Bandai DX GBP Armor Set and VF-1J Armored Valkyrie

[jvmacross]

17 minutes ago, borgified said:

What happened to the role of thumb that was mentioned before - Have a back up of the same pre-order from another seller just in case if things go wrong? 

 

 

[Angesdad]

58 minutes ago, borgified said:

What happened to the role of thumb that was mentioned before - Have a back up of the same pre-order from another seller just in case if things go wrong? 

 

Ouch my bad, lesson learned the hard way.  Really, didn't want to end up with two combo sets, seeing how damn difficult it is to cancel an order..

[borgified]

For the next Macross pre-order madness: I guess it's pick your poison on which supplier to see which one will self destruct on your own specific pre-orders. 

[f-valk]

2 hours ago, borgified said:

What happened to the role of thumb that was mentioned before - Have a back up of the same pre-order from another seller just in case if things go wrong? 

 

Maybe the other seller was NY

[borgified]

I'm sure that the other seller wasn't NY... I think it was from Wish that offered it @f-valk. 

[levzloi]

I just received arrival notification from my proxy for my Armor set, I "believe" this means the second round is beginning to go out.

[F360]

yup.. the 2nd batch release date is 10-18-21

 

[kkx]

4 hours ago, levzloi said:

I just received arrival notification from my proxy for my Armor set, I "believe" this means the second round is beginning to go out.

me too, package incoming.

[Paco Grande]

I foolishly ordered this through NY. I have not been screwed by them yet so I thought my luck would hold out. But I have not received a peep from NY about this order and they ignored my ticket as usual. Normally I would have more patience, but it's NY so paranoia is kicking in.

When I check Ebay and Okiniland the prices seem high to me. Some of you were saying the prices aren't too bad for this set on Ebay etc. but I'm not seeing that. Am I just not searching correctly, or are we saying that Okiniland's price of $342 USD plus shipping is pretty good? The best price I've seen on Ebay is $392 USD including shipping from Japan. I paid $370 total from NY. I'm weighing my options because I'm thinking about doing a PayPal dispute with NY. But I ordered on May 21st so I'm only at 5 months.

I'm used to buying MP Transformers at a 30% discount from Japan so paying so much over the $288 MSRP of this set is killing me.

[apptt4]

14 minutes ago, Paco Grande said:

I foolishly ordered this through NY. I have not been screwed by them yet so I thought my luck would hold out. But I have not received a peep from NY about this order and they ignored my ticket as usual. Normally I would have more patience, but it's NY so paranoia is kicking in.

When I check Ebay and Okiniland the prices seem high to me. Some of you were saying the prices aren't too bad for this set on Ebay etc. but I'm not seeing that. Am I just not searching correctly, or are we saying that Okiniland's price of $342 USD plus shipping is pretty good? The best price I've seen on Ebay is $392 USD including shipping from Japan. I paid $370 total from NY. I'm weighing my options because I'm thinking about doing a PayPal dispute with NY. But I ordered on May 21st so I'm only at 5 months.

I'm used to buying MP Transformers at a 30% discount from Japan so paying so much over the $288 MSRP of this set is killing me.

I think new orders are going out okay, it's all the old orders that are seemingly boned.

[sqidd]

53 minutes ago, Paco Grande said:

I foolishly ordered this through NY. I have not been screwed by them yet so I thought my luck would hold out. But I have not received a peep from NY about this order and they ignored my ticket as usual. Normally I would have more patience, but it's NY so paranoia is kicking in.

When I check Ebay and Okiniland the prices seem high to me. Some of you were saying the prices aren't too bad for this set on Ebay etc. but I'm not seeing that. Am I just not searching correctly, or are we saying that Okiniland's price of $342 USD plus shipping is pretty good? The best price I've seen on Ebay is $392 USD including shipping from Japan. I paid $370 total from NY. I'm weighing my options because I'm thinking about doing a PayPal dispute with NY. But I ordered on May 21st so I'm only at 5 months.

I'm used to buying MP Transformers at a 30% discount from Japan so paying so much over the $288 MSRP of this set is killing me.

It doesn't matter how much you paid......if they never send it to you.

Apply TF economics to Macross stuff doesn't really work. With Macross stuff a lot of the time you just have to embrace the suck.

IMO the DX GBP set is worth every bit of $400 shipped. Heck, it's almost exactly the same price as the Yamato 1/48 was (adjusted for today's dollars). In reality the Bandai is quite inexpensive at retail. Paying a little over doesn't make it a bad deal.

[mech9T8]

On 10/18/2021 at 10:58 AM, Angesdad said:

Yup, NN issued full refund in a very reluctant manner at the end to close the dispute on Paypal. They closed my account as well. I will gladly share my experience because I do not want anybody here having to go through such ordeal.

