Overseas Sightings: Taiwan

Went to Man Tian Commercial Building (萬年商業大樓) in Ximen (西門) today. Saw a lot of collectable stores, but most of them didn't have Transformers - one place had just a HA Bumblebee. Bah. Then I went downstairs and found a small place that had TFs - Generations, United, Japanese Animated and some ROTF and DOTM figures (i.e. Voyager Optimus and Sentinel Prime).

The United toys were pretty expensive at 1200 Taiwan Dollars (AU$38.50), though not quite as bad as AU$43 that they were charging in Beijing. I tried to haggle with the storekeeper over United Wheeljack, but he wouldn't have a bar of it. I asked him where I could find another store that sells Transformers and he recommended checking out the subway market strip in Taipei Main Station (台北車站)... NOTHING there. Gee that was a waste of time... so I went back and bought Wheeljack. Gah.

Also went to the night markets in Shilin (士林) and found a baby-sized licensed Autobot T-shirt for my daughter. :)

Hope you can find Generations Warpath :) UN Frenzy/Rumble :)

checkout the Sogo shopping complexes, the last time I was there, there were on sale and pretty cheap. There is one at Ximen, another near the 101 tower.

The big department stores sometimes have TF's but not sure if they have the most recent stuff. I've seen masterpiece TF's and reissues before.

Yeah, I'm not seeing anything newer than Sergeant Kup and Scourge.
And the stores here open heaps late too! I went out this morning at 09:00 to Sogo, but they were closed and the signs said that they open at 11:00!!* :eek: So I went to the Living Mall and the same thing happened there, so I bummed around for nearly 2 hours down at CineMark - watching trailers for Thor, Captain America, DOTM, Cowboys & Aliens, Kung Fu Panda 2 and the upcoming Pirates of the Carribean movie. Then went for a walk about before coming back at 11:00 -- checked out a small toy store on level 5 then TRU... the small toy store had a Japanese Animated Ironhide for about 1000TWD and TRU had nothing notable. Although their Deluxes are like AU$16... tempted to get Fallback if I can't find anything else in Taipei at that price. TRU had several Transformers toy ads playing on a small flat screen at the TF aisle -- saw ads for PCCs for the first time. :) Then I had to get back to my hotel cos I got a lunch appointment at midday today. I'm gonna check out more places today -- might try Taipei 101 too.

The hunt continues!!

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*Although they close at 22:00, which when I think about it, I would prefer. It's only a hassle for me now cos I'm on holidays here, but if I were living here it would totally rock. I reckon I'd prefer it if Australian stores had these hours (though AU has higher labour costs, particularly after hours).

Well I traversed across about half of bloody Taipei today and NO sign of Warpath or Frenzy/Rumble. :( :(

Found some Alternities, Disney Label TFs, one Device Label iPod dock Convoy, one MP Ghost Starscream (4980TWD/AU$156) and quite a few Japanese Animated toys. So after a LOT of walking and commuting I ended up getting a Japanese Animated Armourhide (Ironhide) just as a "pity purchase" cos I didn't want to walk away empty handed from today's hunt -- paid about AU$32 for it. (-_-)

Went to the night market in Shilin again tonight and bought some TF stickers -- allegedly hand-crafted by the lady who was selling them. One of them was a bumper that said something like, "If you don't get away from me I'll transform!" -- cute. Probably would've bought it if it was in English. :p

Hasbro Taiwan is having a "warehouse" sale, clearing out thousands of old and recent toys, with most being Transformers.

The prices are pretty good on most items too, with some of the older things appearing to be about a quarter the price.... and some really recent items too. (being a Hasbro Asia market, they get both Hasbro and TakaraTomy toys)

If you can see the attached images and read some of the price tags, one AU$ equals about 23 Taiwan Dollars.

Damn that would have been a lot of fun... even if you didn't buy anything.

Autobots... TRANSFORM AND ROLL TO TAIWAN!

aw man! I'm gunna be in Taiwan in early December... How often do they do these kinds of things?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bladestorm

aw man! I'm gunna be in Taiwan in early December... How often do they do these kinds of things?

