#(website is amiami)

[nommedtail]

ABBY PLUSH ABBY PLUSHHHHH

and some meow keychains

[cea-tide]

Just (pre-)ordered two miku figures; is it too much money? Yes. Are they cute as hell? Yes, also

I have no regrets :3c

[kyouka-supremacy]

Alright is there anyone on here familiar with store.kadokawa.co or chara-ani.com (... or who can read Japanese) who can help me navigate the websites

[imavikingo]

Ok so... I like to buy figurines and plushies. I bought some stuff of Steve and Bucky years ago, but couldnt buy a lot of things of em before, because I relied on other people (local online shops) to get them. And Marvel wasnt that popular with the shops I knew.

The thing is... recently I have been able to buy stuff I like because Ive been buying by myself, secondhand for the most part (amiami sometimes has secondhand products, ebay and buyee are my go to places for this tho) and by chance I found someone that was apparently selling ALL their Hottoys, like a lot of them. And they had some of Steve I really wanted to own (The double Strike/Streets Clothes one in particular) and I bought them!!! I didnt pay for all of it because it was a partial gift (I paid for shipping/customs, but this is irrelevant).

And...

Just recently Hot Toys announced that they made a 2.0 of THAT particular figure (the Strike's outfit) and I was like "WHY THAT ONE? WHY NOT ANOTHER ONE?" "WHY, OH WHY???"

and idk, I think its kinda funny?

Ive been wanting that figure for almost 10 years and in the same year I can have it in my hands, they announce the 2.0 version... I feel like a clown kinda, lmao

They also teased a new 2.0 Winter Soldier figure (I actually want to buy that one :'> I can save for it if it also comes out in 2026)

[mikufigureoftheday]

I'm fairly new to collecting figures so I wonder if you could help me with this problem I'm having.

There's this digital artist themed Miku figure by Spiritale that I really like because I'm a digital artist myself. She seems to be taking a while for them to make and I don't know how I can get updates without checking their twitter or her MFC every month or so. Is there any other way for me to get updates besides these methods, preferably through email so I don't go crazy lol

Ah yes, that super cute one that's been in production for like 2+ years because these people hate us sometimes

You can make an account on the Spiritale website to get emails from them, or you can get notifications on your phone whenever their account posts to Twitter! She'll likely be a popular release too, so you could sign up for something like Good Smile or AmiAmis emails and scan them over to see if you see her.

[dailyfigures]

Welcome to the Official DailyFigures Bootleg Spotting Guide™!!!!

here are the steps that i like to use! each step does have exceptions so just keep going down the list until you're 100% sure!

1. where are you buying the figure?

if you're buying from a trusted figure store there is no need to worry. sites like amiami, solaris, nin-nin game, hobby search, ninoma, crunchyroll store, etc. do not sell bootlegs. if you're buying from ebay or similar sites, amazon, an individual seller, a local store, etc. you need to be a little more careful. 

ebay/yahoo auctions/other large scale marketplaces sometimes put something in the description to clarify it's a bootleg, however the word "clarify" is generous; it's just enough so you can't sue them but vague enough that you might still fall for it. watch out for anything that's worded like "china variant", "overseas version", "reproduction", "copy", etc.

also don't make the mistake of assuming irl stores won't sell bootlegs, or are automatically legit or know what they're talking about because they're a physical store; this does not have to be the case! some of the most horrendous biggest bootleg memes have been spotted in irl figure/anime stores, they can and will sell bootlegs so beware!

2. does the figure have a bootleg?

not every figure has a bootleg made of it! check myfigurecollection to make sure.

example ;

rapunzel miku has a bootleg, better check well before buying! vampire miku doesn't have a bootleg (yet?), you're good to go! it is technically possibly you're the first person to discover a new bootleg, so it's always good to keep going down the list to make sure!

3. is the figure ridiculously cheap?

if the figure is extremely cheap for no apparent reason, it's probably a bootleg.

example ; 

this is a bootleg. no one in their right mind would pay 150 bucks for a real figure and sell it for 8.

4. is the figure being sold from china?

almost all bootlegs (apart from people reselling their bootlegs) are produced and sold in china. obviously there are real collectors selling real figures living in china too so there are exceptions, but i'd be careful if you're inexperienced.

example ;

almost all the bootleg sellers on ebay are located in china.

