Japan 2012 - 15th December, Saturday

I decided to visit Shimokitazawa early thinking that we will be able to buy more time for the day. I was wrong, because most shops operate from 1100hrs or 1200hrs and we are pretty early at 1000hrs. What made our day worse was the weather.

I planned for Shimokitazawa because this is where you can find vintage stuff or 2nd hand clothing. Not so much into used clothing but if there are clean pieces from the 60s or 70s, why not? We were there for 2 shops basically. One of the shops is selling vintage toys as shown in above photo. Not "Zappas" but the shop on the 2nd level. We are waiting for the shop to open while sitting in MOS Burger nearby, finally the shop owner arrived at around 1230hrs. That was a long wait. We hoped to depart Shimokitazawa by 1400hrs so that we can continue our journey for the day.
  

Closing up on the shop name. I don't know how to translate the shop name into English but I'll try if you like to know.

Translating respective lines, "Taste of Dramatic Life", "House of Memories", "1960s Specialist Shop". I hope I got this right. I got hold of the shop owner's card and it's in Japanese. I think his name should be Ueno Risaburou if I managed to translate it correctly. Ueno San do not allow photography in his shop so I just took a photo of his main door. It's a small shop with many old stuff and I am interested on his "minicar" only. He has 2 small display case with toy cars in the store. As I was looking at the cars, Ueno San asked me if I am minicar collector and we exchanged cards. I am interested in his Tomica, Lone Star and Playart (badged as Masudaya) but based on the asking price, I think I will just focus on the Playart. The Playart he had are Japanese cars which I was looking for. I asked if he had more of these and he did a search in his "store" which was behind his counter where he sat. He dig out a box full of MIB Lone Star, Playart and Matchbox. I decide to do a bundle sales and negotiated on the price to buy out his Playart. Actually it's not many pieces, 5 in all so it's not too expensive to buy them out. All cars in the lot are Corolla and Sunny. My friend, Keong, did get a Lone Star as well as he never had one so I bundle it up as well. Considered a good buy for first shop of the day and good deal for Ueno San since we are the first customers right after he opened for business.  

I know how to translate the shop name. 2 Banchi 3 Chome, more of like an address but it is really the name of the shop. I have seen this shop as I have been buying stuff from Yahoo Japan and this shop is no stranger in the auction site. The time is 1300hrs and raining. The shop owner said that he need 30 mins to set up the shop so we waited till 1330hrs before we can enter.

As photography is not allowed, I will not show you the stuff inside the store but you can see visit the shop in YouTube as someone did a video. We were lucky as they were having 50% discount store wide. This shop has everything from toy cars to figurines and from Japanese toys to American toys. As for the pricing, I would say the price sounds more reasonable after discount of 50% otherwise I will not consider. I did not buy any cars here as most of the cars are not mint and some in junk condition. I bought a Evil Kenevil figurine and a Pokochan doll, sounds so unlikely of me to buy these stuff but strange enough, I like these toys although I am strictly a toy car person. We spend an hour there and we hurried off to Tokyo Station as today is official release day for Tomica new model.

I don't want to tell you what I bought but I know that you might be thinking I should be the happiest person on earth that day. Not really! I never really enjoy shopping here because not many stuff excites me here. I managed to spend slightly more than 17,000 yen anyhow as I was doing it on behalf for my cousin. I went to Tomica Shop so that I can make my post a little more complete since a major portion of my followers are beginners on collecting Tomica.

Next, we went to Akibahara. It was dreadful for me because I don't collect figurines. It was interesting for Keong because this is his first time for everything and he would like to see, try, touch, taste anything that comes along the way.

I can only accept Ultraman figurine as I do have Ultraman toys at home as well. It was like hell in Akiba for me rather than heaven.

At 1900hrs, I am supposed to meet my friend, Tonegawa, in Gulliver. Tonegawa owns a Kenmeri Skyline who turns a Tomica collector years ago. As my favourite Skyline model is the Kenmeri, Tonegawa is my "hero". He told me he nearly completed collecting all variations of Tomica Kenmeri Skyline. It's a pity that his car is under restoration and the whole project will take 10 months to complete. I haven't seen a Kenmeri in person and maybe my next trip to Japan, his Kenmeri should be ready for my camera. For those who are reading this thinking what is a Kenmeri but dream Skyline as their dream car and only know what is R32, R33, R34 and R35, I think it's a joke to dream Skyline as your dream car if you do not know much of Skyline history.

