S.H. Figuarts Star Wars

[The acient one]

Thank you, I think I’ll give them a try.

 

[Chris]

Just pre-ordered at Nippon-Yasan (along with Boba Fett who I hadn't pre-ordered yet). Glad these two are finally getting released, feels like we've been waiting forever for them!

 

[cbulas1]

I've been building up a Private Warehouse on HLJ for a handful of Mafex figures, but I'm just noticing today how much cheaper Nippon-Yasan has them (the Mafex figures are each ~$7 cheaper and the Crait Luke is ~$10 cheaper). According to Nippon-Yasan's Pre-Order info page (https://www.nippon-yasan.com/cms.php?id_cms=10), you can place an order for multiple pre-orders that have different release dates and they won't ship until the last item you pre-ordered is released, but does anyone have experience with that? Some of the release dates for the Mafex figures I'm after are 11 months apart. Will Nippon-Yasan really hold something for 11 months? Does anyone have any idea how much they would charge to ship 8ish figures all at once to me in the USA?

 

[CrankbaitJon]

I think they will. However, having too many items shipped together voids the SAL option so sometimes its cheaper to send 2 vs 4 items. I found that out when I was trying to place an order for myself and a friend. We ended up doing separate orders and it was cheaper.

 

[cbulas1]

I think they will. However, having too many items shipped together voids the SAL option so sometimes its cheaper to send 2 vs 4 items. I found that out when I was trying to place an order for myself and a friend. We ended up doing separate orders and it was cheaper.

Thanks for your response!

So is the SAL shipping option the gold standard when importing figures or something? When I use the Shipping Calculator on Nippon-Yasan, they give me nine different shipping options, so it's pretty overwhelming! I've only imported a couple so far and am trying to better understand the process.

 

[dukefett]

How reliable is CD Japan and do you pay upfront?

CDJapan is great and very reliable, but they changed their payment policy recently.

Very reliable, I’ve gotten most of the SHF releases from them. Some from HLj too.

No, you only have to pay up front for exclusives. All preorders are charged when available/shipped unless you use PayPal.

They have a generous reward points system which is nice too.

They changed their payment policy a few months ago. They now charge in full 80 days after the order was placed. So not charged in full up front, but not charged at release anymore either for figures that have 3 month+ lead times. They used to run a credit authorization every 90 days, where the charge is on your card for just a day or something and then comes off.

From reading their email, I suspect it's from people using debit cards instead of credit cards and them not having the funds to handle an authorization and then they'd have to cancel their order. Since they specifically mention people not having funds for the authorization. Kind of crappy for the rest of us IMO.

I've been building up a Private Warehouse on HLJ for a handful of Mafex figures, but I'm just noticing today how much cheaper Nippon-Yasan has them (the Mafex figures are each ~$7 cheaper and the Crait Luke is ~$10 cheaper). According to Nippon-Yasan's Pre-Order info page (https://www.nippon-yasan.com/cms.php?id_cms=10), you can place an order for multiple pre-orders that have different release dates and they won't ship until the last item you pre-ordered is released, but does anyone have experience with that? Some of the release dates for the Mafex figures I'm after are 11 months apart. Will Nippon-Yasan really hold something for 11 months? Does anyone have any idea how much they would charge to ship 8ish figures all at once to me in the USA?

Nippon Yasan may be cheaper up front but they ALWAYS charge way more for shipping. You can add in stock items (like just pick any other SH Figuarts since they're all similar box size, add to cart and attempt checkout to get a shipping quote. They're literally my last resort for ordering typically

Thanks for your response!

So is the SAL shipping option the gold standard when importing figures or something? When I use the Shipping Calculator on Nippon-Yasan, they give me nine different shipping options, so it's pretty overwhelming! I've only imported a couple so far and am trying to better understand the process.

SAL is not the gold standard, it's just the cheapest (slow) method. EMS or DHL is probably the gold standard. I've gotten things in 3-4 days on occasion with both.

 

[cbulas1]

Nippon Yasan may be cheaper up front but they ALWAYS charge way more for shipping. You can add in stock items (like just pick any other SH Figuarts since they're all similar box size, add to cart and attempt checkout to get a shipping quote. They're literally my last resort for ordering typically

SAL is not the gold standard, it's just the cheapest (slow) method. EMS or DHL is probably the gold standard. I've gotten things in 3-4 days on occasion with both.

Thanks so much for your insights!

I assumed that since Nippon-Yasan charges less for figures they'd charge more for shipping, but since they're so significantly cheaper on the figures themselves, there's no way they would be more expensive even after shipping charges are added, right?

In my example, if I would pre-order seven Mafex and Figuarts figures from Nippon-Yasan, the SAL shipping charge to get them to me would be $76.95 ($10.99 per figure) and the EMS shipping charge would be $86.62 ($12.38 per figure). Since these figures are each $7-$10 more expensive at HLJ, their shipping charge could only $4 or $6 a figure to for them to be cheaper overall than Nippon-Yasan, and there's no way their shipping options are that cheap, right?

I'm pretty sure I'm thinking about all of this correctly, but am hoping that my inexperience with this importing process isn't causing me to miss something...

 

[CrankbaitJon]

I avoid SAL if your expected ship date is on a busy time like Christmas as everything else gets priority to get on the plane. Also for NipponYasan, check out paying in Japanese Yen, it's always cheaper. I don't know about other stores but I know NipponYasan allows me to buy Tamashii webstore exclusives, though you got to pay right away for those exclusive figures.