5. how are the seller's reviews?

if it's an individual seller you can ask them for proof of past sales. if it's a reseller website like ebay you can check the reviews on their profile. some bootleg sellers use bots to give themselves overly positive reviews. be wary of accounts with a lot of sales and somehow 100% positive reviews!

example ;

this ebay seller sells bootlegs and has 100% positive reviews.

6. how do the pictures of the figure look?

there's 3 options ;

☆ the figure looks like an obvious bootleg in the picture (unsure how to tell? we'll get to that!) -> it's a bootleg.

☆ the seller only uses the official promotional pics and none of their own -> suspicious. there's no way to visually check the figure so this is very risky.

☆ the figure looks good in the pictures that the seller took -> either this is good news OR the seller stole these pictures from someone else and will send you a bootleg. a red flag is using pics with bad quality and multiple different backgrounds/lighting (they stole the pictures from multiple different people). make sure to reverse image search their pictures!

7. how do you recognise a bootleg just from looking at it?

let's say you're looking at an ad and maybe the lighting is a little vague so you're just not fully sure whether the figure looks right or not. here's what we do!

1. get a picture of a bootleg of the figure in question which you can find on myfigurecollection (figure page -> pictures -> bootlegs).

2. get a picture of the real figure, preferably a user picture since promotional pics can look a little better than the real product. (figure page -> pictures -> figures).

3. pick some details that are clearly different between the original and the bootleg.

4. get a picture from the ad you're unsure about. check the details you've just picked. does it match the bootleg or the real figure? there we go!

example ;

these are user pictures of a real miku figure and a bootleg where i circled the differences i picked. in this case; the way her hair flows, the direction the pink flowers grow in and the length of the stem of the yellow rose.

here are two pictures i found in two different ads of this figure. i circles the differences i picked; the first pic has long straighter hair, pink flowers growing to the left direction and a yellow rose with longer stem. this is real! the right pic has shorter curled up hair, pink flowers growing straight down and a yellow rose with a very short stem. this is a bootleg!

8. does the figure come with a box?

bootlegs often come without box, or with a box that has a different design on it than the official box.

it's not neccesarily suspicious if a figure doesn't come with a box, but it is suspicious if a seller is selling a lot of figures without a box. it's also a big red flag if it's a preorder the seller states it'll be without box; all official figures are produced with box so this is not possible.

if it does have a box, compare it to the official box! find a picture of the official box on myfigurecollection (figure page -> pictures -> loots&boxes) and compare it to the figure listing you're looking at.

sometimes bootleg companies just completely make something up, like this; the official box vs a bootleg box vs another bootleg box. easy to tell the difference this way!

sometimes it's not as easy; here's another official box vs a bootleg box. see the difference? the little 5th anniversary logo on the bottom right is missing!

this has exceptions; sometimes the box looks the exact same, like this official figure vs the bootleg. in this case you will have to use on of the other steps on this list (if you're wondering; the way to tell here is that in the official they took care to package the fragile motor accessories seperately in the blister, instead of on her body like in the bootleg).

thank you for reading my guide!!! i am by no means an expert, these are just the steps i like to use myself and i am absolutely open to suggestions and questions! :) if you're really struggling with a possible bootleg case, you can always send me a message/ask and i'll take a look!

edit; thanks for the suggestions in the comments/reblogs! i appreciate you guys' advice and added it into the guide!!! :)

[mrsshabana]

♡ 𝐌𝐲 𝐆𝐲𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ♡

I decided to take pictures of my collection since so many people asked! This is everything I've collected over the past two years. I'll give links for items that are still easily available. Also, please excuse how terrible these photos look. It took me over 3 hours to get everything out and take these photos, I was pretty tired and I was trying to figure out how to do it. I decided it'd be easiest to separate everything by type. And for some categories, I separate Gyutaro and Daki. The majority of these items are official merchandise, but I will make a note for items that are not official. (∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬

These are all of the large figures that I have! There was a new one that was recently released in Japan, and once I get it shipped I'll make a review about it. I got all of these figures from BigBadToyStore. Most of them are still available and a few are even on sale right now. I'd highly recommend their website! Out of all of these figures, I'd have to say the large one in the middle with Gyutaro using his blood demon art is my favorite.

