question for the aussies

hey yall ,
long time lurker not very many posts
but I have a quick question for the aussies
I currently live in the U.S.A but will be transfering down under ( brisbane ) in the next month .
I have been doing some online reasearch and have found not to many places that sell sideshow and those that do the price is incredible !
how do you guys do it ? do you have secret hidden gem stores or is it all on line ?
any help for a future aussie would be greatly appreciated

thanks again yall

Hi there - I got your email but for some reason couldn't log in to OSW to reply ;p I don't hang out there much anyway.

Anyway - there are a number of places.

In Brisbane itself - Mr Toys on the Queen Street Mall has quite a bit of stock (including PF stuff) but the prices on general aren't great.

The Military Workshop on the north side of town covers some stuff but doesn't really have much in stock (claim they can order it all in though).

I've got stuff from Empire Toys in Perth.

Going slightly more afield there are a few online stores

www.figuremania.com.au (main distributer in Australia)

www.casefresh.com.au (excellent site - got many discounted buffy figures from them)

www.collectoybles.com.au

I also found another on-line store that is based in Brisbane - I plan to get Jabba off them www.redrobot.com.au

There is also another store that used to be at Moorooka but moved to the Gold Coast last year - haven't seen that.

If you can't find it at any of them - then ebay is the best. Most brick&mortar stores place stuff on ebay - so using www.ebay.com.au and search for Sideshow will generally turn up a list of retailers who may have more stock than what they are listing on ebay. Ebay also turns up the best prices in general - alot of the stores have some OLD stock sitting round so you can get lucky and turn up long out of stock product (I got my Black Knight that way - paid normal retail for it too!)

Until Jabba came out I hadn't ever had a problem. I still get most of my stuff direct from Sideshow though as the Australian Retailers tend to have quite a mark-up on the product - even after shipping its only about $A20 more for the Star Wars 12" figures so I try get the exclusive direct.

Figuremania has a long list of other stores that are "partners" and I'm in the process of visiting them to see what they have. Mr Toys at Springwood only has Dragon Military - I did pick up the two armoured Timeline figures from them for $A30 each though

www.oziegoods.com ocassionally has some good deals on product - but despite being local my orders have shipped direct from HK so I didn't really save anything on the shipping side - so if you find it cheaper elsewhere don't let the shipping charge from the other supplier worry you - shipping internationally is basically the same from anywhere to Australia.

Hope that all helps - if you have more questions feel free to post here or PM direct.

wow !
thank you so much for the great in depth reply
I really do apprecaite it . some very usefull sites and help

I guess its just a shock coming from the states where I can pick them up from sideshow directly and pay min on the transportation.

you say you still get them from the sideshow site !
but isnt the cost of the airfreight almost the same as that of the item ?
I guess I will just have to be a lot more picky when it comes to the joys of sideshow purchasing

Yes - it is expensive here ;p Same goes for alot of the rest of the world outside the US though.

Also because of the shipping issue you will rarely if ever find exclusive versions on ebay here. So figures like Alex Krycek, D'Hoffyn and Walter Skinner never made it out here. After shipping the usual sideshow figure costs me about $A130 (About $US100). Unfortuantely there is a sole distributor into Australia and they milk it for all its worth.

My advice - preorder from SSC at the time, and then hunt around and see if you get it. No cancel penalties from SSC so better to be safe than sorry. I learnt my lesson with D'Hoffyn (but the waitlist did come through)

SSC does help out where they can - they have improved their combined shipping and they are now aware that international frieght by FEDEX is purely size based which they weren't previously aware of. You have to specifically request

I have found sometimes that it is cheaper to get from the US than here... even after shipping ;-)

betic1 said:

wow !
thank you so much for the great in depth reply
I really do apprecaite it . some very usefull sites and help

I guess its just a shock coming from the states where I can pick them up from sideshow directly and pay min on the transportation.

you say you still get them from the sideshow site !
but isnt the cost of the airfreight almost the same as that of the item ?
I guess I will just have to be a lot more picky when it comes to the joys of sideshow purchasing

Click to expand...

