Bandai DX Chogokin 1/48 VF-1

[vladykins]

Crazy- my Luna was like 26000

[Sanity is Optional]

Man I am glad I managed to get in at MSRP, those scalper prices suck.

[F360]

6 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Man I am glad I managed to get in at MSRP, those scalper prices suck.

same here,  but the current price  is at around 25000 yen and up in japan for Roy.   Which in price is similar to other Dx VF-1s and A in their market.   

But you do get a updated flight display stand  with Roy  .  

[Ryoma]

Just few words to explain my situation which i think is similar to all the people who live in Italy...

A couple of days ago i was offered a pre-order from an italian seller(one that has always the best prices for DX  and other SOC kind of items) for € 379,00(euro not dollars). No way you could find a best price from any other italian reseller(otherwise he would have matched it). In any case if i was going to buy it from someone here in Italy i would have received the toy after two probably three months. Anyway If i had to buy it from another international store i would have had to pay almost 25% more because of custom taxes. AE and NY are the ONLY stores from whom i never had to pay custom(well, almost never). Plus, usually the shipping cost from AE are the most reasonable i could find.

So let's put it like this, even if i were lucky enough to secure a pre-order from any store that weren't AE or NY I would have paid the item more than what i m paying now because of the shipping cost and custom tax. With this pre-order i was able to purchase one of my favourite Valk to the best price i could ever find(or very similar). So why i shouldn't feel lucky again?

[sqidd]

2 hours ago, F360 said:

ahh,, was this from this seller?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PSL-BANDAI-DX-Chogokin-First-Limited-Edition-VF-1S-Valkyrie-Roy-Focker-Macross/383804203708?epid=21040766220&hash=item595c8362bc:g:f-MAAOSwv7xfoR-E

Yes

[no3Ljm]

25 minutes ago, Ryoma said:

Just few words to explain my situation which i think is similar to all the people who live in Italy...

A couple of days ago i was offered a pre-order from an italian seller(one that has always the best prices for DX  and other SOC kind of items) for € 379,00(euro not dollars). No way you could find a best price from any other italian reseller(otherwise he would have matched it). In any case if i was going to buy it from someone here in Italy i would have received the toy after two probably three months. Anyway If i had to buy it from another international store i would have had to pay almost 25% more because of custom taxes. AE and NY are the ONLY stores from whom i never had to pay custom(well, almost never). Plus, usually the shipping cost from AE are the most reasonable i could find.

So let's put it like this, even if i were lucky enough to secure a pre-order from any store that weren't AE or NY I would have paid the item more than what i m paying now because of the shipping cost and custom tax. With this pre-order i was able to purchase one of my favourite Valk to the best price i could ever find(or very similar). So why i shouldn't feel lucky again?

Actually, this is not just in Italy. It's everyone's dilemma who lives outside Japan.

Getting it from local shops means you will wait a month or two before it becomes available. You have to pay custom or state tax, etc. Which to the point that it's almost the same as getting it directly from a Japanese store shipped to our countries. But it's more the same once these items went above the MSRP then it's going to match what you're going to pay locally.

However, do remember that Macross is not as widely backed-up by local distributors due to certain company that's preventing that. That's why when it comes to direct Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross products, you rather order it directly from a Japanese store than take a chance from a local distributor. Because by ordering it directly from a Japanese store, you know that you'll have a big chance of securing one. Unless it's under Robotech brand then just order it locally.  

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by no3Ljm

[Sanity is Optional]

28 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Actually, this is not just in Italy. It's everyone's dilemma who lives outside Japan.

Getting it from local shops means you will wait a month or two before it becomes available. You have to pay custom or state tax, etc. Which to the point that it's almost the same as getting it directly from a Japanese store shipped to our countries. But it's more the same once these items went above the MSRP then it's going to match what you're going to pay locally.

However, do remember that Macross is not as widely backed-up by local distributors due to certain company that's preventing that. That's why when it comes to direct Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross products, you rather order it directly from a Japanese store than take a chance from a local distributor. Because by ordering it directly from a Japanese store, you know that you'll have a big chance of securing one. Unless it's under Robotech brand then just order it locally.  

Well, not everyone outside Japan. In the US it's pretty rare for anything to be flagged for customs unless it's a very expensive shipment.

[Ryoma]

33 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Actually, this is not just in Italy. It's everyone's dilemma who lives outside Japan.

Getting it from local shops means you will wait a month or two before it becomes available. You have to pay custom or state tax, etc. Which to the point that it's almost the same as getting it directly from a Japanese store shipped to our countries. But it's more the same once these items went above the MSRP then it's going to match what you're going to pay locally.

