Man, my drawers are dirty
In addition to my Comiket 75 shopping spree, I also contributed diligently to the wider economy of Japan in numerous ways, no doubt single-handedly helping the island nation escape the brunt of the on-going global recession and the collapse of our century-old debt-based financial institution. I’m kidding of course: the economy has long passed the point of no return.
Jokes made in bad taste aside, I didn’t actually spend much this trip. In fact, on the whole, I probably spent in my one-month stay about as much as I used to spend in a week-long stay. This is particularly amazing when placed in context with the yen’s current exceedingly high value.
How does this amazing mathematical hocus pocus work? Well, firstly you stay in cheap shared dormitories, and secondly you wait for the daily 50% discount at the supermarket for bento nearing their expiry hour. Also, you learn to not buy every piece of mass-produced fan goods that Gamers stocks. I mean, gee, do I really need another key chain when the same amount of money could be used to buy four second-hand CDs from Book-Off.
And oh yes, the cardinal rule of otaku shopping: second-hand shops are your best friend, your fairy godmother and Santa Claus all rolled into one.
Second-hand
90% of the items you see in the pictures are second-hand. This means that someone’s sweaty overweight paws have touched them all over, but it also means that they are cheap. Fortunately, Japanese generally treat their belongings better, especially when resale value is on their minds due to the thriving second-hand industry.
Every CD in the left pile costs 100 yen
100 yen (slightly more than 1 USD) is the magical number when it comes to second-hand goods. Newly-released items and rare collector’s items are graded according to physical condition and market demand by the second-hand dealers, usually selling for slightly less or even more than the original retail value. (For example Final Fantasy Dissidia retails officially for 6,000 yen, a dealer buys your old copy for 4,000 yen and sells it for 5,000 yen.)
However, older items that don’t sell often sit on the shelves for years until finally they are sold off in the discount bin for 100 yen. These items may be too old, too crappy, too over-produced or too niched, but whatever the reason 100 yen is a good deal and generally the heavily-discounted price tag is not an indication of the physical quality of the product but rather the lack of demand or overstocking.
I bought 15 volumes of Zipang and 5 volumes of Tenjou Tenge for 105 yen each (5% tax).
This copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban cost 105 yen
Of course, you don’t have to just aim for 105 yen to get a good deal. DVDs for example seldom sell for that low no matter how low in demand. I saw a complete Kimi ga Nozomu Eien DVD set selling for 6,600 yen at Trader‘s Akihabara branch, when each of the DVDs retailed for 6,000 yen.
The infamous DOA Hand Maid Mai and under-appreciated Seikai no Danshou
If you have the patience and time to dig through poorly-organized shelves of used stuff, you can always find a few gems. Those of you Singaporeans in the late teens to twenties might recognize YAT Anshin! Uchuu Ryokou above. Ah, nostalgia, thou art a money-sucking bitch.
The top left CD is a Nami Tamaki single. I had no idea what it was but I just bought it anyway since it was one buck. Also, Sega Saturn copies of Sakura Taisen!
And I added a few more Pactio cards to my collection. The Chiu single is actually an unopened copy. Also, I think this is my third copy of Evangeline’s card. Fanboyism isn’t cheap either.
And above is possibly my best find in a second-hand shop ever. It’s the first press of the limited edition version of my favourite Maaya Sakamoto album Nikopachi. The cover is different from the regular one (somewhat). First press of the limited edition is like getting double jeopardy or something, except the latter is against the law whereas the former is just milking the fans.
If real-life were World of Warcraft, I’d have earned the “Maaya Fanboy For Live” achievement about five times over by now.
Shiny Things
And of course I didn’t just buy second-hand stuff. I’m not that cheap. Close but not quite.
The only thing I bought at Gamers this trip
Tony Taka’s C74 release
PLANETES manga
And prepare yourself…
Cloning technology put to good(?) use
Yes, I bought LIVE FIGHTER dammit. And the Blu-ray version too. I don’t even own a Blu-ray player! There’s a back story to go with this expensive purchase. It’s kind of long, so here’s the short version:
Every fricking anime shop in Japan was playing the LIVE FIGHTER recording and for some reason I liked it a lot. There was this exhibition at the Animate main branch in Ikebukuro where they displayed all the costumes Nana wore during the concert. There was also a lucky draw promotion for LIVE FIGHTER purchases.
