The "Where do I buy..." Thread

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Dist

For a site that ships internationally, it sure is hard to navigate .. I was lost already on the mainpage. I'm guessing you can't turn the site to English unless you use Google Translator ?

Basically yes, that's what I do when my reading skills and Perapera-kun aren't up to the task. If you choose International on their sign-up page the rest of the questions will be in English, but otherwise the site is all in Japanese so you may find it more hassle than it's worth. If you're feeling adventurous though then a good trick is to look in your browser's status bar as you hover over the navigation buttons at the top - most of the URLs use English words so you can guess where to go. Pointing Google Translate at their info page is a good start.

'm mainly looking for Nanoha doujinshi from the Cyclone ( サイクロン ) circle. I managed to order quite a few through JSS from various japanese sites and ebay, but it seems I'm still missing a few according to the doujinshi database at doujinshi.mugimugi.org

OK, forget everything I just said since a quick search didn't bring up anything by that circle. Still, I'll leave this post here for anyone else interested - the reason I switched to these guys from Amazon is that shipping is cheaper for small orders, they give you much more control over when things are actually shipped, and personally I'd rather give my business to a specialist manga retailer than a sprawling multinational.

[Jeikun]

Anyone know where I could get one of these pink style cloaks?
Thanks.

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by Jeikun

Anyone know where I could get one of these pink style cloaks?
Thanks.

That style of coat is called a happi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happi

I don't know about a pink one, but there are some stores that sell Japanese clothes that sell happi. These people apparently custom-make them: http://www.goodsfromjapan.com/produc...e=Product-list

[Kitsune]

I'm gonna post about an experience I just recently had that can be of some use when deciding where to buy from.

Some time ago I already made the pre-order but just about three weeks ago I purchased Cat Ear Louise Miyazawa Limited from Hobby Search (since I'm a great fan of Louise-chan ).

About a week and a half later I recieved the figure together with two other ones, but there came the disaster, when I opened the figure it was broken by the neck (since it's made of Polystone the figure is pretty fragile)






I immediatelly contacted Hobby Search and told them about the problem also sending them this same picture. After just two days I recieved an answer from Hobby Search, ufortunatelly there was no option to resend me the figure since it was a limited edition and the stock was already sold out, but they offered me to refund me the money or giving me the cost of the figure in points for my next order.

I think sharing this experience can be of some use to buyers since soon or late you can get into a similar one (losing a package, recieving the wrong item, etc.). and I won't care paying a bit extra for a figure but being sure they will care if something happens with my purchase.

BTW, it seems 2011 is a very bad year for me since another package I purchased from amiami seems to be lost

[Dist]

I got a request from someone to get him some '' Tare Pandas '' ... Only, I've no idea where to get these plushies with reasonable price. Would anyone happen to know ?

Googling brought me to only one site who sold them, but that shop was in the US and the prices were quite expensive.. I am hoping I could get them for cheaper from somewhere.

[shinku no kage]

Does anyone know a good place to get JAPANESE PlayStation Network Points/Cards? I used to order them on HimeyaShop but they've apparently gone out of business so...

And also throwing out a site that I recommend:

tenso.com

They're basically a service that gives you a Japanese shipping address and ships goods over from Japan to you, enabling you to shop from sites that strangely enough will accept money from foreign countries but wont ship stuff to them...like amazon.co.jp. They charge a service fee ofcourse but its still cheaper then buying JP products on US based sites, etc with jacked up prices.

They have a number of sites that they work with and to top it off they also offer a buying service for sites that either wont accept money from foreign accounts or requires membership like konamistyle.jp ...ofcourse they charge a seperate service fee but being able to buy site limited products for retail is worth it in most cases.

[bayoab]

Originally Posted by shinku no kage

Does anyone know a good place to get JAPANESE PlayStation Network Points/Cards? I used to order them on HimeyaShop but they've apparently gone out of business so...

Digital versions don't seem to exist outside of play-asia is the problem. And it depends what size card you want. I wanted a 3000 and the cheapest solution I could find was a 3000 digital card from play-asia together with an item that had almost no markup (CDs) and a $5 off $50 coupon. Card ended up being ~$40 (vs ~$36 at market exchange rate). If you want a 10000, proxying it from Sofmap or some other JP retailer who sells it at face value might be cheaper.

[Dist]

Just so you know, Amazon.co.jp DOES ship out stuff internationally, but the stuff they ship out is limited to DVD's, CD's and Books ( magazines etc. ). All merchandise that doesn't come with magazines are in the Toys category sadly, thus you can't purchase those from Amazon unless you use a proxy.

I used Japantoy.biz as a proxy a while ago to purchase large quantity of doujinshi through them and it worked well, though their site was a bit annoying to use. In overall, I'd recommend them as well.

[shinku no kage]

@bayoab:
Oh cool, thanks for the info. The price on Play-Asia is slightly higher then what I used to pay on HimeyaShop but just by a few dollars. But considering the current exchange rate and stuff its actually not that bad at all.

I could have bought it off amazon.co.jp but they're from the market place sellers and not amazon itself...which is kinda bs that amazon doesnt handle the item. Sure, they handle point cards for Nintendo and Microsoft but not SONY? WTF?

@Dist:
Yeah, that was my problem, they dont ship all of the items, hence I use tenso.com

Anyway, thanks both~

[Innotech]

I would like to collect the Saint Tail series but it has been long out of print. I see parts of it around the net for rather high prices and I might be willing to pay such prices, but I need to know if anyone can actually list all the parts of it and how they were packaged (episode wise or a boxset)

[DeathOfChaos]

I have run into a small predicament of confusion and thought to ask my question in the best place possible: a manga forum. I am looking to buy the FLCL manga but have run into something a little confusing. I mainly thought to post this in the forum so that maybe it will come up on Google for anyone else who may also end up in the same spot as I am and hopefully find their answer. Without people who ask and receive answers, there is no help in Google.

