Hobby Search
"HOBBY SEARCH was established in 1999 and has since been operating as an online retailer in Tokyo, Japan.
We provide a wide variety of Japanese toys at prices much lower than those you can find in your country.
Also we believe most of them are hard to come by in your own country. "
We provide a wide variety of Japanese toys at prices much lower than those you can find in your country.
Also we believe most of them are hard to come by in your own country. "
Rating
2 votes
Favoured:
0
Listings details
Telephone
81-3-5833-3533
Fax
81-3-5833-3534
Website
Reviews (2)
bymeronpan
April 7, 2009
As mentioned in the title, there's just one major downside to this store. You have to use EMS shipping for international orders. Be prepared to pay up the wazoo in that regard, especially if you're used to SAL or local rates.
If you can deal with that, everything else about the store is great. Their site is updated with new figures for preorder basically a couple hours after manufacturers make their announcements.
Hobby Search is the most reliable store I've dealt with. I've ordered from from Kid Nemo, HLJ, beNippon, and AnimeXing... the only other store that comes close to being reliable is HLJ (beNippon I've only placed a couple orders with, so no comment actually). Bottom line, if you place your preorder early, shouldn't be any worries about getting a figure. They will close reservations once they've reached their limit then open up a mailing list you can subscribe to for notifications the instant the figure is up for order again. If even that gets too full they'll close that too - i.e. I think they have a pretty good idea of the number of orders they will be able to fill, unlike other stores (*cough cough* kid nemo *cough*).
To help ease the pain of EMS shipping costs, you basically get back 5% of the figure cost in the form of points towards future purchases. Not much compared to the EMS premium, but every little bit helps.
Check out their bargain bin for some good deals, and subscribe to their product RSS feed for instant notification of all their items up for order. There are also mailing lists if you don't need another bloated rss feed :P
Hobby Search keeps you in the loop and takes care of things very professionally. You'll get a confirmation e-mail after placing an order, a notification of when you're item is in stock, and a final one when it ships with a tracking number. If you combined multiple figures into one order and requested that they ship together, they'll notify you of each figure as it comes in stock. I don't know if they send out cancellation e-mails because they've never canceled a figure on me (hallelujah).
In conclusion, if you're looking for a reliable store, you can't go wrong, but it may cost a little more than you're used to because of the EMS shipping (the actual figure prices are normal).
If you can deal with that, everything else about the store is great. Their site is updated with new figures for preorder basically a couple hours after manufacturers make their announcements.
Hobby Search is the most reliable store I've dealt with. I've ordered from from Kid Nemo, HLJ, beNippon, and AnimeXing... the only other store that comes close to being reliable is HLJ (beNippon I've only placed a couple orders with, so no comment actually). Bottom line, if you place your preorder early, shouldn't be any worries about getting a figure. They will close reservations once they've reached their limit then open up a mailing list you can subscribe to for notifications the instant the figure is up for order again. If even that gets too full they'll close that too - i.e. I think they have a pretty good idea of the number of orders they will be able to fill, unlike other stores (*cough cough* kid nemo *cough*).
To help ease the pain of EMS shipping costs, you basically get back 5% of the figure cost in the form of points towards future purchases. Not much compared to the EMS premium, but every little bit helps.
Check out their bargain bin for some good deals, and subscribe to their product RSS feed for instant notification of all their items up for order. There are also mailing lists if you don't need another bloated rss feed :P
Hobby Search keeps you in the loop and takes care of things very professionally. You'll get a confirmation e-mail after placing an order, a notification of when you're item is in stock, and a final one when it ships with a tracking number. If you combined multiple figures into one order and requested that they ship together, they'll notify you of each figure as it comes in stock. I don't know if they send out cancellation e-mails because they've never canceled a figure on me (hallelujah).
In conclusion, if you're looking for a reliable store, you can't go wrong, but it may cost a little more than you're used to because of the EMS shipping (the actual figure prices are normal).
byadmin
March 17, 2009
Probably one of the fastest English site with preorders available for figures.
Purchases made earn points based on the item value and can be redeemed later to help pay for shipping, or even an item itself if you earn enough.
This is a direct retailer from Japan, and will require international shipping.
Purchases made earn points based on the item value and can be redeemed later to help pay for shipping, or even an item itself if you earn enough.
This is a direct retailer from Japan, and will require international shipping.
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