Ohh, I thought that is the way the ticket should be submitted. At least that's what I did and got the super fast response. Actually my missile set just shipped. As in the shipping label was created. This will be my first order from them.
I passed on the Low Viz too, I could’ve bought Tom’s years back but I prefer 1 in 1/60. I’d buy 1 if Bandai makes a DX low viz but there’s probably a higher chance they’ll make something outlandish like an offscreen Waikure VF-1 or Ranka’s red VF-1 from the 2nd Macross F movie. I do like how Yamato was the 1st to incorporate a waist swivel on a perfect transformation VF-1 toy with their 1/48. Limited sure but the fact that you didn’t need to remove the legs from the swing bar to enable it was clever.
So...I finally got around to opening this up and putting the armor parts on. I'm happy to report that I did not have any of those problems mentioned here. But I did keep that in mind as I was transforming it from battroid mode straight to fighter. Here's some pics of it in fighter mode (please excuse the somewhat sloppy transformation): Next here is where I focused some attention on: The vertical tabs where the leg armors sits on. I had to manipulate the legs to make sure it lined up and then pinched the leg armor to the back plate together to make sure the tab on the back plate sat as snug as it could into the holes of the leg armor. Or rather I tried to make sure the leg armor was as flush as it could with the back plate. I had to do this without the booster packs on. Afterward, I put the booster packs on, and it seemed alright...so then I did the "shake weight" test (sorta...but not at "vigorous" as they do it in the commercials ) In short, I tried to make Hikaru air sick with some "manufactured turbulence." I'm happy to say....as I held it for a few, the legs did not droop. Now whether or not it will start drooping with more playing around with...I dunno. But for now it's pretty solid. Then I just put it back to battroid mode: As you probably already know, the emblems are not stickers (thank goodness!), but they're caps that can easily be swapped out: As for any other thoughts on this. They were very easy to put on just like the old Yamato 1/48 SSP armor pack. The difference is with the booster packs on the back of the battroid/top of the valk. They rely on a brace type part you attach the boosters to, and then you slide it underneath the backpack and then you also have horizontal tabs you have to tab into the backpack to secure it. But so far my initial thought are...I'm actually liking this way more than the old Yammie SSPs...but maybe that's because of all the glorious tampos on there as you can see Oh, and yeah, I almost forgot my one gripe I had with the Yammie 1/48s. The Yammie 1/48s by themselves stood just fine without the SSPs. However, when you add them on, I had trouble with their knees giving out (them bending over and falling over forward) on every single 1/48 Yammie valk I had...and I had to "fix" that so that their knees would be more stiff to hold up the extra weight. But with the Bandai DX valks...no issues. I'm assuming it's because Bandai used better engineered knees. Now to bring on my last two sets so I can put em on Kakizaki, Max 1A (which would eventually be transferred to Max 1S if that's ever made), and Roy's 1S from DYRL I could have bought one for Hikaru's DYRL 1A (I can't imagine them not making one? )...but I like it on the 1S instead.
Now that I didn't try as I didn't transform it into gerwalk mode. I might have to do that later and see how my copy holds up.
Ya know? I haven't imported stuff outside of AJ for a while now. Even before this whole covid thingy. So, anybody here in the US still importing from the regular shops (ami, hlj, manda, etc), how much are their respective shipping-rapes nowadays? Not sure if the Sahra-shop on Manda is an exception among Manda-shops, but I just checked them on something and their DHL-shipping estimate seems to start at around 8750yen or so. Yikes!!!
@treatment I've done some orders from Mandarake via DHL recently. Sahra uses pre-calculated rates, so what they list is what you pay. The shops don't list the shipping rates and they calculate it for you based on the actual package size and weight. I have found that ordering from the shops generally gets you a lower rate, the only tradeoff is that it may take a few days, even up to a week, before the item actually ships. Mandarake uses various standard size boxes and DHL seems to charge more by volume than weight (at least for lightweight things like toys and books), so it just depends on how big of a box they need. I got these orders all in the same size box: a DX YF-29 and a magazine, shipping was 4350 yen (Sahra lists shipping for a YF-29 at 8550 yen) A Yamato VF-1 1/60 SSP set and magazine, 4130 yen (Sahra lists shipping for the SSP at 5350 yen) Two 3P deluxe-ish size figures, 4130 yen. Two 3P deluxe-ish size figures and some small figurines, 4130 yen. And these in a smaller box: VF-31F drakken set and a magazine, 2080 yen (Sahra lists shipping for the Drakken set at 5350 yen) Two magazines, 2080 yen So if there's a figure you want, getting it from one of their storefronts instead of the warehouse could save you significantly on shipping. IMO $20-$40 for delivery sometimes in just 3 days is not a lot to pay. EMS was usually about that much too. otoh, if you are buying something in a humongous box like an HMR Monster, or Yamato 1/48 VF-1, the shipping will be ridiculous.
Im avoiding Anime Export because they dont ship any other way besides EMS/SAL and I have about 8 figures stuck there right now plus whatever is releasing in July, August, and September . Mandarake is fine and HLJ as well. I started going with the regular shops as well. A figuarts in a small box was ¥3600 at Sahra and the shop charged me 1380. Just ordered two figuarts and effect pieces a few days ago and shipping was ¥1680 DHL. I preferred Sahra before but even when EMS gets back to normal i think ill go with the shops because ive probably been overpaying on shipping this entire time.
I got a few items that shipped right after the lockdown from Mandarake and NY and those took longer than normal. As for price, the only things I’ve ordered from shops that shipped since was from CDJ and they charged slightly less than AJ which was low 2000s range for DHL compared to mid-high 2000s DHL at AJ. This was for a couple diecast models. Other than that, I continue to use NYs ferry option for any orders I can. I have stuff at HLJ and Okiniland that I won’t ship because I refuse to pay the additional cost they are asking. HLJ quoted I think something around $40-$50 to ship some items that cost less than that combined. Okiniland wanted an additional $15 or so to ship a single action figure. So for those I’m just going to wait until regular shipping opens up or they give me a better option. I’ve stopped ordering from any shop that doesn’t have available shipping methods or only has expensive options. The tip about not using Sahara at Mandarake is good to go by but I haven’t used Mandarake since I got my last items from them mainly because I don’t want to go through the trouble for either of us if I get a quote I’m not willing to pay and have to cancel.
You should create a Tenso address and just have them ship there. From there, Tenso will ship DHL if you ask. AE allows you to have 2 addresses. This is what I did for my DX missiles. You pay a little extra so just depends on how bad you want those 8 figures ha. My two missiles were like $7 USD to ship to Tenso. Tenso takes like $5 USD as a fee and then it was like $42 USD for DHL. Mind you, the missiles are small boxes.
If anyone needs to know more about how carrier charges for shipping, just Google "chargeable weight" or "Dimensional weight".
Can anyone tell me where this belongs? It dropped out when I transformed SV262 back to fighter mode. I'm afraid it's gonna be on stand in fighter mode forever now...
I think in my previous reply, I misread what you were asking. Hopefully this is what you wanted to know.... In battroid mode, I just now took a second or two and pulled down the legs so that they're full extended. Given the pose I had it in (which was practically standing straight up), it still stood tall and proud No falling over or bending over due to the weight of the SSP attached.
Just doing some window shopping on eBay and stumbled across this Dx YF19 which all you guys know is on my Want list. Something about this listing is setting me Spidey/Isamu Senses off. Macross YF-19 DX Chogokin Full Set Pack Bandai (USA Seller, Isamu Dyson YF19) 4573102550613 | eBay Tempting but ive already spent my funds for this month lol.
