Bandai DX Chogokin 1/48 VF-1

[Alphahorizon]

How is Mandrake selling tons of SSPs and NY hasnt even shipped thier customers pre orders. 

[RedComet]

18 minutes ago, Alphahorizon said:

How is Mandrake selling tons of SSPs and NY hasnt even shipped thier customers pre orders. 

Easy, cause mandrake ships DHL and NY seems to be completely uninterested in eating that additional cost.

[Grey728]

1 hour ago, oshanmacross said:

Has anyone received shipping notice from MyKombini for their super parts?
Sent email Friday asking for status but no reply yet.
Earlier in the week they asked for another 350 yen stating the shipping was more than they expected ~_~

I have 2 SSPs with them (They apparently already have them) but haven’t received any additional email asking to pay for shipping. I was just going to ask them to hold off on shipping for now until things start turning normal. 

[pafy6285]

54 minutes ago, Grey728 said:

I have 2 SSPs with them (They apparently already have them) but haven’t received any additional email asking to pay for shipping. I was just going to ask them to hold off on shipping for now until things start turning normal. 

If you haven't done so, better check your account details in MyKombini and check if your order have any messages there. Sometimes I don't receive emails for new messages.

[Tenbatsu]

13 hours ago, oshanmacross said:

Has anyone received shipping notice from MyKombini for their super parts?
Sent email Friday asking for status but no reply yet.
Earlier in the week they asked for another 350 yen stating the shipping was more than they expected ~_~

I chose SAL small 1351yen, paid and was told to top up to 2450yen too. Spam them over the weekend but to no avail.

Created another mail to them using the contact form rather than the one inside the order this morning.

Updates:

They replied me that SAL mail is no longer available during this covid period, 2450yen is for Air Mail priority. However, they also offered the same price for FedEx and DHL. Hope this info helps.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Tenbatsu

[sqidd]

11 hours ago, Grey728 said:

 I was just going to ask them to hold off on shipping for now until things start turning normal. 

2022?

[canklebreaker]

Ordered SSP from Mandarake on Friday and it should be here tomorrow! No updates from my NY pre-order from last year lol...

[DYRL VF-1S]

4 hours ago, sqidd said:

2022?

Exactly.  I don't want to create unnecessary anxiety, but shipping isn't going to get to normal until JP Post either creates their own private jet fleet, negotiates a new contract with a fleet that is regularly running international flights, or commercial/business international travel begins to pick up (this last part doesn't seem will happen anytime soon).

So, I won't be ordering from anywhere that's not providing DHL or FedEx.  Speaking of which, for those interested, NY did follow up on my SSPs (I don't think they've caught up to my PayPal claim being awarded a refund).  They only offered a ~$30 USD additional per SSP for UPS (on top of the ~$40 USD per pack already paid for with EMS,) hold my product until EMS is available again - whenever that is, or store credit.

All of these "smaller" shops are in the same boat.  (I.e. unless you're Mandarake or AJ, there's going to be an up-charge.)

[Roy Focker]

10 minutes ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

Speaking of which, for those interested, NY did follow up on my SSPs (I don't think they've caught up to my PayPal claim being awarded a refund).  They only offered a ~$30 USD additional per SSP for UPS (on top of the ~$40 USD per pack already paid for with EMS,) hold my product until EMS is available again - whenever that is, or store credit.

$70 shipping charge?

Screw that.  You paid in advance.  You did your part.  They need to cover the difference themselves.  Still haven't heard a word about mine from them yet.

[Grey728]

As far as I know, both Japan's SAL and EMS are still not shipping until further notice. When flights do resume, I expect a huge amount of backlog having to be processed before any semblance of normalcy begins to take effect. I'm not expecting 'normal' to mean that I'll start receiving items like we used to in 1-2 weeks time. The normalcy I'm looking for is regular shipments and whatever that might look like in the foreseeable future.  

COVID-19 is here to stay but I fully expect people and businesses will learn and adapt to this new normal. 

 

[Bahamutzyro]

crazy. they should allow you to go in yourself and switch alternate shipping methods.

I'm thinking of canceling my Arcadia vf-0D that they made me pay back in December.

supposed to release 5-31 but my paypal window is up to 6-6-20

NY dont like to refund and always wants to give store credits.

 

[DYRL VF-1S]

1 hour ago, Grey728 said:

COVID-19 is here to stay but I fully expect people and businesses will learn and adapt to this new normal. 