However, do remember that Macross is not as widely backed-up by local distributors due to certain company that's preventing that. That's why when it comes to direct Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross products, you rather order it directly from a Japanese store than take a chance from a local distributor. Because by ordering it directly from a Japanese store, you know that you'll have a big chance of securing one. Unless it's under Robotech brand then just order it locally.  

 

I will have to disagree. Partially.  First, i never had to pay any custom tax when i was living in the U.S. or in Canada(well, maybe in Canada i had to pay it once or twice but it wasn't definitely as heavy as here in Italy). Second, i never had problems to pre-order items from italian resellers and i never had to pay extra for custom. Sometimes there is a slight mark up, around 10% sometimes even less, but nothing too big. The only problem is when it comes to Macross or Saint Seiya items. Those two lines are a real nightmare to buy from local stores.  The mark up is very high and you are never sure you will actually get the item. I personally don't mind waiting one or two months after the initial release but in this particular case i feel more safe to have it shipped from an international store(too many variables, covid situation, christmast vacation etc.).

Let me give you another example: I was offered the pre-order for the new Gordian Bandai Soul of chogokin for € 290,00 plus € 10 for shipping from an italian reseller. Expected arrival june 2021. I did prefer to go with an internatioal store pre-order instead, where i paid € 270 for the item plus, i would say around € 40 euros for shipping. Expected arrival end of march, beginning of april 2021. The difference in price is really nothing, though.

Again, if i was able to secure a pre-order from, let's say HLJ(for Ry VF-1S i mean) which price was around € 170 plus let's say € 45 of shipping via ems, grand total € 215. Calculate a 25% out of those € 215 and you will still find i got a good deal in securing that pre-order, € 230 plus € 30-35 for the shipping and no custom tax(at least i hope so). 

Now i would be really curious to know how much you guys have to pay for custom or if you have to pay it all...

[no3Ljm]

29 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Well, not everyone outside Japan. In the US it's pretty rare for anything to be flagged for customs unless it's a very expensive shipment.

Yes, I do agree on that. What I'm just trying to point it out is that getting it locally is not as 'secure' as getting it directly from Japan. Hence most of us are trying to get it directly first abroad. Here in the US, for example, getting it thru BBTS means the price is already inflated during PO, and you still have to pay sales tax and flat shipping which in turn you're already paying it as much as scalper's price. But then, we can't label them scalpers because they're just paying their dues for getting supply outside US. And securing them is still not 100% because there's always a chance of not fulfilling all its orders. Not to mention the 'company' whose making that hard for us fans. So I specifically mentioning that if you want to buy Macross, Mospeada, and Southern Cross product, it's best to get it directly from a Japanese store. Unless it's under Robotech line, then order it locally.  

 

[no3Ljm]

9 minutes ago, Ryoma said:

Now i would be really curious to know how much you guys have to pay for custom or if you have to pay it all...

Point taken. I'm also in the US so I'm also not paying custom. Don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to explain that your experience is also probably been experienced by other people outside Japan and US for that matter.

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by no3Ljm

[Ignacio Ocamica]

5 minutes ago, Ryoma said:

Now i would be really curious to know how much you guys have to pay for custom or if you have to pay it all...

Here in Argentina (South America) it's 50% custom taxes. You also have to include shipping to calculate customs.

[Ryoma]

Just now, Ignacio Ocamica said:

Here in Argentina (South America) it's 50% custom taxes. You also have to include shipping to calculate customs.

 Jesus, you guys definitely have it way more difficult than we do. Sorry about that.

[technoblue]

39 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Well, not everyone outside Japan. In the US it's pretty rare for anything to be flagged for customs unless it's a very expensive shipment.

Alas, @no3Ljm is right about Amazon Japan adding sales tax to US shipments. That's a global change which applies to all international Amazon sites. It isn't customs, but the US isn't being treated as tax free anymore.

[Ryoma]

3 minutes ago, no3Ljm said:

Point taken. I'm also in the US so I'm also not paying custom. I'm just trying to explain that your experience is also probably been experienced by other people.

 

Yeah, you are right. I know getting macross items outside japan is harder than most of the other lines. but...the look on my friends' eyes when i show them my collection is priceless.

Anyway, when i said i got lucky i meant that, on this particular occasion, i was able, for the first time, to buy a Macross DX toy for a decent price. That's why i said i got lucky  

[no3Ljm]

2 minutes ago, Ryoma said:

 Jesus, you guys definitely have it way more difficult than we do. Sorry about that.

