Forum - View topicWhere to buy anime figures?
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Porcupine
 Posts: 1033 |
|
|||
|
What size figures is the opening poster referring to in general? For moderately sized figures (that come individually, usually 1/8 to 1/6 scale for people figures) I agree that Hobby Link Japan is a good source and I get many things from them. For gashapon smaller figures that usually come randomly packaged I don't have a good online suggestion and am always on the lookout for better sources. I mainly buy my gashapon in real life, where I'm lucky enough to have a cheap store that stocks most things, the only thing though is that they can only stock so much and it always sells out fast so occasionally I can't get the figures I want.
I recommend against using Toys N Joys, located in Hawaii, for online purchases. They do a lot of business online but before you decide to shop with them I strongly recommend you type their name into the Better Business Bureau's website. They have among the worst BBB ratings I have ever seen and their BBB reputation is well-deserved. In real life their store functions better (they can't rip you off in real life, since you are there physically) but they seem kinda shady and at times disorganized, and the prices aren't that great, so I only buy stuff from them on very rare occasion. Note that Toys N Joys sells tons of bootlegged animes and such. But 99% of their figures are genuine so you shouldn't have to worry about that. Ebay used to be really good but for the past 2 or 3 years they've been pretty lousy. I will still check them from time to time, but the prices are too high these days and hardly anything is worth buying anymore. I think it's because Ebay has been cranking up the seller fees to the point where it's no longer profitable for any legitimate sellers to do business on Ebay. It's mostly just crooks now, and a lot of the figures you will get there are illegal bootleg copies. In the last 2 months though I noticed Ebay started to crack down on these, the result being that many (not all) of the bootleg sellers are gone now but of course it's more obvious than ever before how few real sellers are still on Ebay. Randall have you ever tried Yahoo! Japan Auctions? That's probably the best place by far to get stuff, especially since Ebay has become unnreliable. But I've never used them once. I wanted to get stuff from them several times before but it is difficult or impossible to use them if you don't live in Japan.  Easiest way I know of is to use an "escort service" where someone will help you bid there. But that's so much of a pain plus the end price will naturally be ballooned....
There are so many Gundam DX RAH figures, I used to look at them but I gave up and lost track after a while. I think I know which one you are looking for now (I checked the current Ebay auctions...it's the $100 one including shipping I think). I'd never seen it anywhere before, sorry I can't help. |
||||
|
||||
|
Monster in a box
Posts: 671 |
|
|||
|
Sorry to necro this thread, but that's where I got this link, so it seems appropriate.
I was going to order something from this site https://www.tokyofantasy.com/index.php?osCsid=0e94e3b561d72347431c661e344273b3 But I saw something about Customs / Import taxes. They said they had no control over them, but didn't specify how much they would be. Does anyone know what that's all about? I'm a little nervous about ordering from them now knowing how much I might wind up having to pay... |
||||
|
||||
DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
|
|||
In most countries, packages are often charged a customs tax when they arrive in-country, that must be paid prior to picking up your package. However, this is a non-issue if you live in America- I know we have a customs tax, but the value needed to trigger it is so high, it's not going to affect your everyday buyer (more for re-sellers than anything else.) I know I've never dealt it with it personally, but I've seen many a discussion by the non-US members of my pinky street forum trying to figure out how to avoid the customs tax. You can check the Post office website for more info- but if you're living in the US, you're safe. 
|
||||
|
||||
|
Monster in a box
Posts: 671 |
|
|||
|
Ah. I had a feeling it was something like that, but I wanted to play it safe. Thanks.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
|
|||
|
The place I shop primarily for figures is a site called HobbyFan.com. They carry more resin kits than PVC models but everything I've ever ordered from them has been top quality and the service has also been spotless.
|
||||
|
||||
Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
|
|||
|
Has anyone had any dealings with Toys Logic? There are a number of awesome PVCs coming out that I'm wanting to get, which they offer, but I've never had any experience with them. I'll check the other sites mentioned here too, but I'd like to know about this group for future reference.
Thanks for any help! |
||||
|
||||
|
Porcupine
Posts: 1033 |
|
|||
|
I think I've ordered a couple resin kits from HobbyFan.com long ago but I can't remember anymore.
I thought that I should point out though that HobbyFan resins are pretty much all high-grade bootleg kits. HOWEVER, almost all resins that you can buy are bootlegs. The garage kit industry is not at all like the anime industry. It's not really bad in my opinion to buy and build high-grade bootleg resin figures, this is often the only way of obtaining the figure. Completed PVC figure bootlegs, which are a big problem on Ebay, are total crap though and should be avoided like the plague. HobbyFan.com doesn't sell PVC figure bootlegs, all their PVC figures are genuine. They essentially follow the same code of figure ethics as I just described, IMO it's a good one. But there are those people who say that resin bootlegs are bad too, so I just thought I'd mention it. |
||||
|
||||
Ink Nijihara
 Posts: 19 Location: Los Angeles California |
|
|||
|
I visit anime retailers here in Los Angeles. I only go to 2 for anime figures: Anime Jungle in Downtown L.A.'s Little Tokyo area and Power Anime in West Los Angeles.