 

32 minutes ago, Bahamutzyro said:

crazy. they should allow you to go in yourself and switch alternate shipping methods.

I'm thinking of canceling my Arcadia vf-0D that they made me pay back in December.

supposed to release 5-31 but my paypal window is up to 6-6-20

NY dont like to refund and always wants to give store credits.

 

Yeah, I mean, most of should know the various shops' quality of customer service so none of it is a surprise.  And if a shop doesn't adapt their business to the new normal, customers like me will shop elsewhere.  It's a shame, but each of us has to do what's best for ourselves as I'm sure businesses will consider the same.  I just wanted to share my experience to help others who are waiting for their SSPs or other items from NY.  The shop has been good to me overall.  They just haven't adapted their ways in light of current affairs - or at least haven't adapted to where I need them.

If I didn't completely burn the bridge by going to PayPal (which I'm sure I did,) I honestly would still shop with them but only do Ferry at this point if it's something I really want at a price they offer.  So, I'm by no means complaining.  Just sharing details.

[Saburo]

[Grey728]

Great pic @Saburo!

This image kinda highlights the shoulder joint negatively as it looks too small. I wonder if there's anything technical there that I'm not seeing that would have prevented bandai from making that joint larger/thicker. 

[RedComet]

10 minutes ago, Grey728 said:

Great pic @Saburo!

This image kinda highlights the shoulder joint negatively as it looks too small. I wonder if there's anything technical there that I'm not seeing that would have prevented bandai from making that joint larger/thicker. 

Not so it wouldn't rub in gerwalk mode I would think.

[ErikElvis]

Well finally getting strike parts from amazon Japan. Should arrive Monday. Now I can pull out Hikarus 1s and load it up. 

[burnout6]

Got shipping confirmation for the SSP I preordered from MyKombini. They upgraded me to Fedex but had to pay a difference.

Ended costing the same as my Amazon order which I didnt preorder and got faster. 

[Syro]

I put in a support ticket with NY and they got back to me last night saying their strike parts are delayed 2 weeks so they were not able to ship out at once but they can send them to me by UPS once they get the shipment (I asked if I could upgrade due to EMS not shipping).

[vfxraven19]

15 minutes ago, Syro said:

I put in a support ticket with NY and they got back to me last night saying their strike parts are delayed 2 weeks so they were not able to ship out at once but they can send them to me by UPS once they get the shipment (I asked if I could upgrade due to EMS not shipping).

I submitted a trouble ticket too last week and they offered a shipping upgrade to UPS or a shipping downgrade/refund. I opted for the shipping upgrade to their response, but haven't gotten a response back from them. Their chat was no help. You seem to get more info as they told you the SSP's are delayed 2 weeks - they didn't even tell me this. Ugh, they're a pain now.

I saw the NinNinGame had the SSP's in stock. Tempted to pay extra, but trying not to. NNG has been pretty reliable to me the handful of purchases made.

[Kyp Durron]

Any idea as to what's coming next? I haven't bought any of these since I was waiting on Roy's VF-1S to come out, I don't plan on buying many of these, so I'm limiting myself to just one or two.

[borgified]

11 minutes ago, Kyp Durron said:

Any idea as to what's coming next? I haven't bought any of these since I was waiting on Roy's VF-1S to come out, I don't plan on buying many of these, so I'm limiting myself to just one or two.

No one knows as it's now a guessing game to what's next in the DX pipeline.

Most likely the Tamashii Nations show in October might shed a few clues as Hayao's 1a is to be out in August. 

@jenius - Aren't we still guestimating that a DX YF-21 pre-order might drop sometime next year?  

[DYRL VF-1S]

6 minutes ago, borgified said:

No one knows as it's now a guessing game to what's next in the DX pipeline.

Most likely the Tamashii Nations show in October might shed a few clues as Hayao's 1a is to be out in August. 

@jenius - Aren't we still guestimating that a DX YF-21 pre-order might drop sometime next year?  

I think COVID puts a wrinkle in all of this.  But just remember that last year we saw POs for TV Max 1A, DYRL Hikaru 1S, SSPs, and Missile reissue all from the 1/48 line.  So, it will be interesting to see what happens.  The molds are there at this point for the main Valks so that's one less thing than there was at the beginning of last year.

[Grey728]

1 hour ago, Kyp Durron said:

Any idea as to what's coming next? I haven't bought any of these since I was waiting on Roy's VF-1S to come out, I don't plan on buying many of these, so I'm limiting myself to just one or two.

