How long is a long enough visit to Tokyo from a /toy/ perspective? Maybe I want to extend to further areas too like Nakano or whatever the Narita Airport area has inbetween. Of course I'll do other stuff too, but ill ask /trv/ if this is off-topic
>>11067784I mean, depends on what you're after and what you're planning on doing. Nakano can take anywhere from half a day to over a day depending on how intensive you want to be. Akihabara was a repeated visit while I was there, mostly to circle back and grab things I saw cheaper than elsewhere.I went all around Tokyo to different districts to check on Mandarakes, mom and pop shops, and other places that aligned with other tourist locations, so it's up to you how crazy you want to get. In the end I spent a week in Tokyo alone and did a mix of /toy/ hunting and typical tourism shit, was very busy but manageable with proper planning. And hell, I still didn't do everything on both sides of that. You'd need weeks if you wanted to properly explore, and some of those shops have almost daily turnover.
>>11067784Not counting the arrival day (recovery day), I think 4 days was plenty for me.I went to a few stores about three times while there. There were some other stores I visited once, with most being duds and one being holy grail central.
>>11067784nigga gonna need at leats a week
>>11067784I did exactly this last October. I had to circle back to Nakano Broadway and Akihabra twice and still left/missed shit i wish I had bought, you dont understand how much shit is stuffed into these places. A week isnt enough if you plan to go hard. Make sure to hit up Surugaya too!Im going back in February to hopefully hit wonfes
>>11068185What things did you get, how much did you spend? I'm thinking of shopping trip as well for jap only games/accessories/gashapon
OP here. I'm not looking for anything, really. I just want to know what the toy scene is like. I've been to Manila, Taipei and bits of Europe and it's comparably insane to even the olden TRU days. I have no backlogs, grails nor interests in tokusatsu/kaiju sofubi, plamo, retro games and especially Rule 2. At the very least, I might step into every Pokemon Center, specific pop-up, and pick up anything of interest that's "domestic retail" over there. I don't know how much i expect to be a "kid in a candy store", though
I went to Japan in 2009 straight outta highschool, booked a week in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto (standard gaijin tour). I extended the trip a month to return to Tokyo and ended up staying two years teaching English at a few primary schools. My toy collective obsession started while I was over there thanks to mandarake. I came home with another English teacher who was also at the end of her working visa and we've been back twice since over the last 10 years. The answer is, depending on where you're from, Japan is a toy utopia and I doubt I'll ever get tired of visiting. Minimum three week trips, Tokyo for toys and Kyoto for food. I will often buy huge amounts duty free and ship it back home.
>>11068185I could spend months just visiting the auction / private sale cubes on the aki ground floors, I bought so many pachinko machine parts and other impossibly rare bits there.
>>11069456What a lovely story, I'll have what you're having. At the moment, though, our plans are 1 week unless I'm mindblown and won't have a problem extending. But I'm skeptical things will be as good as the 2009 days, what with today's easier online importing. Like what toys did you find that you couldn't at home?>>11069458Can't imagine i'll need parts or potentially high-priced stuff. I just want action figures. But, can i just walk in there and browse?
>>11068548>Pokemon CenterOh, my dude. Prepare your wallet. I had to restrain myself from buying more than I wanted to. There were some great plushes and toys there.>I don't know how much i expect to be a "kid in a candy store", thoughThat was me the entire time. Basically ate curry, 7-11 JP junk food, and bought JP toys almost every day. If you like any JP toys or brands you'll find something there to enjoy. They treat their hobbies there with a lot of respect, lots of anime and toy stores all over. It was another moment of culture shock to turn the corner and see a toy and goods store on nearly every corner. They even had some nice golf stores there, which I know is more common here, but it was cool to see even sports hobbies represented well too.Also it probably goes without saying, but best to brush up on Japanese and know phrases to get around (if you don't know any). Things like 'excuse me', 'yes please', 'thank you', 'this please, and this please', etc.
>>11069456How did you afford to do that straight out of high school?
>>11067784A few hours, I prefer the selection Hong Kong and Munich/Essen have to offer.>Model/RC/Trainfag
>>11070121I believe that im desensitized to buying everything I see. I really just want action figures, and any available moncolle I haven't bought from HLJ yet. But I DO expect to pig out a lot conbini food, pop-up cafe of any anime/game (even of which I don't even care about) select JP versions of american restaurants, and anything within reach I probably saw on Japaneat's channel.>>11070306I've only been to Mall of Berlin and saw Smyth's Toys, and that was a shock enough for me
Funny this thread is up since i’m in Japan right now for the first time. On week 2 of a 2 week stay. Did Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka and finishing up with Hiroshima and back to Tokyo. I haven’t done too much toy shopping yet since we’ve been moving around so much and suitcases are a bitch to lug around in the heat, but i did find a nendoroid Drossel unopened for $50 at a random store in Kyoto which was mind blowing. I also grabbed some smaller stuff from gachas and various Pokemon Centers. We’re hitting up Nakano and Akihabara on the return trip to Tokyo.
i just came back from a trip which involved a lot of buyingid say there's enough in Osaka just in the two mandarake stores that's worth a visit if you can afford it, let alone the rest in the dendentown areathere's a lot of suruga-yas out there but keep in mind that some are specialized in certain things (doujin, card games) and can be generally skipped if you're not looking for those sorts of things. do your research!don't forget that it's not just akihabara area, as there's some scattered around shinjuku, ikebukuro, etc, some that are spinoffs of the big chains that have their own stockyou can find some wild deals in random corners, though this is less the case now than it was five years ago when i first visited - i found a monsterarts destroyah for $70 USD in a literal back corner of a kyoto department store...and i couldnt afford it because i was broke after everything elsemandarake's online listings don't list EVERYTHING in their stores but they can be helpful for finding specific things you're on the hunt forabsolute minimum? three days in tokyo and two in osaka, but you're gonna have to hit things quick
>>11077040>this is less the case now than it was five years ago when i first visitedthough now that i think about it, with the yen as weak as it is, you're still buying things at 50%-75% discount from US prices often
>>11077035looking forward to an update>>11077040The current plan is to stay within Tokyo radius, since it's our first time. I also expect to take the train but I have no idea how fast they are. I may repeat areas just in case, but I don't want to rush/overdo too much
>>11078156the shinkansen (or at least the "slow" one they let you ride on the japan rail pass) gets you to osaka in about 3 hourson the normal trains, you can go to the absolute outskirts of tokyo in about an hour, and anywhere within the core of the city in ten minutes or lessbeing slow about it isn't a bad idea, just remember the rest of the country if you go a second time
>>110781623 hours sounds intimidating, but I do see the adventure, and i assume i can fit that in 7 days. All i expect is ill be a whole day in Akiba, Pokemon centers, other single-IP focus stores and whatever fun cafes/pop ups but i dont know how long for general japanese stuff like an onsen, shrine visit or what appear to be a plentiful amount of theme parks.Also what do you mean about hitting things quick?
>>11067898What was your grail central? When I go I intend to hit up a bunch of Mandarake locations and the Surugaya flagship, but otherwise I was mostly planning on eating.
>>11068094Please kys
What's the toy scene like aside from what they have locally? Do they have nearby imports and even wacky bootlegs too?