𝐆𝐊 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬

These are the garage kit figures that I own! None of these figures are official. The one on the right can be found super cheap on Amazon. I got this one from a good friend of mine. I'd say for how large it is it's definitely worth the price. The two on the left I got myself for my birthday. The one with the lantern even lights up, and it's definitely my favorite. You can still buy these, but only on eBay. The prices skyrocketed after I purchased mine, so I honestly can't recommend anyone buying them. They are just way too expensive now in my opinion. But here are the links anyway if you are still interested. Gyutaro lantern statue & Human Gyutaro and Ume

𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬

And here are the rest of the Gyutaro figures! I believe this is all of the ones that are currently released (except for the new one I mentioned earlier). A few of these are also available on BigBadToyStore. The one on the top left is one of my favorite items that I own. I've never seen him sold outside of Japan which sucks because he's absolutely adorable. The top middle one is really cool too because he comes with changeable arms and you can pose him in different ways - this one is also on sale on BigBadToyStore's website.

Here are the Daki/Ume figures! Most of these came in pairs with the Gyutaro figures so that's why I have a lot of these too. Again, most of these can be found on BigBadToyStore's website.

𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐬

Gyutaro plushies!! I don't know about you, but I am so obsessed with Gyutaro plushies. They make me so unexplainably happy. To be honest, all of them are my favorite haha. But if I had to choose, I'd say the teddy bear in the back. I also really love the Kitty Gyutaro on the left. The kitty Gyu, and the other Gyu doll on the right are not official. The one on the right was a gift from a close friend, it was custom made on Etsy. The Kitty Gyu was actually available on eBay (they are sold out now, but might restock later). I got mine elsewhere though. The human Gyu plush is also available on BigBadToyStore's website along with the Ume one. The little grabby Gyu's in the front right are some of my favorites too. I'll just clip them onto my laptop while I'm writing or drawing. I bought them from Amiami, they are out of stock now but I have seen them occasionally go on sale again.

And here are the Daki/Ume plushies! I got a few of them from AmiAmi with the Gyu ones, so they might come back up for sale eventually.

𝐀𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬

Sorry for the terrible photo, I tried my best to fit all of these into one picture. I didn't include the demon gathering diorama because that thing is way too big. It's so hard to pick a favorite for these ones. I love the holiday ones and the world tour one the most. Surprisingly these aren't often available outside of Japan. I have seen a few come up on eBay but they are usually overpriced. There are a few ones that I wanted to talk about because they are unique. Like the acrylic stand of the actor who played Gyutaro in the live-action play. I thought it was really cool that they made a stand for that. Also, the one where Gyutaro is seen fighting Tengen, it's hard to see in the photo but it has a lot of components to it that make it look 3D!

𝐊𝐞𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬

I love love love the Gytutaro keychains! There's a lot here so I won't ramble too much about them. My favorites are the kitty one on the top row, and the 2nd and 3rd one on the bottom row. Like look how cute he looks on his stomach like that, I swear that's the cutest pose I've seen them make for him. The kitty Gyu keychain was actually the first Gyutaro item I've ever bought! You might be able to find some of these on Mercari or on eBay.

And here are the Daki/Ume ones!

𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐬

I used to have an ita bag that I would fill with these pins! But it got really dirty, so if you have any you can recommend let me know 👀 Anyway here are the enamel pins. The only one that is still available is the large FiGPiN one. It's limited edition and they only made 1,000 of them. It was for an event in New York I think? Anyway, here is a link to where you can purchase one on eBay.

And here are the other pins. I don't have as many of these because they stopped fitting in my ita bag, but I'd totally get more if I had a large bag to fit them in.

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬

Ok so I had a ton of miscellaneous items, so this will be the biggest section. Some of my favorite items are here like the ring, necklace, and perfume. Apparently, the perfume is illegal to ship outside of Japan because it's flammable so I have no idea how I got it. But I got it as a gift in 2023. The ring is definitely one of my favorite items though, I've had it for a really long time now and I love the pattern on it. It's hard to see in the photo but one ring has a motif matching his spots and the other one matching his ribbons. If you want to see my full post on the ring and perfume I'll link them here. Ring & Perfume.

