Online TF shopping - where is the best place to spend your bucks?

[BigTransformerTrev]

I was wondering how people find the different options of ordering Transformers merchandise online and what positives and negatives they have encountered.

I used to be someone who every weekend would case a different shopping center in Melbourne and do the TRU/KMart/BigW/Target/Myers/JayJays check to see if anything new had come in. It was the thrill of the hunt and it also didn't hurt to take my wife for a shop around as well . Now that I live in Swan Hill all I have access to is a Target that occasionally restocks, a tiny Toyworld that NEVER restocks (ROTF toys still!?!) and a Jay Jays which actually isn't too bad. Subsequently I have moved almost exclusively to online shopping, which I have found not only saves me legwork or driving, but often has better deals. So I was wondering how people rate the different online TF resources. Now that we have a child (Orion Samuel) and my wife is on maternity leave pay, my TF budget will probably drop by at least 60% so this is an issue of some import for me


Here are some of the ones I have used and my experiences:

Ebay: http://www.ebay.com.au/
Positives: You can find almost anything if you are willing to pay the price. Also sometimes you get a great deal (a guy a few years ago mislabled an Animated Wreck-Gar - no-one else bid on it so I got it for like $1.40).
Negatives: Dealers can sometimes be dodgy. Had a guy in NSW not send me my reissue Skywarp and Thundercracker until after 4 months I tried to get Paypal to get my money back. Had another guy put up a picture of a G1 Hun-Grrr, and then send me a crappy KO.

TFSource:http://tfsource.com/
Positives: Lots of 3rd party items that seem scarce elsewhere (got my Quintesson Judge & Prosecutor through them).
Negatives: You only get a shipping discount for orders over $150, and even then it's still pretty dear to Australia

BigBadToyStore:http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/default.aspx
Positives: Lots of new stock coming in fairly often and their emails often go into a lot of detail about what TF stuff has just arrived or can be pre-ordered. Also some good deals on older toys that people sell them. Their Pile of Loot option means you can combine orders to save on overall shipping. Currently serves as my No 1 online resource for TF toys.
Negatives: You can only use POL if you have a pre-order, without it you cant stockpile items that are already in stock. Often their estimation of when they will get merchandise in is way off. Early 2011 I had a wave of Generations toys ordered they estimated would arrive in March - was June when I finally got them.

Toys R Us Online http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.js...goryId=2255956
Positives: Very cheap figures (I ordered some small GDO figures from BBTS, then found the same ones for nearly half the price at TRUOnline) and a half decent selection. Shipping was quite affordable.
Negatives: Not all items can be shipped (GDO Wheelie) and sometimes they get things just weirdly wrong. For instance, I tried to order GDO Swerve (with pic) online and they said 'No shipping'. I then tried to order GDO Swerve (no pic) and they said fine.


Others I have not used but am aware of:

Jay-Jays: http://www.jayjays.com.au/shop/en/jayjays
Online shop has all the clothes that are in the stores. Have yet to have to use them but good to know there is that back-up if you miss out on a particular TF shirt or boxer shorts you wanted. Shipping is pretty cheap as it is an Aussie company.

Robotkingdom: http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/eshop/main.php
Part of the reason I started this thread. I have not used them, finding their user interface a little off-putting, but would love to know if they are worth the effort and what their postage pricing is like.



So, which store would you recommend as the best to do your online Transformer shopping at? Which do you think has the best/worst range, best/worst shipping costs etc? Are there some great ones I have not listed here that you recommend? Please keep your answers pertinent only to Transformer merchandise, not other collectibles.

[Bidoofdude]

Robot Kingdom has pretty decent postage, although it can sometimes be a bit tricky, they're pretty good and get a lot of stuff earlier.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

My biggest problem with RK is the inconsistency of service. NEVER EVER place an order with in in stock items and pre-order items... They often mess up orders and sometimes don't reimburse postage, despite their mess up.

I do hate the way the main page of an item says Available now, but the item is actually a pre-order. That's what I hate the most. PLus they don't have a postage calculator so you can't see how much the postage is until after they email you.

Having said that, the last couple of orders I have done with them have been pretty smooth.

