preorders who's the best?

Hi guys probably not the right spot to ask but I want to pre order MP Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus. I used to use robotkingdom the toy price is fine but shipping is $70+ usd.

Is there better places to preorder from now.

I think it depends heavily on the shipping method used.

obviously some items have to use an expensive shipping method because of size and I expect UltraMagnus will be in that boat.

I used anime-export, I don't know how much shipping will be until I ask them to ship my collected inventory so I can't comment. I recall fort max being about $70 shipped from them(I think).

pros:
very good excellent pre-order price
they let you stack items that have come into stock
you don't have to pay shipping until it's calculated with items in hand

cons:
you have to pay up front for items
you don't know how much shipping will be
sometimes their response to customer enquiries just plain go unanswered.

for other Asian exclusive items they don't stock I tend to use robot kingdom but have also used HLJ and ami-ami.

for most Hasbro product I either go through amazon or BBTS


Except for special items like MP's I tend to try to order stuff in bulk to distribute shipping costs a bit more.

as i really only got into this stuff this year i am only new to pre ordering as well

i have 3 on pre order with tfiau . one with bbts and one with tfsource


that said i have bought 15 masterpeice(or equiv) figures this year alone (not including the 5 on preorder) from a mix of robotkingdom, chimungmung, bbts, toydojo, tfiau,tf-direct, tfsource . i have yet to have a bad experience.

everything has arrived safe and sound no packaging issues from any of them.

[edit:spelling. am delirious with fever ]

I also only got into it this Year.

So far..
12x purchases from Chimungmung, BBTS, TFSource, Amazon (no issues at all so far, well packaged)

3x Pre-orders from TFidownunder (just paid for one today)

1x Pre-order from Robotkingdom (payment upfront)

I guess if you stick with the 'big', well known etailers you would reduce your risk of any dramas. As for prices, invest in the time to shop around the different websites. Price differences may be only small but will make a difference in the long run; if you are not loyal to any particular store.

HLJ for Masterpieces
BBTS for everything else
Robotkingdom only if it isn't available elsewhere

HLJ <--- my personal #1 recommendation. :)
PROS:
* Highly reliable. I've preordered from them for 11 years now and I've never had a problem.
* Prices never exceed RRP, and preorders are below RRP.
* Toys are posted directly from Japan to you, no middle-man, thus relatively cheaper postage than from some dealers outside Japan.
CONS:
* Preorder discounts are not as generous as some other online stores (but they are still discounted)
* Site's search engine is useless. You're better off using Google to find stuff on their site.

Ami Ami
PRO:
* Extremely cheap!
CON:
* Gets booked out super fast.

Amazon Japan
PROS:
* Generous pre-order discounts.
* Occasionally gives exclusive bonus content
* Guaranteed free next day domestic delivery
* Will ship non toy items (e.g. books) internationally
CONS:
* Does not ship toys outside of Japan.
This option is only possible if you have access to a Japanese postal address.

Almost every Japanese store gets first dibbs for me, hlj as a backup being no discounts. Followed by Hong Kong online then American stores.

HLJ do offer discounts on MPs if you pre-order from them.
e.g. MP22 Ultra Magnus;
RRP = ￥19440 (≈AU$205)
HLJ = ￥14400 (≈AU$155)
Amazon JP = ￥15907 (≈AU$170)
BBTS = US$190 (≈AU$220) <---above RRP! :eek:
Anime Export = ￥12600 (≈AU$135)
RobotKingdom = US$152 (≈AU$175)
Chimungmung = US$155 (≈(AU$180)
TFSource = US$190 (≈AU$220) <---above RRP! :eek:
Amiami = ￥14500 (≈AU$157)
etc.

HLJ's pre-order price is below RRP, so it's definitely a discount. :)

My apologies what I meant was hlj is normally top end for Japanese stores.

http://www.nippon-yasan.com/lang-en/...s-transformers

Nippon Yasan.

Fast, well packed, various shipping options, pay later option, generous pre order stock, ability to adjust pre-order price later if the price goes down.

I cant fault them at all. And i often wonder why people buy from rip off merchants like BBTS.

I pre-ordered Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee from them for 140 and 40 plus post. If i had pre-ordered in yen i probably would have saved even more.