Looks as though the garimpo website is no longer active "temporarily" Really hope that this isn't the death toll
i think not only garimpo, almost all sofvi shops are dangerously on the brink. such is the state of this hobby.
Seems this business does better as an online source rather than brick and mortar. Don't see why they would shut down web sales.
maybe i'm reading too much into it,,,but these kind of events are not usually a good sign....... fingers crossed i'm proved wrong!!
Sofubi is stronger than it's been in the last 3 years. It's just a transition period to new sales and promotion channels. Plus going international is so important these days. Like Rich said, online sales have become very important for most companies. To that I'd add toy events, customs shows, collaborations, and exclusives - to give people previews and first hand looks, to get collectors into new companies and sculpts, and even to get new collectors into the hobby. So toy makers are working harder than ever, and retail outlets are working to keep their bases. Having visited a lot of shops regularly, I'd say the single biggest problem with mom and pop shops is keeping their stock fresh. So much is tied into existing stock that when it doesn't move, it's tough to go back to the well. That's why Mandarake has everyone on the ropes - they have juggernaut buying facilities in most (maybe all) of their stores, and their sales volume is so massive that their offerings get replenished much more often than other stores. The independent sofubi shops that seem to do well have a combination of sofubi, diecast, etc. The days when a shop like Forest Gangu could get by with a focus on sofubi figures (though they also sold other types of toys) may be behind us, at least for the time being. Never say never.
Say it isn't so....I love when they do exclusives with Zollmen because at least they ship international. Aren't they some how connected with Zollmen? You know they're not suffering because almost everything they put out is a hit.
I think they're just revamping their website. Did I miss the paypal and credit card tabs or are they new? If anything, I think Garimpo is making it easier for international order! And with Medicom coming into the fray with all these collabs with the indie makers, I'm with Andy. They're actually stronger than before. I honestly think if Charactics did not leave the scene he would see a resurgence on his creation.
I remember the Paypal logo already being there long ago. The automatic translation of the text rather says that they are stopping the mail order business and keep the local store working... "Thank you for always use this site. Once again the site for renewal, we will suspend the mail order business. After renewed hope for your continued patronage. ※ buy in stores are going to continue so we thank you."
I think kurumonz is right that they are just upgrading their website. This is the translation from Excite. To renew the site this time, I will temporarily discontinue the mail order business. Please patronize it continuously after the renewal. - My best regards because of continuously buying it in the shop.
garimpo does says that their website is under going a renewal. on a separate note, i love this hobby and i certainly wish i can share the same optimism about j-sofbi being stronger than it has been. nearly all the japanese shops, makers, resellers etc that i am in closer contact with are not well right now. hardly any shops can really make a decent living on j-sofbi alone. you will struggle to find makers who can move bigger runs. premium j-sofbi events like sf, wf, ps are hardly arousing any interest among long time followers. i used to remember the excitement of the 7am sales at sf. these days, many long term attendees struggle to find anything to buy at the morning sales. the decline of ps is most obvious for me. i have always been very excited and look forward to the lottery session and after-event sales at ps. these days there is hardly any excitement about winning the lottery pieces or anything significant at the sales session. the number of people turning up has been decreasing event after event. the mandarake sofbi staff that i know of also felt the decline in interest of sofbi. as a result they stopped buying in some stuff or offered ridiculously low prices like 500yen for a bunch of figures that retail for around 3800 to 5500yen each. it is unusual for mandarake not to take in certain pieces as they take in almost everything and anything in the past. the views on medicom is rather split among the j-sofbi makers that i know. with due respect to medicom who has an owner who truly loved toys, certain hardcore j-sofbi makers would prefer not to go the medicom route. try asking honda or shigeru of bemon and nag3 fame respectively to have a medicom run. even on this forum, it used to be if one don't read the board for a day, there will be a lot to catch up. these days, it is fairly ok to miss a couple of days as there are not too much contents anyway. there are some spark amidst the gloom. i think all collectibles go through phases and it is encouraging to see the brave j-makers forging on. there seem to be exciting new sculpts coming from nag3, bemon, cure, blobpus etc soon, so the spirit lives on.
Joe I certainly don't live in Japan so you would definitely know and have a better feel for the state of the hobby than me, but do you think that perhaps a downturn can have a overall positive effect in the long run for this hobby? Specifically by weeding out people who enter it just on hype and are in it to make a fast buck (yen)? While I certainly don't like to see the demise of any creativity, brick & mortar stores, online outlets, or decreased enthusiasm/ attendance at events maybe this will spurn creators to scale back releases (something long overdue) and concentrate on quality control and specific releases. And as much as I hate to say it (and unfortunately have never had the pleasure of visiting a Japanese toy store) brick and mortar stores everywhere (not just toys) are becoming a thing of the past in this world economy. Direct online sales by the actual maker and especially overseas sales are something every prospective sofubi maker should consider. Maybe even made to order? Sure it takes the mystique out of limited runs but maybe that model of selling is not the best idea anymore? Or maybe NAG, bemon have it right by doing what they're doing? They sucked the life out of regular sofubi manufacturing to the point where they can't compete because all the interest lies with them and their lost cost overhead, direct small runs, and rabid fanbase that sells out every time?
Yeah, online sales are the way of the future. Even to do a show and pay for a table, is an extra cost. I know there are a few guys who can do it, but it seems nearly impossible to make toys full time, unless you own a retail store, cranking out other types of merchandise as well, or are a pretty well established artist who can either get big clients for design jobs or sell other art work/merchandise. But then I guess, toys are just a part of your trade. I think the future will be full of smaller makers, who have a genuine love for vinyl toys, making whatever they have the time to do while juggling a day job and doing nearly 100% online sales. You just have to appreciate what you get, and understand it's not a full time gig for most. So I guess, while the brick and mortar/trade show model of this hobby might be fading away, the future is still promising, as long as there's a love for this stuff, there will be people who find a way to make a toy.
