Random (101)

怨念之购
Normally I'm very excited when anticipating my pre-order to arrive. ^^ Since I don't live next to Mr. Japan, I usually get whatever new stuff he puts out much later than folks who do live closer to him. XD For that matter, there are usually tons of reviews on those new releases posted on the Internet long before I received the same item that I pre-ordered for. While reading those reviews seems like looking at movie spoilers sometimes, it doesn't actively diminish my interest for those new items. I buy what I like because I like them, not to get them faster than others. Also, I suppose I'm very used to seeing others playing with their toys before getting mine after all these years that I no longer care. ^^

However, as they say, there's always an exception to the rule. ^^; For breaking that usual enthusiasm that I have for my pre-orders, this model kit will forever be the first item that I think of: Kotobukiya's 1/144 scale Super Robot Wars OG Original Generations Gesterben Kwai [Serena] ^^;



Released in mid June, my interest in this kit plummeted when the instruction manual was shown, revealing its long list of excess parts, which I tweeted about back then:

The list of excess parts in Kotobukiya's 1/144 Gesterben Kwai [Serena] is ridiculous! >.< http://t.co/eNYX761opa pic.twitter.com/SP2Y2RX4rR

— Chang Ngee Khiong (@Ngeekhiong) June 13, 2014

That was a cropped image of the scanned part list when the kit was initially released, but seeing it in person when the kit arrived really reminded me of that initial disappointment. ^^


As a variant of the limited Gesterben, I can understand that there would be reused runners, with excess parts. I remembered the limited release of Gesterben itself was quite notorious for including many excess parts from Gespenst Kwai, and was criticised on Japanese forums for that. Then again, for being a limited release, the kit design could be just for testing the market, at least I think so when I was reading those reviews on Gesterben, which proved to be completely wrong when this regular release of Serena's Gesterben Kwai came out. ^^; On top of a couple of its own runners, everything is repeated from Gesterben for Serena's unit, including all of its excess parts. ^^;

With so many excess parts included, the inevitable question that is going to pop up is, "How much did I pay for all these parts that I don't need?" ^^; At 7,800 Yen (exclusive of tax), Serena's Gesterben Kwai is quite an expensive kit. I wonder how much the price would have been if those excess parts were removed? ^^;

Unlike Bandai's instruction manual design for their plamo kits, this Kotobukiya kit's manual only lists the excess parts, and doesn't mark them on the runners' images. To put the list into perspective, here's a look at the parts you don't need:


Runner A


Runner B x2


Runner C x2


Runner D x2


Runner E


Runner F


Runner G x2


Runner H


Runner I x2


Runner N (White)


Runner N (Black)


Runner T


Runner PC x2


Runner PC2 x2
Stats:
Total parts: 493
Excess parts: 161 (32.7%)
Needed parts: 332 (67.3%)

Basically, for every ten parts in this kit, there are three which are not needed for the actual assembly. ^^; Hypothetically, if the price is set just based on the part count, the price should be just about 5,300 Yen (67 percent of 7,800 Yen exclusive of tax). ^^;

The price part is purely for a bit of fun in calculation, since it doesn't take into consideration costs for the bigger box, design of the new molds, and other costs. Then again, it's still quite depressing to see how many parts that are not needed but still included. ^^;

Since the kit was still on pre-order when it came out in Japan, I could make the call to cancel it during that time, but I didn't because I still like it very much. ^^ The model kit itself is very beautiful, which is the main reason I pre-ordered it in the first place. This is actually the first of the many Gespenst variants that I got. ^^ For its inclusion of so many excess parts, it's the engineering of the kit that is disappointing. ^^;

On the other hand, not everything red is disappointing me right now. The assembly of Master Grade Sinanju Ver. Ka is very fun, and another recently obtained pre-order is very awesome as well. ^^