Here is power for you.
Here are maps to shops where G1 vintage Transformers (or recent release Transformers) can be found. Feel free to comment, share and distribute. As always, if you have a burning question, feel free to ask me.
HONG KONG
Key toy shops on Hong Kong island and Kowloon marked out in map below.
View Heroic's Hong Kong toy shop map in a larger map
Heroic's HK toy shop recommendations (in order of priority):
- Wai Gu Kok (懷古角) - Shop 203 and 236, In's Point, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon (see this shop in June 2011)
- The Toy Shop (玩具鋪) - Flat 507, Sino Centre, Mong Kok, Kowloon.
- (no name) - Shop 221, In's Point, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon.
- HobbyBase - 3rd storey, Sino Centre, Mong Kok, Kowloon.
- Good Toys - Shop 209, In's Point, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon.
- Good Toys - Shop 202, Richmond Centre, Mong Kok, Kowloon.
JAPAN - HOKKAIDO (SAPPORO)
I've only discovered 1 place that sells toys here, but its very kick ass - the Sapporo branch of Mandarake
View Heroic's Hokkaido Toy Shop Map in a larger map
Heroic's Hokkaido ski trip cum toy shopping in Feb 2011 (lots of in-store pics).
JAPAN - OSAKA
The key toy shops in Osaka are spread across 3 main areas - (1) Den Den Town in Nipponbashi (by far the largest congregation); (2) Shinsaibashi; and (3) Umeda.
View Heroic's Osaka toy shop map in a larger map
Heroic's HK toy shop recommendations (in order of priority):
- Hero Gangu (ヒーロー玩具研究所) - must go!
- Entertainment Hobby Shop JUNGLE.
- Mandarake Grand Chaos (Shinsaibashi).
- Mandarake Umeda.
- G-One Super Position Capsule.
Heroic's Osaka trip 2011:
- Day 01: Hero Gangu, Jungle, G-One Capsule and Mandarake Shinsaibashi
- Day 02: Mandarake Umeda, redux Hero Gangu, G-One Capsule and Jungle
- Day 03: The final raid
- Osaka acquisitions tally
JAPAN - TOKYO
Key shops in 3 main area: (1) Akihabara (a lot of shops); (2) Shibuya; and (3) Nakano.
View Heroic's Tokyo toy shop map in a larger map
Heroic's Tokyo toy shop recommendations (in order of priority):
- Mandarake Complex, Akihabara - must go! (see this shop in Jan 2010!)
- Mandarake Broadway, Nakano - must go!
- Mandarake Shibuya.
- Liberty Store #7, Akihabara.
Heroic's Tokyo 2010 toy hunt trip:
- Chapter 1: In which the purpose is unveiled
- Chapter 2: In which we visit the Mandarake Complex
- Chapter 3: In which we visit Mandarake (Shibuya)
- Chapter 4: Mandarake Complex Akihabara Redux
- Chapter 5: In which we visit Mandarake Nakano
- Chapter 6: The Acquisitions
- Chapter 7: The Japan January 2010 "Best Of" Tally
SINGAPORE
The one key place in Singapore for toys is China Square Central in Chinatown. On Sundays, there is a "flea market" there, where the shops double exponentially and lots of toys are on sale 'garage sale' style.
View Heroic's Singapore toy shop map in a larger map
The map above does NOT contain a comprehensive list of toy shops in Singapore. There are just too many to list, but not all are important where Transformers are concerned. I have however listed the key places to go.
For a comprehensive listing of 99% of toy shops/ comic shops/ model kit shops in Singapore, see the SG Collect Shop Directory.
Heroic's Singapore toy shop recommendations (in order of priority):
- China Square Central (just visit this whole building, 1st and 2nd floor).
- Falcon's Hangar, Bencoolen Street
- Robo Robo, Exclesior Shopping Centre (see this shop in April 2007!)
- Vincent's Collectibles, China Square Central
- Ng's Collection, China Square Central
- Hua Quan Song Trading, China Square Central
- Books Kinokuniya, Takashimaya Shopping Centre
Feel free to comment, share and distribute. As always, if you have a burning question, feel free to ask me.
