Otomofan
Super Freak
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2009
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Is there a way to buy stuff off of Amazon JP for shipping to the US? Wondering what's the best vendor to go with for this figure + the bike whenever they put it up. BBTS is charging like $330 for him. HLJ has him for $250 but shipping will probably be like $70 anyways.
Expect to pay around $250 to 300 for Kaneda and $500 to 600 for the bike when preorders hit the US. I'm assuming BBTS's price for Kaneda is on the higher end of price range.
It's funny, I was just giving my set a cleaning today and Kaneda's outfit it looking really sorry. Lots of cracks and seams and parts are even starting to deteriorate completely. I was kinda bummed, but just thought...hey...this thing's been on display for ten years...it's life.
Then I saw the listing on amazon and got my preorder in IMMEDIATELY. I want a nice new Kaneda with fresh bright red clothes without cracks in them!! Expensive? Sure. But I got the original brand new for $100 and he served me well, so he did his time and can retire to the box.
Now thank god my bike is in good shape. Still nice a red....no scuffs...all electronics work. Other than the slight "greying" of the tires I'd be goddamn sorely tempted to pick up another. But considering the retail in Japan is 60,000 yen......that's a tough pill to swallow, pun intended. Not only that....ten years ago you didn't have the Chinese/Hong Kong bots buying these up in seconds. I don't see how anyone's gonna get their hands on one without paying through the nose. Remember the SOC G0Lion reissue fiasco.
Thankfully, I'm content with my bike. But an upgrade for Kaneda came as just the right time. Sadly, this is Medicom, so it'll be the same lousy, cheap, and fragile materials that will degrade over time again...but at least for a year or two it's gonna look nicer.
Now....where are the 1/12 scale options, damn it???
About a year ago amazon was the best bet....but covid ruined everything. Now even third party sellers can't use EMS from the Japan Post office, so in other words: if you're outside Asia this is gonna cost some INSANE amounts to ship. The figure will be bad, but the bike will be astronomical. Assuming you can even get an order in for it, that is.
Sorry to be such a downer on xmas no less, but the high end Japanese collectibles market is in a very bad place compared to when this toy originally debuted a decade ago. And now all the advantages to go scumbag resellers that will charge HUNDREDS, maybe even double retail, just to ship that enormous box.
Kaneda was originally about 18,000 or so, so he'sgone up $100.
Bike was initially 39,900 so it's gone up 20,000.
My originally batteries are still holding up....I turn em on and off all the time to give them a little "charge" and all the lights and sounds works as well as the day I got the bike.
It would be in an interesting idea to customize the older Kaneda figure into where he's wearing the pants and boots and glove, but nothing but a yellow t-shirt. No idea where I'd get a t-shirt though.
Barring some kind of horrible QC, this is gonna make the original Kaneda more affordable cause we all know his outfit is rotting, even in a sealed box. I wonder what affect it will have on price on the bike though. I'd love another but there's no way in hell I could afford one. From the looks of things, the special cowling and stickers are NOT being reissued.
That'd be amazing to have one bike with "plain" cowling next to the other with the regular tampos.
I still really really want that Wonderfest 2000 Kaneda but I don't have 2 grand to drop on the rare occasions hes up for sale.
If it's unopened, I can't imagine much could be wrong with it unless you stored it in a ridiculously hot and humid place for all these years.
I've had mine mostly out on display for about ten years, but I live in Japan. During the summer months, the heat and humidity is brutal, and I can't leave the AC on 24/7, so I'm sure that exposure was bad for it.
All the plastic on mine is just fine, and all the lights and sounds are still perfect. Some of the diecast has a bit of oxidization, but it's all covered by the plastic so that's no big deal.
The worst parts on mine are the rubber hand grips. Both have cracks, but they've also both been in the figure's hands for most of that time. The rubber seat on mine is all right, but I've heard people complain about "swirling" in it.
The tires on mine are kind of greyed....I honestly can't remember if they were a robust black when the toy was new. I imagine they were. I've cleaned the tires over the years with some light soapy water but I've never applied anything stronger cause I'm afraid of melting them. They're not REAL tires, after all...just some cheap unknown rubber. I've just come to terms with the fact that they'll never be shiny and black again, and any attempt to do that might end up making it worse.
There was one pic I remember somewhere way back in this thread that was just awful....someone had a huge bubble form in one of the tires. Thank goodness that hasn't happened to mine cause I have no idea how you'd fix that.
I'd love to pick up a brand new, factory fresh bike but $600 is just utter insanity for something I already own.
In fact, I know I really should cancel my preorder for the Kaneda figure reissue. Is it really worth almost THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS to replace something I already have with an identical version that will have slightly brighter colors? I gotta come back to reality and talk myself outta that....
Anybody know where the bike will be available for PO?
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