Hey, I'm gonna be in Tokyo shortly, and I was hoping to pick up a couple of Masterpiece toys... Any recommendations for retail stores that tend to have a good range?
For current/latest releases, I would recommend the big Yodabashi Camera in Akihibara. Seems to be large-ish as far as toy displays go for a big box Japanese department store and I believe that it's tourist friendly in that if you spend more than 5,000 yen and have a foreign tourist visa, your purchase is tax free (the paperwork process is a bit long and tedious though so set aside some time for it; you'll be directed to a different floor/desk to handle the documentation). For older, secondhand goods, the big Mandarake at Nakano Broadway has a decent selection of MP figures but the prices tend to be high.
Yeah, i've always found Mandarake to be an amazing experience, like walking through all of your childhood Christmases at once. Thanks for the tip on Yodobashi!!
The toy store in Ginza, Hakuhinkan Toy Park, had a good range of Masterpiece toys on sale, going as far back as MP Cheetor and the second MP Hot Rod. There was also a well-stacked end cap full of the current Siege toys. Kiddyland in Harajuku had a couple of Masterpiece toys, a handful of Siege toys, and a few of the Titan size toys like Trypticon and Devastator.
Kiddyland tends to be more of a tourist trap kinda place with high prices. Neat as as a sightseer but their Transformers selection is really small, I find, so it's not much to write home about. I've never been to Hakuhinkan Toy Park so I'll have to check it out one of these days. (Or maybe I have been there and just forgot? My time in Japan has been a blur sometimes. ) Hope you're enjoying Tokyo!
Absolutely! Today's my last full day here, so I'm having a blast at Tokyo DisneySea! Akihabara later tonight...
I've gotten a few masterpiece figures from the mandarake stores and they're usually hit or miss. If you're lucky you might find one that's either never been open or resealed and never played with. I got a Soundblaster figure for a heavily discounted price because the box was damaged but it supposedly was never opened. There were paint chips on it and some QC issues when I took it out. I also got ironhide from a mandarake store and the entire figure was greasy but the figure itself was fine. Original G1 toys are outrageously priced but that's everywhere. They seem to have a decent collection of the rarer ones too. Cool to check out but like I said, quality is hit or miss.
I don't think toy hunting would worth your time. Most of them are aftermarket priced anyway. Just enjoy your time in japan.