Here is a link to the blog of my best friend in Japan.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/junktomica/archives/51375535.html

Bob is the man who was helping us taking the above photo of me and Tonegawa. When I reached Gulliver, I met Bob again for the second time. First time was in II Ado on day 1 of my trip. Bob was talking to Nakata San, owner of Gulliver, because they are old friends. I asked Nakata San to help us take a photo because I forgotten to do that when we met in II Ado. I was too excited that day because II Ado was my first minicar shop visited after 2.5 years. I discussed with Bob of visiting the Wonderland Market together tomorrow as it is the "highlights" of the whole trip (for me). After that, I went coffee with Tonegawa before going back to hotel. Tomorrow is the "big day" for me, my reason for visiting Japan again is for the Wonderland Market. I will try to show more of Wonderland Market on next post. Keep following.



Japan 2012 - 14th December, Friday

We went to Nakano on Friday morning as there is a mall where they sell toy cars, figurines, manga, cosplay costume, watches, 2nd hand books and antiques. It is similar to our China Square in Singapore but at least 10 times bigger and 100 times better than what we have. I have also advise my friend, Keong, not to take photo so openly as some shops do not allow photography. It's funny to see him act almost like a spy in Nakano as he took photographs in discreet and hide his camera when needed.

I was expecting to find vintage Tomica in Classic Vintage but the Tomica in this store are rather new. Quite different from the branch in Yokohama.

There are also shops which has many shelves rented by individual sellers. There are a number of units that contain Tomica in them so we spend almost an hour in this shop looking for cars we need.

The Tomica are of different series and era. I picked a few cars here while Keong picked many cars as if they are free. Maybe he is deprived of being able to get a decent Tomica in Singapore or Malaysia as there are only current release available.

Closing up on some domestic black box Tomica. I think some of these are gone by now as Keong picked quite a number of them. If he continues to go Japan 2 or more times, he can beat my collection easily. In fact, he has already booked for another trip to Japan next year.

This shop is under the Mandarake Group selling only toy cars.

Just when I am about to enter the shop, I spotted something rare. A Yonezawa 1/64 scale Toyopet Crown Deluxe toy car which is considered very rare today for this scale.

Then I spotted another blue one in the same show case.

The Tomica in this shop is lowly priced but you must do a close inspection on the condition. When the prices are low, there must be some defects either on the car or on the box.

Elf is a small minicar shop (maybe quarter the size of II Ado) but if you are looking for a rare variant, you must pay a visit to Elf.

These are the cars as shown on the display case outside their shop. If you wanted really rare stuff such as first edition of 1970 1A wheels Tomica, they have it here. If you are looking for a Made in Hong Kong Tomica, they have them available, loose or MIB. My Kombie is found in Elf too and I also saw the Ambulance edition of the Microbus which is the hardest to find variant for the Tomica Microbus. As I have been buying from Yahoo Japan, I saw Elf had ever tried selling the Wedding gift set which was released in 1983 issued to guests attending the wedding of the son of the Tomy President.

I know I refrained myself from getting big items but this set is reasonably priced and it has never been played with. I managed to bargain another 300 yen off from their asking price so I bought it. Keong was a little more ambitious as he wanted 2 Tomica Mini Cooper that cost more than 10,000yen each. I managed to help him get 5% discount for him since these are not low price toy cars.

After visiting Nakano Broadway, we took a train to Shinjuku to Ken Box. This is my first time there as Ken Box started business in 2010 May. They are the shop who organises the Shinjuku toy event. The first edition was held in 2010 May and last month in November, they had their 4th edition held in Shinjuku. Although the shop was very near to Shinjuku station, it took me nearly half an hour locating for it because I had never been there. Whenever I lost my way, Keong will get an extra treat as he will be tagging me behind taking photo of almost everything that comes along his way. Most of the time I am either walking with fast pace or even run just to meet our planned schedule.

Ken Box is located in a narrow building and you have to take the elevator to 5th floor. When the elevator door opens, you will go direct to Ken Box because the entrance is actually the elevator door.

Ken Box has huge collection of Tomica, Dandy and Diapet. They are displayed according to their era and Tomica number so if you have something in mind, it is easy to find what you want. Finding the car you need in Ken Box shouldn't poses much problem to anyone but the price is closer to collector price rather than trader's price. I did see many cars I like but they didn't match the price I want to pay. Keong grabbed all the Cherica and some Tomica. I hurried him a little as we will need to skip Minicar TMT or we will not be able to go to Shu-Stock.

Shu-Stock is a shop which I really look forward to go because they have virtually every brand you can think of. I regretted not getting the Polistil RJ as they had a few cars which are completed with box. The prices are the highest but if you met a store discount, you are in for a treat.

When we reached Shu-Stock, the lady at the counter was busy preparing for Wonderland Market as she was packing and tagging price tags for cars on sale for the coming Sunday. There are also lots of Tomica which they have discount starting from as low as 1200yen for black box domestic models or foreign series cars but most are in the range of 1500yen. The above cars are not available for discount. Cars up for discount are usually very common models or they have minor defects but it's still a treat for us.