Good to hear you got a refund! I submitted a ticket as well. Hopefully this ends well. 

[Paco Grande]

1 hour ago, apptt4 said:

I think new orders are going out okay, it's all the old orders that are seemingly boned.

I thought that as well, and they may just be behind on receiving this set, but they don't reply to helpdesk tickets so I'm having to guess. I'll most likely just wait a little while longer. But before 6 months is up I'll be filing a PayPal dispute.

32 minutes ago, sqidd said:

It doesn't matter how much you paid......if they never send it to you.

Apply TF economics to Macross stuff doesn't really work. With Macross stuff a lot of the time you just have to embrace the suck.

IMO the DX GBP set is worth every bit of $400 shipped. Heck, it's almost exactly the same price as the Yamato 1/48 was (adjusted for today's dollars). In reality the Bandai is quite inexpensive at retail. Paying a little over doesn't make it a bad deal.

Yeah, I have 5 of these Bandai DX bots now so I'm a little more used to it, but it still sucks. Thank you for the advice! If NY falls through I will embrace the suck and buy one elsewhere. 🙂

[Shawn]

53 minutes ago, sqidd said:

IMO the DX GBP set is worth every bit of $400 shipped. Heck, it's almost exactly the same price as the Yamato 1/48 was (adjusted for today's dollars). In reality the Bandai is quite inexpensive at retail. Paying a little over doesn't make it a bad deal.

 

Had to do the math on that-it seemed suspicious, but checks out...crazy!
Add in shipping and it is $400 in today's dollars to your door.

1/48 VF-1J Valkyrie (Hikaru Ichijo Custom) (11/2003) – MSRP 14800円
1/48 GBP-1S Armor Parts for VF-1 Valkyrie (12/2005)  – MSRP 12000円
26800 Yen combined
Exchange rate in 2003 1 USD = 115 Yen
26800/115 = $233 USD (2003 rate)

$233 USD in 2003 compared to 2021 USD
$233 in 2003 is worth $347.36 today
https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/2003?amount=233

[f-valk]

14 minutes ago, Paco Grande said:

If NY falls through I will embrace the suck and buy one elsewhere. 

Someone make apparel that says "Bandai DX Macross: embrace the suck"

I will so buy those!

[borgified]

@Paco Grande - Even collecting 1/6th figures is just as bad as getting one Macross DX honestly.  It can either skyrocket (HT Endgame Scarlet Witch on Fleabay for $1,500 USD) or have stocks sitting in the shelf (HT Endgame Black Widow at $250 USD also on Fleabay). These are just two examples as other characters are different, plus supply and demand. 

Paying 32k yen for the DX 1j + GBP combo set on pre-order was over my spending limit, however I couldn't pass over one of the famous valks in the Macross series (still in the box after getting it delivered, will get it opened eventually.) 

[davidwhangchoi]

On 10/14/2021 at 10:28 PM, betocc said:

I received a couple of Arnored VF-1Js from Okiniland and one of them is broken 😪

Have you had a similar experience with Okini? I'm going to fill a RMA and see what happens, hopefully I'm able to return it and get a new one since they have stock at the moment of writing this.

Any advice?

any update from okiniland?

 

what a crappy parts former bandai

[Sanity is Optional]

32 minutes ago, Shawn said:

Had to do the math on that-it seemed suspicious, but checks out...crazy!
Add in shipping and it is $400 in today's dollars to your door.

1/48 VF-1J Valkyrie (Hikaru Ichijo Custom) (11/2003) – MSRP 14800円
1/48 GBP-1S Armor Parts for VF-1 Valkyrie (12/2005)  – MSRP 12000円
26800 Yen combined
Exchange rate in 2003 1 USD = 115 Yen
26800/115 = $233 USD (2003 rate)

$233 USD in 2003 compared to 2021 USD
$233 in 2003 is worth $347.36 today
https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/2003?amount=233

Kind of interesting how Bandai actually ends up cheaper than Yamato, once you factor in exchange rate and inflation.

[Alex GS]

Finally! is here , and is GORGEOUS!!!

[F360]

2 hours ago, Paco Grande said:

I foolishly ordered this through NY. I have not been screwed by them yet so I thought my luck would hold out. But I have not received a peep from NY about this order and they ignored my ticket as usual. Normally I would have more patience, but it's NY so paranoia is kicking in.

When I check Ebay and Okiniland the prices seem high to me. Some of you were saying the prices aren't too bad for this set on Ebay etc. but I'm not seeing that. Am I just not searching correctly, or are we saying that Okiniland's price of $342 USD plus shipping is pretty good? The best price I've seen on Ebay is $392 USD including shipping from Japan. I paid $370 total from NY. I'm weighing my options because I'm thinking about doing a PayPal dispute with NY. But I ordered on May 21st so I'm only at 5 months.

