...and to think that I paid about $90 for mine... *headbutts.wall* Gah!

Still, most of the time pre-ordering Japanese toys works out well for me because the aftermarket prices either tend to remain stable or appreciate afterwards... but God Ginrai was one case when the price just came crashing down.

Another time when pre-order kinda backfired on me (kinda) is when I pre-ordered Encore Metroflex and eHobby GADEP (Guardian Robot)... because just as they came out the Aussie Dollar plummeted (it was around the time the GFC happened), meaning that I ended up paying a lot more for those toys due to losing out through a crappy exchange rate. And apparently Encore Metroflex shelf-warmed in a lot of Asian stores afterwards (great). Ah well.

Overall I do like pre-ordering because I do pay the regular retail price (which is fine), it just sucks if there's a massive sale later, but that's only ever happened with God Ginrai; I've never seen a reissue sell for so cheap under import prices too! (but that was because Takara seriously overproduced that toy driving its value down) -- I already pre-ordered Encore Devastator months ago... I'd rather have the security of getting the toy as soon as it's out rather than risk not getting it later and possibly having to waste more time and money finding it and paying more. The paying more part especially displeases me. ;p

But honestly, if Devastator turns out to shelf warm and the prices get slashed later... meh... I'm happy to keep the pre-order and pay full price. Another thing is that I do get the toy earlier... Ginrai didn't get discounted to that price until a lot later, like maybe a year or so after it first came out? I know some people are patient enough to wait months or years to see if the price will drop to get a toy (it could work for Jetwing Prime and Ultimate Optimus Prime) - but then again, I'm not too good with waiting. Also, I think $90 is a fair price to pay for a MISB God Ginrai reissue. Whereas I thought the original asking prices for Jetwing and Ultimate DOTM OPs were too high, so I waited until they got cheaper before buying them... and I can understand it if some people are still waiting to see if they'll get any cheaper (they're both still massively shelfwarming).

But yeah, every time I think back to seeing God Ginrai at Modellers World for $20 each... I regret not picking up another one (or five ). This thread makes Goki a sad panda.