I also pay more too when I was still in the Philippines. Forgot how much the percentage is but sometimes there will be small items that I bought that I'm paying as much for custom. So I ended up just getting stuff directly from a specialty store. Coz I thought I can save a lot buying directly. But then, that was like almost 20 years ago so I don't know if it's still the same back there.

 

[no3Ljm]

8 minutes ago, technoblue said:

Alas, @no3Ljm is right about Amazon Japan adding sales tax to US shipments. That's a global change which applies to all international Amazon sites. It isn't customs, but the US isn't being treated as tax free anymore.

True. It's something that we have to start to live with it now if we're still going to continue collecting. Or unless HG loses again its license then maybe we can just get stuff easily here in the US.  

6 minutes ago, Ryoma said:

Yeah, you are right. I know getting macross items outside japan is harder than most of the other lines. but...the look on my friends' eyes when i show them my collection is priceless.

Anyway, when i said i got lucky i meant that, on this particular occasion, i was able, for the first time, to buy a Macross DX toy for a decent price. That's why i said i got lucky  

No worries. It's just that when I read your comment I just want to let you know that what you experienced is already been experienced by someone. Atleast, at the end of the day once the item arrives at our doorsteps, we get to enjoy it no matter how much we paid for it.

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by no3Ljm

[Lolicon]

Garmony Hold's interference is mostly a non-issue in this age of internet commerce.

If you don't like paying taxes on stuff you buy, you should petition your government to do something about it.

No, the rot starts at the source, with Bandai. They're the ones making it so hard to buy their stuff and give them money. What an ass backwards way to run things. God forbid if a toy ends up sitting on the shelf for a day or two.

[Sanity is Optional]

2 hours ago, technoblue said:

Alas, @no3Ljm is right about Amazon Japan adding sales tax to US shipments. That's a global change which applies to all international Amazon sites. It isn't customs, but the US isn't being treated as tax free anymore.

Eh, still ends up less than HLJ, just due to the cheaper shipping.

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, Lolicon said:

Garmony Hold's interference is mostly a non-issue in this age of internet commerce.

If you don't like paying taxes on stuff you buy, you should petition your government to do something about it.

No, the rot starts at the source, with Bandai. They're the ones making it so hard to buy their stuff and give them money. What an ass backwards way to run things. God forbid if a toy ends up sitting on the shelf for a day or two.

Having taken an engineering manufacturing class taught by an old Toyota manager, and hearing his explanation of why Toyota doesn't stock tremendous amounts of spare parts, I can kind of understand the mentality.  Basically, Bandai is min-maxing their profits by running the bare edge of supply and demand.  

Definitely makes things hell for the customers when they don't even bother considering demand outside their "target audience" though.

 

[technoblue]

2 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Eh, still ends up less than HLJ, just due to the cheaper shipping.

Truly. I hope Amazon is able to keep their international DHL shipping deal going. It really helps out. I use it extensively on both the Amazon JP and UK sites.

[Anasazi37]

14 hours ago, technoblue said:

Double thanks, @Anasazi37. I learned this morning that ohmyprimus received short stock on Roy's DX and cancelled my order. 

Since this inflated price at AE is close to OMP's price before shipping, I put in an order.

Of course, knowing how my luck has been working on this pre-order, I'm thinking this may have just increased the odds that Amazon Japan will open up new order slots at a lower price on or near the release date. 

Glad it was helpful! I'm both curious and worried about what is going to happen to the price of the Roy after release. Grabbing one on AJ/AE/YJ/etc. for less than ¥30,000 right now might end up being a pretty good deal compared to paying more than ¥40,000 on Mandarake or Jungle later. My best guess is that it will be like the Hikaru 1S, which was above ¥35,000 for a long time but eventually came down to ¥26,000 or so. And while AE's customer service isn't great compared to sites like HLJ, and has arguably gotten worse this year, they've always sent me what I've ordered.

[CharlesXavier]

http://www.anime-export.com/product/49996

Back in stock at AE. At market price now.

[burnout6]

17 minutes ago, CharlesXavier said:

http://www.anime-export.com/product/49996

Back in stock at AE. At market price now.

 

Gone. 

[Guyffon]

Did AE ever sell pre orders at inflated price before, I don’t seem to recall them doing that

[Slave IV]

7 minutes ago, Guyffon said:

Did AE ever sell pre orders at inflated price before, I don’t seem to recall them doing that

Yeah, I’m pretty sure they did the same thing with the last DX release, the YF-29 Full Set. 

