Currently In Progress. [Finished] [Not Finished]
Source: http://*******.com/buy***
Contents:
- Introduction
- Budget
- Types of Merchandise
- Dakimakura
- Figurine
- List of shops
- Manufacturers
- Events
- Materials
- CDs, DvDs, BDs, and Books
- Doujin
- Garage Kits
- Gunpla/Plamo
- Dolls
- Prints
- Apparel
- Plush Toys
- Shipping
- Localization vs Original
- Display
- Bootlegs
- Glossary
Comments: Discussion and Q & A
Introduction:Budget:Spoiler!Are you thinking about purchasing some anime merchandise? Maybe you feel in the dark on the subject? You came to the right place.
The first thing I would like to note is that anime merchandise is expensive. Realise that you are NOT the target audience (unless
you reside in Japan that is). As such, you are going to be paying the price in shipping, customs (depending on country), and a
possible upcharges due to being outside the merchants normal spectrum of buyers. The benefits however, may outweigh these
obstacles.
Whether you are a buy*** just to get something in the mail, need a picture of your waifu, or you simply are addicted to
preorders with no immediate upfront cost, soon you will find that buying anime merch is not simply shopping, but a way of life.Types of Merchandise:Spoiler!First and foremost we should start with your budget. Just as money makes the world go round, it is imperative you have a
steady income in which to purchase items in the future. Don't beg your parents and buy on credit sparingly, it is simply not
worth it. Make only purchases that you can afford at the time, anything more and you are risking much more than the figure
sitting on your mantel.
Don't buy impulsively, make commited decisions that you feel strongly about. Buy merchandise you have a strong connection
to, not just something that "looks cool", it loses its luster over time. Bandwagoning is even worse than buying impulsively. If you
are simply buying something because the hype is there, you will soon notice that people forget things fairly quickly. You will
never receive all you want, so make sure that each purchase is worth every dime you pay.
Payment methods are very important, seeing that most everything will be purchased through on online retailer. Paypal, being
the most active online method, will be used more than anything; an account is needed. Note with paypal you do not need
money to be added onto the account before purchasing as long as you have backup sources in which paypal can request money
from. Adding a debit card or bank account is the prefered transaction source for instant payments, but (if used sparingly) credit
is an option as well. BE CAREFUL Paypal exchange rates are horrible. If you are purchasing something in another country's
currency, be aware of this added cost and figure it into all purchases.Spoiler!Dakimakura:FigurinesSpoiler!http://puu.sh/3TfsQ.jpg
What’s a dakimakura?
Dakimakura are a type of pillow from Japan, usually 150cm x 50cm. Dakimakura can be literally translated as “hug pillow”.
They usually have an anime or video game character printed on the cover.
What can I do with a dakimakura?
You can hug it, talk to it, cuddle and sleep with it or simply look at it.
Is it worth it?
All of this depends on a few factors. If you think you are paranoid about people coming in your room and criticizing you about it,
don’t buy it. If you really love your waifu, buy it. You will never have a better sleep. Amazing back support. It will never
reject you or walk out on you for some douche at the bar. Buying multiple dakimakura characters is a sin however, buy your
waifu, and maybe an imouto, that is it. (You can have multiples of your waifu though).
Retailers
Amiami (search for “pillow”)
Hobby Search (search for “dakimakura”)
HobbyLink Japan (search for “huggable pillow cover”)
Hobby Heart (ONLY sells bootleg dakimakura)
janelee922 - Custom dakimakura, bootlegs.
http://boncool.jp/?sl=EN - Japanese distributor, overseas shipping.
What about the pillow?
Amiami
Hobby Heart
eCrator
Ah! What are these fabrics? I wasn’t a Tailor in WoW!
2-Way Tricot: extremely smooth and stretchy, and the colors stand out. Highly recommended. 100% polyester, can be cleaned
fairly easily.
Peachskin fabric: standard on most dakimakuras. It’s fairly soft, and as the name implies, has a skin-like feel to it. Durable. 100%
polyester, can be cleaned fairly easily.
Velvet: the softest and most expensive if it’s real velvet. The short-pile fibers give a very distinctive “hairy” feeling. Hand-wash.
More difficult to clean if it contains cotton or silk.
How do I wash my dakimakura?
Instructions are usually labelled inside.
Japanese laundry symbol table.
If yours is a bootleg and doesn’t have one, here are some tips on washing it. Wash it with only cold to lukewarm water, inside out.
Set it on delicate or similar setting. Dry it with a dry sheet, also on delicate. Hand-washing (in cold to lukewarm water) is recommended
over machine if you can do it. In between washes, you can Febreze to keep her smelling fresh and spot-clean the most used areas.
Any special care tips?
It is important for you to shave your neckbeard daily to avoid tearing the fabric. Especially if you get one that’s 2-Way Tricot. Also,
take a bath daily, preferably before bed. Your waifu doesn’t want to sleep with you if you smell. It’s inevitable that dead skin cells
and body oil will rub off onto the dakimakura over time, so wash it at least once a month if you are using it regularly. Let it sunbathe
inside-out twice a year to allow UV rays to kill microbes for you.