Creecher might have some other suggestions.

betic1 said:

hey yall ,
long time lurker not very many posts
but I have a quick question for the aussies
I currently live in the U.S.A but will be transfering down under ( brisbane ) in the next month .
I have been doing some online reasearch and have found not to many places that sell sideshow and those that do the price is incredible !
how do you guys do it ? do you have secret hidden gem stores or is it all on line ?
any help for a future aussie would be greatly appreciated

thanks again yall

Click to expand...

im in uk and ordered 2 mini busts from www.kollectablekaos.com.au and it worked out as cheap as if i bought them here england.

check em out..you might like.

thanks again guys
yeah I unfortunatly cancelled all my Sideshow orders
so I will start hunting for them off the net
untill I get set up in my new country

then might just have to bite the bullet ... if my wife lets me

G'day Betic. It sucks being a collector in Australia, it's real easy to be jealous of the prices you peeps pay in the states. The shipping direct from Sideshow is more than the cost of the figure itself. That said, buying Sideshow product is the best option for us here. It is cheaper, for me anyway, than buying any of their competitors product, even without the discounts I get.

I am fortunate. After having scoured as many toy/collectible shops in my area as I could, I settled on a seller at a flea market. Their overheads are low, and generally speaking, the main body of the public don't know what they sell. I then approached the vendor and basically promised to buy ten figures off him, over time that is, for a discount. These types of establishments, whether shops or market vendors, appear and disappear regularly overnight. After this happened to me, I found another vendor who would split the difference between wholesale and retail with me, and generally I get my figures for A$60 rather than A$80. With statues and PF's for example, I bought the PF Mummy for A$480, when it is advertised as A$600. I think I got an extra A$20 discount because of Christmas. I brought him a slab of beer, that may have had something to do with it. He looks after me, so I reciprocate.

Anyway, at those prices I buy four, and like to think of it as one of them is free. To buy a figure from Sideshow direct isn't in my range, cause I'd rather have more figures than pay for exclusive versions. Buying one figure direct from Sideshow costs nearly A$140. There are exceptions that I make but only for personal fickle reasons. I guess what I mean to say is, talk to the proprietors and negotiate, especially if you buy lots of figures. Shops generally don't deal too favourably, so check out the local markets, or get in early at a newly established business.

As Lord Azrael states, some overseas buys can still be cheaper than purchasing from vendors here. Anything on ebay that you can get for $25 or less was a ceiling I used, to purchase items.

One point I'd like to make is this. Only purchase what you really really want, or you'll end up like me, with a ton of stuff that later you may want to sell. The problem is, selling stuff here is only a slight improvement over giving it away. Most buyers have already bought what they want or can get it cheaper elsewhere. It isn't a hugely big market here, so bear that in mind.

LordAzrael mentioned I think all the aussie stores that arew worth checking out. I've bought from Casefresh, Kollectable Kaoes, RedRobot and Figuremania and all of them are great. (Esp RedRobot and Casefresh in customer service)
I buy about half my collectibles from Australia. And I mostly buy through Adam from https://store.darkshadowcollectibles.com/ in the US, and rarely from SS unless theres an exclusive I must have.

I probably should look into alternatives but all to often I find the exclusive important (LOTR cloaks, Quin-Gon poncho) that I end up hoping I can get shipping. The other thing to now factor in is that the loyalty program effectively amounts to a 10% discount (unless my math is off). While it doesn't help with shipping it does make SSC a little more price competitive.

BDboystoys said:

And I mostly buy through Adam from https://store.darkshadowcollectibles.com/ in the US, .

Click to expand...

Is Darkshadows very competitive with shipping etc, BD...I must admit that even after being a member of this board for some time, I have never tried them..

darth dyp**** said:

Is Darkshadows very competitive with shipping etc, BD...I must admit that even after being a member of this board for some time, I have never tried them..

Click to expand...

I find that Adam has the best international shipping prices around. You usually have to get a quote on the shipping, as the amount that comes up on the site isnt usually correct. There are more options to choose from than the site shows as well, but he sorts all that out with you I believe.

I would like to reiterate all my fellow aussies' posts - there are no others that I could recommend that haven't already been listed.

I myself have bought collectables from Mr Toys Toyworld in the Queen St Mall (some prices are very good! - some not so good..)

I am very impressed with Case Fresh - excellent, excellent service.

