Hey All, I'm going to be visiting Tokyo for the first time between September and October this year and intend to do some serious shopping! My first priority is to shop for vintage, mostly Henshin Cyborg, Microman, Timanic, Astro Mu 5. Also anything related like Secret Base or Charactics vinyls, costumes, or heads (Robotman for Henshin Cyborg). Or even Marmit's "Buster Vanks Dai" series designed by Yasushi Nirasawa. Thanks to Super 7's "Tokyo Underground" book and the internets, I have an overwhelming number of places to visit. To anyone thats been to Tokyo recently, are there any specific shops that you could recommend that specialize in these toys? So far, I've found two that might be the most likely... Toys Goldenage (Akihabara) http://otakumode.com/news/515024759...bara-rsquo-s-Retro-Toy-Specialty-Shop?lang=en Toy Cats (Kichijoji) https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://toycats.net/&prev=search Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!!! - ironmonkey_65
From what I've seen, those two stores are probably your best bet for those kinds of things. Be sure to confirm store hours before you go down (the small shops tend to keep odd hours and change them often). Check the Mandarake locations as well. The new vinyl HC suits and accessories are pretty elusive at this point, so don't be disappointed if there are none to be found. But you may luck into some at Mandarake.
Stumbled upon Toys Goldenage a few weeks ago. Pretty cool store. Only 1 case really of Sofubi (vintage and modern) with a shelf of Buta for pretty cheap. All the prices seemed low compared to western aftermarket. Really packed with random vintage stuff just like in the photos.
Toycats is your best bet. I was suprised to still see some bits at Mandarake for microman and henshin, but from what folks had told me it's definitely changed quite a bit. Most mandarake prices and elsewhere is either for junk or priced goofy high. For me the junk seemed like gems since even junk goes for pretty high these days on yahoo. Saw lots of magic at Toycats. Goldenage was pretty cleaned out, just junk there. there's a shop I always like to go to that has pretty good microman Henshin goods. i can never remember the name but it's a tiny shop at Nakano, but around the outside of the mall, not in the area with mandarake and friends.