I can't help but to take a photo with all the Tomica in the background. Beside acquiring a few Tomica, I also bought a number of larger scale loose cars such as Dinky or Marklin. I would say the price is really so attractive that I bought cars that I might not consider if the price is similar to eBay. I am surprised that Keong said that this is the most satisfying store so far. I would agree to some extend as the price that day is really too good to be true. To be continued........

Japan 2012 - 13th December, Thursday

It has been 2.5 years since I last visit Japan in 2010 June. This time I had done my homework and planning for this 7 days trip. I have brought a friend, Keong, from Malaysia who has never been to Japan but dream of going to Japan even in his sleep. So it's my responsibility to make good plan for this trip because for first timer to visit Japan, he will go nowhere if no plans are made. On day 1, it will be a busy day because I will prefer to settle all necessary work in advance. As I made plans for following Monday to go to Gotemba, we will need to go to Shinjuku to purchase the bus tickets. The above JR Kanto bus should not be a stranger to most Tomica collector. This bus will bring us to Gotemba Premium Outlet next Monday.

Before going to Ikebukuro to make reservation on bus ticket for Narita Airport (for next Wednesday), I visited Tokyu Hands at the Shinjuku branch. Tokyu Hands is a lifestyle store for fashion, toys, household etc. I recalled that my last trip, I have actually bought a display case from Tokyu Hands. The carton box is so huge that you are unable to carry it with both hands and I had to purchase a trolley from Tokyu Hands to pull it back to the hotel. Luckily I did not buy anything huge from Tokyu Hands this visit.

Something did caught my attention in Tokyu Hands, Porter bags from Japan. I suppressed myself from buying one because I had already bought a Hugo from Hamburg 3 months ago. I have too many bags and my room is also filled up with toy cars. My objective for the trip is toy cars, not bags. So I walk out buying nothing this time.

After getting the airport limousine bus tickets in Ikebukuro, we headed straight to II Ado as planned in the schedule. I always like to make Gulliver or II Ado first stop because of the location and both shops are reasonably priced on their toy cars. It's a coincidence that I also met my friend, Bob, from the States who reach the shop just 5 minutes earlier than us. He is a collector and a trader so I asked if he will join us for the Wonderland Market this Sunday. We will meet Bob this Sunday again for the Wonderland.

II Ado is actually a small minicar shop but they have a little of everything. If you are a collector of any brand, this shop will make you stay for a minimum of 1.5 hours. I did a time monitor myself and realised that II Ado made me stay the longest comparing to any other minicar shop. Perhaps it is quite a distance from our hotel, just in case I don't come again, I have to make sure I get everything I need. I always spend a lot of time on the above shelves because this is where they housed the Diapet, Cherryca Phoenix, Micropet, Modelpet, Corgi and Solido. My attention always goes to Diapet because II Ado price is really attractive comparing to other minicar shops. You will get to save 1000~2000yen per car so even cars not in your wanted list will make you reconsider. I have found a Diapet I wanted but a shame that the box is damaged although the car is mint. I will keep it KIV and will buy this car if it is still available when I return to the shop for second time. This is the first shop, I don't want to splurge my money without thinking.

There are also quite a number of numerous brands in other shelves. You need to scrutinize every corner of the shop in order to find what you want. If a shop can make you spend so much time, that means that they have treasures waiting for you to discover and the price is reasonable that make you considering cars which you never intend to get.

As for Tomica collectors, it is much of a bad news if you are experienced collector collecting vintage stuff or if you are looking for particular rare car or variant. The Tomica has limited choice here for collectors who are expecting much. If you are a beginner collector who has nothing better to do such as to post all current release in forums or facebook, II Ado will be an eye opener for you and a good start to explore into variants that are never released in Singapore or Malaysia. Special note to beginners, don't keep posting new or current release in FB or forums, those are nothing special as anyone can buy them easily off the shelves. Post something which you cannot buy today. I am kind of sick to see new and current stuff posted in either FB or any forums. I do buy new release but I don't show them in FB or forums. Some reflections please.

I saw a Husky gift set near the counter. I like Husky but not totally into them and the price is not within what I want to pay for a Husky. I also try to minimise getting big items as my 29" luggage is too small for toy cars. Just to share this with people who like Husky and I find the box really attractive. I spend approximately 25,000yen in II Ado, not a lot really if you are into vintage stuff. After shopping in II Ado, we return to hotel for checking in before proceeding to next shop in our schedule.