I have also bought direct from sideshow - that is an expensive way of doing things - as mentioned previously, the postage is usually more than the figure - so that sucks.

Anyway, hope you enjoy Bris Vegas when you get here!

Scriff

wow guys
I read on this board by another member in another thread and he stated
"freaks helping freaks " ( sorry cant remeber who it was ) but
it truly is a great thing when so many people can give so freely
I reaLLY am touched and can not express my gratitude enough
I will definatly be using all these great tips and tricks to further my plastic addiction

thans again guys :chew :chew :chew

Another Brisbanite here! I can't add much more to what's already been written, except that Figure Action also sell via eBay, and their eBay store can be cheaper than their own website.

But again, no exclusives. For that you'll have to resort to eBay at large or direct from Sideshow. I've been lucky with combined shipping from SS lately, but obviously it's all down to what you order and when it's released.

Outlander said:

Another Brisbanite here! I can't add much more to what's already been written, except that Figure Action also sell via eBay, and their eBay store can be cheaper than their own website.

But again, no exclusives. For that you'll have to resort to eBay at large or direct from Sideshow. I've been lucky with combined shipping from SS lately, but obviously it's all down to what you order and when it's released.

Click to expand...

I got pretty much my whole Buffy 1/6th collection this way from Ebay Auctions. The best lot I got was about 4 figures at $A10 a piece from an auction by Mr Toys on the Mall. I've been wondering if they'd consider an offer on some of their Medicom RAH stuff - they got a price of over $A300 on those suckers which is just insane - I can pick it up from Hong Kong for about half that including shipping!

I'm down in Melbourne *Cough* The Place to be *Cough*
I recommend a guy down in Geelong, Victoria www.ikone.com.au Glenn there is quite helpful, I might be getting the Jabba set of him - he sometimes ships nationwide for free... But all the others have given you the best advise already... You'll find, least I do, that the AUD doesn't trade of as bad as you expect with the USD, if purchasing for the US or in Us prices... BTW most eBay sellers kidding themselves at their prices...

Oh and if you buy Medicom of Hot Toys stuff - Buy direct for HK 0r Japan flippers....

PS: I buy most of my SSC stuff from them directly.
:chew

LordAzrael said:

I got pretty much my whole Buffy 1/6th collection this way from Ebay Auctions. The best lot I got was about 4 figures at $A10 a piece from an auction by Mr Toys on the Mall. I've been wondering if they'd consider an offer on some of their Medicom RAH stuff - they got a price of over $A300 on those suckers which is just insane - I can pick it up from Hong Kong for about half that including shipping!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip Az! I didn't realize Mr Toys sold via eBay too. What's their username? I too have been waiting for the prices to come down on a few of their items.

It's also worth keeping an eye on Case Fresh's auctions.

well dang you aussies are a helpfull bunch
is Mr toys a brick and mortar store as well ?
I am interested in thier Ebay site as well so I can check up on them
thanks again everyone

betic1 said:

well dang you aussies are a helpfull bunch
is Mr toys a brick and mortar store as well ?
I am interested in thier Ebay site as well so I can check up on them
thanks again everyone

Click to expand...

There are multiple Mr Toys around the place. The main one for Collectors is at the South Bank end of the Queen Street Mall up an escalator. They don't have their own website - they are an affililate of www.figuremania.com.au.

I have also been to the Mr Toys at Springwood, just off the Pacific Highway - They really only had Dragon figures in stock. They did have some Sideshow trench environments if anyone is interested. I picked up the two Knights from the timeline series there for $A30 each. Unfortunately they didn't have a Dragon Roy (Sean Connery) :-(

I mean to get round to checking out the other affilates on that site though - never now what you'll find.

I have to wait a bit though - I picked up the two Evil Dead figures (Ash and Evil Ash) this week so I've spent my budget once you include the Boromir Exclusive coming direct from Sideshow.

LordAzrael said:

I have to wait a bit though - I picked up the two Evil Dead figures (Ash and Evil Ash) this week so I've spent my budget once you include the Boromir Exclusive coming direct from Sideshow.

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Was that you on ebay!!!! I was the one that probably made them so expensive on you!!! I just wanted Ash for his Chainsaw! DAMN!
:emperor