Anime Jungle is actually 1 of 2 retailers that exist. The other is located in Osaka Japan. |
||||
|
||||
Emerje
 Posts: 7338 Location: Maine |
|
|||
My understanding is that the garage kit "industry" is held in the same regard as the dojin "industry" in Japan. As long as the numbers are limited and the profits (after production costs) are minimal to non-existent they're allowable. Some times these items even get endorsed (but not necessarily supported or promoted by) by the license holders (though I'm sure it's extremely rare). Nothing at all like the US where corporate suits will send out C&D orders sue against anything that resembles their trademarked images. Emerje |
||||
|
||||
|
True
Posts: 2 |
|
|||
|
http://www.over-drive-inc.com has some nice figures, although a lot of it is preorder stuff. Prices are cheap and the shipping was fast from Japan.
|
||||
|
||||
|
Porcupine
Posts: 1033 |
|
|||
But what you say is true and good that you pointed it out. Even many genuine garage kits are unlicensed, just like doujinshi. However it's actually not the same thing as what I was talking about. What HobbyFan.com is selling are bootleg versions of even garage kits. They have been re-cast and copied without permission of the original figure sculptor. Furthermore the recasts are being sold for profit. In some cases the original resin kit has been "licensed" in a sense, in other cases the original resin kit has not been (but could always be in the future). You can probably see why some people might take offense at this. However, from my point of view even what HobbyFan.com sells is a positive thing, because garage kits are so rare that it is often only possible to obtain the figures in such a manner. Furthermore in terms of quality they are just as good, sometimes higher quality than even the original garage kit or licensed product. If you read Replicant or Hobby Japan or other figure-building mags they often have these articles denouncing the bootleg figures that sites like HobbyFan.com sell and have pictures showing the lower quality of the cast. But the quality of the bootleg recast totally depends on who does the recast. From what I've experienced the quality of HobbyFan.com and other Hong Kong lightweight "white" resin recasts is even superior to the commercial resin kit when it becomes available (how can this be I dunno, they must be obtaining a really low-generation original copy somehow, even lower-gen than what the Japanese professional companies manage to get their hands on). But the quality of other people who do bootleg recasts is usually somewhat worse than the original to complete laughable trash (and these are what is shown in the Japanese magazines). |
||||
|
||||
Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
|
|||
I love how Otaku Video represented the garage kit industry. I think like in the OAV General Products was being a bit different by making things official and taking garage kits to a new level. I'm not sure though and I just deduced this from watching the video and I wonder how most companies stand on the issue.
December 2003:Flay, Cagalli, Lacus These figures seem to have larger heads then later releases and also have these lame leg braces to help them stand. The Cagalli with gun figure is one of my all time favorites. February 2005: Lunamaria, Meirin, Stellar The hat on the Meirin figure refuses to stay on her head. Fortunately she looks fine without it. October 2005: Athrun, Lunamaria, Meer This is the start of the smaller head figures. February 2006: Yzak, Lacus, Stellar Despite being one of the later kits this is the Lacus kit that is near impossible to find. I think I will buy the three pack despite owning the other two figures since it tends to go for only a bit more than the Lacus kit by itself. May 2006: Lunamaria, Meer This release only featured two figures. The Lunamaria one comes with extra parts so you can have her with the helmet or without. November 2006 Lacus, Flay, Cagalli The Haro on the Lacus figure is placed lightly on her hands and doesn't seem to want to stay there. Mine ended up rolling behind the television, so I will need to fish it out sometime soon. I think there is also a limited edition Shin DX, but am not positive that it is not a bootleg since none of the reputable sites have it for sale. There are other kits that seem clearly to be bootlegs with boxes that don't match that I've seen on eBay. |
||||
|
||||
|
otakumitsukai
Posts: 5 |
|
|||
|
I run my own online store, I wont praise it or anything but I will say every customer has had their order shipped to them on time and I make sure everyone is happy.
I am distributed by AAA Anime so you can know that the stuff i sell is official licensed material. =3 http://otakumitsukai.com Check it out if you want. But just thought i would drop in here and let you all know. =3 |
||||
|
||||
PrettyCranium
 Posts: 25 |
|
|||
|
Has anyone had any experience with Kirin Hobby (www.kirinhobby.com)?
|
||||
|
||||
stevek504
 Posts: 216 |
|
|||
I have been watching the site for a while now and just completed my first purchase from them. A Stray Little Devil - PAM PVC Figure (TL142277601). Paid with PayPal. Good email communication (Order Confirmation, Ready to Ship, and then Shipping Notification w/tracking number). Product arrived in just a few days and was packed well. |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group