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Hey, Answerman! - Abnormal Activity 2


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InnocentSorrow59



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 156
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:08 am Reply with quote
Yeesh... I know how the figures guy feels.
A figure of Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia: about 100 dollars plus shipping since it's imported.
Am I going to buy it? Most likely. Does the price kill me? Hell. Yes.
Meanwhile just as detailed and beautiful One Piece figures go for about 50 dollars.
Makes me wish Vesperia was popular...
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:31 am Reply with quote
InnocentSorrow59 wrote:
Yeesh... I know how the figures guy feels.
A figure of Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia: about 100 dollars plus shipping since it's imported.
Am I going to buy it? Most likely. Does the price kill me? Hell. Yes.
Meanwhile just as detailed and beautiful One Piece figures go for about 50 dollars.
Makes me wish Vesperia was popular...


I'm in the same boat. My wallet was very angry at me a few months ago because I finally broke down and bought several Dead or Alive figures that I had been eying and hoping that the price would come down. But I suppose figures wouldn't really be collectibles if they were common and cheap. And I learned long ago that you usually get what you pay for when it comes to figures.
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CG-LOVER



Joined: 22 Mar 2010
Posts: 355
Location: East Lansing, MI
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:32 am Reply with quote
3 shows that elicited an emotional response? What sort of emotion are you looking for here?

Well, first and foremost the show that got the greatest emotional response from me so far is also my favorite show. And that is Code Geass (I teared up at the end).

Now when I think about two others I realize that the ones that got the greatest emotional response from me may not necessarily be my absolute favorite shows (though they are both admittedly in my top 10).

The other two are:
2. Now and Then, Here and There
3. Ga-Rei Zero
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:34 am Reply with quote
Along with the scarcity factor Brian already mentioned, the shipping cost to import figures is another big consideration in collecting for the majority of us who don't live in Japan. I'm sure that for super-popular series (i.e. the shonen juggernauts, etc.) domestic vendors are a lot more willing to import a big box of wholesale merchandise for resale because they know it'll move. And while the freight costs are factored into the resale price, the cost per unit to ship a large number of items is significantly less, thus reducing the sting a bit and obviously helping to keep the already-lower prices down. But... I wouldn't trade 10 Naruto or Bleach figures for my single Natsume Yuujinchou figure and that is a fact.

(And speaking of Natsume, I think I shall respond to the Answerman question for the first time ever.)
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:54 am Reply with quote
poonk wrote:
Along with the scarcity factor Brian already mentioned, the shipping cost to import figures is another big consideration in collecting for the majority of us who don't live in Japan.


It's part of why I only buy from retailers in America. I'm sure I get hit with the cost anyway, but at least the shipping doesn't look outrageous. On the downside, it does limit my ability to find what I'm looking for by a lot.
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jyuichi



Joined: 26 Jun 2009
Posts: 125
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 3:46 am Reply with quote
poonk wrote:
. But... I wouldn't trade 10 Naruto or Bleach figures for my single Natsume Yuujinchou figure and that is a fact


Since I can only find evidence of one Natsume Yuujincho figure (the AmiAmi exclusive) I'll asssume that's the one you have?

I am insanely jealous of you right now Sad I've been eyeing it but with the yen how it is...
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 5:00 am Reply with quote
On the topic of figurines and prices. There is also the possibility of a "made to order" policy of sales of the really niches figures. That too is also very pricey, but has the added value of extreme rarity to the resale value of the figure in time. Sure you have to pay $100 for it new, but in a few years it could be worth up to what ever the reserved price might attain at auction. But also keep in mind hobbies of any kind can be expensive to the young and unemployed, that's why you need to study hard, concentrate on getting good grades, then get a degree in a chosen profession that has job prospects so you can make lots of disposable income to buy any figurine you want. It's just another of life's goals. Now get out there and score! Wink
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7328
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 5:32 am Reply with quote
Greed1914 wrote:
poonk wrote:
Along with the scarcity factor Brian already mentioned, the shipping cost to import figures is another big consideration in collecting for the majority of us who don't live in Japan.


It's part of why I only buy from retailers in America. I'm sure I get hit with the cost anyway, but at least the shipping doesn't look outrageous. On the downside, it does limit my ability to find what I'm looking for by a lot.