I'm used to buying MP Transformers at a 30% discount from Japan so paying so much over the $288 MSRP of this set is killing me.

N-Y shipped out a couple of my orders that I preordered this year.    It seems mainly the black hole that is the TWE Strike parts batch 1, and batch 2 and add in with Pandemic , shipping logistic , and management stealing?, and then PayPal froze their main account.  I would say, any recent preorders should be ok, but just keep track of the 180 days paypal window.   When you say you paid $370 total,, please double check what shipping service you selected and that it is ACTIVE for your country,, if that shipping service is suspended then you need to reach out to them to change it. 

Currently the pricing from Okiniland is still consider a good price, if you want to save you can use surface mail.. but it might take like over 3 months due to the backlog at the ports.

As for MP Transformers, many of the 30% discount is gone due to most of the sites adding in either Japan sales tax or local sales tax and of course the increase in shipping cost. 

Dont let the $288 MSRP number distract you . no one can get it for that number unless they can preorder it locally in Japan..  You always have to consider international shipping if you live else where.   

 

[Gabe Q]

1 hour ago, Shawn said:

 

Had to do the math on that-it seemed suspicious, but checks out...crazy!
Add in shipping and it is $400 in today's dollars to your door.

1/48 VF-1J Valkyrie (Hikaru Ichijo Custom) (11/2003) – MSRP 14800円
1/48 GBP-1S Armor Parts for VF-1 Valkyrie (12/2005)  – MSRP 12000円
26800 Yen combined
Exchange rate in 2003 1 USD = 115 Yen
26800/115 = $233 USD (2003 rate)

$233 USD in 2003 compared to 2021 USD
$233 in 2003 is worth $347.36 today
https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/2003?amount=233

@Shawn wow you must have a math degree! Sometimes, it's hard to reconcile these crazy prices we see with these releases, but damn, they're the same old prices. We only forgot to adjust for inflation. 

[wm cheng]

How much are people paying UPS shipping to NA/Canada for just the Armored Parts only? 

NY emailed me saying my preorder is ready for shipping, but because I selected EMS (hoping that it would be ok by now), they want an additional 4,981Y to upgrade my shipping to UPS.  But in addition to 2,900Y I already paid for EMS, that's a total of 7,881Y just for shipping to Canada - that seems a bit high doesn't it for just the Armored Parts only not including the VF-1J toy itself?

[Chronocidal]

38 minutes ago, wm cheng said:

How much are people paying UPS shipping to NA/Canada for just the Armored Parts only? 

NY emailed me saying my preorder is ready for shipping, but because I selected EMS (hoping that it would be ok by now), they want an additional 4,981Y to upgrade my shipping to UPS.  But in addition to 2,900Y I already paid for EMS, that's a total of 7,881Y just for shipping to Canada - that seems a bit high doesn't it for just the Armored Parts only not including the VF-1J toy itself?

I would say yes, that seems high, but I think shipping across the boards has gone batsh!t insane.  I really don't know what a "good" price for anything is at this point.

I'm not going to say NY isn't gouging you, but 8000Y doesn't seem all that out of the ordinary right now. 

I checked back in my history, and after paying an estimated 5540Y for EMS shipping on the initial order, I got an additional charge of 3430Y when it came in stock.. so yeah, 7881Y for shipping is actually a fair bit less than the 8970Y I wound up paying for EMS.  

Edited October 20, 2021 by Chronocidal

[sqidd]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

I'm not going to say NY isn't gouging you, 

 

I will.

[sqidd]

5 hours ago, Shawn said:

 

Had to do the math on that-it seemed suspicious, but checks out...crazy!
Add in shipping and it is $400 in today's dollars to your door.

1/48 VF-1J Valkyrie (Hikaru Ichijo Custom) (11/2003) – MSRP 14800円
1/48 GBP-1S Armor Parts for VF-1 Valkyrie (12/2005)  – MSRP 12000円
26800 Yen combined
Exchange rate in 2003 1 USD = 115 Yen
26800/115 = $233 USD (2003 rate)

$233 USD in 2003 compared to 2021 USD
$233 in 2003 is worth $347.36 today
https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/2003?amount=233

[betocc]

8 hours ago, davidwhangchoi said:

any update from okiniland?

 

what a crappy parts former bandai

Nothing yet, return was submitted on 10/15/21, current status is "Waiting for confirmation" whatever that means. If they don´t reply in the next couple of days I will start submitting daily tickets.

 

[Angesdad]

10 hours ago, mech9T8 said:

Good to hear you got a refund! I submitted a ticket as well. Hopefully this ends well. 

In the last email from them there was a mention of things start shipping this week, but I decided not to go with their BS because my time's up on Paypal. Hopefully you get your copy in time. You know the dude on Kijiji is selling at 540 CAD right now, so tempting but I managed to source another one and would really like to pay more for it than 540..  EMBRACE THE SUCK!

