Transformers in Japan [Archive] - Ozformers Transformers Club of Australia (otca.com.au)

sanbot

27th May 2008, 01:44 PM

I didn't want to hijack Funkyaw's thread so I started a new one.

Mods, feel free to chuck this into his/her thread if its not appropriate.

I'll be going to Japan for 2 weeks in October but will be stopping over in Singapore for a day or 2. Its a while away I know, but I would like to incorporate my trip plan with places that I can buy transformers :D

Is it worth getting anything in Singapore, or would Japan have pretty much everything Singapore has plus more?

Also, would I be right in saying that I should be able to find all the transformers I want in Tokyo? The only place I can think of is Akihabara, are there other parts of Tokyo worth mentioning?

iceburn

27th May 2008, 02:20 PM

I replied this in funkyaw's thread

Are you able to head down to the city??
How much are you willing to spend and what are you particularly looking for??
Movie? G1? Others....if you're unsure, its hard as going some places might take a whole day. If yes...i'll continue.
Maybe you wish to look at that thread of where to shop in Singapore while people can recommend places to go in Japan here...

funkyaw

27th May 2008, 07:24 PM

I would recommend going to Akihabara in Japan.

There are a lot of little stores in the main street that have a lot of stuff - including some rare G1 items.

Prices can vary and i found that the majority of the stores preferred cash over credit (and the places that did have credit facilities did not accept Australian mastercard/visa despite having mastercard/visa signs).

sanbot

28th May 2008, 12:44 PM

Thanks Iceburn/Funkyaw.

Anybody able to comment on whether its worth shopping in both Singapore and Japan? I would much rather do all my shopping in one country, that way I won't have to carry it around with me.

roller

28th May 2008, 01:26 PM

im not a mod yet, so i dont feel that this thread is inappropriate

take lots of money, trust me

sanbot

30th May 2008, 11:34 AM

So anybody able to recommend whether I should shop in both Singapore and Japan? My preference would be to just shop in Japan in terms of convenience but a TF fan must do what a TF fan must, so if you people think Singapore has something to offer that Japan doesn't then I'll have no choice but to buy in Singapore. :p

roller

30th May 2008, 02:55 PM

i personally believe Singapore would be better to shop at.

Its smaller and the toy shops are not too hard to find

whereas Japan is big big big

plus in Singapore its easier to find both Hasbro and Takara products, whereas Japan has mostly takara stuff, not that i was complaining :) better quality

Tetsuwan Convoy

31st May 2008, 05:00 PM

Depending on how much time you have, a stroll in the local area might find a goody, but of course that is a random option. I found a good one in the "burbs" with some sweet stock, but that was 8 or so years ago now...

Pulse

31st May 2008, 05:07 PM

Pulse's advice: bring plenty of extra dollars for spending on both...

A) TFs &
B) another suitcase :p

sanbot

3rd June 2008, 01:18 PM

Hmmm from the sounds of it, looks like i'm gonna have to make singapore part of my return leg of the trip then, suitcases in singapore should be cheap right?

mann o mann i gotta start saving, damn rent eating away my precious $$$ :mad:

RokDog

4th June 2008, 01:12 PM

Depends where you are in Japan, in Tokyo definitely hit up Akihabara, it's like a suburb dedicated to all things nerdy ;)

To look through everything in Akihabara, set aside at least two full days and make one of them Sunday... thats when a lot of freaky people come out. Don't be afraid to head above the ground floor, you'll find a heap more stores. There's one particular store that is on the ground floor and has heaps of G1 stuff, loose and boxed.

I personally preferred Osaka for TF shopping. For anything that was current, they tended to be ~10% cheaper. Head over to Namba station and look for signs pointing to Denden Town or Electric Street... it's basically another Akihabara, but smaller, bout a day and a half will cover it. I found less G1 stuff here, but at the far end of the street there is a shop that dedicates a whole floor to TFs and carries a lot of rare stuff.

With all the stores that are there, make sure you shop around before buying as prices can vary a lot, even between stores that are right next to each other!

Hasbro stuff is pretty insanely priced... Classics were all the rage when I was over there, with Jetfires going for ~AU$100. Takara stuff is cheap as, so do your Takara shopping in Japan and Hasbro shopping in Singapore.

sanbot

11th June 2008, 11:39 AM

Thx for the suggestions Rokdog, I will definately keep an eye out in Osaka as that is one of the places I will be visiting.

kurdt_the_goat

11th June 2008, 12:03 PM

Do you happen to know the name of the store at the end of DenDen Town? Or if it was was a small chain or big store?

kurdt_the_goat

25th July 2008, 10:46 PM

STL

25th July 2008, 11:49 PM

Have fun. Me jealous. Re-reading Rokdog's post, I so just wanna skip Botcon next year and venture to Japan for a week. I'm sure it'd beat 10 dealer rooms!

iceburn

26th July 2008, 12:00 AM

Just a bump! Leaving for Japan next Tuesday so i'm gonna be hunting around Den den town for TF's for the first time (last few times i was just looking for video game related stuff). Anything around that area people can point me to?

Have fun Kurtd...say hi to my fellow Singaporeans... :P
surprising I wish I was going japan but I've sort of a direct source now cos when I bought my Crystal Convoy, the seller's friend who mailed it actually from Japan wrote me his contact. I'll probably try emailing and see what response I get e.g. Henkei Wildrider? *winks at STL*

STL

26th July 2008, 12:06 AM

Have fun Kurtd...say hi to my fellow Singaporeans... :P
surprising I wish I was going japan but I've sort of a direct source now cos when I bought my Crystal Convoy, the seller's friend who mailed it actually from Japan wrote me his contact. I'll probably try emailing and see what response I get e.g. Henkei Wildrider? *winks at STL*

*winks back* :p

ChlorHex

26th July 2008, 02:17 AM

hey shazam,

I'm very familiar with the toy scene in Singapore and I'd recommend you try to squeeze in a Sunday for Singapore when you stopover there.