So yeah. I am heavily susceptible to the right kind of targeted advertising and ended up coughing up 9,450 yen for LIVE FIGHTER despite not being a huge Nana fan.
And not just that…
I also picked up the CDs for Suddenly ~Meguriaete~ and Dancing in the velvet moon, my two favourite Nana songs. For what reason? Because Animate gives people who buy over 2,000-yen worth of Nana CDs and DVDs (but not Blu-ray) a limited edition photo of her in a kimono. Kind of creepy if you think about it. Heh.
My current long-term plan is to somehow leverage this photo to recoup my monetary losses from Moyism (the Nana Stalker) somehow. The plan is still in the conception stage.
Keitai
And finally, I bought these…
That looks like 2,000 bucks worth of mobile phones right there. But in actual fact, they cost four dollars in total.
They are actually one-one models used in mobile phone shops in Japan to promote phones. They weigh and feel exactly like the real thing but are otherwise useless. I found a shop in Akihabara selling these off for cheap because it no longer needs them.
zaku towa chigau no dayo!
And of course, a little slice of Gundam thrown in for those G00 fans who are still reading my blog for some inexplicable reason.
P.S. I really need to finish my Comiket report some time before C76…
P.P.S. Yes I am torrenting the HD encoding of LIVE FIGHTER now to make my money worth.
Do you have a door to another dimension? I don’t see how your room could store so much loot.
…ooookay if even DM has grabbed LIVE FIGHTER then I should too. Only thing is whatever she does, my fave Nana song will always still be Protection.
Your going to Japan AGAIN!!!!! WOW!!!!!!
I’m going for Comiket 76 in the summer of August…but judging from what you spend…I spent a ton more when I went to Japan in the summer of 2008…
Sadly when I went last year…I forgot to by Tony Taka’s doujinshi…which I want bad!!!
I do agree that second hand stuff is the way to go but sometimes…I would buy the new stuff…just for the kicks of it…
Comiket summer line is going to a long line…longer then winter’s Comiket…I know cause I sat in it…
Still…want to see your Comiket 75 coverage!!!!! Hope for it soon!!!!
mobile phone MODELS o.0…whatever for..
I want a -real- one lol.
flip phones are passe..now there’re the swivel+flip ones that clearly pwn the lousy phones we have over here.
how much did u spent in total?? and hurry with the packing.. CNY’s almost here.
Is that my waifu, Tomoyo?
Good haul. :-]
On principle I try to avoid Books Off because they don’t have the exciting anime/game/manga/doujin stuff and their stuff is manhandled and looks it. But if I wanted to get manga just to read and throw away, it’s not bad. Sofmap and Traders is good for general hobby stuffs. I also recommend Books Lashinbang for used doujin and goods but beware of collector prices.
I believe the Nami Tamaki single is “Fortune”:
http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Arch/SR/namitamaki/SRCL-5864/index.html
This is the title song for the 2005 PlayStation 2 RPG game Radiata Stories.
This is my favorite song and music video from her, because its upbeat and full of dance.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=v2sCWIOCy50
> despite not being a huge Nana fan
Good choice on the Nana singles, only because those are my favorites as well. I also want the Blu-Ray, and those Nana promides were enticing. Also, it’s better to buy and regret, than not buy and regret. :)
I don’t see any figures, don’t you collect those too? :)
No DM, the right tack is:
1. Find a partner in crime who has a Blu-Ray player and a big TV
2. Host a LIVE FIGHTER showing
4. Make more Nana fans
5. ???
6. Profit by leveraging Nana kimono picture over more people, now for greater value because there is competition.
Rin: No, I’m not going to Japan again. It would just be rather stupid if I post my C75 report after C76.
