I am going to Japan next month and was wondering if you guys can recomend any toy stores to check out in Tokyo¿
Well, if you are thinking of going to Akihabara, it's really not the best place to go for TFs. The whole town is being turned into the ultra conservative, bland shopping district that the local municipal government THINKS will attract more tourists. It doesn't. The whole area is also turning more towards the "MOE" culture with many stores TF inventories being compressed to death by all the crappy maid/sex-slave etc character goods. Best places to look for TFs in Akihabara are Mandarake and Liberty (classic stuff) and go to the Radio city building for newer stuff. Going over to Nakano on the Chuo line, you'll find Nakano Broadway. This has a very limited TF selection (pretty much one just one store) In Shibuya, you have another Mandarake which has a pretty decent selection of new and old TFs. There are many more smaller stores dptted around Tokyo but I never bother to look for these.
Thanks a lot. I was planning on checking out the Mandarake store. Me and my family are going for a week or so. They told me I need to find out where I want to go so we can have a plan. Are any of those places close to Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku? Thats where we are staying. Thanks again.
No idea. but you should look for members here or macrossworld who live in japan. There is a Mandarake, but I cant remember which one or where. But it has 9 floors of stores inside it. each little store is like a category. There is a toy shop in Ueno, but I cant remember exactly the name. It is near the Japan Rail station Oh get a Rail Pass before you go to Japan. It is unlimited rides on the JR line. you just cant get onto the smaller local subways. There are a lot of places in akihabra but they are small hole in the wall stores.
Word of warning though, if you're going with family, you might want to be cautious whilst in the Akihabara Mandarake. The Akihabara one is the big one, but at least two of the floors are fairly 'adult'. Also, pretty much EVERY basement floor of every geeky shop is 18+ too. Might be a little tough though - when I was over there in March, the only new henkei TFs I saw in any shop in Japan were Jetfire and Ratchet in the Akihabara Mandarake. Whilst in Akihabara, keep an eye out for an upstairs cafe called 'Cafe With Cat' - me and my wife unassumingly wandered into it whilst looking for somewhere to eat, and it's awesome! Definitely eat there - I'm not saying any more, don't want to ruin any surprise
There are still lots of places in Akihabara that sell TF's. They aren't in the larger chain stores though as they would only carry the more recent figures. If G1, BW, etc are more to your liking try walking into the different "cubical" stores. They're small shops where people are able to rent out a cubical and sell their stuff. You can sometimes find pretty good deals there. For the life of me, I can't remember the exact name, but if you walk away from the main area in Akihabara there are also a few smaller stores that sell TF's, some having a pretty good selection of G1's. They aren't cubical stores, but all the items they sell are second hand. Last year I was able to grab a fair amount of TF's including Star Convoy for only 3500 yen, BW TM Megatron for 1200 yen, BW Black Lio Convoy 3000 yen and a BW X-9 Ravage for 5000 yen. Mind you, they were much better deals last year before the Yen went up in value comparative to the CDN dollar. Try Yodobashi in Akihabara for more recent TF's, as they usually have the better pricing in the area. Plus, it's a damn cool store to go into. It's like Best Buy times 100.
Thanks a lot guys. Japan is starting to sound like it will be an adventure and a half. Any other suggestions about things to see places to go and so on would be great (not toy related).
Are you just staying around Tokyo, or staying in other places too? We've done whistle-stop tours of Japan across the four main islands the last two years, and could point you to some cool places if you're straying out... That said, you could easily spend an entire holiday in Tokyo alone. Speaking of which, there's another cool toy shop in Tokyo. Kiddy Land in Harajuku didn't have any TFs when we went, but has lots of cool other stuff, including an entire floor of Snoopy products (we got some Snoopy onigiri molds as a present). And no matter what the latest Rough Guide says, the Robot Museum in Nagoya closed ages ago (stupid Rough Guide, went to Nagoya a day early to fit that in...).
If you want vintage toy stores that definitely sell Transformers (among other things), then I suggest Mandarake, specifically the outlets in Akihabara and Nakano Broadway. The Transformers section in the Akihabara store, unless I misremember, is on the top floor. They also have tons of Gundam models, giant robots (including, last time I was there, a complete Dairugger XV, a.k.a Vehicle Voltron in its original box), and, of all things, Doctor Who merchandise on the same level. In the Nakano Broadway store, you want to go to "Special 1", which is located on the second floor and marked with the letter "N" on the map here: SAME HAT! SAME HAT!: MANDARAKE SHOPPING MAP Any more questions, just PM me.
If you are going to be in southern Japan definately check out Hiroshima. There is a place called "Peace Park" and it is a memorial to those who died in the WW II bombing. I was stationed in the Marines in Okinawa (2000-2002), but flew to the main islands several times. Hiroshima was probably my favorite place, out of the places I visited while there.
Toys R Us !!! There are several Toys R Us in Tokyo that are near subway stations. If you go to Odaiba (and I strongly suggest you do) there's one Toys R Us there. They don't sell older toys but you might want to make a list of what you want before you go there. There are tons of cool toys for sale almost everywhere, so you end up buying a whole lot more than just TFs. Godspeed -Greenspan
In terms of TFs though, places like Akihabara and Nakano are nothing like they used to be. Since 2005, the amount of shelf space devoted to TFs or robots in general has been shrinking.
I just got back and I had a spectacular time! I scored: A metallic gold Bumblebee from the first movie Henkei Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Mirage Alternity black Convoy Music Label Soundwave
