Mandarake!

[Jetfire in the sky]

Whilst I think it would be great as a consumer, I think it wouldn't be a great idea from a business perspective.

My understanding is that these stores trade exclusively in used goods (correct me if I'm wrong), so you'd require an existing pool of consumers selling their goods to start up and be sustainable. Japan has this because the market for anime and pop culture is huge over there, where as here, it's a comparatively smaller (but very vocal) market.

Also, this is just my assumption, but I would think there'd be a larger "collector" market in Japan, with more adults owning these types of figures. So then in terms of the second hand market, the condition of these figures would be of better quality as well (and fit for resale).

If they did ship goods from Japan, it would be an added cost they don't currently bear (as we pay shipping costs), which they'd either absorb or pass on to customers.

Lastly, I would think that they'd essentially be a "cash converters" but for a very niche audience, an audience I would guess would be more savvy than the regular person. I can't imagine anyone here going to a cash converters to offload some of their stuff over an ebay or gumtree (unless time was an issue), because you'd be low balled to make a margin. A local mandarake style store would surely have to do the same.

I think they should try and increase their online presence to reach the AU market more, because even this forum (which is by no means a measure for the Australian market as a whole) only has a few threads talking about them, none of which reviewing the online store (a few have people talk about using them).

Anyway, one can only hope! (I certainly would love to see the figures before buying them)

Pretty sure at the five or so Mandarake stores I visited in Japan that they had a mix of brand new and second hand, and these just aren't a little dinky corner store, there a multi story stores and huge single story floorplans but they deal in every pop culture item imaginable A point in my initial post is with the tie to Japan they could have most of the second hand stock direct from Japan. You and Goktimus raise a good point about import duties and shipping (although when you ship a 40' container it's actually not that expensive comparative to the value of the goods) but yes these obviously add to the costs.
I'm not going to go into the whole ins and out of a bricks and mortar businesses but please note, my first two words were I wish in my earlier post
Also have tried to shop on their website and it is a horse's arse. But that is not their market, and perhaps they make enough money with over the counter sales that online is seen as a waste. Anyway, they are awesome in person and that's what a lot of shopping is to a lot of people.

[Skullcruncher]

Mandarake is great, except I must be the only one who struggled to find nearly every store we looked for!! A couple we actually stumbled on thinking we were at least a block away, we even missed the Akihabara store on our second visit Nakano mall was like a sauna so don't go in the middle of summer!

Shibuya was actually the easiest to find, except I found it least interesting but my wife thought the mall was the great, mega high heel shoes etc

[Cleon]

Pretty sure at the five or so Mandarake stores I visited in Japan that they had a mix of brand new and second hand, and these just aren't a little dinky corner store, there a multi story stores and huge single story floorplans but they deal in every pop culture item imaginable A point in my initial post is with the tie to Japan they could have most of the second hand stock direct from Japan. You and Goktimus raise a good point about import duties and shipping (although when you ship a 40' container it's actually not that expensive comparative to the value of the goods) but yes these obviously add to the costs.
I'm not going to go into the whole ins and out of a bricks and mortar businesses but please note, my first two words were I wish in my earlier post
Also have tried to shop on their website and it is a horse's arse. But that is not their market, and perhaps they make enough money with over the counter sales that online is seen as a waste. Anyway, they are awesome in person and that's what a lot of shopping is to a lot of people.

That's good to know (re: New and Used figures), as my experience with them has purely been online. My big regret in my last visit to Japan was not visiting one of their stores!

But I am 100% with you regarding the shopping experience at a brick and mortar store. It can really make an experience (Heck, if a local store had prices and range in the ball park of what you'd find online, I would happily drive 1hour+ to reach that brick and mortar).

[GoktimusPrime]

I don't want to badmouth Mandarake too much, but they have sold KO's marked as vintage on a few occasions. Things like US TF's Dinobots and the Decepticon cassettes have been spooted in their stores. Granted - I don't think they label them as vintage to deceive buyers, but it doens't change the fact that they are there. So you should still be cautious.

Don't get me wrong - I love Mandarake, and I will shop there everytime I visit Japan. But just because they mark it as vintage, doesn't mean you shouldn't do your homework first.

Are you certain that the sticker explicitly stated it was original and not fakes? Did you mention/complain to management?

[TAAUBlaster]

Are you certain that the sticker explicitly stated it was original and not fakes? Did you mention/complain to management?

As far as I can remember. The prices certainly seemed to indicate they were vintage - and they were in one of the big display cabinets outside the store (at the Nakano branch) surrounded by other original items. There was one other KO inside the store that was in a cabinet with some loose figs. I'm sure the tag said "KO" (I thought it was strange because I didn't think KO was a commom term in Japan) whereas the other tags didn't have it. I didn't complain because my Japanese was not anywhere near good enough to converse with, and I wouldn't have been able to get my point across.

[noel0leon]

Love this place. I haven't used the online store as of yet but when we visited Japan last year I dragged my girlfriend to no less than 4 different stores in 4 different cities.

Wicked place. It seemed to me that it was a department of geekery heaven and that they buy and sell second hand stuff as well as new items (There was a special section for people selling their collections to the store in the Kyoto branch).

It is an excellent resource for Macross Stuff (which is what I was after) as well as a healthy collection of Transformers (both Japanese and US)

Its also a heck of a lot of fun to just browse through as well. The first one I spent 2 hours on there.

[ampoldj]

I think i have been here when we went to Akihabara. We only have 8 hours because it is only a 1 day trip, or we will miss the last train. My comment is simply "TOYS OVERLOAD". I only have about 20,000 yen at that time (about 250aud approx). I immediately saw a Daimos for 8,000 yen but just passed through it, never thought it was really cheap that time. Also been through a TFs section but not yet much of a fan also then. At that moment i only collect Gundams and anime figures. When i have another chance to go back there i will make sure i will bring my credit card

Regarding KOs in Japan...please be aware that most second hand stuff are through buy and sell. specialty toy shops usually will buy a 500 yen toy and sell it for 2000 yen. So if the staff is not aware of what is KO or fake they may just pass it as original. Although honestly nowadays some are already aware but still just wanna make money. Buying in Japan does not always mean you are certain you are buying an original. Items from China are now as popular there as anywhere in the world.

[GoktimusPrime]

I'm sure the tag said "KO" (I thought it was strange because I didn't think KO was a commom term in Japan) whereas the other tags didn't have it. I didn't complain because my Japanese was not anywhere near good enough to converse with, and I wouldn't have been able to get my point across.

What you need to look for on the tag is the Kanji 海賊版, which means "pirated." They can be pretty damn expensive, but if you see any toy in a Mandarake store with those Kanji on the sticker, then it's a counterfeit.

[Megatran]

What you need to look for on the tag is the Kanji 海賊版, which means "pirated." They can be pretty damn expensive, but if you see any toy in a Mandarake store with those Kanji on the sticker, then it's a counterfeit.

No offence, but if I saw those JP characters stuck on a box I wouldn't be able to tell them apart from any other JP characters at a glance.

[GoktimusPrime]

No offence, but if I saw those JP characters stuck on a box I wouldn't be able to tell them apart from any other JP characters at a glance.

Perhaps write it down or print it out on a small piece of paper and see if you can recognise it? Or memorise/write down this phrase:

"Kono omocha wa kaizoku-ban desu ka"
"ah-noh om-mot-chah wah kye zock-koo bun des kah"
(Is this toy a counterfeit?)

Aaah, this thread brings back fond memories of the 2012 Osaka Meet.