The Energon Pub

Hello,

Just placed an order with HLJ for the first time and I'm wondering how they work. I placed an order for MP-17 and MP-18. My question is do they charge you in JPY? if so then you're preorder price kind of changes depending on the exchange rate at the time it is in stock no?

Also how much is shipping generally to the US (NYC to be exact)? Does HJL do what Robotkingdom does? for example RK charges you $59.90 for MP-17 and Charges you around $21.11 for shipping. When you add MP-18 to your order they charge you $36.85 so they don't really give you much of a break in shipping.

Thanks in advance!

mooncake623 wrote:Hello,

Just placed an order with HLJ for the first time and I'm wondering how they work. I placed an order for MP-17 and MP-18. My question is do they charge you in JPY? if so then you're preorder price kind of changes depending on the exchange rate at the time it is in stock no?

Also how much is shipping generally to the US (NYC to be exact)? Does HJL do what Robotkingdom does? for example RK charges you $59.90 for MP-17 and Charges you around $21.11 for shipping. When you add MP-18 to your order they charge you $36.85 so they don't really give you much of a break in shipping.

Thanks in advance!

First thing you need to know right now, is that Hobby Link Japan does NOT guarantee pre-orders, and especially not late pre-orders. That's why they don't make you pay in advance. They will drop (latish) pre-orders as they like, and if yours is dropped, you will only find out AFTER they've come into stock and they have been shipped. They will do everything they can not to get stuck with stock, and this often means overselling pre-orders.

I got burned by pre-orders two years ago, with a couple of United items (Kup, Wheeljack, Tracks, Scourge). I had pre-orders in, but while everyone seemed to be getting theirs, I was waiting... and waiting... Until I contacted them, and they replied, basically saying: "You're SOL". Ironically, the only pre-order that did come through for me from them was the United Rumble / Frenzy pack, which eventually seemed to be the hardest to get. Still, I had to resort to eBay for the others I missed out on.

That was the very last time I pre-ordered anything with HLJ. However, more recently, people also got burned with their HLJ pre-orders for MP-15 Rumble / Jaguar. I make it my mission to warn people about HLJ's sucky service and complete unreliability. To add insult to injury (and related to your question): with another single order I made with them, for two reasonably sized, but not huge, Yamato Macross Valkyrie's, they had the idiotic idea to send them in two separate packages, each costing me exactly the same, with double customs taxes when they came across the border.

So as far as I'm concerned, Hobby Link Japan sucks giant balls, and they can go to hell. Get in a more secure pre-order elsewhere, now you still can.

alldarker wrote:

mooncake623 wrote:Hello,

Just placed an order with HLJ for the first time and I'm wondering how they work. I placed an order for MP-17 and MP-18. My question is do they charge you in JPY? if so then you're preorder price kind of changes depending on the exchange rate at the time it is in stock no?

Also how much is shipping generally to the US (NYC to be exact)? Does HJL do what Robotkingdom does? for example RK charges you $59.90 for MP-17 and Charges you around $21.11 for shipping. When you add MP-18 to your order they charge you $36.85 so they don't really give you much of a break in shipping.

Thanks in advance!

First thing you need to know right now, is that Hobby Link Japan does NOT guarantee pre-orders, and especially not late pre-orders. That's why they don't make you pay in advance. They will drop (latish) pre-orders as they like, and if yours is dropped, you will only find out AFTER they've come into stock and they have been shipped. They will do everything they can not to get stuck with stock, and this often means overselling pre-orders.

I got burned by pre-orders two years ago, with a couple of United items (Kup, Wheeljack, Tracks, Scourge). I had pre-orders in, but while everyone seemed to be getting theirs, I was waiting... and waiting... Until I contacted them, and they replied, basically saying: "You're SOL". Ironically, the only pre-order that did come through for me from them was the United Rumble / Frenzy pack, which eventually seemed to be the hardest to get. Still, I had to resort to eBay for the others I missed out on.

That was the very last time I pre-ordered anything with HLJ. However, more recently, people also got burned with their HLJ pre-orders for MP-15 Rumble / Jaguar. I make it my mission to warn people about HLJ's sucky service and complete unreliability. To add insult to injury (and related to your question): with another single order I made with them, for two reasonably sized, but not huge, Yamato Macross Valkyrie's, they had the idiotic idea to send them in two separate packages, each costing me exactly the same, with double customs taxes when they came across the border.

So as far as I'm concerned, Hobby Link Japan sucks giant balls, and they can go to hell. Get in a more secure pre-order elsewhere, now you still can.

thanks for sharing your experience with everyone. I wonder how many people this happened to. Is there a way to cancel your preorders with them?

also does anyone have any good experiences to share? Their prices are just so tempting..

Thanks

::EDIT::
I see you can cancel orders. I suppose I can just keep them until release date and cancel once they aren't filling my orders.

I never had a problem with any order or pre-orders I made with hlj. And everything was always packed securely.

Concerning pre-orders, I always made mine on the first day they were available and always got the items. You can cancel your pre-orders at the order page.

Never had a problem either.

My biggest gripe with HLJ is since their website revamp, it's harder to find early bird stuff and get pre-orders in early. Plus they're not carrying TF's like they use to.

Same here - I've never had a problem with preordering from HLJ. That said, I've always gotten in early on preorders and I've been fine.

I only order from them as a last resort. If you have Paypal, well it's as simple as filling up a survey form. If they charge in yen, input in yen and your currency will be automatically converted.

Also, they chrage higher than the other online shops. Their website interface also sucks.

Try pre ordering early. Given that MP 17/18 is all sold out.........

And as for combining, they now have a sort of pile of loot mechanism so you may want to inform them if you want to combine shipping.

fenrir72 wrote:Try pre ordering early. Given that MP 17/18 is all sold out.........

They're what now?

Sold out already in most online shops. Given that sometimes they aren't too dependable as stated by other posters.

I've been ordering stuff from HLJ for about 8,5 years now, and i've never had a problem with them. i always put in pre-orders as they come available on the site, and with their website revamp i now have a POL feature too, which i like.
The website change does make it harder to find specific stuff, i admit