Tiny Red Man: ç¦å‰‡äº‹é …ã§ã™ï½ž
piyo: I do collect figurines, but there was no luggage space. Northwest is the most anal airline I’ve ever taken. Also I really wanted 1/4 FREEing Ryoko, but it was 11k yen from the Kotobukiya store… Sigh.
omo: But I don’t want to open up my LIVE FIGHTER… I guess the HD encoding will work. Ultimately the plan is probably not worth the trouble since the new fans are unlikely to offer as much as moyism… Hmmm.
What the… I don’t know what I should respond to first. That apparently I’ve added another “title” to the growing list or that I’ll be willing to recoup DM’s financial loses ^^;;
And as much as I would like to take that Nana photo off your hands DM, I’m *trying* (with limited success) to cut spending this year. So unless you’re willing to go cheap, I can’t be much help LOL
Oh yea thumbs up on the Sakura Taisen purchases. I think I bought the first game and tetris/columns spin-off for the Saturn years ago (actually bought a Saturn just for that); good stuff and one of the first anime-ish games I played back in the day. Too bad the majority of the anime series that came out weren’t as good…
Torrenting the FHD version seems like a good plan for you since you can play that one without a blu-ray player^^
*Goes to torrent it*
wow… that’s a lot of… stuff. I wouldn’t want them even if they were free – takes up too much precious space
Same here….moyism
I bought the sega saturn for sakura taisen…
One of the 1st nice anime game ever produced.
Spend 2-3 days without sleep to finish it…
Nice of DM to get..
Sakura Column war was extremely nice also…
wah YAT anshin! man i been wanting to read their manga for ages. Really loved the anime when i watched it when i was a boy.
Book-off really is awesome! They have one here in California…bye bye all my money..
nice hauls! good to see you’ve got lots of nice stuff there! did you get those 2nd hand items from lashinbang or some 2nd hand store?
i want live fighter!!!
an extremely deprived Nana Mizuki fan’s cravings.
And of course, a little slice of Gundam thrown in for those G00 fans who are still reading my blog for some inexplicable reason
WANKER!!
Gundam 00 fan: still listening
lololololololololol I am still laughing for no explicable reason
Wow you brought a lot of stuff. Just wondering why do you have a pactio cards collection?
I love Mizuki-san’s voice. She sings well. Sad I don’t have Blue-ray too. I would love to see her videos~~!! *hearts*
And I think I saw Negima CDs…
Ah! Nana Mizuki!!! She voices, among other favourites, Fate Tesstarossa!
I’d get that DVD just for Eternal Blaze. That is such a great song.
Actually, I found the joke quite funny…
Wait, why did you buy those one-one mobile phone models?!
Cheap gift souvenirs.
0_o
You are a Tony Taka Fan too!?! OMFG that is awesome!!!
Tony Taka does some great Doujins…
baka!
What the, why would someone write out the words baka in someones blog? o_o And why am I replying to something so silly…its like, its so stupid that I can’t help but reply…DAMN IT JOHN!
As a side note, damn it dark mirage, I envy all the crap you own ._.
I got to go to japan and go to one of those conventions. Maybe in the summer….. yes, in the summer hopefully
On a completely unrelated note,
Happy (belated) birthday.
Lol I would have done the same thing with Live Fighter. But damn I can only find an HD Blue Side torrent, wanna link red side? Well I got the dvd..so i’m satisfied for now.
/(ﾟoﾟ)\ PLANETES!
My respect level for you has increased 5 points.
IMO, I would’ve dumped all the rest just to make room for the bunny Ryoko. But that’s just me.
A little off topic, but did you ever see any arcade prize figures (new or used) up for sale? Somewhere, I picked up the idea that they were to ONLY be given away at arcades (I guess after blowing 200,000 Y on tickets), to the point that I was told some Japanese otaku would rather goaround IMPORT them from FOREIGN figure IMPORTERS. (-w-). (Luckily, I got a couple Sega Haruhi Live Alive figs rather cheap locally on eBay.)
My heart also jumped when seeing Planetes. It’s one of my fav manga series.. ^_^
About the Live fighter torrents, a link would be good. But thank you very much :)
It seems that our DM loves buying stuff for things he doesnt have , right?
It is really dificult to obtain the yat anshin manga. ¿Can you please share it with the world? I’d be really grateful, I say! :)