Places to buy in Japan?

Linda · Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:54 am Post subject: Places to buy in Japan?

Does anyone know of a good place to games in Japan?
I'm going there in two weeks for business.

Linda

Linda · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 4:46 am Post subject:

Well you guys weren't too helpful on places to buy, but I still found a boat load of stuff. I had to buy an extra suitcase. I was able to take a few pictures of the display cases full of games, but most stores would not allow pictures for some reason. I'll post the pictures when I return home.

I was actually suprised at the amount of games and gaming books/magazines I found. Today I found a Bandai FL LSI PUSH-UP DORAEMON new in the box for $185. Not a steal, but considering that I haven't seen a boxed one for less than $400, I'm OK with the price.

I'll post pictures of my new acquisitions. Unfortunately, I found too many games I couldn't pass up for the price (maybe I can trade them). Then there were the ridiculous prices. Bandai vampire for $350? I have no idea why.

Oh yeah, a piece of advice. Never go shopping in Japan in the winter!

Linda

hiparco · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:39 am Post subject:

Hi Linda, congratulations about these games!!! I suposse you found a lot of games there. Maybe i'll go in a future, and i hope i could find it!
I'm waiting your pictures!!!! Wink

Bye

Rik · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:33 pm Post subject:

Hey Linda, let me know about any extras you might have acquired... I see things there a lot (online) for fairly decent prices, but then they won't ship overseas... Sad

Now that you've been there, maybe you can suggest some places for any of us if we go! Mr. Green

Linda · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 5:17 pm Post subject:

This is the only store where I was able to get pictures because the display case was outside. They had tons of game watches, but only a few tabletops. Most of the tabletops were inside the store and I was unable to get pictures. In my opinion about 30% of the games were fair prices based on what I've seen on eBay, but then again it all depends on how much you want a game. This store is located near Tokyo.

There are a couple of rare crystal screen Nintendo G&W on top there.

An unboxed ultraman with instructions for about $85. Not bad.

The Doraemon I bought and a really expensive Vampire.

Electronic games magazine/books

Linda

Linda · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:34 pm Post subject:

Rik, my extras probably wouldn't interest you. I just picked up a Tomy Lupin, Tomy Kingman, and Toyo Suisan Hockey (rare promotional game).

Linda

Rik · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:31 pm Post subject:

Is that hockey game shaped like a player?

How much where those books? I still need one or two of them... Damn...

Did you crop these pics at all? I see a boxed Machine Man at the bottom/left of the pic with the Vampire game, can't quite see the price though... Good snag on the Doraemon, boxed ones still tend to be expensive, even on the Japanese auction sites. I'd still like a _NEW_ one, but my boxed one is in pretty nice shape, so I'm happy (for now... Mr. Green

).

hiparco · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:24 am Post subject:

Great pictures Linda. These stores are so great!!!!
There are a lot of games... you have to go to tokio with a lot of money because these are impressive.

The books or magazines looks so nice, i've never seen before. All magazine are about handheld's and tabletops? is it like a guide (handheld collectors)?

Bye

PD: I need some of these G&W to finish my collection ! Very Happy

Linda · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:39 am Post subject:

This is the hockey game
http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Misc/ToyoSuisanHockey.htm

I knew you would ask about the books. They were between $60 - $170.
I had them open a couple so I could look through, but not all since they were shrink wrapped. I tried to remember which ones you had on your site when I asked, but I looked at the books the pictures seemed familiar, so I think I looked at books you already own.

The pictures are not cropped. If I remember correctly it 92,500 yen or $818.

Linda

Rik · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:51 am Post subject:

Linda · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 7:25 pm Post subject:

Hiparco,
These are just pictures from one store. I wish I could have gotten others. There was tons of vectrex stuff in one store. I think this one had the most handheld games though. The others only had 25 - 50 games. A co-worker told me there were more stores that sold vintage games in Osaka than in Tokyo.

Linda

Rik · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 7:32 pm Post subject:

Would they actually not let you take pictures? (If so, did they say why?)

The store that had Vectrex, was it the Japanese version of Vectrex, or foreign (to Japan) versions? Those Japanese Vectri or worth some money apparently... I was actually thinking about asking you to price some of that kind of stuff if you saw it, but I think I just figured it would be hard to find...

Linda · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:16 pm Post subject:

Rik, I know about four Japanese phrases and have yet to run into a fluent English speaker in one of the stores. So no they didn't tell me why I couldn't take pictures. I usually just see the no cameras sign posted.
Personally, I thought it was because of some of the other rare things in the stores. They typically have a lot of those comic/cartoon characters and comic books.

They actually had both versions at the store. Funny that you mention it, the English version was about $350 boxed and the Japanese version was about $700. I wondered about the difference because the English version had a better box. The cheapest Vectrex games were about $30 each, the others were more expensive, but I don't remember the prices. (I only paid attention because I saw Taki had one on eBay recently.)

I usually go that way for business twice per year so I'll let you know if I go again soon. I'll try to price some stuff for you.

Linda

Goldie · Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:11 pm Post subject:

damn....they have tonnes of stuff over there...never seen a store packed with that much retro stuff....I dream about things like that. Thanks for the photos.. Cool

Linda · Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 8:04 pm Post subject:

Goldie, I dreams of things like that that I can afford. Very Happy

Linda