More miscellaneous items. The only one I'll comment on is that pink little box in the middle. It's a gachapon and it's actually functional too. It's the cutest little thing. I also really like the pens too, the little chibi drawings on the front are adorable.

These are just a bunch of random cloth items I have. My favorites are the Gyutaro tote bag and the Gyutaro underwear. Yes, I said underwear... yes it is official... I'll make a separate post about it another day 😭 On the right is some Tengen toilet paper, no that isn't official. It has a funny story behind it I promise. So one day my little brother asks me, "Which character from Demon Slayer do you want to eat shit?" I said Tengen of course, and months later he gave me this for my birthday. I freaking love my brother 😭

I had to make a separate photo for this one since it was so big. This is a towel with all of the upper moons on it. I really love the art for this and I think it's just so beautiful.

Shikishi boards! I love collecting these because they have official art of Gyutaro that we don't get to see anywhere else!

More shikishi boards! He looks so handsome, right? 🤭

Just some photos (idk why they sell these) and coasters from the Ufotable Cafe in Japan.

More miscellaneous stuff. The graded card in the middle was also a birthday present from my brother. 💚

A folder and some stickers!

Finally, these are the last things. These are large items so instead of taking photos of them I just made a collage. They are luncheon mats and mat cases from the Ufotable Cafe. There is also a double-sided pillow, I use this every day in my gaming chair to support my back!

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧!

This is my entire collection! I may have forgot about one or two items but this is the majority of it. I also have shirts but maybe I will show those another day. (Maybe in a face reveal?) I hope you enjoyed seeing how my adhd brain hoards everything with Gyutaro on it.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to provide more links for these items as most of them sold out long ago. They are focusing on making merch for the Hantengu clones now, so Gyutaro item releases have slowed down a lot.

But if/when any new items come out I will be sure to share them! If you made it all the way through my collection, you're awesome! And I'd love to hear which thing was your favorite 💚 ✧( ु•⌄• )◞◟( •⌄• ू )✧

[lemonlilypufftangerine]

The Ace Attorney Nendoroid Dolls are up for preorder!

I ABSOLUTELY don't recommend GoodsmileUS because they had a data leak of their customers' information on their website and did not notify or apologize for it. Like possibly hundreds of people are victims of credit card theft or fraud from it. A reddit thread compiles the timeline and so many ppl admitted to having hundreds charged to their cards (debit cards esp not recommended for online shopping).

If still interested, there are partner shops available like amiami or cdjapan and more in the coming weeks before May 7th 2025 when it closes. No judgment.

They also have the doll outfits by themselves available. Also at partner shops.

Planned to ship out January 2026.

[unforth]

crossposting this from the cnovels community on Dreamwidth.

I was wondering, where do y'all buy physical books in Chinese? My preferred source recently disappeared, and I'm hoping to find something more affordable than sources I've used before. I'm in the US, but I figure that as long as people say where they are when they answer, a post like this could make a decent resource for those of us interested in purchasing physical volumes in Chinese. We can use whichever parts are relevant to our own purchasing needs/desires?

Places I've used (in no particular order):

Heartbeat Anime: this was my preferred source, but they've disappeared. I noticed they were gone right after the US tariffs were announced, though I don't know if that's why. Link is to their defunct website.

Koon Books: has been solid and reliable for me, but shipping costs are extremely high.

Books TW: Taiwanese bookstore. Shipping is high, and I'm not always sure how to tell what's in traditional vs. what's in simplified (and I'm not ready to really tackling learning traditional yet, though I've been starting a little as I'm in a group where people use both).

Shandian GO: a Canada-based group order that I've used a lot, but they're more merchandise focused. ( @shandian-go on Tumblr)

Taobao: not linking specific shops because I can't get it to work right on my computer without a VPN. Using Taobao from a US ISP has always been challenging and now it's even harder; when I've ordered from them, I had a friend in Beijing order the books and they were shipped to her, then I paid her back and she brought them to me next time she was in the US.

