http://www.dutycalculator.com/

pretty good tool, it's quite accurate

Yes, you do. Here in Germany they make us pay about the same as the regular VAT so my guess is it works the same in the US.
However, it MIGHT happen that you get lucky and you don't have to pay anything. Happened to me before!^^
In a way you have always paid for that though, even when you ordered a kit from a store within the US. Because these stores had to pay the customs fee as well so they re-include that in the final price in their store.

Thanks! Now I can place my order ^^

Not necessarily, costum rules are not everywhere the same. franchise limits also differ per country. EU custom franchise rules do not apply in the US and visa versa, besides there are numurous treaties between countries when it comes to import and export.

America isn't socialist Europe, I've never had to pay any custom fees on the dozens of kits I've ordered from HLJ/Amiami/R10 etc. 'Murica, hell yeah! :D

(Yes, I'm kidding about the socialist part.)

So.. If I order from Hobby Link Japan, and order with like EMS, then I won't get charged any customs fee since I live in the US? :confused:

I think I might have try them out for getting some MG kits then. I have seen their prices and they tend to be cheaper than a lot of stores in the US. But I realize that the increased price is from the hobby stores having to import kits themselves so that costs them money.

Hm..

MG Deathscythe EW
MG Deathscythe Hell EW
MG Shenlong EW
MG Sandrock EW
MG Heavyarms EW
MG Tallgeese EW

Those are the kits that are out now that are on my radar. So unless I or anyone else can find me a better deal on those guys than HLJ compared to other US based stores, I think I might try HLJ.

I'm just concerned about:

a. delivery time (takes long)
b. customs (paper work, might get charged a fee, might get held at customs, etc)

Last time, I ordered from HLJ years ago, I made the order with FedEX. It was like 4000 Yen, but some idiot marked it as $4000.00. It was basically a bunch of Gundam Markers and some SD kits I think. I got it because it was on sale. Then I had to fill out some paper as well as informing them of their screw up. That was too damn annoying.

EMS is incredibly quick. I also live in the US and when I order using that speed I get the kit in 3 to 4 days.

I never have any issues with customs and you shouldn't have any either if you are getting Gundam and it's supplies.

I might have to try HLJ later with EMS shipping.
I think by the time I have some money to spare, I would hope that their kits go on sale...like a lot... I have those MG Wing kits I want to get. =)

(Deathscythe, Deathscythe Hell, Heavyarms, Sandrock, Shenlong, Tallgeese)

I use SAL most of the times, takes a good week (Japan>Europe) but I'm never in any rush.

EMS really is quick. The package leaves Japan within 24 hours after they picked it up at the HLJ HQ. After that it really just depends on how quickly it gets through customs and how quickly the american delivery service gets the package to your doorstep :P
Without the whole customs bullcrap my MG Nu Ver.Ka would have arrived at my place within 4 days.

Speaking of MG Nu Ver.Ka, I just finished building the body itself, only the accessories are missing now.
It really is an amazing kit! I am very happy with it!^^

Based on what I hear.. The Fin Funnel parts are the worst parts of this guy. They don't stay on the backpack very well.

If you've tried to mount all six of them on the backpack, it will be frustrating and they will fall off all the time. Fortunately, it comes with a display stand. I leave three funnels on the backpack (and they stay on very well), and shoot the other three off the included parts for mounting them. The key here is creativity: if the funnels aren't going to stay on, it's possible to launch all of them all at once :)

Dynamic tag cannot be rendered. (PrintableThread)
PS: I think someone was asking me about panel-lining the model. I've been too busy with academic commitments to do that, sadly.

There are ways to fix the funnels. Top coat to make the connection tighter, a little sticky tack, putting some of them on the display stand instead of on the backpack...
It's a model kit, not a toy. Sometimes you have to be a little bit creative to make everything work :P

Got to say I'm honestly quite surprised that Tallgeese II really is a Wing release over an EW one. Though I guess it does leave Bandai an option to actually release a Tallgeese II EW in the future after it's proper reveal and depending on how this one does.

Weird having it only the second offical Wing Master Grade though.

What I'm afraid of is if Bandai will release many Wing TV MGs as exclusives. I imagine what they've done to Talgeese II they'll do it again for the TV version of MG Tallgeese I, MG Heavyarms and MG Epyon (and maybe others :upset:).

Well I could certainly see Tallgeese 1, it would be extremely simple.

However I don't see many others because of the needed remolding for things. At least when it comes to the main Gundams. The closest would be Deathscythe TV as it was very close to the regular EW so they could get away with minor alterations.

That said, Mercruis and Vayete do have me worried. As it stands Heero is still pretty popular and his suits seem to perform well, Trowa isn't nearly as well off and I could easily see them releasing Merc and then swapping out the Crash Shield, Beam Pistol, and Planet Defensors for Vay's backpack and rilfe then throw it up as an online exclusive.

Here's how I see this situation..

The Tallgeese MG coming out as an online exclusive is their way of testing out to see if people like the TV designs or just choosing the 1 enemy in its TV form to do an MG in... kinda like how we never got a TV release of the MG Epyon, but the changes are so minimal it doesn't matter.

In that sense, I don't think we're gonna be seeing TV versions of the Wing suits as MG's aside from a MG Wing Gundam Zero (TV).

I think what we're end up getting is:

Wing Gundam Zero (TV)
Wing Gundam (EW) Remaster
Wing Gundam Zero (EW) Remater
Tallgeese III EW
Nataku
Sandrock Kai EW
Heayvarms Kai EW

I think that'd be it.

And then maybe they'll do more exclusive releases for like the:

Vayate
Mercurius
Serpent Custom
Leo
Ares

Those are 7 MG's from Wing that I think we'll see in 2013.

Aside from that, I've been noticing Gundam 00 getting a lot of appearances through games, Metal Build, Fusion Works, etc. So I suspect we'll see a resurgence of 00 MG's in the form of:

Exia R2 (w/ R3 parts)
Avalanche Dash Exia
Astraea
Astraea Type F
00 Qan[T] Full Saber
00 Qan[T] ELS ver.

Age on the other hand. I dunno...
We just need:

Age-1 Gransa (w/ Zefuld Launcher & Glastron Launcher parts)
Age-2 Normal Special Forces
Age-2 Double Bullet
Age-3 Normal
Age-3 Orbital
Age-3 Fortress
Age-FX
Age-FX Burst

That's 8 MG's that we'd need to "complete" the MG Age line.

IMO Deathscythe TV & EW is very different. Just compare the EW MG and TV 1/100. At least they have to remold all of the outer armors, the weapons, and the entirety of the head. That'll make too much new mold for an online exclusive.

As for MG Mercurius and Vayette, yeah I agree.

They would not send out a test that was doomed to fail. Treize has a dedicated fan base, but it's small and his suit is a repaint. The idea that they would use it to test the waters for a TV version of anything baseless because it just wouldn't happen. Bandai wants things to sell.

That aside no way we get 7 more unique Wing Master Grades this year given we are up through April already and that would need a new MG to come out at around 1 every month and a half.

Also forget the game thing. Nearly every Gundam is shown off in the games, and even major game releases in Japan (aside from UC) even being a cover/starring series doesn't mean shit when it comes to the Model line. If it did we would have seen alot of Turn A and X given their lead roles in the last three SRW Z games.

Just noticed that prelim images of the HGUC Banshee Norn show it in black rather than the dark blue of the OVA version, hopefully that's the case for the final release.