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I love* you, Man. :cry:
ReplyDeleteHandy! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMan, this is awesome and a treasure of information!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! I hope this really helps people find what they want.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a good resource for me because the most common query I get through my site is "Where and from which shop can I find Transformers in [insert country]?"
~ HD
@H_D: At least you quelled the curiosity and gave something valuable back to the Transformers collecting fandom. cheers. your selfless act and genorosity wont go un-noticed!
ReplyDelete@ Adam: Hmmm... according to what Google Analytics is telling me, this page seems to be one of the most "read" pages in my site. Good that the fandom is using it! Happy!
ReplyDeleteGreat article, I've lived in Hong Kong and Singapore in the last 18 months and it captures everything, I even learnt of a couple of places I didn't know of!
ReplyDeletehiya, sounds excellent. Very glad to be of help!
Delete@ Anonymous - Cheers and thanks for the kind words. If you discover anything that isn't on there, please let me know so that I can add it. =)
ReplyDeleteHi! Its @Anonymous again... living in Denmark now. Not sure if you're interested in extending your shop guide to other countries, however I have found two great places to get G1 Transformers in Europe (mostly US and European releases). Ruben og Bobby (http://rubenogbobby.dk/site/) in Copenhagen, Denmark and Space Oddity (http://www.spaceoddity.nl/) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Truly awesome. (Just got back from Amsterdam and a big pile of G1 figures and parts!).
ReplyDeleteExcellent blog, keep on posting (now I have to get back to planning a shopping trip to Japan).
hi there, thanks for the additional information. I might one day do a Europe chapter for these maps, if I do get a critical mass of shops in other countries.
DeleteRight now, I might let your comment spell out where we can find the one or two places where there are toys in Europe?
Many thanks!
=)
Hi are the toy shops recommended for HK still valid currently? Thks.
ReplyDeleteTo the commenter above:
ReplyDeleteI would say yes, but with some major caveats. The Good Toys at Richmond Centre has closed down and is no longer there, for example. The nameless Shop 221 at In's Point was closed with no explanation for the duration of my stay, so I can only conclude that it is no longer open either.
(For reference, I live in Osaka but I've spent the last three days looking at Transformers in Hong Kong.)
At one of the In's Point shops, I don't remember which, but I would guess 203/236, a.k.a. the Third-Party Transformers store (3rd party made up about 90% of their stock, just from eyeballing the shop). On their top shelf near the ceiling, I saw three of the four MMC Feral Rex members I was looking for. I politely asked if they could be brought down to have a look and start talking price. The answer was a straight-up "no, because there's too much stuff in the way. Come back in two days after we sell our stock and make some room".
What in the actual f*$%#?
Is this some weird "we-don't-serve-your-kind" thing here? I'm just a generic white-looking guy with a beard. That can't be it, right? Turns out there was a literal sea of toys, like a thigh-high level cardboard pallet of third party accessories and various releases taking up the space underneath the shelf. Hm.
I clarified that yes, I did actually want to buy the three products and no, they were not going to take them down because reasons. I walked out of the shop, mind blown. I could maybe have tried to negotiate some kind of sale earlier than two days, or gone on a rant until they decided to humor the customer, but I was just too shocked at the amount of balls it took to deliver such a bullshit line with a straight face.
That was the first time in twenty years of shopping that I've ever heard that excuse, and with any luck it'll be the last, as I don't plan to ever return to that store. Osaka's prices are higher, but their selection and service quality completely dwarfs HK's and if I was a native fan, I would be embarrassed, frankly. I was greatly looking forward to Hong Kong because I had built it up as this heartland of Transformers third-party and official, a nexus of shopping where you could get anything, if you searched and bargained hard enough. I don't think that image of Hong Kong exists anymore.
This is not to take anything away from Heroic Decepticon as without this map, I probably wouldn't even have any shopping to do in Hong Kong, and without HD's passion I wouldn't have returned to Transformers to begin with :D