Kinokuniya: I've never ordered online from them; I shop at their physical store in New York City. Obviously they're Japanese-book focused, but they've been branching out; I was able to get the TGCF art book from them, and they carry the TGCF manhua in Chinese as well. I'm hoping they'll keep adding more. They have way more books in Chinese on their webpage than they do in store. Not sure how much is traditional vs. simplified; the text on their webpage is traditional Eastern Book Store NYC: again, I've never used their website; I go to their physical store when I'm in New York City. They definitely have things in-store that aren't on their webpage (like, I just checked priest - their website has Zhenhun but not Youfei, which I've seen while there.)

Via Lactea: sort of cheating, in that this is a Canada-based publisher who print books in Chinese, so the only books they have are the ones they publish. I've also gotten everything they've published in English.

Amiami: I've not ordered books from them, but they do carry at least a few books in Chinese I think? I've used them for merch as well.

From all of the above, my orders have always gone well and I've received virtually everything I've bought, except for one instance where Customs impounded a shipment that included some ShandianGO stuff (they weren't the target of the impound but were packaged in the same bulk shipment). Places tend to package really well, and shipping costs tend to range from "high" to "ludicrous." I'm happy to say more about my own experiences if anyone would like more info about any of the above.

Where have you ordered from, and how have things gone?

[class1akids]

Hello! Sorry to bother you but I was hoping you could help me out with something. I've seen you post sometimes about merch you buy from Japan and I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of some good websites to find bnha merch??? I'd like to start dipping my toes into getting official merch but I'm not really sure where to get it from...

If you want the newest things, you can get them straight from the shops selling them:

Manga-based goods are in Jump Online Shop - e.g. they sell birthday goods but also other MHA-based goods like the Big Acrylics, the new Dainama keychain, the blind hero badges.

Anime based goods are available in TOHO Animation store (e.g. the Top 10 fantasy art anime version, but lots of older stuff too) or Bones online store which right now does the Villain Animal fair.

Animate runs some of the same goods, but also some cheaper collabs.

If you are after figures, amiami is a good option. They have good English interface.

I get my e-book versions of the colored manga / magazines on bookwalker

If you are after merch that is special to Japan only event or collabs, Mercari is great. Lots of people are selling off their MHA collections in bulk, so it's easy to find great bargains, lots of vintage / now rare merch. Mercari is partnered with a proxy service called Buyee that will buy for you the goods for a 300 yen fee. They also store for free everything you bought for 30 days and bundle it to ship it in bulk, which saves a lot on shipping fees.

Buyee can also be used to buy things from jumpshop online or Toho animation store by using their other sites purchase function as many of the official stores require Japanese address/ credit card.

Depending on your location, there are probably also online stores that specialize in importing manga merch, but in my experience, it tends to be cheaper to take some time to find the things you want and work it through a proxy, as they tend to work with huge markups.

For things like figures, it again depends. For anything Ichiban Kuji - your best bet is mercari. For general release figures, it's probably easiest / cheapest to use your local amazon / alibaba etc.

If you are after the new nendos, probably best to buy on you local goodsmile company website.

I hope it helps. If you tell me what kind of merch you are specifically after, I can probably give you better pointers.

[berrychanx]

Special Memorize - Tokyo Mew Mew - Strawbell Bell - Shops

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!

List of shops that have the item for pre-order, keep in mind this is a limited edition.

PRE-ORDERS CLOSE IN MARCH (some websites say May)

RELEASE DATE - AUGUST 2025

I'm not sponsored by any of these shops, just trying to help.

JAPANESE STORES

Hobby-Genki

Payment Option - Full pay (item + shipping)

Pay Later (Pay on release date/month + keep in warehouse for combined orders)

My usual website, fast shipping, recommended, great variety of shipping options

Nin-Nin Games

Payment Option - Full pay (item + shipping)

Pay Later (Pay on release date/month + keep in warehouse for combined orders)

Has a Duty Paid / VAT options for European customers, great variety of shipping options, another one of my recommended choices

P.S - Hobby-Genki and Nin-Nin games sell the item for their original price + shipping (Original price - 6490 yen (40€, 41$) no taxes or shipping included)

AmiAmi - Not sure....doesn't have all the special memorize line, but if they add it, i'll share here.