Actually, shipping prices is a major factor in why I don't buy from American retailers. I always get a better deal after shipping on things I buy directly from Japan even in this economy. For example, I just paid for the new figma Dead Master figure, it cost me $37 after shipping from AmiAmi via unregistered SAL (I've been using SAL for many years and have never lost a package). Big Bad Toy Store, arguably the biggest non-corporate domestic toy retailer, has her for $42 BEFORE shipping. That's how it is with most domestic importers. Why? Because not only do they have to pay to ship the item from Japan, they also have to deal with a middle man that orders these for them causing them to loose their retailer unit prices. After that's all said and done they still have to make a profit so the price climbs yet again. Then there's that pesky exchange rate. The big 3 exporters (HLJ, AmiAmi, and HobbySearch) don't have to deal with any of this and can sell directly to customers, in fact they can charge way below retail (anywhere from 5% to 20%+)because 1) they buy enough in bulk, and 2) they don't charge Japanese sales tax which is normally included in the price. Here's the big kicker, going back to my Dead Master purchase, the Japanese price on her is 3,000yen with tax, my price was 3010yen after shipping ($37) so I effectively paid the exact same price the Japanese do at retail. How can I complain? It's the exchange rate that's killing me, but I got a great deal!

Seriously, if you want to save money then shop around and do your homework. Shipping from Japan is dirt cheap, sometimes even cheaper than domestic shipping) if you know your options and don't mind waiting an extra two weeks (chances are if you're serious about the hobby then you've already waited several months to a year and another two weeks aren't going to kill you) you'll be doing yourself a favor by buying direct from Japan.

One thing I didn't notice Brian pointing out, but should have (forgive me if he did and I didn't notice) is that EVERYTHING cost more in Japan than in the US, that's just the way their economy works and what their markets can support. DVDs, video games, figures, it's all expensive stuff in our eyes, but we aren't the target buyers for this stuff. Similar items manufactured for the US are considerably cheaper than the Japanese market price. Figures are no exception to the rule that we all know is true for anime DVDs. A similar figure to figma or Revoltech manufactured for the US market would be around $15. Don't believe me? Take a closer look at the Walmart toy aisle. G.I.Joes are doing some crazy stuff with their articulation these days, some even come with extra heads and all of them are loaded with accessories that rival any figma, but have an MSRP between $6 and $8 and the quality is excellent. A few years ago when the first live action Transformers movie came out Hasbro came out with a line called "Robot Replicas" that were non-Transforming figures with imitation Revoltech Revolver joints. The quality wasn't that great, but they were only around $8 at the time. Of course both of these are examples of Hasbro's in-house licenses being used and the sizes aren't quite the same, but a licensed figure wouldn't be so different, just look at the stuff Hasbro is doing with Star Wars figures!

OK, I've said enough. Suffice to say there are deals to be found and where you buy is important. When you buy is pretty important too, pre-orders are a wonderful thing! The longer you wait in a rabid collectors market the more you're going to get burned.

Emerje
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:09 am Reply with quote
That might work in the US, but here in the UK anything imported over the value of £18.10 is slapped with a VAT (Value Added Tax) charge of 17.5% (soon to be 19% in January) plus a flat admin fee of £8 on top, which will probably go up as well. (ouch) But luckily we have our very own Tokyo Toys.com Wink
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edzieba



Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 704
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:54 am Reply with quote
I usually gamble with Customs. More than half the time, a package won;t get inspected (and thus no VAT), saving more on average than buying pre-imported goods from a reseller, who not only have to pay VAT every time and thus pass it on in the price, but have their own cut to take too. Because this cut is usually a percentage, with cheap goods (<£10) it's usually worth paying the extra £1 or so for an importer to go through the hassle of acquiring the item, but for anything more pricey (e.g. any MG kit, a soundtrack, a DVD/BD, etc) doing the legwork yourself (and dealing with an escrow service if necessary, though it often isn't) will inevitably be cheaper.
Quote:
Akira, [...] Ghost in the Shell - you'll notice that there is absolutely nothing "Western inspired" about them.
I'd mention the obvious Cyberpunk influences, but then Cyberpunk was partially inspired by the densely packed neon-illuminated cityscapes of Asia, so it's a sort of inspirational Möbius-double-reach-around.
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Melanchthon



Joined: 02 Oct 2010
Posts: 550
Location: Northwest from Here
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:24 am Reply with quote
Ooooo, a question about figures? This is relevant to my interests.
I love collecting figures, and in the last three years or so I've managed to amass a few. But they are very expensive, and I've had to set a strict budget with them (only one per credit card billing cycle). I purchase only from American or Japanese locations, mostly for protection against bootlegs. And like the Mr. Answerman said, the scarcity of these figures is very high. I like to check out the Store Updates page on Rob's Corner Store, which will tell you exactly how many of each figure was imported. For most figures, its generally between 2 and 6.

Pricing on figures is related to scale as well. As a guideline, a 1/10 scale should run about $30-60, a 1/8 scale $70-110, and don't expect a 1/7 or 1/6 to cost less than $120.

