Forum - View topicGood website(s) to buy figures?
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I.D. Evo
Posts: 14 |
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So I'm looking for a few good/trusted websites to look at buying figures and what not from some of my favorite animes/games/etc.
Anyone hit me up with some links? I googled some but I don't know which sites are good and which aren't, so any help is appreciated |
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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AmiAmi is often hailed as one of the (if not the single) best import sites. I go for more trading figures and candy toy-sized stuff that I buy either at my local Uwajimaya or Sakura-Con, myself, but I do import some tokusatsu stuff. Plamoya is where I ordered some of my Ranger Keys, and CStoys is really highly rated for Toku toys. Hobby Search I've also heard good things about, and they seem to have a broader range of items, same as AmiAmi.
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Polycell
 Posts: 4623 |
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You can also check out Anime Island. I had a good experience with them, but since they're an importer you'll have to wait longer and pay more for the item(but having another place to check for that one thing you missed is never a bad thing).
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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If you would prefer to support an NA seller, I would recommend KidNemo. Their prices are often a bit higher than import prices, but you don't pay the insane import shipping, and you're dealing with someone domestic. Their customer service has been great, too, and I love browsing their website to look at figures.
Hobby Link Japan is another fairly competitive import seller (based in Japan, but run by Americans) that I've bought a few things from ever since meeting the owner at AX a few years back. They don't deal only in anime figures, though, so they seem to not keep much stock around once preorder windows are over. |
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Sailor S
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If you want to find older figures, Mandarake is a good site to browse. There are a few things to note when using them though. You'll have much better luck searching for figures if you use the Japanese names (i.e. ニコ・ロビン instead of just Nico Robin) and some of the times the figures were store displays, meaning they were either out of their box at some point, or the box was in an area that was subject to damage. I've never had any issues with figures themselves being damaged, just the box might have a crumpled corner or something. Also, I think they only offer EMS shipping for international orders, so you're going to pay a bit more. But, even with that, I'd say more often than not you'll find better prices on OOP figures there than you would on Amazon or eBay. Not always, that's why it's good to shop around, but it's a good starting point and gives you a frame of reference as to what's fair. Plus, unlike eBay (and maybe Amazon, I don't do much figure shopping there) they don't deal in bootlegs.
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victor viper
 Posts: 630 Location: The deep south |
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I'll second AmiAmi. If you're looking for new not-yet-released figures, AmiAmi often has the best prices on preorders. Also, in the last couple of months, they've been offering more and more pre-owned figures; I've found a couple of older figures that way that I'd just about given up on being able to buy.
I'll also recommend Hobby Link Japan, as I've bought from them many times. Lately, AmiAmi usually has better deals, but every now and then HLJ will have some special sale with good deals. As far as US retailers go, I'd recommend Robert's Anime Corner Store. If you read some of the other threads, you will see many passionate opinions about the owner, but they carry a lot of figures and unlike many US stores, if an item is listed on their website then it's in stock and ready to ship. I've found their figure prices pretty comparable to what you'd pay by importing the same item with EMS shipping and any time I ever had to email them questions about an item or an order, I'd get a quick response (often from the owner himself). Also, they often have 5%-10% off coupons that you can get by subscribing to their email newsletter. If you're looking for older, less popular figures, RACS has been clearing out some of their older stuff and there are some good deals to be had. I've also bought a few things from Entertainment Earth. Their figure selection is a bit limited, but a couple times each year they will have big clearance sales. Other stores I've had positive experiences with include Hammergirl Anime, Toylet, Circle Red, and Anime King (through their Amazon webstore). |
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superdry
 Posts: 1309 |
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Ill third (or fourth?) Amiami - excellent, excellent store. My only problem is that they don't remove the 5% JP sales tax, but their figure discount usually makes up for it.
Hobby Search is really good too - I use to use them a lot in the past.
They do offer other shipping methods than EMS - DHL or SAL. The other problem with mandarake is that you are not guaranteed to be able to buy what you ordered since what's on the website is also for sale in-store. Of course, if you have multiple items in your order, there is a check-box to cancel the whole order if an item is not in-stock. The other thing too is if your order is under 5000 yen, they charge you a 500 yen service fee. |
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Sailor S
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I've never run into a problem where what I didn't order wasn't actually in stock, but on the other hand that's not really something that's exclusive to them. In other site's cases, they just don't update them properly. With Mandarake, if it's on the site, it was very likely in the store that day. Someone would have to come in and buy what you were trying to buy before they saw your online order for that to happen. Since I use them exclusively for older figures, there's generally not the demand for them from people going into a store in Japan since the figure collectors there are more likely to have preordered it long in advance. As for that second point, I don't think I've ever had an order under 5000 yen, so I guess I'll have to take your word on that. |
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superdry
Posts: 1309 |
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I've used them to order doujinshi (which probably move faster), so I've seen items I've placed in my order not be in-stock. The service fee thing is listed in their ordering policies (I got hit with it when my order dipped below 5000 yen thanks to OOS items). |
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2634 |
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Mandarake for older figures & Ami Ami for newer figures are my favorites.
Occasionally if something sells out before I can get it on Ami Ami (I am looking at you Tiger & Bunny figures) I use CD Japan. They are more expensive, but I think they have good customer service. I also buy most of my books from them now. I haven't tried it myself but Ami Ami also has pre-owned figures like Mandarake now. |
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Melanchthon
 Posts: 550 Location: Northwest from Here |
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I mainly buy my figures from Otacute. They've got a pretty good selection, prices and shipping aren't too bad, and I've had good customer service from them. Stateside, I either use the Corner Store or ToysLogic. The Corner Store tends to be expensive, although you can get free shipping. The thing about ToysLogic that I like is that they sell a lot of hard to find prize figures -- I picked up a number of favorites this way. And their user interface is pretty good. And Entertainment Earth sells mostly only Kotobukiya figures, but they often have the lowest prices around. (Plus they sell lots of nerdy stuff as well). And for those hard to find figures, I've purchased a number of them on ebay. Seriously. Just make sure the seller is in Japan or USA and you (probably) won't have problems with bootlegs. Ebay is were I got my Tsukimiya Ayu, my Suzu (Nagasarete Airantou), my Mint (Galaxy Angel) and my Nadeshiko (Inukami) figures, and good luck find those anywhere else.
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Mesonoxian Eve
Posts: 1858 |
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I'm sorely disappointed no one has mentioned Robert's Anime Corner Store for those who live in the US.
Their figure sale is still going on. Best thing about this: if it's listed, it's in stock, which means you don't have to wait months for it to arrive. RACS often gets the good stuff long after the pre-orders close in Japan, so you can consider it a "second chance" place to get figures. So, there you go. 
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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Yes, no one's mentioned RACS. Lack of link =/= lack of mention. |
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