European

Moon Stick Shop (Facebook Online Page, Italian)

Recommended by @kuro93

For more information ask the original page

JapondeMonde - offers a VAT/Custom included shipping option

USA

BigBadToyStore

Payment Option - Payment only on release date / ready to ship

Tokullectibles

Payment Option - Full pay (item + shipping)

Deposit - Half payment (item only)

Recommended by a follower on IG (@kiby.kiby.kiby) thrust worthy, reliable, fast shipping.

KuramaToys

Payment Option - Full pay (item + shipping)

Pay Later (Pay on release date/month + keep in warehouse to for combined orders)

(Don't know, never used them)

The official JP Premium-Bandai website is exclusive to Japan and the foreigner countries website don't have this product line available.

Why some websites sell the items at its original price?

Hobby-Genki, Nin-Nin Games, AmiAmi are all Japanese stores that ship internationally.

[jm-me]

it's a lost word plush that went up for preorder yesterday along with a flan and sakuya! they're all very adorable, here's an amiami link.

fyi, it's also up for preorder on the goodsmile us website, but there had been a data breach regarding the sharing of payment information around 4 months ago and a lot of accounts have been compromised, i'm unsure if they addressed or fixed this, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

[hetalianhistorian]

I have two questions!

do you know how to order Hetalia merch that they are releasing in Japan?

do you know how much merch does Poland have?

Hello! Sorry as well for the late reply! The main way to order Hetalia merch are through third party websites like AmiAmi that offers international service or through Proxy like Buyee that offers to purchase products from websites that do NOT have international shipping and send it out to you! As someone who does a lot of merchandise shopping for Hetalia, I can say that Poland unfortunately does not have a lot of merchandise. All of Poland's merchandise were made pre-season 7 and a majority it seems to come from The World Twinkle era. The only merchandise I am aware of for Poland includes keychains, cards, clear files, coasters, and an acrylic standee. Keep in mind, because of how old these merchandises are, including for a character that does not get merch made for often, be wary that these could be very expensive and/or hard to get...

I wish you the best of luck on your Poland hunt D: Edit: If it's too expensive, I always recommend shopping for fan made merch! Support your fellow fans with the things they make! I highly recommend checking out @tejennnn and their shop on Etsy once they reopen, for I am aware they do sell Poland merchandise! I bought some of their stuff before and I highly recommend it!

[ridiasfangirlings]

How to buy K merch in the Year 2024

I got several asks about this so rather than do each individually, I’ve decided to just make one big How to Buy K Merch in the Year 2024 post. I’m going to skip over the more obvious western sites like eBay and focus more on Japanese sites here. Because there hasn’t been much new K merch in some time keep in mind that most of what you will be looking for is secondhand, which means availability will vary.

Shopping Services

For some of these sites you will need a shopping service, so we’ll start there. This is by no means a comprehensive list of available shopping services, just ones I’ve used and liked. 

FromJapan - This one is very straightforward — copy and paste the url of the item you want into their search bar. For anything in certain sites like Rakuten this will pull up a page that will give you the item and its price in your currency and you can just click add to cart. For other sites you may need to request a price quote, there’s a small form to fill out and they’ll get back to you on if they can order it. Timing depends on when you make the request. The nice thing about FromJapan is they will hold items for you for 45 days, so you can collect multiple purchases from multiple sites over time and have them all shipped at once. The bad side is that after 45 days they will discard your items, so keep an eye on when your oldest item arrived (you can see how long it’s been at their warehouse on your account page, and they will email you as the deadline gets close too).

Treasure Japan - Treasure Japan is a much smaller service than the others on this list but also the one I’ve used the longest. Being a smaller service means they tend to be more able to purchase items that might have seller restrictions, particularly from places like Mercari. Some listings when pasted into other shopping service sites will have a ‘cannot purchase from this seller’ warning, because some sellers don’t want to deal with shopping services. I haven’t had much trouble with this merchandise-wise, but when I’ve run into it with j-fashion Treasure Japan has been able to order when the bigger services couldn’t. Their site is set up so you will input different sites in different sections, there’s one for auction, one for ‘flea market’ (this will be places like Mercari) and one for shopping sites. 

