Overseas Sightings: Taiwan

[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.

[jazzcomp]

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

[Bladestorm]

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.

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!

[Bladestorm]

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


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).


101 Toy Kingdom (101玩具王國) front entrance

101 Toy Kingdom Transformers window display


Human sized Bumblebee @ Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101

Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101 - Transformers section

Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101 - boxed sets (apologies for the blurry picture)


Front Entrance - Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district

Kre-o stand @ Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district

Transformers Aisle @ Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district

RID 2015 @ Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district

portable battery packs @ Toys R Us, No.28, section 2, Xinsheng North Rd., Zhongshan district



Officially licensed Optimus Prime hard candies (my daughter hasn't opened them yet).

Christmas Freebies:


RID 2015 free Christmas carry bag - a Hasbro promotion - we were given bags at both Toys'R'us and Toy World



Optimus Prime notebook (not quite A4 sized). free @ Toy World (DingMei Wanju 鼎美玩具) near Taipei 101



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:

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 .

[Bladestorm]

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.




Peterbilt Optimus was Taiwanese$7000 (around AU$295)

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.

[griffin]

Very nice photos. Thankyou.

That wire-craft looks fascinating.

So that's where all the Kreo ended up. (Zhongshan district TRU)
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.

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

[Bladestorm]

Very nice photos. Thankyou.

That wire-craft looks fascinating.

So that's where all the Kreo ended up. (Zhongshan district TRU)
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.

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

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.

[primatives]

Found these at Ximen