BBTS is a good one I think, but postage can sometimes be high. And they will put prices up on a shortpacked item (as do RK)

Ebay, is well ebay. you take your chances there. I have never used TF source as I have little interest in 3rd party stuff and their postage seems very high.

[GoktimusPrime]

TFSource's prices seem rip offy too, if their ridiculous Artfire prices are anything to go by!
I rarely do online shopping, but I use HLJ.com when I do. Amiami.co.jp is also good and cheaper than HLJ.

[ILikeSoundwave]

TFSource's prices seem rip offy too, if their ridiculous Artfire prices are anything to go by!
I rarely do online shopping, but I use HLJ.com when I do. Amiami.co.jp is also good and cheaper than HLJ.

AmiAmi is a very good place to buy Takara figures but also popular, you have to be quick, I'm currently waiting for MP Swave to be instock but I doubt I'll get it in time, like Am Breakdown which I had to purchased on eBay since I missed it on Amiami but otherwise I highly recommend it.

[BigTransformerTrev]

TFSource's prices seem rip offy too, if their ridiculous Artfire prices are anything to go by!
I rarely do online shopping, but I use HLJ.com when I do. Amiami.co.jp is also good and cheaper than HLJ.

I had a look at HLJ.com. Not bad for Japanese exclusive figures (or if I wanted statuettes of anime girls, not sure the wife would approve though ). Sadly they taught Indonesian instead of Japanese in high school, so amiami is indecipherable to me

[kurdt_the_goat]

My biggest problem with RK is the inconsistency of service. NEVER EVER place an order with in in stock items and pre-order items... They often mess up orders and sometimes don't reimburse postage, despite their mess up.

I do hate the way the main page of an item says Available now, but the item is actually a pre-order. That's what I hate the most. PLus they don't have a postage calculator so you can't see how much the postage is until after they email you.

They do have a postage calculator... you add to cart and proceed to the last step before confirming and it'll tell you... actually i've never had an email from them about postage either, so i don't know what you're smoking there

[GoktimusPrime]

AmiAmi is a very good place to buy Takara figures but also popular, you have to be quick, I'm currently waiting for MP Swave to be instock but I doubt I'll get it in time, like Am Breakdown which I had to purchased on eBay since I missed it on Amiami but otherwise I highly recommend it.

Gah! I thought you meant MP Swerve* and got myself all excited until I realised you meant Soundwave. (>O<) But yeah, I usually pre-order stuff if I shop online, get earlybird discounts. Sometimes you see shelfwarmers going on sale.

(*cos in Japanese "a" approximates the same as "er" so I thought it might have been a mistransliteration)

I had a look at HLJ.com. Not bad for Japanese exclusive figures (or if I wanted statuettes of anime girls, not sure the wife would approve though ).

Heh. I use HLJ to preorder Japanese toys like reissues (currently have Encore Fortress Maximus on preorder from them).

Sadly they taught Indonesian instead of Japanese in high school, so amiami is indecipherable to me

Amiami is also available in Bahasa Inggeris dude. I wouldn't recommend online stores here that were exclusively non-English. I also sometimes us Amazon Japan, but I wouldn't openly recommend it as it's entirely in Japanese and you need a Japanese shipping address. But Amiami is also available in English.

http://www.amiami.jp/　<---their regular address
http://www.amiami.com/ <---their mirror site in English

HLJ is entirely in English as it's run by a Canadian dude and they exclusively service overseas collectors... which may explain why they're a bit more expensive than Amiami who are able to service collectors in and out of Japan. By expensive I mean that HLJ usually charges RRP whereas Amiami often offer discounts below RRP -- but both sites offer discounts with pre-orders. Almost all my online shopping is done through pre-orders. I can probably count the number of times I've purchased something online that wasn't a preorder on one hand.

[Kazza]

I hawk ebay looking for fair listings everyday, alternatively i would buy from RK and ehobbybaseshop.

[griffin]

Best sources for me, in approximate order - Ehobbybaseshop (nothing to do with Ehobby), Amazon US, Hasbro US (through a shipping agent), BBTS, Ebay.
Those 5 sites account for about 70% of my toys in the last year.... compared to 5.5% I bought in Australian stores. (and 24% is from US and SG retail stores bought in person)

(I never use RK now, because of bad service and being unreliable.)