Buyee/Tenso - Buyee is a shopping service, Tenso is a forwarding service. They’re owned by the same parent company but are separate sites and you’ll need a separate account for each. Buyee is directly integrated with some sites like Mercari and Yahoo Japan, you can put in the url into their search bar and get a listing that you can buy immediately. Like FromJapan, any sites outside of the ones they’re integrated into will require you to request a quote (I found this more difficult with Buyee than FromJapan, personally) and they will sometimes be unable to purchase items. They will hold your items for 30 days at no charge, and you can request to consolidate packages for shipping.

Tenso, as I said above, is a forwarding service and somewhat more complicated. Basically when you sign up they will give you a Japanese address (presumably one of their warehouses) and you can then buy directly from Japanese websites, inputting the address you were given in the address field and paying with your own credit card. The items will be shipped to Tenso and from there you can have them sent to you. Obviously this is more complicated than a shopping service. I’ve used it mainly for things that didn’t involve an item being shipped (this is how I signed up for Fan Clan back in the day, for example, though my lottery goods were sent via Tenso too) or sites that require you to sign up to purchase from. I wouldn’t recommend it for any marketplace type site unless you’re fluent in Japanese, since sellers on those sites may try to communicate with you. 

Stores 

AmiAmi (no shopping service needed) - AmiAmi is mainly for new goods but I’ll mention it here anyway, in case K ever gets more merch. AmiAmi usually sells out on preorders, you place your order and they will let you know when the item arrives. You pay at that time. They do sometimes get used merch though so you can keep an eye out there, sometimes there will be decent deals on items that only have small flaws like the box being damaged. 

Amazon Japan (may or may not need a shopping service) - Did you know overseas people can buy from Amazon Japan? You do now! You will need to make a new account, even if you have an Amazon account in your country. Whether you need a shopping service or not depends on the item. Anything sold directly by the company will likely not need a shopping service — the majority of my K manga and the stage plays were all bought directly from here, and when I was supplying raws for Countdown and LSW I was buying the magazines from here as well (I’ve also used it for Pokémon plushies and sewing books). If the item is being sold by a third party seller though you will likely need a shopping service. The site will tell you when you try to check out.

Surugaya EN (no shopping service required)/ Surugaya JP (shopping service required) - This is a secondhand shop and a great place to find merch. The main difference between the English site and the Japanese one is that the Japanese site has a larger selection (particularly doujinshi, and even more particularly spicy doujinshi). The English site periodically has free shipping sales so keep an eye out. Surugaya also has physical stores and will sometimes share merch between the store and the site so keep that in mind too, I have had items canceled before because they sold out in store and the listing hadn’t been updated yet.

Mandarake (no shopping service needed) - Another secondhand shop similar to Surugaya. I have not actually purchased from them myself and am not fond of their interface but I know people who have bought things from here. Like Surugaya they share stock with physical stores so something you want can sell out even after you’ve purchased. 

Lashinbang (shoppng service required) - More secondhand shops. Lashinbang is rather small though so they don't always have much stuff, at least not for K.

CDJapan (no shopping service needed) - This is also better for new merch than secondhand but still worth a mention. I’ve found their prices tend to be worse than a lot of other stores though, this is more of a last resort for me.

Otaku Republic/Goods Republic (no shopping service needed) - Otaku sells doujinshi, Goods sells merch. The main draw is that these two are easy to search if you’re uncomfortable dealing with Japanese sites. I haven’t used them in quite a while but when I was buying from them they would send me free gifts with every purchase (my S4 cup came from them, as well as a bunch of clear file folders that I didn’t take pictures of because they’re being used as sewing pattern storage right now). The main downside is that while shipping is free over $50 they massively mark up the base prices to make up for it. I eventually stopped using this site because the shopping service was cheaper even with shipping and fees, you are paying for convenience. A lot of their ‘inventory’ is just listings from other sites including Surugaya, so check there first.

GoraShop (shopping service required) - This is Gora’s direct bookshop! They only have the season novelizations and Idol K books right now, as well as some Ayaka stuff. 

Kinkurido (shopping service required) - This is the King Amusement Creative shop. All Memories was sold through this shop but is currently sold out, if they ever restock Gora will likely announce it on their Twitter. They do have some other small K goods available, including some CDs and artbooks (and Sarumi body pillows). 