My advice to aspiring collectors with limited financial resources is this: build a budget and set spending limits, and scout out what's releasing soon and prioritize what you want. There are a few collector fansites out there (I like Tomopop, personally), which can inform you on upcoming drops, and you can use this to plan out a purchase schedule. Right now, the only item on my Obtain list is Kotobukiya's 1/8 scale Alicia Melchiott, (approx January release), unless I break down and buy Alter's upcoming Tsumugi release. It's all about the eyebrows.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:44 am Reply with quote
Brian, could you clarify what an honest emotional response is? An emotion we're not faking or something? Do you mean a strong emotional response? Or a positive one? Or the one the series intended? I'm very confused. And please, don't say "genuine," that's another meaningless term I hear thrown around.

Because if it's strong emotion, then you'll get a couple of series that provoked rage in me* as well joy and tears.




*Chrono Crusade and Koi Kaze, which you should all know if you pay attention to me on the forums
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Gilles Poitras



Joined: 05 Apr 2008
Posts: 476
Location: Oakland California
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:41 am Reply with quote
I used to complain about Japanese figurine costs until I walked into a comic book shop and saw the much higher prices on (often lower quality) American figurines.
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InnocentSorrow59



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 156
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:17 am Reply with quote
Greed1914 wrote:
InnocentSorrow59 wrote:
Yeesh... I know how the figures guy feels.
A figure of Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia: about 100 dollars plus shipping since it's imported.
Am I going to buy it? Most likely. Does the price kill me? Hell. Yes.
Meanwhile just as detailed and beautiful One Piece figures go for about 50 dollars.
Makes me wish Vesperia was popular...


I'm in the same boat. My wallet was very angry at me a few months ago because I finally broke down and bought several Dead or Alive figures that I had been eying and hoping that the price would come down. But I suppose figures wouldn't really be collectibles if they were common and cheap. And I learned long ago that you usually get what you pay for when it comes to figures.


-sigh- Yeah... It's hard to resist the charm of figures...
I love Tales of Vesperia to death, and seeing as how the chances of the price going down are about as likely as Hell freezing over, I guess it's worth the price. The figure looks well made and it's detailed (from his face right down to his boots). It made me fangirl. A lot.

So I guess I'm getting what I pay for (or hopefully I am).
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doctordoom85



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2091
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:48 am Reply with quote
Naruto and Bleach figures for $20? Well yeah, maybe cheap trading figures or something along the lines, but good quality PVCs from either series made by Megahouse (which has done quite a few Bleach figures. Sadly only two Naruto figures, while Kakashi is awesome, I roll my eyes that Sakura, my least favorite character nowadays, is the other one. Give us Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Shikamaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Pain, Konan, etc., not HER!) will cost $50 and sometimes close to $100.

Not to mention, it often depends on how long the figure has been available. If you're looking for figures (legit, not bootleg) on Ebay or somewhere that have been out-of-print for a while, don't be surprised if they cost $100 or even as much as $250. I had to pay $120 for my Rika Furude figure which had gone out-of-print, but I consider it worth every penny as I had to have at least ONE Higurashi PVC and all the others were fanservice which I do not buy. Too bad Rena, my favorite, only has one good PVC (the original, and good luck getting that at a reasonable price now), and poor Mion, my second favorite, has very few PVCS and all of them are fanservice. Mad

Mainly I wished I had picked up Kamina, Kino, and Lelouch before they went out-of-print.

Ben, my man, you're using JOE QUESADA as an opening quote to an argument of how fans should be ignored? You REALLY don't see how that actually hurts your argument? I dunno, maybe you just haven't read a Spider-man comic since 2007, it's the only explanation I can think of. "One More Day" is perhaps the most triumphant example of where the writer (well, not the writer in this cast, more like a control-freak editor-in-chief) SHOULD have listened to the writers instead of his own personal feelings, and that's not the only time where Quesada has derailed canon and characterization in favor of what HE wants the status quo to be. Him being "out of the business" would not result in many tears from the fandom, I guarantee you that.

Plus, you're picking on anime sequels but leaving out any positive examples. Nanoha A's is usually considered better than Season 1. Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya was well-received. Higurashi Kai, K-On!!, Spice and Wolf Season 2, most UC series, Gundam Wing Endless Waltz, Negima?! and the OVAs, Rebuild of Evangelion (and End of Eva for that matter), FMA Brotherhood, Bebop movie, Hellsing Ultimate, etc. I could go on, but you see my point. Releasing more of a property has been a good thing a good deal of the time.

Quote:
I myself have a few ideas that would've helped Bleach


IMHO Sam, Bleach has become so weak in the last two years that almost ANY fan probably has a few ideas that would save it from the dark tunnel it keeps digging itself in.

Kayla, I'm going to have disagree with you on Faye and Yoko. In terms of fanservice characters, I think they both dress more "conservatively" when compared to genuine fanservice characters (which do annoy me). Heck, Yoko puts more clothes on after the time-skip.
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