[Guyffon]

But before these 2 sets, I always remember them selling all their dx stuff at a slight mark up to msrp, I guess they are going the way of other shops? That said, does amiami or hlj also do this, I know cdjapan have soem that are inflated but those are labelled as proxy items

[Slave IV]

I’ve seen it happen at HLJ and AmiAmi as well but typically later after release. They usually sell out at their regular price and don’t get more after that. 

[Anasazi37]

6 hours ago, Guyffon said:

But before these 2 sets, I always remember them selling all their dx stuff at a slight mark up to msrp, I guess they are going the way of other shops? That said, does amiami or hlj also do this, I know cdjapan have soem that are inflated but those are labelled as proxy items

AE started marking up their prices a few POs back. Unlike NY, Nin-Nin, and others who start at MSRP for a popular PO and then incrementally release more units at increasingly higher prices throughout the night until they sell out or the price gets high enough that people stop buying, AE just starts at a higher price and sticks with it until they sell out. If they get more stock at a later date, like they just did with the Roy, they might increase the price if the market can bear it. They've always had higher prices for the TWE stuff they sell, but you're paying for the convenience of not dealing with a traditional proxy service. I haven't found AE's higher prices to be outrageous, but with that said, I can usually find what I want for less money somewhere else, so I haven't bought anything from them in quite some time.

[derex3592]

I'm 95% done with Macross collecting. Just reading through this thread every day confirms it. It's gotten to damn hard/annoying/frustrating and most of all to damn expensive.  It really shouldn't be THIS hard to spend my hard earned money on glorified toys which, let's face it, are only worth at most about $150. (DX VF-1's)  Good luck to all going for this line from here on out. I'm out.   

[sqidd]

1 minute ago, derex3592 said:

I'm 95% done with Macross collecting. Just reading through this thread every day confirms it. It's gotten to damn hard/annoying/frustrating and most of all to damn expensive.  It really shouldn't be THIS hard to spend my hard earned money on glorified toys which, let's face it, are only worth at most about $150. (DX VF-1's)  Good luck to all going for this line from here on out. I'm out.   

You'll be back. No one gets out alive.

Edited November 11, 2020 by sqidd

[pablumatic]

54 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

I'm 95% done with Macross collecting. Just reading through this thread every day confirms it. It's gotten to damn hard/annoying/frustrating and most of all to damn expensive.  It really shouldn't be THIS hard to spend my hard earned money on glorified toys which, let's face it, are only worth at most about $150. (DX VF-1's)  Good luck to all going for this line from here on out. I'm out.   

I mostly just get Roy and Hikaru VF-1S toys (my favorite style of Valkyrie due to the head not looking like a giant security camera). So I'm about done myself. 

Edited November 11, 2020 by pablumatic

[Mechinyun]

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

You'll be back. No one gets out alive.

 

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

I'm 95% done with Macross collecting. Just reading through this thread every day confirms it. It's gotten to damn hard/annoying/frustrating and most of all to damn expensive.  It really shouldn't be THIS hard to spend my hard earned money on glorified toys which, let's face it, are only worth at most about $150. (DX VF-1's)  Good luck to all going for this line from here on out. I'm out.   

 

[obakesan]

So bizarre thing, tried my go to score as Roy from AE. Placed order and it was confirmed and showed up my orders. Left it and today was going pay then noticed the order vanished. Now it's out of stock again 2nd time. They say pay in 48 hours but was cancelled before. The odd thing it doesn't show in my orders at all not even cancelled. Hmmm anyways 

[Sanity is Optional]

16 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Having taken an engineering manufacturing class taught by an old Toyota manager, and hearing his explanation of why Toyota doesn't stock tremendous amounts of spare parts, I can kind of understand the mentality.  Basically, Bandai is min-maxing their profits by running the bare edge of supply and demand.  

Definitely makes things hell for the customers when they don't even bother considering demand outside their "target audience" though.

Not just that, but Bandai also sells to retailers rather than customers, and retailers hate having things sitting on the shelves.

keeping the retailers happy with faster turnover means Bandai can pressure them with lower profit margins, or more Bandai control over shipment size/composition.

[jenius]

Bandai also uses hot sellers as carrots to retailers so they keep them limited to incentivize retailers to do what they want. So Bandai can say "You can order X of our premium line if you carry A of this line, B of that line, and C of another line." If the hot sellers were easy for retailers to get a lot of, there would be less incentive for retailers to carry those only 'warm' lines of toys. 

In general though, you always want to produce just a little less than the demand... it's much better to have consumers demanding you make more than it is to have your retailers bargain binning your products.