I have been in Kyoto for the past couple of days, but I haven`t been able to find any stores that sell TFs as of yet. Tomorrow is my last day in Japan, and I have some free time to search (theoretically), so I was wondering, if anyone on the boards has either been to or is in Kyoto, where is a good place to find TFs? Any help at all will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

Did you try Bikku Camera in front of Kyoto Station? 7th floor is the toy section. The next building is Isetan department store, so they probably have some as well.
I haven't been to Kyoto for 15+ years though. Google search pulled out a few toy shops, but I don't know if any of them have TFs in stock.

Good luck on your hunt, but most of all, enjoy your stay  

 

Kyoto really is not the best plce to find TFs. You should try Osaka, specifically Nihonbashi. There's a great place called Heero-Gangu. Huge store with a load of new and old stuff. The owner is pretty cool. Ex-tv executive.

There's also Mandarake, also in Osaka. HUGE selection of Tfs old and new.

 

yep I agree with alex there, Osaka is your better choice for toy hunting. There is a TRU in Seta, Shiga prefecture but I think you would have better luck in Osaka.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone!

I wish I could have made it to Osaka, but I was with a group, so that was pretty much not happening. I did manage to find some TFs in Bic Camera, though (thanks for the tip, SydneyY )

Oh, and Japan is awesome- I highly recommend it as a great vacation spot, if you have the means to get there.

 

That would be a huge let down to go to the birthplace of Transformers and not be able to find any. I always imagined Japan as swimming in the damn things.

 

Only part of the letdown was not being able to find Alternity Convoy. MP Thundercracker more than made up for that though 

 

As I am in a similar situation, but with time to go to Osaka, could you perhaps be more specific as to where these places are? Osaka is a terrifying nightmare of no street names and hidden addresses in terms of getting around. Thanks!

 

Catch a cab, ask the cab driver to take you to "DEN-DEN Town". That's where Hero-Gangu and Mandarake is. Its pretty much one main street. You will see a life size Gundam mural on the side of of the Gundam store(3 floors of just Gundam). Here's the website for Hero-Gangu. I translated the page through google. If you print out that map on the "store" tab on the website and show the taxi driver, you should be good to go. That's what I did when i first went there. I spent hours in there just looking around at all the old TFs. You won't find any good deals though. They know that they have rare toys so they price them that way. They have a great display right in from with all the recent Masterpieces along with others.

Mandarake had a few cases of old TFs for sale along with many other toys(Gundam, etc). Its not really a TF specific store like Hero-Gangu. Hero-Gangu is 2 floors of TFs. Never seen anything like it.

The next best places are Bic Camera and Umeda Yodobashi(outside of JR Osaka Station). They usually have a great assortment of TF, old and new...

 

A few more specifics. If you're coming from Kyoto, you'll want to take the Hankyu line (the brown line on the map) to Awaji station. Once you get off the train at Awaji, you switch trains (the next train you want is generally waiting on the other side of the platform when you arrive). Then you just wait until you arrive at Nipponbashi station. The whole trip takes about an hour and a half, so bring something to keep you busy.

Once you arrive at the station, I can't remember which exit you want, but if you pick the right one you'll emerge on one of the corners of a big intersection, with the train tracks running over your head (you don't need a cab, it's only a 5 minute walk). You'll want to cross under the tracks. You'll know you're going the right way if you pass a pet store on the left. After that, just watch for the giant Gundam portrait on the right. After you pass that, Hero Gangu will be on the left, but if you're on that side of the street you can only get to it by climbing through a huge footbridge, so you may want to make sure you're on the Gundam side of the street as soon as possible.

Herogangu isn't tf-specific, either, though they do have the best selection you'll ever see. They keep a selection of recent stuff on the first floor, and one big aisle on the second floor is dedicated to vintage stuff. And yes, it's all horribly expensive--even non-vintage stuff, if they even suspect it's the tiniest bit "collectible". I went there about a week after the "Mickey Mouse" tf came out, and they were asking around 7000 yen for it (retail was 3800 yen), so prepare to be gouged.

I wrote up a little more about them in this forum post, and there's even a selection of photos from their stock (I worked out an arrangement for this--don't try it yourself or you'll be asked to leave the store):

www.shmax.com • View topic - Herogangu, Mecca of Mecha

And finally, there ARE a few stores in Kyoto. One is a small shop in the Teramachi shopping area. I can never remember the name--something like "Super Position", whatever that means. They have a selection of tf odds and ends in the back--as of this writing they have stuff like the Kiss Players Sparkabots set, a Star Convoy reissue, some Binaltech, 2007 movie toys, etc.

And more recently, a large toy store has opened up not far away called "Super Kids Land" (a chain--they have one in Nipponbashi, as well). To find it, when you come out of Super Position hang a right, and continue walking, out of Teramachi, across Shijo dori, and all the way down to the end of the busy shopping district--it'll be on your left. Pretty small selection of Transformers stuff, but it's worth seeing for all the other great toys and video games they have.

 

I know exactly where you can get them, go to Kyoto Downtown, at the end of Teramachi Dori (one of the undercover shopping streets), where it meets Shijo dori, theres a model shop, I thinks its called First Position something. Theres a big Doremon out side and some capsule toy machines. They have lots of ROTF a many reissues, encores, masterpieces etc.

Easiest place to find is Yodoboshi camera, by Osaka Umeda station, on the 5th floor!

 

It;s called "Super Position". Can be a little over-priced though. Some nice stuff, but not a whole lot of TFs really.