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Once a year, so sadly you won't get to experience this in December. I was fortunatle enough to have a mate there who picked up UW Superion and Swerve/Tailgate for me :D

Hasbro AU used to something similar at their warehouse years back, but after a few incidents with feral crowds they no longer do them.

Are they normally at the same time every year?
From HK, Taiwan airfares are ludicrously cheap (often under AU$100 return) and hotels there are really reasonable so I would be tempted to rock across for a weekend if I could find out a wee bit in advance when an event like this was happening.. even just to witness it for myself! Although I'm pretty sure I'd be unable to resist the urge to buy.

Perhaps contact Prime Roller on TFW (the one who posted the news in that link above)... and see if he knows, or could give you some advance warning perhaps. (and post here for anyone else here who might be over there at the time)

I'm off to Taipei next week for a couple of days. Does anyone know of more recent recommendations of places to look for Transformers? And whether, given I live in Hong Kong, they may be cheaper at all?

My time will be limited but I really would like to compare what Taipei has in relation to Hong Kong.

Taiwan seems to get things early... so you might find something that hasn't been reported yet.
Not sure about pricing though, but when I've bought toys on ebay, items from Taiwan are usually on-par with items from HK.

So after hitting as many stores as possible in Taipei I am sad to report back that the Transformers availability there is nothing like that here in Hong Kong. Definitely nothing to compare with In's Point or even Wan Chai sadly.
I was surprisingly disappointed by the lack of diversity and shocked that the smaller recommended stores had barely any recent toys... in fact one store had more DoTM figures than RID2015/Combiner Wars combined!
On the plus side there was a lovely big warehouse sized Toys R Us with some "vintage" Kre-o and a small splattering of the more recent Kre-o Battle Changers. Also some nice freebies to be had at Toy World inside the department store next to Taipei 101.
Every store I went in the Transformers were more expensive than Hong Kong with the exception of a sale where I got Rescue Bots Optimus Primal for my son for 1/2 the price he cost when he was available here.
I'll add some details for each location I visited below but overall I wouldn't suggest making Transformers a significant part of your travel to Taipei as you won't find much you don't already have unless you are after DoTM figures.

I will add pictures to this post when I have time to sit down properly and sort through the photos.

Store list and comments:

Underground Mall at Taipei Main Station - Barely a handful of Transformers spotted from Y13 to Y19. None were recent (only DoTM or Transformers Prime) and only in 3 of the many shops. Fake and real Kidslogic figures were more common however a lot more expensive than in Hong Kong.

3 stores recommended close to exit Y13 above ground.
1. 東東玩具百貨 located at No.54, Taiyuan Rd. Datong district, Taipei (台北市, 大同區, 太原路, 54號) - Had some Rescue Bots, those figures that fight (I don't remember what they are called as they look nothing like Transformers to me) and old AoE Kre-o. Also had the RID2015 plastic sword but it was expensive for such a small piece of grey plastic (around AU$40).

2. 101 Toy Kingdom (101玩具王國) located at No.121 Chang'an West Rd., Datong district, Taipei (台北市, 大同區, 長安西路, 121號) - RID2015 figures, some Combiner Wars, Kre-o sets and lots of Micro Changers.

Ironically just before you see this store there is a KO store which had fake Combiner War figures for Taiwanese$39 (AU$1.65) each. They looked terrible and the owner got quite angry when I took a picture of them but as he couldn't speak english and I didn't speak Mandarin he gave up and told me to go away (which I was anyways).

3. 芃芃精品玩具批發 located at No.100, Taiyuan Rd. Datong district, Taipei (台北市, 大同區, 太原路, 100號) - probably the best of these 3 - loads of DoTM and Transformers Prime figures (pre-Beast Wars), some FOC figures as well as a couple of Combiner Wars/RID2015. However nothing from recent releases.

Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district, Taipei (台北市, 中山區, 新生北路二段, 28號) - apparently the largest Toys R Us in Taipei and I'd believe it as it is warehouse sized and well spread out with a decent area dedicated to Transformers and a fun store to walk through in general (but maybe that's because it reminded me so much of the Toy Warehouse we had in Auckland when I was a kid). Not easy to get to via the train network - I had to catch a taxi to and from here as there isn't much else around.
Had Combiner Wars (the same selection as Toys R Us HK - ie no Bruticus figures), Rescue Bots (something hard to find in HK), RID 2015 figures and loads of Kre-o both old AoE and more recent release RID/Battle Changers. Had YotM Optimus Primal (monkey, not dino) but he was REALLY expensive compared to HK. Had several of the AoE box figure sets still at full retail price (and again more expensive than HK). Also had things like Transformers candy and Transformers portable USB devices. Offered a free RID2015 Christmas carry bag when you spent over T$800 on Hasbro items.

Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具), building A8, on the 5th floor (信義新天地 A8 5F) - Part of a massive multi building department store and very near to Taipei 101. - Small but nice Transformers section including a human sized AoE Bumblebee display. Lots of boxed AoE sets (however still at full retail price), Rescue Bots, Combiner Wars. Signs on display stated they had sold out of the Hasbro 3 step RID2015 Optimus & Grimlock and only had a small number of the RID2015 Kre-o (the underbite one was a "limited to 50 pieces" release). Was the only store to have Japanese Transformers. A few MP's and Black Arachnia.

The Transformers section had a non-listed/no signage 50% off Rescue Bots while we were there which was a pleasant surprise even to the cashier. On top of that we were also given an AoE Optimus Prime notebook, some RID2015 plastic gift bags and a RID2015 Christmas carry bag for free with no minimum spend (only requirement was a Transformers purchase) when we purchased Rescuebot Optimus Primal.

In another section they had Herocross, Kidslogic Transformers and Hot Toys Optimus (Starscream version) at prices more expensive than Hong Kong retail. Also had Ultimetal Optimus Prime but I am not sure if he was just a display piece as he was in a display case with no price.

As a side, if travelling with kids (we were kidless this trip) Toy World in 101 would be a great place to take them as it was designed for small kids to explore and have an interactive experience as well as get parents to buy toys.

I saw your posting on TFW, and was surprised it wasn't as good as I had thought it would be (based on the various things I buy and see on ebay from Taiwan).

Maybe it's a sporadic thing like here, in that we sometimes get some items before America, but often it is after.

Still sounds like you had a good time exploring Taipei, and it is good to have some details of where the toy stores are, in case others here go over there.

@Bladestorm, are we going to see pics? :) including the KOs? :)

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Originally Posted by griffin

I saw your posting on TFW, and was surprised it wasn't as good as I had thought it would be (based on the various things I buy and see on ebay from Taiwan).

Maybe it's a sporadic thing like here, in that we sometimes get some items before America, but often it is after.

Still sounds like you had a good time exploring Taipei, and it is good to have some details of where the toy stores are, in case others here go over there.

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I had the same impression that it would be a great place to explore given the Taiwanese online presence.
I actually expected it to be on par with Hong Kong and with cheaper prices but was wrong on both counts (in Taipei anyway... I will have a look next time we go to Taichung in the south and see if there is much down that way).
The independent toy stores were more like really small divey versions of NZ/AU Toy World.
Interestingly anime is quite big. One Piece, Nurito and several other franchises featured quite prominently... One Piece even has its own store. The Y section mall under Taipei station was full of anime figures but quite sparse on Mecha... even Gundam wasn't very well represented.
Transformers is definitely popular there as can be attested by all the gimmicky and free stuff (and the fact a few people were taking photos of my Transformers backpack) but perhaps it is mostly the main Hasbro lines and less geared towards collectors unlike Hong Kong that tries to cater to both.

Will post pictures sometime tonight... promise!

As promised, here are some photos from my Taiwanese transformer hunting:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/676/2...ec873e92_z.jpg
Fake Combiner Wars. My husband says the white sign (the shopkeeper tried to rip it away before I took the photo) claims the figure is panda something (which in Chinese means it can combine with other things).

