Online shops?

[BigTransformerTrev]

If you look further down the very first page in Kup's Discussion & Questions there is a thread where people have voted for and discussed their experiences with various online stores:

http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=15184

[GoktimusPrime]

From the What do you pay for new Japanese MPs? thread:

Are we allowed to order from Amazon jp and do they ship here or you have your own contacts that does it?

You need to have a Japanese address, they don't ship overseas. They're preorder prices are quite good and they ship domestically for free. So it's not an available option for people who don't have access to a Japanese address. But Amiami and HLJ ship internationally, and they charge either full RRP and nowadays below RRP if you preorder; I've never seen them charge above RRP for Transformers. I only started using Amazon JP last year, before then I used to use eHobby to occasionally order some Japanese TFs that were harder to find in stores, but eHobby's gotten pricier now, so I only use them for exclusive toys (e.g. United Magnificus, who's also really expensive); otherwise I've now switched to Amazon JP for a lot of my Japanese TFs now. eHobby also only ships to Japanese addresses.

For those without access to a Japanese address, I'd happily recommend HLJ.com. I've used them plenty of times for 10 years now and I've never had a problem w/ their service. I've used other online stores like Robot Kingdom, Amiami and BBTS, but only once or twice each so I think my experience with them is too limited to really give a good appraisal of their services.

[Jetfire in the sky]

From the What do you pay for new Japanese MPs? thread:

You need to have a Japanese address, they don't ship overseas. They're preorder prices are quite good and they ship domestically for free. So it's not an available option for people who don't have access to a Japanese address. But Amiami and HLJ ship internationally, and they charge either full RRP and nowadays below RRP if you preorder; I've never seen them charge above RRP for Transformers. I only started using Amazon JP last year, before then I used to use eHobby to occasionally order some Japanese TFs that were harder to find in stores, but eHobby's gotten pricier now, so I only use them for exclusive toys (e.g. United Magnificus, who's also really expensive); otherwise I've now switched to Amazon JP for a lot of my Japanese TFs now. eHobby also only ships to Japanese addresses.

For those without access to a Japanese address, I'd happily recommend HLJ.com. I've used them plenty of times for 10 years now and I've never had a problem w/ their service. I've used other online stores like Robot Kingdom, Amiami and BBTS, but only once or twice each so I think my experience with them is too limited to really give a good appraisal of their services.

Just a quick question with that Gok as I am interested in using them too, do you need to speak/read/type Japanese to use the above mentioned sites?

[BigTransformerTrev]

From the What do you pay for new Japanese MPs? thread:

You need to have a Japanese address, they don't ship overseas. They're preorder prices are quite good and they ship domestically for free. So it's not an available option for people who don't have access to a Japanese address. But Amiami and HLJ ship internationally, and they charge either full RRP and nowadays below RRP if you preorder; I've never seen them charge above RRP for Transformers. I only started using Amazon JP last year, before then I used to use eHobby to occasionally order some Japanese TFs that were harder to find in stores, but eHobby's gotten pricier now, so I only use them for exclusive toys (e.g. United Magnificus, who's also really expensive); otherwise I've now switched to Amazon JP for a lot of my Japanese TFs now. eHobby also only ships to Japanese addresses.

For those without access to a Japanese address, I'd happily recommend HLJ.com. I've used them plenty of times for 10 years now and I've never had a problem w/ their service. I've used other online stores like Robot Kingdom, Amiami and BBTS, but only once or twice each so I think my experience with them is too limited to really give a good appraisal of their services.

Just a quick question with that Gok as I am interested in using them too, do you need to speak/read/type Japanese to use the above moentioned sites?

I have a lot of similar questions, as I know I am paying more for items like MP Prowl to get them through BBTS than others are paying from Japanese Online stores.


Hey Gok, how would you feel about writing a thread which is a tutorial/FAQ about ordering TF's from Japanese websites (which require you to know how to read Japanese, which you need a japanese address for, which do better deals etc)? I know there is a lot of folk like myself and Jetfire that would really appreciate it. A co-worker of mine has told me her brother has moved to Japan and would be more than willing to help me out TF wise so more info on the subject overall would be great

[UltraMarginal]

there is an english site for both HLJ and AMIAMI.

it still takes a bit to get used to the way their listings are set up. it's not quite as intuitive as BBTS. at least to me.

[GoktimusPrime]

Just a quick question with that Gok as I am interested in using them too, do you need to speak/read/type Japanese to use the above mentioned sites?

You need to be able to read/write Japanese.

Hey Gok, how would you feel about writing a thread which is a tutorial/FAQ about ordering TF's from Japanese websites (which require you to know how to read Japanese, which you need a japanese address for, which do better deals etc)? I know there is a lot of folk like myself and Jetfire that would really appreciate it. A co-worker of mine has told me her brother has moved to Japan and would be more than willing to help me out TF wise so more info on the subject overall would be great

Why not just ask your colleague's brother to order the toy for you? If you type in "MP-17" in Amazon JP's search bar, you should see the link for MP Prowl. If that doesn't work, copy and paste this: トランスフォーマー マスターピース MP-17 プロール
Then you can copy and paste the direct link to your co-worker's brother and ask him to order it for you. This is pretty much what I do.

there is an english site for both HLJ and AMIAMI.

it still takes a bit to get used to the way their listings are set up. it's not quite as intuitive as BBTS. at least to me.

I personally find Amiami's search engine a lot easier to use than HLJ's. My biggest gripe about HLJ is their search engine which I find really cumbersome to use. I sometimes find it easier to find specific toys on HLJ using Google! (i.e. I Google search a toy then add "HLJ" to my query string ). Then again, I've only ever used Amiami's Japanese search engine; not sure what their English language search engine is like.

[Cat]

Yeah, HLJ's Search function is terrible.

Far better to search for their products using Google.