Marketplaces

Mercari Japan (Shopping service needed) - If you’ve ever used the English version of Mercari, here it is again but Japanese edition. You can find a lot of good used pieces here but prices are set by the individual seller so be wary of overpaying the first thing you find. Be sure to use a translator to look at the description in case you're buying a damaged item. Sometimes shopping services can try to negotiate the prices if you ask. 

Yahoo Japan Auctions (shopping service needed) - Similarly as above, if you’re familiar with eBay this is fundamentally the same thing. Some shopping services will allow you to place last minute ‘sniper’ bids, and most will let you set a maximum bid and keep bidding on your behalf until that max is reached. 

Shopping tips and things to know

The good news about buying from Japan right now: the yen is weak, so you can get deals! In the US, anyway. This may depend on your country so if you’re unsure on the exchange rate you can google “[your country’s currency] to yen exchange rate” and it should give you an approximate.

The bad news: shipping is killer. Keep that in mind, especially if you’re buying heavy items like bags or shoes (yes, K has those, there are several SuperGroupies collabs. If you want a S4 purse or Yata Misaki shoes keep in mind you will probably be paying through the nose for shipping). For the European types, you may have additional taxes too so be aware of your country’s import laws. Ditto when it comes to customs. For my fellow Americans, I have never had a customs issue even when buying fairly pricey dresses so you’re probably okay on that end but I can’t speak for other countries. 

Character tax is real. Basically, more popular characters will likely have more expensive merch because there’s more demand — for example, Fushimi and Yata merch tends to be more expensive than, say, Silvers merch. Keychains and pins are usually cheaper than larger items like figures and standees either way though. 

Most of the Japanese sites will need to be searched in Japanese. For character names, I suggest going to the K wiki and grabbing your favorite character’s name in kanji and using that to search. For pairings, while marketplace sites like Mercari may have listings under the pairing name sites like Suruga will use the two individual character names so you’ll want to search under that. If your browser doesn’t have an add on to translate that’s very helpful to grab in order to make your experience easier. For K itself, in general this is really the downside of having a favorite series with a one letter title. However, using ‘Missing Kings,’ ‘Return of Kings’ or ‘Seven Stories’ can be helpful here but will likely mostly turn up merch made for that specific season/movie. 

If you want to look up something specific like a plush but don't know the Japanese word for it, Jisho can be helpful. Look up the kanji for the word you want and then copy-paste into your search. The downside is sometimes there are multiple words for the same thing or a word may be in kanji but people use the hiragana more often and you won't know, but it should get you on the right path to start.

On buying spicier goods: most shopping services have it in their terms that they will not buy adult items. In practice, however, this depends. I've had FromJapan refuse to buy perfectly tame G-rated doujinshi. Treasure Japan has in their terms that they won't ship adult items but like 70% of my doujinshi collection was purchased through them, with an R18 Sarumi book purchased as recently as last year. I've heard Buyee also states that they won't ship adult items but it's hit or miss if they turn down your order, and if you buy directly using Tenso they likely won't even open your package. Keep your country's laws regarding importing in mind, especially if you think customs might be likely to poke around in your package. Don't get in legal trouble just for spicy drawings.

Buying secondhand is a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes it takes a while for what you want to show up, so just keep looking! When I was collecting my nui set I literally bookmarked the search for “K ぬい” (nui) on Mercari and checked every day or so, which may be more obsessive than you want but it does get the job done (I was molded in the merch search mines of trying to find lolita dresses that haven’t been sold for 10 years, so I’m used to this kind of thing). If you keep looking you may even find things you didn't know you needed, like this Sarumi bedsheet I forgot to add into my collection post.

Happy hunting!

[mikufigureoftheday]

do you know anywhere i could look to keep track of the newest miku figure releases?

Just follow my blog duh

Keeping an eye on her MyFigureCollection page is the best way to keep an eye on her stuff as they keep it updated on there fairly religiously

Anime goods websites like GoodSmile and AmiAmi are what you should check on too and they have email newsletters you can sign up for to keep you in the loop on all your favorites, not just Miku ✧(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

[teruthecreator]

like what do u mean i can’t just go on a website and purchase him. i want him NOW

they need to stop making teru plushes i cannot easily buy