Above all, try to take good care of your dakimakura and avoid getting it dirty in the first place. It will degrade faster the more you
wash it, and polyester is prone to pilling (forming little lint balls) over time.
Is there a way to get a custom printed dakimakura?
There’s a seller on eBay called janelee922. If you have big enough pictures he’ll print them on dakimakura cases for you. It currently
costs $50, including shipping. The quality of the material and print is really good. I washed mine 4 times already and the colors are still
beautiful. He also sells stuffings.
Alternatively, there’s Hobby Heart, who also offer “free” vectoring (nobody tried that out yet).
yande.re - Dakimakura – High-Res dakimakura covers (You need an account to see most of the covers but making one only takes a second).
janelee922’s eBay – That guy’s eBay page.
Hobby Heart Custom – Hobby Heart’s custom dakimakura.
埋もれる抱き枕er blog – Can’t buy anything here, just a listing of dakimakura announced by official copyright holders and doujin circles.Spoiler!http://puu.sh/3Tgld.jpg
List of ShopsManufacturersSpoiler!Brand new figures, Paypal, EMS/SAL shipping. Amiami is often the cheapest.
Amiami - “For sale in Japan only” disclaimer means jackshit. If it’s on the international site (except for things with batteries), you can buy it.
HobbyLink Japan
Hobby Search (1999.co.jp)
Big in Japan - Low prices for some items , limited/exclusive figures are sold, they accept upfront payments and have a proxy service.
Mandarake - Mandarake is good for figures that you can’t find in shops from above.
Nippon-Yassan - Much like Big in Japan, although they have rather expensive shipping.
e2046 - Chinese shop, garage kits (recasts) and some exclusive pre-painted figures.
Good Smile Co Store - Some GSC exclusives from time to time.
Otacute
xl-shop
Archonia
Plamoya - Japanese vendor. Rarer, out-of-print merchandise available, but very expensive. Safe and secure packaging.
CD Japan - You can sometimes find stuff that are sold out at the other big sites here. Almost all shipping options out there are available.
Play-Asia - Also CDs, DVDs, and Games.
Mio Boutique
Jungle
Square Enix - Also has branches for other countries.
Amazon Japan, Animate, and Movic currently accept foreign credit cards for all items for domestic purchases, so you will need a proxy.
US Domestic:
Figure Haven
Kid Nemo
ToysLogic
HobbyFan
Anime Island
Big Bad Toy Store
KirinHobby - Especially if you’re an American buying Kotobukiya figures.
Rightstuf - Frequent sales, good place to get manga and anime if in the US.
Toylet
Anime Corner Store - Site looks like ****ing shit, but it’s legit. Also have an Amazon storefront. If you sign up for their mailing list they send 10-15%.
Amazon - Last resort.
eBay - If you want to start a bootleg collection. Final resort: Only buy from Japanese and North American sellers.. Avoid China/Taiwan/Hong Kong sellers.EventsSpoiler!Good Smile Company et al.
The most popular manufacturer of /a/’s figures currently. They primarily release anime and Vocaloid figures, but occasionally branch off into
video games and some other esoteric copyrights (Yu-gi-oh dragons, Aniki). Very good quality. GSC itself makes mostly statues and Nendoroids.
They are involved with the manufacture and distribution of several smaller companies under their umbrella, such as Max Factory (more below),
Gift, Penguin Parade, Phat and ThreeA that have their own specialty such as 1/4 or more erotic figures. Quality varies among the smaller companies,
but generally they’re pretty good.
Alter
The favorite company of many fig***s. Very good quality almost all of the time, though they don’t make as many things as GSC. Their Altair
line contains male figures; robot and armored girls can be found in the AlMecha line.
Max Factory & Native
One of the companies under GSC’s umbrella. Best known for their figmas, but they also make a few statues. Ero figures are released under
the Native brand (almost always webshop exclusive, so you'll need exclusive stores or proxies to get them). Very good quality.
MegaHouse
Usually nice. The Excellent Model line is the highest quality. The G.E.M. line contains mostly male figures. Beware the days when they put
Portrait of One Piece figures online. Sites will usually crash due to all the traffic. The Alpha x Omega brand is a collaboration between
MegaHouse and Alter.
Kotobukiya
Figure quality is generally quite nice, although they’re not especially exciting. Shining World figures are on the large end of the 1/8 scale.
Koto also makes anime-style figures of Western properties. They have a US branch, so if you don't mind waiting a few months, buying Koto
products from some US-based stores can be very cheap (see Kirin Hobby and Figure Haven). This is because they localize the price to where
the Yen-USD rate is essentially 1-1. This will then also save you on shipping.
Bandai (Tamashii lines)
Get your Gendums and Kamen Riders here. Lines include Figuarts, D-arts, MonsterArts, Robot Damashii, Soul of Chogokin, Chibi-arts, 12” Perfect
Model, and various model kits. A distribution company Bluefin will localize some normal and exclusive Bandai figures for the US, and even will suggest
to Bandai Japan what characters could be made that will be popular for the US market.