These are the volumes I'm looking at:
FLCL, Vol. 1 [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...sr=8-3&seller=
FLCL, Vol. 2 [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...F8&me=&seller=

There are two volumes here, I love the cover art, and they're relatively cheap. There is another version of the manga, apparently, that has 3 Volumes.
FLCL Volume 1 (v. 1) [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/FLCL-1-v-Yoji-...0384708&sr=8-2
FLCL Volume 2 [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/FLCL-2-Yoji-En...0384708&sr=8-4
FLCL Volume 3 [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/FLCL-3-Yoji-En...0384708&sr=8-5

The ones I'm looking at are from 2003 and the one with 3 Volumes were issued in 2008. What I was wondering was did this 2003 issue only have 2 Volumes as opposed to the 3 Volume set issued in 2008? There's also a Special Edition that says it was issued in 2005, but there's only 1 Volume available there, so even more confusing. If this Special Edition is truly all of the manga in one book, I may just grab it over either set, lol.
FLCL, Vol. 1 Special Edition [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/FLCL-Vol-1-Spe...0384708&sr=8-6

[Innotech]

also looking for Record of Lodoss War.
Really old series that Ive always wanted to collect, but never got around to it.

[demonix]

Originally Posted by DeathOfChaos

I have run into a small predicament of confusion and thought to ask my question in the best place possible: a manga forum. I am looking to buy the FLCL manga but have run into something a little confusing. I mainly thought to post this in the forum so that maybe it will come up on Google for anyone else who may also end up in the same spot as I am and hopefully find their answer. Without people who ask and receive answers, there is no help in Google.

These are the volumes I'm looking at:
FLCL, Vol. 1 [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...sr=8-3&seller=
FLCL, Vol. 2 [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...F8&me=&seller=

There are two volumes here, I love the cover art, and they're relatively cheap. There is another version of the manga, apparently, that has 3 Volumes.
FLCL Volume 1 (v. 1) [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/FLCL-1-v-Yoji-...0384708&sr=8-2
FLCL Volume 2 [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/FLCL-2-Yoji-En...0384708&sr=8-4
FLCL Volume 3 [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/FLCL-3-Yoji-En...0384708&sr=8-5

The ones I'm looking at are from 2003 and the one with 3 Volumes were issued in 2008. What I was wondering was did this 2003 issue only have 2 Volumes as opposed to the 3 Volume set issued in 2008? There's also a Special Edition that says it was issued in 2005, but there's only 1 Volume available there, so even more confusing. If this Special Edition is truly all of the manga in one book, I may just grab it over either set, lol.
FLCL, Vol. 1 Special Edition [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/FLCL-Vol-1-Spe...0384708&sr=8-6

The first links are for the graphic novel and the other three are just regular novels which would explain the differences in volume count.

Originally Posted by Innotech

also looking for Record of Lodoss War.
Really old series that Ive always wanted to collect, but never got around to it.

You'll be hard pressed to find any copies since the distributor went under.

[ars89]

so where's the best place to buy anime blu rays from? Like the recent releases. As long as it ships to the US its fine.

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by ars89

so where's the best place to buy anime blu rays from? Like the recent releases. As long as it ships to the US its fine.

For US releases: www.rightstuf.com
www.amazon.com also occasionally has good sales on Blu-rays

For Japanese releases (which occasionally have English subtitles, like the Nanoha movie, Time of Eden BD, Black Rock Shooter, Ghibli movies, Clannad, etc): http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/, or http://www.amazon.co.jp/

[ars89]

thanks for the help. Are there any more for the Japanese releases, i don't mind the ones without subs

[Dist]

Amazon.co.jp will have all the japanese releases so why look for more ? Cdjapan should too, so use either one. I prefer Amazon but only if I buy lots of stuff at once. They have very expensive shipping so you may like cdjapan more.

[ars89]

oh ok, thanks for the tips

[ars89]

so where's the best place for posters, wall scrolls, etc.?

[Dist]

Posters ... From magazines. Wall Scrolls .. Maybe HLJ.com ? Amazon does not ship wall scrolls to overseas sadly, and most shops you see out there with wall scrolls as cheap as 5 or 10 bucks, are fakes. Sure, it might look good but it's not official merchandise ..

I'd recommend you to Megami Magazine and NyanType. Or if you're female, you may enjoy Animedia, Animage, Newtype and PASH. For the former two, they each come with 10-12 43x29,5cm posters plus sometimes a huge B2 poster or other freebies. These are all aimed for males and are usually full of fanservice from the currently airing series. See here and here for this month's posters. Note that all posters have picture on both sides, so it totals to about 10-12 posters per month.

The latter are aimed more for females as they have posters also from series that are aimed for females like Hetalia, Togainu no Chi, Kuroshitsuji and so on. They do have posters from other series too though. Animedia, Animage and Newtype come each with typically 1-3 posters per month plus Clearfiles or other merchandise. PASH usually comes with some stickers and five posters per month. ( PASH is released once per two months )

You can buy any of these magazines from Amazon.co.jp. Some magazines are also at HLJ, 1999.co.jp, Amiami and so on.

Recommendation from me would be to stick to the magazines. Finding wall scrolls is hard for official ones, and official ones are expensive. Magazines however, are cheap. They usually cost 700-1000 yen per each .. Megami is 780Yen I think and it comes with 10 posters so I think it's a pretty good deal.