definitely better than Yamato's, I also consider their negatives quite a bit worse.  It all kind of averages out, and between the things I wish they had done differently, and the constant frustration with even acquiring the stupid things, they leave a bad taste in my mouth that just sends me back to having fun posing and transforming my old Yamato valks.

Don't get me wrong, I'd say the DX VF-1 is still one of the best VF-1s ever made... but if the only reason Bandai is making these is as some sort of VF-1 ego trip, they need a reality check.  They make toys.  Not sports cars.  Not private jets.

Making the best product in the world means jack squat if people can't actually enjoy it.

Agreed.

Also... is it sad that I am spending the day by the hotel pool browsing MWF on my tablet?

That's what I call a pleasant vacation!  :

[DYRL VF-1S]

6 minutes ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

I know that it is the new hot thing, but as it stands, I am seriously thinking of selling off my VF-1A Max and set myself free.

 

3 minutes ago, RIBFIR said:

This thought has crossed my mind more then once as well. Just dealing with the pre-order madness is enough to drive one crazy.

I hear ya!! I feel like it’s “Challenge accepted” for me haha.

If anyone decides to release their 1S PO on Amiami or HLJ, let us know first to time it lol. Better chance for someone here to land.

[drumondo]

At this point, if all my orders come through I'll be fortunate enough to have a VF-1S, super/strike packs and missiles.

 

I'm done with the line from here.