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/622/2...efbda830_z.jpg
101 Toy Kingdom (101玩具王國) front entrance
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101 Toy Kingdom Transformers window display

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/742/2...ef07956b_z.jpg
Human sized Bumblebee @ Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101
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Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101 - Transformers section
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Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101 - boxed sets (apologies for the blurry picture)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/714/2...423ebe292a.jpg
Front Entrance - Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5755/...350263f1_c.jpg
Kre-o stand @ Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district
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Transformers Aisle @ Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district
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RID 2015 @ Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5668/...606b7416e3.jpg
portable battery packs @ Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5788/...27e51ca9fa.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/596/2...ed8f94bcb7.jpg
Officially licensed Optimus Prime hard candies (my daughter hasn't opened them yet).

Christmas Freebies:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/738/2...d2c9907403.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5785/...cdfdddeeb2.jpg
RID 2015 free Christmas carry bag - a Hasbro promotion - we were given bags at both Toys'R'us and Toy World

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5748/...c6a8857bd3.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/737/2...a5ffd17a10.jpg
Optimus Prime notebook (not quite A4 sized). free @ Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/766/2...6d2cf619fc.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5633/...24a54dd719.jpg
RID 2015 Plastic folders/book covers?? My daughter and I haven't quite figured out exactly what these are yet. Also from Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101

Some of the oldie but goodies I picked up for myself/my son:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5741/...9f1fa482b5.jpg
I got the last Transformers catalogue (as seen on TFW) in the store. Even my darling husband hunted high and low to see if they had any more but unfortunately they didn't .

One more thing I forgot to mention was this stall in the street markets at Ximen near our hotel.

A lady was making wire figures with quite a few Transformers (Well - Optimus and Bumblebee) and Gundam.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5743/...567946abe6.jpg
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Peterbilt Optimus was Taiwanese$7000 (around AU$295)
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5834/...59d7880a9c.jpg
The Optimus in this picture was Taiwanese$30,000 (Around AU$1,267)

Way too pricy for me to take seriously but nice to look at.
I did check a couple of anime stores in this area too but no transformers to be found.

Very nice photos. Thankyou. :D

That wire-craft looks fascinating.

So that's where all the Kreo ended up. (Zhongshan district TRU) :p
They even had the Stinger set, which is VERY rare and was very sought after a year ago, but maybe not so much anymore.

You got one of those Kreo Optimus Primes (in pouch)... was it a freebie, or was it for sale?
That's even rarer than the Stinger set... and now another thing you have that I want. :(
If I ever visit your place, you'd better check my pockets on the way out. :p

Were Angry Birds fairly common in Taiwan, or was the Soundwave the only one you found?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffin

Very nice photos. Thankyou. :D

That wire-craft looks fascinating.

So that's where all the Kreo ended up. (Zhongshan district TRU) :p
They even had the Stinger set, which is VERY rare and was very sought after a year ago, but maybe not so much anymore.

You got one of those Kreo Optimus Primes (in pouch)... was it a freebie, or was it for sale?
That's even rarer than the Stinger set... and now another thing you have that I want. :(
If I ever visit your place, you'd better check my pockets on the way out. :p

Were Angry Birds fairly common in Taiwan, or was the Soundwave the only one you found?

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I was surprised by the Stinger set as it was the one Kre-o that sold out here before I could get it for my son. The prices were reasonable... only slightly more than he originally was here (which seemed to be the norm with all the Transformers in general). Most of the boxes were quite beat up though.
I got the Optimus in pouch because a) I collect Optimus stuff and b) I don't remember EVER seeing it before here in Hong Kong so he intrigued me. He was the same price as Ironhide which was just a little more than normal Custom Kreons go for here.

I was surprised by the Angry Birds find to be honest. They only had Soundwave (who my son has been after for aaages) and Lockdown. However this store also had one last Bumblebee racer set left.
Angry Bird Transformers sold out the minute they hit shelves in Hong Kong last year (though my son was lucky enough to get both racing sets ... he STILL loves playing with the Optimus one) so I was quite surprised to see a whole hook of Soundwave/Lockdown hanging around.

Found these at Ximen

https://i.imgur.com/mzCAF23.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/W8z7gO2.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/919Mq8j.jpg