Minicar Global is just 2 stations away from our hotel. They have relocated to a new shop but in the same region. It is just a minute walk from station as they are located along the tracks so looking for the new shop should poses much problem. I spend about 10 minutes and finally found the shop as I was going towards the location of the old shop.

Minicar Global is marginally larger than II Ado in terms of shop space but the variety of stuff is equally great like II Ado. They have more concentration of Japanese cars such as Diapet, Tomica and Dandy.

This is where you find all the Dandy and Diapet. They have more models to choose from although some models doesn't worth that much but you are still able to find reasonable price cars in Global.

Closing up on the Diapet. This shop is worth visiting if you are into Japanese cars. I got myself some loose Diapet at a very good price. 

There is a decent selection of Tomica available in Minicar Global. Slightly more than II Ado on selection of vintage Tomica. There are some rare items I got from Global such as a Bandai Beetle and a Pilen Mini Cooper. I actually saw some Cherica which are in my A-list but I pretend I have never seen them. I have influenced my friends around me to like the Cherica line as well. My friend, Keong, who has smaller eyes and slower instinct, I given him the priority to own them as he has yet to get a Cherica. I hurried him a little as we have to move on to our last stop of the day.

Gulliver is the nearest to our hotel so usually I will make no lesser than 3 trips to Gulliver because they are the nearest, offer reasonable pricing, has a big range of cars and they close only at 2100hrs on weekdays. Most shops are closed by 2000hrs on weekdays. So it is always wise to put Gulliver as a last stop of the day considering most shops in Tokyo has short business hours (usually from 1200hrs to 2000hrs for most shops).

Dandy and Diapet in Gulliver. They do not have wide selection on Diapet but they are reasonably priced so there should be something awaits you in the shelve.

Gulliver has mixture of non-Japanese brands as well. You might be able to find something you have been looking for all these while. These photos are taken from the main shop, there is also another shop just beside the main shop where individual sellers rent a portion of the shelves which Gulliver will sell on their behalf. 

I found what my friend has asked for. A J-Collection Spoon Honda CR-Z. His priority is the Spoon EG6 but it is not available. The retail price for a J-Collection in Japan should be 4200yen and Gulliver price is lower than retail. Anyway, there are more than 1 available so I KIV for this since Gulliver is just a station away. I might have luck for the Spoon EG6 at the Wonderland or Minicar Ikeda which we will visit next week as there is no time for Ikeda today. Stay tune for my updates for day 2.

Kombie in Japan

It has been some time since I last posted on my blog. I was on vacation and Kombie went along with me too. Although this is my 4th time to visit Japan but Kombie only came into my life months after my 3rd visit to Japan 2 years ago. It was a Sunday, my 4th day in Japan. This scene was taken after my visit to Wonderland Market, a toy car event which I attended in Yokohama. We spend hours in the toy event with much exhaustion after the event so we took a stroll in Yamashita Park along Tokyo Bay.

We decided to visit Motomachi Chukagai (Chinatown) in Yokohama which is just round the corner. We are famished and had our dinner in Chinatown.

The next day, we went to Gotemba Premium Outlet in Shizuoka. My objective is to take some photos of Mount Fuji but I am so unlucky. It was raining and I can't even see the silhouette of the mountain. It was supposed to be in the direction where the bus is parked. At least I did bought some stuff I like in Gotemba or it will be a waste trip. 

On Tuesday, we took a train to Onarimon Station and walk towards Tokyo Tower. We started taking pictures from far.

We saw a nice temple and took some pictures as well since it is on the way towards Tokyo Tower.

We walked for about 10 mins from the station to reach Tokyo Station. We just want to take a glimpse of the tower at closer ranger.

 There is a nice natural reserve beside the Tokyo Tower.

We went to Asakusa on the same day.

As usual, Asakusa is packed with people.

You can actually see Tokyo Skytree from Asakusa.

How Tokyo Skytree looked at night. We will be going home on Wednesday (the next day) so need to take an early night rest for as the Airport Express Bus leaves 0650hrs sharp. I will update more of my toy car shopping in Japan once I have the time.

Torque - Tomica Fan Fare

I have been a reader of "Torque" since the early 90s when they were known as "Torque Class" then. I was still schooling but I enjoyed reading car magazines more than my text books. I am glad that my Tomica are featured in my favourite local car magazine. To make the article a little more "exclusive", I dig part of my collection and let "Torque" choose the ones they like to feature. All models I brought along for the photo shoot are either Japanese made or limited edition not available in Singapore. I find that most beginner collectors in Singapore only focus on new Tomica models or fast machines (example GTR or Type R) so I hope to create this "awareness" that the real gems are the older ones. I wanted to feature my departmental store Tomica case but they were too heavy and to avoid damage during transportation. It was a fun experience for this photo shoot and hope that everyone will enjoy the article.