MP Lambor/Sideswipe

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:10 pm

I'm doing this wrong, aren't I? I should be demanding the real thing for the knockoff price, shouldn't I?

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 10:43 am

By UK standards, as long as you get in a preorder at HLJ or Anime Export, price before shipping is around 30 to 35 GBP.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:50 pm

Before shipping... before customs... before getting on the magic roulette wheel of Takara quality control (seriously, I've had fewer problems with Chinese bootleggers)...

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:35 pm

How much are customs for that, actually?

I have had this idea for some time now, to organize bulk European orders to my house in Greece [where customs are almost non existent] and ship them out to UK/other European addresses if the cost is worth it to other people.

Though that might take some time to organize since I'm in the UK now...

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 3:41 pm

Knightdramon wrote:How much are customs for that, actually?

~£25 usually. Not a problem with dodgy HK sellers who mark as gift worth £10; big problem with legit businesses; I think every HLJ order I've ever done's been caught, I just started factoring it in in the end.

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 10:23 pm

Hmmm...so my idea could be profitable enough to work.

Will try to figure out the logistics, but if customs are around 25 pounds on top of shipping and all that, then it is cheaper to pay for (discounted, since I'll have things in my orders as well] shipping to Greece and then to UK.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 2:07 pm

Okay, it has arrived.

On the figure - very good, which was a pleasant surprise (no offence, but some of you think Generations figures are good). Transformation isn't over-fussy, size is good, alt mode looks like an actual car (paying money for other people's ideas has upsides, Takara!), good range of poses, nice extras, some inventive little bits of engineering. Only flaw is the shoulders - am I doing something wrong or do they just float there half an inch back from where they're meant to be?

On the KO - well, you can tell it's a high-end KO. Paint's a bit feely and doesn't feel hugely robust. Lambo badge is just a smudge (though at first glance a spare from the G1 version would cover nicely) and the text on the rear is both dicey and spelt wrong (though that I can personally give or take). Seems well-enough made; felt a bit fragile first time around (too stiff) but that probably goes for the TakaraTomyTackyTakeaway version. Basically the obvious trade-off for paying half price. Also had the Amazon chrome piledrivers (well, copies thereof) included.

Seriously tempted by one of the dodgy Red Alerts now.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:58 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:(no offence, but some of you think Generations figures are good).

At least you respect our opinions.

Never really felt the shoulders were off on mine, and the official one is surprisingly sturdy (more at the Grimlock end than the DEAR GOD WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MEGATRON?!?!?!?! side). Still, for the price looks like you got a bargain.

And answer your PM's once in a while!

The Reverend · Post by **The Reverend** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:18 pm

Dunno if anyone's seen it yet, but BBTS' text on their site says that the second production run of MP Sideswipe (March) "the QC issues present in the initial release of MP-12 should be resolved for this production run."

Good news if you hadn't gotten it yet, but its kind of annoying that you never know if you should plunk down for an MP when it gets released.

numbat · Post by **numbat** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 9:07 am

What QC issues? Thankfully mine is perfect.

But, yeah, would be nice if you were pretty much guarunteed a functional MP figure on first release: that's why I've never bought Rodimus, just too risky!

The Reverend · Post by **The Reverend** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:38 am

As I recall, paint app and assembly issues (panels not fitting together, misassembled hips...)

Knightdramon · Post by **Knightdramon** » Tue Dec 24, 2013 1:59 pm

The only QC issues present on the first runs were some paint overspray on various parts, or "paint bubbles that totally ruin the figure 1mm below the read fender".

My Sideswipe is actually much tighter than the Red Alert I have [both first run japanese releases].

Both have looser joints than the uber stiff Datsun mould.