Yamato
They have a wider figure variety than GSC and often use non-PVC/ABS materials, in addition to producing dolls. Really good quality most
of the time, but expensive. Also have a US branch, Yamato USA.
Volks
Primarily known for their dolls, but they also release top quality garage kits. Their Moekore line is decent. The prepainted versions of their
garage kits, usually 1/4 are very nice but will rape your wallet. Volks USA
Wave
Mostly known for their Beach Queens swimsuit figure line, which are 1/10 scale and not super fancy, but they’re getting better (along with
an increasing price tag). Larger statues are fine.
Griffon Enterprises
Touhous galore. Mostly sculpted by i-con and suffer from same face syndrome.
Orchid Seed
Lots of nice ero figures, but the time between prototype and release tends to be pretty long (2+ years).
Kaiyodo
Buy***s probably know Kaiyodo for their Revoltech line.
Konami
Manufacturer of video games and the Busou Shinki girls.
Prize figure tier
For what they are, the companies that make these aren’t bad and the quality is going up these days. What else would you expect for figures
that are roughly worth around 1,240 yen retail?
Banpresto
Several lines in addition to their video games. The DX figures are usually the cheapest in price and quality. The Super Quality (SQ) figures are
a big step up, in the 1/8 scale range, not many figures in this line yet though. Ichiban Kuji and Ichiban Kuji Premium are usually the best quality
Banpresto offers and can only be won in Japan through lotteries. The premium figures can go for a lot on the secondary market, but they tend
to be quite large, about 1/7-1/6 scale. A prizes are often the most sought after, though it varies between sets. The Double Chance prizes you
may see sometimes are extremely expensive. The chance of winning an A prize is something like 2-4%. A prize ticket holders are allowed to
draw again. From there, it’s another 2-4% chance of hitting the jackpot and winning the Double Chance prizes.
Sega
Most people probably know them for their video games, but they also make a few prize figures.
Taito
Actually, they’re an arcade game company owned by Square Enix but they also make prize figures under their own name.MaterialsSpoiler!February: 10th: Wonder Festival (Wonfes) / 15~16th: AOU (Amusement Operators Union) Prize Fair
March: Banpresto Hakurankai (Banpaku) and Deform-paku
April: Miyazawa Model Exhibition
May: 5th: Treasure Festa
Late May: Megahobby Expo
Early August: Wonder Festival (Wonfes)
Mid August: 10~12th: Comic Market (Comiket)
Late August: 31th: Chara (C3) Hobby
October: Treasure Festa
November: Tamashii Nation and other Tamashii branded events, Miyazawa Model Exhibition
Late November: Megahobby Expo
December: Treasure Festa
Late December: Comic Market (Comiket)
Wonder Festival (Wonfes) - Mostly a place for garage kit makers to hawk their wares, but the major figure companies also come
and showcase upcoming releases. Some companies sell event-limited items there.
Chara (C3) Hobby - Major figure companies also come to showcase. Lotteries are held there.
Banpresto Hakurankai (Banpaku) and Deform-paku - Focus on exhibition and sales of collectible prize figures. Defopaku is for their
super deformed lines. There are also stage events.
Tamashii Nation and other Tamashii branded events - Bandai pimps their products. The main one is at the end of November.
Megahobby Expo - Megahouse and Alter, Portrait of Pirates (One Piece) gallery.
AOU (Amusement Operators Union) Prize Fair - Prize figure companies display upcoming prizes.
Comic Market (Comiket) - Mostly for doujin products, but figure makers also show off new things. Happens twice a year, in mid August and the last weekend of December.
Treasure Festa - Mostly garage kit makers, but with a few PVC companies as well, most notably Griffon who likes to unveil new Touhou girls there.Spoiler!Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) - The standard plastic that constitutes most of your figures. Somewhat flexible.
Contains plasticizers to make your plastic more plastic.
Acetyl tributyl citrate in polyvinyl chloride (ATBC-PVC) - PVC with the biodegradable acetyl tributyl citrate plasticizer.
Acrylonitrile butyl styrene (ABS) - More rigid plastic than PVC. Usually used for the hard parts and figure bases. More likely to break cleanly rather
than bend.
Polyurethane (resin or polyresin) - Typically used in garage kits. The components can vary a lot, but this label usually refers to the polyurethane
resins that produce heat when casts are made.
Cold cast - Also polyurethane resin, but with components chosen so that the casting process doesn’t produce much heat which allows molds to last longer.
Cold cast figures are especially fragile.
Polystone - Polyurethane resin with stone powder mixed in to make the material stronger and give a stone feel. Also a cold cast process. Polystone figures
are very heavy and brittle. Care details.
Candy resin - According to Yamato USA, it’s polyurethane resin with a little bit of stone powder mixed in to make the material stronger than usual resin and
slightly transparent. Fragile.
Soft vinyl - For some doll bodies. Think Barbie.
Ceramic - Baked clay.
Die-cast - Metal.