DYRL Kakizaki VF-1A will be released in August but that's all the news thus far. It was a P-Bandai exclusive.

[Grey728]

30 minutes ago, DYRL VF-1S said:

I think COVID puts a wrinkle in all of this.  But just remember that last year we saw POs for TV Max 1A, DYRL Hikaru 1S, SSPs, and Missile reissue all from the 1/48 line.  So, it will be interesting to see what happens.  The molds are there at this point for the main Valks so that's one less thing than there was at the beginning of last year.

The only mold I'm excited to see but haven't seen thus far is the GBP armor. There's also some mold changes that Bandai would need to create for VT-1 and VE-1 if they so chose to make those.

[DYRL VF-1S]

50 minutes ago, Grey728 said:

The only mold I'm excited to see but haven't seen thus far is the GBP armor. There's also some mold changes that Bandai would need to create for VT-1 and VE-1 if they so chose to make those.

As I understand, the molds already account for GBP or at least appears that way. I can’t imagine seeing VT-1 or VE-1 anytime soon. Based on what was previously shown and/or the SSPs, we know that DYRL Max 1A, Hikaru 1A and Roy 1S are coming presumably before those. Not to mention we’re still missing Kakizaki/Mass production 1A from the TV Vermillion.

GBP armor would be cool to see this year for sure. Maybe a 1J re-release? I could see them being separate purchases the way they’ve handled missiles and SSP.

Edited May 13, 2020 by DYRL VF-1S

[Kyp Durron]

9 hours ago, borgified said:

No one knows as it's now a guessing game to what's next in the DX pipeline.

Most likely the Tamashii Nations show in October might shed a few clues as Hayao's 1a is to be out in August. 

@jenius - Aren't we still guestimating that a DX YF-21 pre-order might drop sometime next year?  

Frak. Guess I will have to pick up the DRYL VF-1S...IF I can manage to find it for under $350 that is. Right now they're going for prices that I feel should involve at least a kiss first, LOL. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Kyp Durron

[Toonz]

still not getting any updated notification from nipponyasan

[fenrir72]

via DHL. Hopefully shipped soon.

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by fenrir72

[borgified]

1 hour ago, Kyp Durron said:

Frak. Guess I will have to pick up the DRYL VF-1S...IF I can manage to find it for under $350 that is. Right now they're going for prices that I feel should involve at least a kiss first, LOL. 

Keep an eye on some proxy sites like Buyee, FromJapan (etc.) and as well Manda, Amiami. You're bond to get at least one copy, however you have to snag it quickly before you get cart jacked while checking out.  

43 minutes ago, fenrir72 said:

via DHL. Hopefully shipped soon.

That's a good deal for close to MRSP when it came out and you can't go wrong when Manda changes the shipping method to DHL after being suspended at SAL for "x" amount of time. 

[sqidd]

1 hour ago, fenrir72 said:

via DHL. Hopefully shipped soon.

 

I wish I hadn't missed this. I would have bought 4-5 sets at that price.

[chyll2]

When you monitor Mandarake regularly and you missed that good deal. haha

 

Cheers @fenrir72 that is as close as MSRP as possibly you can get.

[fenrir72]

2 hours ago, borgified said:

Keep an eye on some proxy sites like Buyee, FromJapan (etc.) and as well Manda, Amiami. You're bond to get at least one copy, however you have to snag it quickly before you get cart jacked while checking out.  

That's a good deal for close to MRSP when it came out and you can't go wrong when Manda changes the shipping method to DHL after being suspended at SAL for "x" amount of time. 

Thanks! I specified DHL as EMS has some delays too.

Edited May 13, 2020 by fenrir72

[fenrir72]

1 hour ago, chyll2 said:

When you monitor Mandarake regularly and you missed that good deal. haha

 

Cheers @fenrir72 that is as close as MSRP as possibly you can get.

Thanks!

[fenrir72]

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

I wish I hadn't missed this. I would have bought 4-5 sets at that price.

The original alert was Y11K then I checked the other alternatives and voila! Y9K!

[Vertex]

Re - SPP's I think that with the release of the latest wave prices have somewhat stabilized in the mid 8K to 9K yen for a set, at least on YJA where I've seen quite a few set go for those prices over the last 3-4 weeks or so. Figure with domestic shipping 800-1000 yen and then your freight forward fees and int'l shipping your looking at spending about 13-14K yen for a set.