Every Sunday at China Square Central (somewhere in Chinatown) there is a gathering of toy sellers much like what we have here in Perth (Nexus) just that the amount of stuff (bots) would be heaps heaps more.

Sellers will be trying to out do each other to clear off their stock so you'd need to bargain. Most times for current items, the rate is actually less than the yen price (for japanese toys) stated on the boxes.

Check out my blog (http://dat70sdude.blogspot.com/) as I've done an extensive coverage (i think!) of the places you can head to to shop for bots in Singapore.

Good luck! :)

iceburn

26th July 2008, 03:36 PM

Zippo

26th July 2008, 10:29 PM

Thanks for the link. Going to be a good time in September!!
I don't think that the $7k I have saved so far is going to be enough to cover my want list.

Pulse

26th July 2008, 11:40 PM

I don't think that the $7k I have saved so far is going to be enough to cover my want list.

How much can you get for a kidney? :D

ChlorHex

27th July 2008, 12:29 AM

Thanks for the link. Going to be a good time in September!!
I don't think that the $7k I have saved so far is going to be enough to cover my want list.

What do you intend on getting?
$7k is heaps of money, mate! :)
You'll need to bring along HUGE boxes to be able to ship your purchases back!
Unless of course you're eyeing on all those VVHTF exclusives like gold MP-01 or a MISB Grand Max... those babies cost a bomb! :D

Zippo

27th July 2008, 02:48 PM

What do you intend on getting?
$7k is heaps of money, mate! :)
You'll need to bring along HUGE boxes to be able to ship your purchases back!
Unless of course you're eyeing on all those VVHTF exclusives like gold MP-01 or a MISB Grand Max... those babies cost a bomb! :D

Well, im going to looking for MISB/MOSC G1 as well as any items from the past 5 years that I wanted but never bothered to get. Probably also be tempted by some loose stuff, as well as the current releases..

iceburn

27th July 2008, 03:27 PM

Definitely go to the CSC on Sunday as well as Excelsior Centre (Basement)

valkyrie_76

27th July 2008, 04:15 PM

Hrmmm been ages since I have been to Singapore but Im hoping to go there sometime by the end of the year and then next year going to Japan so I might have to hit you guys up for some places to go to.

Zippo

27th July 2008, 05:48 PM

Definitely go to the CSC on Sunday as well as Excelsior Centre (Basement)

The Excelsior Centre is my first stop!! When I was there in 91, I stayed at the Excelsior Hotel. Pitty I was 10 and into Matchbox cars then.

Hopefully the CSC will be open, since i'll be there on Formula One Race Weekend.

ChlorHex

27th July 2008, 06:02 PM

The Excelsior Centre is my first stop!! When I was there in 91, I stayed at the Excelsior Hotel. Pitty I was 10 and into Matchbox cars then.

Hopefully the CSC will be open, since i'll be there on Formula One Race Weekend.

It should be open... think the shops close only on selected public holidays and most open till 9pm on weekends.

With the current exchange rate at around 1AUD to 1.3SGD, you'll be having a jolly good time shopping! :D

Zippo

27th July 2008, 06:27 PM

It should be open... think the shops close only on selected public holidays and most open till 9pm on weekends.

With the current exchange rate at around 1AUD to 1.3SGD, you'll be having a jolly good time shopping! :D

Im the only New Zealander on the forum, so its more of a 1:1 exchange rate.
Still good enough for me

sanbot

20th October 2008, 11:45 AM

Hi Guys,

I'm in Japan atm and as luck would have it the exchange rate is terrble! 70yen to the AUD!

So I will be visiting denden town in Osaka and Akihabara in Tokyo.

What kind of prices should I expect to pay for classics, takara reissues and alternators? I don't have anything in particular in mind to buy but I would like to get my hands on some g1 transformers. If someone could list some of the more popular ones and prices that would be great.

I also visited Singapore and saw Omega surpreme reissue for about 100sgd and galvatron reissue for about 80sgd. Spotted some beast wars figures ranging between 70sgd to 150sgd. Spotted alternators for around 70 to 160sgd. Are these prices any good? I had to really work hard to resist buying anything until my return trip back! =P

I will post pictures when I get back.

GoktimusPrime

20th October 2008, 12:03 PM

You can check out TakaraTOMY's TF site (http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/TF/) for info (like prices) about Transformers in Japan.

What kind of prices should I expect to pay for classics, takara reissues and alternators?
Alternators and Classics would be imported (as they're Hasbro toys not TakaraTOMY) so they would be very expensive. You're better off getting ALTs & Classics back in Australia - although Alternators and Classics are no longer in production. I think you'd be better off looking for current toys instead of old ones perhaps.

The price of reissues vary greatly because they don't adhere to pre-defined price points (e.g.: scout, deluxe etc) but you can see them on TakaraTOMY's Encore page (http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/TF/products/encore.html). Skywarp & Thundercracker are 6300JPY and Metroflex is 7350JPY. For people in Japan that's the equivalent to $63 and $73.50 respectively, but of course they will be more expensive if you're paying from converted AUD due to the current position of the AUD against the JPY. :/ :( But the reissues are inherently quite cheap!