I bet we’ll see some of them actually ship over the next week. The notification was a mass one to everyone that ordered regardless of when. They didn’t separate the orders. So that was auto generated when they changed the product page.
Merry Christmas everybody. Anyway, I'd like to pose it more in different ways but once I got it in this stance, I just didn't feel like moving it anymore. I think I prefer this more if it was done on the 1/60 scale. Anyway, the money shot (or as close as I can get it to)
I like the color. I feel it's closer to the intended movie color which is bluish compared to Yamato/Arcadia's which is more greenish. Tampos could a be bit less and smaller. It does look cluttered. I prefer the tampos on Arcadia's premium finish, which makes the fast packs look cleaner overall. The legs aren't that secure in place when in fighter mode with the attachments on. The legs come off with a slight shake. Having the fastpacks have half an engine is really dumb. If it was because of the insignias, I'm sure Bandai could have found a workaround for it, probably have the front part of the engine removable as well if it will impede with the exchanging of the insignias. Are you wondering about anything in particular though? Edit regarding the tampos: the sides of the strike/super parts need less and smaller tampos. I think the top is just fine.
Thanks, mainly wondering about build quality and sturdiness, like if the armor stays attached well and if it weighs the joints down.
Bandai DX VF-1S It attaches securely and hasn't fallen off the valk. I haven't seen any stress marks on it either. I guess the only issue of concern for me is that the legs are unable to tab securely when in fighter mode.
All 4 sets of the Super/Strike Parts were delayed to April (thanks NY). I was in the first order before the markup, gotta love it.
What markup? You can still order from NY right now for less than it costs someone to buy direct from Bandai in Japan. This is clearly a case where the initial supply had some sort of issue at Bandai since I don’t think we’ve ever seen a TWE close as fast before. I’m sure any shop that was offering the service of providing TWE items was blindsided by that shortage.
I don't think Bandai is that shortsighted (eventhough they really are lol) at least in this case. The SSP is meant for all the movie valk versions (even the TV ones if one prefers). I'm sure they accounted the number of SSP for the VF-1S Hikaru in production plus a small number for other possible valks in the future for the initial release. It was just in that demand I'd say especially with the 1S release in November. TWE can sell quite quick. I remember recently the Metal Composite Wing Gundam Zero Snow White sold out quick as well. If it was a supply issue, then this would turn out like the VF-31A where numerous vendors/proxies would be having delays and cancellations of orders, which is not the case. NY just simply didn't place orders for the December release.
They didn’t place enough orders because they didn’t have time to. The orders closed in one day when most TWE items are available for months. To me, that’s a Bandai issue and I don’t even blame them for not making an abundance of Macross items. Anyways, I’m going to sit back another month or so before I order SSP and Missile sets from NY.
2nd run and unpopular TWE tend to last longer but definitely not for initial runs of popular items, which is expected. As for not placing enough orders, that's to be seen.
I think Bandai is eventually going to make more movie Super/Strike parts sets, especially once the Kakizaki/Max movie VF-1A's are announced for preorder.
Yeah, I buy all the Macross TWE and several others. I always wait until about a month before release to order and the only time that hasn’t worked for me was the VF-31A and 1st run SSP. Part of that may be just because Macross isn’t very popular. But Bandai does post the time frame that TWE orders are open for and it is usually months. Either way, I’m not worried about it but I get people wanting the parts for their 1S. I don’t even have a 1S in hand yet.
I I learned this the hard way with this particular TWE. I actually did that with the missiles and worked out great. Additionally, I found missiles on AJ at release for only $15 more than NY and shared. Then we saw the post here for SSP on AJ for $10 more and snagged those. So, my own fault that instead of collecting interest somewhere, someone else is holding my money for almost a year. All good. (Btw, April orders closed for P-Bandai on Dec 22nd.) Now, if I can visit Japan sometime this coming year and grab a prepaid Visa card, I’ll load that sumbitch to the Max (pun intended) and found a way to order directly from p-Bandai