The doom and gloom is totally overstated. I've attended nearly 25 events just this year and have visited stores and spoken with toy makers countless times. Here's what I've seen first hand. The custom shows I've been to from Gargamel, Blobpus, and others have been well attended with brisk sales. Companies like Marmit, M1, and Denboku have dozens of people lining up at Superfestival and Wonderfestival. Online preorders for Blobpus's Enma were very strong, and other companies like Secret Base are doing very well with direct to customer online sales. There may not be the flipping hordes lining up for every event like there were a few years back, and certain companies might not be as strong in Japan as they once were, but the aggregate total of collectors and sales are certainly strong. It's premature to draw conclusions by looking at one or two stores or companies, especially those who are intentionally limiting their sales channels for one reason or another. This all reminds me of the way writers judge the success of new movies. They always focus on domestic ticket numbers and then toss in the international sales as an aside - even though overseas sales account for the lion's share of sales. These days you've got to look at the whole picture as an aggregate. Like I said before, while some makers like Marmit can prosper from domestic Japanese sales alone, many others who are thriving are embracing the global market. Sofubi is very alive and well. And that's the truth, Ruth.
holy shit andy we agree, alert the presses a company the size and spread out presence of mandarake is always going to be a strong influence on a niche hobby like this TO will be absolutely packed next weekend, with a long line of otaku winding down the alley so flippers have faded, hype is fading (cept for the nagbemonraku stuff) to me this is positive for the scene
I agree with this 100%, only adding Butanohana & Zollmen to the hype list. One thing which bothers me a bit though is the event flippers who would list items with only a reasonable mark up on YJA. I was just saying in another thread how you don't get 20+ pages of hits on YJA anymore. Flippers listing outrageous prices fading = a good thing. Reasonable flippers fading + no stateside stores offering items = bad thing.
Chris, I don't think the stateside or even EMEA channel will ever be fulfilled to perceived demand Many sofubi makers really do consider their fans in Japan primarily, which I understand, and does make it harder for collectors outside Japan but its kinda always been that way
To follow up on my last post, for whatever reason, it seems some people are going to focus on the negative even when there's solid empirical evidence in the affirmative. Look at the the recent success of Grody Shogun, MVH, Paul Kaiju, Blobpus, Pushead...sheesh sofubi is absolutely BOOMING these days. Joe Man makes a solid point that some attention has shifted to smaller makers with high quality toys. I think there's a lot to this. In a way it's the equivalent of the early years (2005-6) of the modern sofubi scene, where makers sold their wares primarily at shows like SF. But these days the Internet is the new stomping ground, and people are showing, through Kickstarter, pre-orders, etc, their support for lines they like. BTW, in terms of sofubi events, I was at Pachisummit a few weeks ago, and once again it was completely packed. and I expect next month's SF to be as insane as the previous one. But realistically - there are so many new makers and toy lines these days that not everyone, including brick and mortar shops, will get the same level of attention they once did. You really have to put out good figures, and, if you're a store, distinguish yourself with fresh stock, store events, websites with overseas shipping, etc.
I think BOOMING is overstating the market a bit..... were still talking 50 pieces per colorway at most?. Certainly less than 100. when 500 pieces per colorway are selling out, then you know things have changed but were far from that.
To my knowledge, no indy sofubi maker has ever manufactured 500, 400, or 300 pieces of anything. I'm not even sure many runs hit 150-200 at the peak a few years back, and during those days, hype was clearly driving a lot of sales. There has been a settling down, consolidation, and slow growth over the last 2-3 years, and that is really saying something given the global economy and soaring yen. Fans have a lot of very high quality toys to choose from. 2011 has been one of the best years for indy sofubi, in terms of quality and range of choice. Now we're seeing a finalization of the transition to new distribution channels. Top quality companies likes RESTORE are, from the get go, partnering with top flight companies like Popsoda (for domestic sales) and Lulubell (for intl sales) instead of going it alone. The landscape has changed a LOT in the last 3 years, but from that we've seen an explosive growth in variety and quality. I will say more needs to be done to make more figures available to more fans globally, and again I'll agree with others who are saying the Internet holds the key.
Yeah online sales are key. I was saying that years ago. Never understood why Japanese companies didn't sell direct back then. Have toy companies sell directly to global customers. But even by cutting out the middle men, prices are still high, thought they would be more reasonable. US stores would take a hit, but they're already diversifying and evolving. You see this with S7, LL, Roto, GT etc. Chris, regarding the drought on YJA, I just took that as even lower runs and 2005-2009 releases being locked away in collections. You probably don't collect fight figutes, but Secret Base, RxH, Gargamel, Blobpus have all seemed to have dried up in the secondary reseller market versus say 2007-2008 or so. Or maybe you are talking about other companies...
Exactly Peter! Direct sales is the future (should be the now though- well you see it with a few companies i.e. Elegab etc). US stores as you have said already diversified through making their own lines, or getting exclusives from certain companies, and the reality is the whole process would be a transitory one so it would take some time for everyone to switch over to direct sales. It's a win win situation for the consumer and the maker. I mean remember years ago there was talk of ebay and yahoo japans auction forming a partnership to allow international buyers into the japanese market- well that never happened. Imagine if we could get access like that now but direct with the actual maker. I mean if I were a maker it would be great to have immediate feedback on designs and actually seeing what is working and what is not. The positive possibilities seem to outweigh anything negative on both ends. In regards to YJA. I didn't quite think about the possibility of the toys just not exchanging hands as much and being locked into collections. Very good point. I had no specific company in mind but I remember just about ANY company you searched for back then had many more pages than they do now.
