Emote from twitch

 

Ah, ok. Thanks.  

 

Well I went ahead and preordered at BBTS for $265. Here’s my thought process: he’s the same size as Dinobot, same complexity, same stand, for $15 less. And I paid full price for Dinobot and didn’t feel very cheated. So I’m 100% fine with the full price for Screamer this time around.

 

Dang it! Well if I have to I will order from Anime Export then if the situation doesn't change by Friday.

 

I honestly don't think I'd be able to settle on any one of those faces as my "default" face to display him with. So much character in each of them.

 

I know others have said Anime Export is reliable but have they ever address the fact their site is not secure?

Also, once they give you a shipping rate do you have to commit or can you cancel?

 

I’m going by memory since I haven’t order with AE in a few years. Here goes; When you order with AE, you have to pay upfront (within a day or two). When the item arrives in stock months later, it sits in their stock room until you are ready to request for it. Just like BBTS has their Pile Of Loot, you can accumulate stuff and ship it out together to save on shipping cost. They’ll usually hold your stuff for about 90 days or more. So when you are ready to ship your items out, click on all the items you want sent and request a shipping total. In a day or two, an email will give you the usual two options SAL (slow, cheap) or EMS (fast , pricy) but during COVID, you get what they give you. If you change your mind, I think they can just put the items back if you ask them (nicely) to but I remember reading someplace that they REALLY don’t like that. In order to get an accurate weight and rate, they box up your item and ready it for export. It’s not something you want to do more than once. If anyone else has a different understanding of AE’s rules, please chime in.

 

Just know that regarding MPs, you will receive zero customer support from them if you have a problem. Like, not even reply to your email level. They may entertain a return that you will likely not do because of the huge cost of shipping that you, not them, will pay.

Missing pieces? Too bad.
Broken out of the box? Sorry.
Missing paint apps? Bad luck, bud.

What you get from AE is the cheapest price for product, and sometimes the shipping is pretty good compared to others. And that's it. Which is enough, if you aren't too picky and know this before you purchase.

You'll hear about how they'll be helpful only if you speak to them with the utmost respect, that it's a Japanese thing. Well I'm here to tell you that approach will get you a reply. Like, one. After that, crickets.

It happened to me three times before I decided to stop shopping there. But they always had the best price and packaged quite well, never any damages.

I feel bad for anybody who got a bum MP44 or broken Hound from them. I wasn't going to take that chance, so I advise BBTS or someplace similar stateside that will at least listen to your concerns...especially for any sytemic MPs with known QC issues.

Oh, and of course, you pay for the product up front. Shipping cost comes after the toy is released. Shipping for me was always quick, relatively speaking.

Paypal may provide some protection, but if you choose to use it, you can bet your bottom yen that they will delete your account and you won't be able to buy from them ever again. What's the old saying?...fool me once? Twice? Thrice?

Just be aware of these things and good luck on however you choose to go.

 

I pre-ordered him from HLJ.

Do they charge shipping before or after they ship?

Please and thanks.

 

After

 

Okay.

Would a rough estimate be possible?

Thank you.

 

You can choose shipping and when.

 

It has now changed to pre order paid after i sent them a message,thanks

 

Still catching up as I was away for the weekend, but still wanted to post.

Man you're on a roll. First predicting Hound and now MP-52's price. Who needs insider knowledge when we have you around?

As for stripes on the tailfins, the character model doesn't have lines for the thick horizontal parts of the stripe that I've seen in some of the colorings people have done. The Ark (book with the character models) is all line drawings none of the models where actually colored in, so I'm not sure what the sources are for the colored in ones (not sure if they're all fan colored or not).

That's interesting. I wonder if they'll be stickers on the final release. I hope not as I still haven't put mine on Shockwave.

Looks like you can see where part of the jet cockpit/nosecone area goes in robot mode in these pictures (look for the gold/shape of the radar). I wonder where the nosecone is? Looking at the shooting picture, the radar looks closer to his left side, so maybe the nosecone is on the right side folded in the open position.

 

Good eye! Nosecone might be on a double hinge and neatly fold 180 degrees.

 

Haha! I forgot I had predicted Hound, good memory!  


Okay, folks, here's an update on my communication with Amajon Japan about Starscream's availability through them. In my follow-up email I had asked if they might have any information about why that item's AJP listing sold out so quickly. The response I received was from a different customer service rep than my previous email. This one contained a lot of apology that I needed to email twice and it contained this info:

So, from that response it does seem like they may start to sell it (again).

I guess for the moment we just wait and see.

Such is the life of a collector.  

 

Well documented journey of our experience here on this thread, but...
You left out the MP11 proto magazine scan that an unfortunate member shared as being the new Starscream. Ah, memories.
Thanks hype master Sam!

 

I’ve been wondering about that too. That countdown window is getting closer and closer. If they do restock MP-52, will they reset that cancellation cutoff date?

The mystery continues…

 

That howler monkey expression he comes with looks ridiculous, it's borderline blow-up doll-like.

 

Somebody may want to ask just in case, but I think in the case of shipping, if the shipping price decreases, you can contact them with proof your being charged a different price and theyll change it. I'd assume it would be no different for someone with an original po and the next batch of po is discounted further.