Edited October 20, 2021 by Angesdad

[treatment]

8 hours ago, wm cheng said:

How much are people paying UPS shipping to NA/Canada for just the Armored Parts only? 

NY emailed me saying my preorder is ready for shipping, but because I selected EMS (hoping that it would be ok by now), they want an additional 4,981Y to upgrade my shipping to UPS.  But in addition to 2,900Y I already paid for EMS, that's a total of 7,881Y just for shipping to Canada - that seems a bit high doesn't it for just the Armored Parts only not including the VF-1J toy itself?

 

UPS?    They still don't offer EMS even though it's been open and avaiable for some time now?  Weird.

That said, 7881y is quite expensive and quite high for just the Armor-parts, but that's prolly just regular rate for UPS individual/non-corporate rate. 

btw, how many did you actually ordered from N-Y?

fwiw, I just paid AE for mine for 4414y, and I thought that was a bit exhorbitant already.  They use some local-company but shipping is really handled by DHL, anyway.

It was also a bit funny at AE that both their "Fast" shipping and "Economy" shipping has the same 4414y rate.

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by treatment

[Angesdad]

8 hours ago, wm cheng said:

How much are people paying UPS shipping to NA/Canada for just the Armored Parts only? 

NY emailed me saying my preorder is ready for shipping, but because I selected EMS (hoping that it would be ok by now), they want an additional 4,981Y to upgrade my shipping to UPS.  But in addition to 2,900Y I already paid for EMS, that's a total of 7,881Y just for shipping to Canada - that seems a bit high doesn't it for just the Armored Parts only not including the VF-1J toy itself?

Hey @wm cheng, I am paying 8210 yen with DHL for a combo pack, based on a box dimension of 46 x 32x 25 cm and probably 3.5-4kg. They may be using a bigger box to protect the item?

[mech9T8]

3 hours ago, Angesdad said:

In the last email from them there was a mention of things start shipping this week, but I decided not to go with their BS because my time's up on Paypal. Hopefully you get your copy in time. You know the dude on Kijiji is selling at 540 CAD right now, so tempting but I managed to source another one and would really like to pay more for it than 540..  EMBRACE THE SUCK!

If I get my money back I’ll prob buy from the guy on Kijiji. 

[F360]

Shipping by EMS is still suspended  for Canada ..

 

N-Y's UPS international shipping rate have always been expensive.... .. so its really nothing out of the norm for that one from N-Y.  

Can't really compare it to the lower DHL discounts from other stores, .. even some other proxy have better UPS rates than N-Y.

I see that Surface is still available for Canada so maybe you can use that?  but it might take 3-4 months due shipping by boat.  

 

[no3Ljm]

3 hours ago, treatment said:

It was also a bit funny at AE that both their "Fast" shipping and "Economy" shipping has the same 4414y rate.

Help me out here, @treatment. I'm finally going to have my DX TV Super Parts shipped from AE which I ordered last year. And I'm not sure which method to choose. I know I'm not in a hurry. But we do all know we don't want to pay too much for shipping. So should I choose 'Fast Shipment' for Y4389 or 'Economy Shipment' for Y4340? 

 

 

 

 

[Angesdad]

1 hour ago, F360 said:

Shipping by EMS is still suspended  for Canada ..

 

N-Y's UPS international shipping rate have always been expensive.... .. so its really nothing out of the norm for that one from N-Y.  

Can't really compare it to the lower DHL discounts from other stores, .. even some other proxy have better UPS rates than N-Y.

I see that Surface is still available for Canada so maybe you can use that?  but it might take 3-4 months due shipping by boat.  

 

I pray to EMS gods to show mercy and resume services to Canuckland.

1 hour ago, mech9T8 said:

If I get my money back I’ll prob buy from the guy on Kijiji. 

That's a BIG if... Seriously this guy's price is alright because most likely I will have to cough up extra $20 on top of that to get my copy at the end. (anticipating 70 CAD for duties and processing fee by DHL)

[borgified]

I think EMS will be suspended to Canuckleland for quite some time longer @Angesdad. 

Why are some people still getting their Macross fix via NY (as your crap out of luck on older DX releases) and also on Nin-Nin?? We've been dropping warning signs to everyone here while some people are still simply just ignoring it, sealing their fate and getting torched by flames. 

[wm cheng]

Thanks all, I guess things have gone up.  At least I know its not a total gouge, but just a small profit.  I know about the shitty luck with NY - but they've never failed me yet and they are my last resort.  Thanks for the feedback.  I just got lucky from HLJ for a model that I sent via SAL and it arrived in a week and a half.  The problem with UPS or FedEx is that I'm guaranteed another $30-$40 in brokerage, customs & duty in Canada.