 

[Chris]

I tend to find Nippon Yasan is cheaper for the figures but My Kombini is cheaper overall when you include shipping. But since this is two figures (and I was planning on adding Boba who's sold out at My Kombini) I figured the cheaper figures and combined shipping would balance out. Only draw back is I need to pay in full for all three when the first item is released.

 

[dukefett]

Thanks so much for your insights!

I assumed that since Nippon-Yasan charges less for figures they'd charge more for shipping, but since they're so significantly cheaper on the figures themselves, there's no way they would be more expensive even after shipping charges are added, right?

In my example, if I would pre-order seven Mafex and Figuarts figures from Nippon-Yasan, the SAL shipping charge to get them to me would be $76.95 ($10.99 per figure) and the EMS shipping charge would be $86.62 ($12.38 per figure). Since these figures are each $7-$10 more expensive at HLJ, their shipping charge could only $4 or $6 a figure to for them to be cheaper overall than Nippon-Yasan, and there's no way their shipping options are that cheap, right?

I'm pretty sure I'm thinking about all of this correctly, but am hoping that my inexperience with this importing process isn't causing me to miss something...

It's not going to be too much difference, but $90 shipped for those figures is still sounds like a lot. I like HLJ a lot because their private warehouse (or even in stock items actually if you just want to check) lets you add items to the shipment and see what the total is, remove them, check again. So you can basically figure out the cheapest way to ship items; occasionally you might find it cheaper to play around and split shipments if you're going for as cheap as possible.

Also NY has asked me for additional shipping one time in the past, so I wouldn't put it past them again.

I avoid SAL if your expected ship date is on a busy time like Christmas as everything else gets priority to get on the plane. Also for NipponYasan, check out paying in Japanese Yen, it's always cheaper. I don't know about other stores but I know NipponYasan allows me to buy Tamashii webstore exclusives, though you got to pay right away for those exclusive figures.

Definitely agree with the JPY part, ordering in that saves. And use a credit card with NO foreign transaction fees. If you were ordering from NY and paid in dollars or used a credit card that charged fees you'd probably be paying like 4-5% more per item at least.

If you're using Paypal to check out of any site, you have to click at one point in the transaction on the exchange rate, and choose to have your credit card do it. It's always better to do it than have Paypal do the conversion for you.

I've been ordering my web exclusives from Anime-Export and MyKombini. If you get in early at MyKombini they actually only make you pay 50% of the price up front.

 

[cbulas1]

It's not going to be too much difference, but $90 shipped for those figures is still sounds like a lot. I like HLJ a lot because their private warehouse (or even in stock items actually if you just want to check) lets you add items to the shipment and see what the total is, remove them, check again. So you can basically figure out the cheapest way to ship items; occasionally you might find it cheaper to play around and split shipments if you're going for as cheap as possible.

Also NY has asked me for additional shipping one time in the past, so I wouldn't put it past them again.



Definitely agree with the JPY part, ordering in that saves. And use a credit card with NO foreign transaction fees. If you were ordering from NY and paid in dollars or used a credit card that charged fees you'd probably be paying like 4-5% more per item at least.

If you're using Paypal to check out of any site, you have to click at one point in the transaction on the exchange rate, and choose to have your credit card do it. It's always better to do it than have Paypal do the conversion for you.

I've been ordering my web exclusives from Anime-Export and MyKombini. If you get in early at MyKombini they actually only make you pay 50% of the price up front.

Thanks so much for the response! I am learning a lot about this process today!

 

[matkron]

Can't wait! Cool to see everyone helping out collectors new to the line!!

 

[Kinja]

Decided to pass on these two. Already got SHF's first TLJ Luke paired with the very nice TBS 'Island Journey' Rey, and a mini display of SHF Rey and Kylo fighting the Prat guards. That's good enough for me. Really hoping we get ESB preorders before the year is out. Also keep hoping we get AOTC 3PO and R4-P17 before the singularity consumes us all.

 

[DakRen]

Can't wait! Cool to see everyone helping out collectors new to the line!!

Did anyone get a notice from mykombini about Yoda release date moving from August to October 10?

 

[LipSmack]

Did anyone get a notice from mykombini about Yoda release date moving from August to October 10?

The date change was from 08-31 to 08-23, not sure where they got Oct from

 

[mandoba72]

Decided to pass on these two. Already got SHF's first TLJ Luke paired with the very nice TBS 'Island Journey' Rey, and a mini display of SHF Rey and Kylo fighting the Prat guards. That's good enough for me. Really hoping we get ESB preorders before the year is out. Also keep hoping we get AOTC 3PO and R4-P17 before the singularity consumes us all.

I wish that Figuarts ESB Boba Fett would come soon....

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[dukefett]

Did anyone get a notice from mykombini about Yoda release date moving from August to October 10?

You're reading it backwards. "10-08-2019" is August 10th everywhere else in the world besides the US.

 

[Kinja]

I wish that Figuarts ESB Boba Fett would come soon....

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I don't know....after seeing their lackluster ROTJ version, I'm not so sure they can pull off a decent ESB Fett. Hope I'm proven wrong.

 

[mandoba72]

I don't know....after seeing their lackluster ROTJ version, I'm not so sure they can pull off a decent ESB Fett. Hope I'm proven wrong.

This is only based on those past pictures...

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[Matt S]

The Medicom is almost perfect. Too much sculpt sacrificed for articulation here, for my tastes.