Summer Trip: Toys man Jia

I found this place while searching for a place to have dinner along Fuzhou Street.

It turned out to be a shop selling anime goods. There was a sign indicating that photography was not allowed, but ignoring the rules is a big part of how things are done in Shanghai.

Haruhi says buy 200元 and get a 30元 discount
A wall of gashapon dispensers along the wall. Capsules cost 18元 each.

A huge display case of plush dolls. I would have taken more pictures, but was scolded twice about it. Makes me wonder if they had something to hide...

初音ミク パンチラ
Prices for most items were the same as, or higher than in Japan. Some of the OOP collectible items were open to negotiations, but I'm bad at bargaining. I did pick up some stuff for cheaper than I would have got from eBay, but that's not saying much.

Summer Trip: Books by the pound

China is often seen as a source of cheap, low-cost goods, but the reality is that prices have been creeping higher and higher for almost everything. However, deals are still to be found with a little bit of searching.

While shopping for books along Fuzhou Street, I came across a couple of stores selling books by the pound. Prices ranged from 15元 to 20元/pound (roughly US$2.50 to US$3.00/pound).

One of the other items I found being sold in these stores were CCGs. I think the sets are normally priced at around 138.00元, and the boxes couldn't have weighed more than 2 or 3 pounds each, so there is a significant discount. I'm not into CCGs so I didn't buy any of these, but maybe I should have.

There is a video on the San Guo Sha (三国杀) website that describes how the game is played, but I can't figure it out. My spoken Chinese is rudimentary and suitable for common day-to-day conversation, but not for comprehension of terminology for game rules.

While shopping for books, I saw someone carrying three 1/700 ship models, and considered asking him where he got them, but thought better of it because I probably would have ended up with a bunch of models in addition to my 19kg of books.

The following are some of the books that I brought back home, but most are not from sell-by-the-pound bookstores. The books were chosen for having lots of pictures since I'm practically illiterate in Chinese. The English translation of the titles in parentheses are my own, so they may not match what the official titles may be. I found out after I got back that most of these can be bought for a lot cheaper on amazon.cn (not sure about how it works out with shipping though).

刀兵相見 (An Introduction to the Saber)
ISBN: 9787533034030

Despite the title, the book contains photographs and discussion of all types of weapons from swords to rifles during the Ming Dynasty and up to the Republican Era.


中国兵器甲胄図典 (Encyclopedia of Chinese Weapons and Armor)
ISBN: 9787101081718

Contains pictures and discussion of weapons and armor from prehistoric times to the Qing Dynasty.

Weapons of Ancient China (古代兵器)
ISBN: 9787546126524

A bilingual book containing pictures and discussion of weapons, armor, siege machines, chariots, and warships of China from ancient to late imperial eras.

China 100-Years Regimental (中国百年军服)
ISBN: 9787800846793

This book covers Chinese uniforms and insignia from the Qing Dynasty to the People's Republic of China. The second half the book is devoted to modern Chinese uniforms which are not of any interest to me, but the first half of the book more than makes up for this. It was very expensive.

刀剑鉴定 (Saber and Sword Recognition Guide) 
ISBN: 9787533253585 (?)

The ISBN corresponds to the book Iron and Steel Swords of China (中国刀剑), but the author is the same. The book contains photographs of daggers, sabers, and swords from prehistoric times to the Republican Era.

Summer Trip: Akihabara

Akiba is the mecca of anime and game otaku, but I only spent a couple of hours there since most of the old school stuff I was interested in was more readily available in Nakano. There are floors and floors of stuff that can be found in the buildings along Chuo-Dori.

Displays of anime goods are found lining the streets.

In truth, I could have spent weeks exploring Akiba, but I just had to bite the bullet and keep on moving.

Anyway, I stopped by Miniature Park and Leonardo to take a look at what they had to offer.

Miniature Park is a small cramped shop filled with military figures of all sort. Unfortunately, they did not have much in the way of 1/72 (or 20mm) figures. Most of the items are imports that are readily available elsewhere for comparable prices. I was hoping to pick up a Han command pack from 3D Model Studio, but apparently they seemed to have no knowledge of the manufacturer despite being listed as a distributor of the figures. I ended up buying a couple of Hinchliffe 20mm figures from a plastic jar of loose 1/72 figures for ¥100 each because I needed change for the subway.

Not to far away from Miniature Park is Leonardo (レオナルド). There are four storeys of models, and a basement level of backissue magazines.

I started browsing from the top down.

4th Floor

3rd Floor

2nd Floor

Basement
There are a lot of old OOP kits in Leonardo, but expect to pay collector's prices for them. Old 1/72 ESCI kits were in abundance, but cost about US$20 each. There was even an old AMT Civil War Balloon kit for about US$75.

I wanted to buy a backissue of Model Graphix that I had been hunting for, but they said that they did not accept my VISA card.

More information on these hobby shops and others in Tokyo can be found at AFV Modeller's Extremely Prejudiced Guide to Tokyo Hobby Shops.