Mecha Talk

This thread lists sites that sell Gundam merchandise (mostly models). Feel free to post other sites if its not listed below.

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EDIT 4.4.07

GUNPLA INFO - THINGS LIKE MANUAL SCANS, RUNNER SHOTS, AND OTHER BASIC INFO ABOUT GUNPLA.

http://www.dalong.net - pictorial review of MGs HGUCs PGs and SEED kits sans the no-grade 1/144s. Also includes other Bandai kits like SDs, HY2Ms, HG mechanics, UCHGs, and Kotobukiya SRW kits. Don't have to understand Korean to understand this site. Has manual scans, runner shots, well, just check this site out if you wanna know what you're gonna get before buying a Gundam kit.

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/gundam - Hey, it also includes runner shots and manual scans! No pictorial reviews of snapped kits, but pretty much like dalong, plus a wider selection of things to browse (its also a store )

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Japanese sites

http://www.hlj.com - very good selection of kits, might be a tad expensive if shipping is factored in

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/gundam - also a large selection of gunpla, their prices are 5% cheaper tha HLJs. has manual scans of kits if you wanna know what you're getting.

http://www.rainbowten.co.jp - 20% cheaper than HLJ. They do NOT have an online ordering system though (you email them what you want I think). I havent used this personally, but I read their staff is more responsive than the other 2 jp sites.

NA sites

http://www.gundamstoreandmore.com - cheap gunpla prices, (for an NA store) it takes 2 days for item to ship. PARTS ORDER AVAILABLE!

http://www.imageanime.com - this is as fast as gundamstoreandmore most of the time. They get the new stuff earlier than any other NA store. Price is a bit higher than other stores.

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com - generally expensive, but you might catch their gunpla sales (20-40% off). They pride in their 'mint condition' kits.

http://www.hobbywave.com - $10 flat-rate shipping plus very cheap prices. Shipping time is quite high.

http://www.hobbylinc.com - has alot of hobby tools and paints, but also a small inventory of Gunpla. Cheap prices

http://www.hobbyfan.com - Has Armored Core and SRW plastic kits. Resin recast kits can be found here

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Bad sites

http://www.gundamshop.com - reports that they do not ship orders and/or do not reply to calls or emails. Avoid

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Ebay (large ebay dealers) I have no experience with any of these, but I just look at their ratings.

Japanesetoywarehouse = 99.3% feedback rating
animetropolis = 99.2% feedback rating
tisinc99 = ~98%?

http://www.hobbywave.com

And

http://www.thehobbyplace.com

Not bad sites for your Gundam Shopping Needs.

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"Dear humanity we regret being alien bastards, we regret comming to earth, and me most certainly regret the corps just blowing up our raggedy azz fleet"
---

House Of Anime

Before the Amazon deals skewed everybody's expectations of how much a MG should cost, House of Anime was one of the best deals around for various kits.

Their deals vary, some are good deals, some are only average, and one or two are rather bad. But it's worth checking out to see if they have any kits you're interested in.

(EDIT): (regardling below): Best1Hobby is also a convenient source for Mr. Color paints...

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---GEC
It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

Best1Hobby

Pretty decent selection of Gundam models and their shipping rates are not that that expensive.

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Gundamplus.net
Gundam Plus Forum

http://www.hobbybuy.com/

has anyone used this? prices are pretty dang good (some are lower than MSRP) is it even in NA?

Is there any others? Mr. Color is supposedly good for MSIA painting.......

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こいつ が ガンダム か
RIP John Neil Seward Jr/Jack Seward 10/11/1924-11/10/2010

A couple of more:

[url=http://218.190.81.249/gmodel/default.asp[/url]Gmodel Shop[/url] <-- haven't used them myself but they seem to have a decent selection.

tisinc99 <-- a seller from ebay's main site. Good selection of Models and MSIA although their shipping rates outside of the US is a ripoff.

Toycup <-- another site I found via ebay. Decent selection of models and MSIA and other Gundam stuff.

Could Ebay itslef be considered a place since many sellers there put up Gundam models, MSIA and other Gundam items for sale?

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Gundamplus.net
Gundam Plus Forum

I used toycup to buy several Turn A models when they were OOS everywhere else, at that time. They're fast.

Descriptions of my experiences can be found here:

http://wmg.mttlg.net/text/stores.html

Amazon.com did have models, they may get some more, hard to tell.

About your entry on Gundam Store: Their website rarely updates, but they tend to stay on top of releases, actually. It's a bit of a pain, but you sometimes have to ask about certain models (which they usually have).

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"For who would lose, though full of pain, this intellectual being--those thoughts that wander through eternity; to perish rather, swallowed up and lost in the wide womb of uncreated night, devoid of sense and motion?"

Technically, Amazon didn't have the models; Toys R Us had them and Amazon maintained the web storefront. However, Toys R Us recently ended its Amazon partnership and now maintains its own internet presence. The models that Amazon/TRU carried were leftovers from Bandai's failed attempt to sell Gundam merchandise domestically in the American market, which is why the prices at the end were so low (the original retail prices were often higher than the cost of importing the same kit from Japan). Now that the remainder of this supply of kits has dried up, it is not very likely that more will show up at TRU (unless a few cases are uncovered in the back of a warehouse somewhere). The recent Amazon deals were just an anomaly, nothing more.

I have to say I have a bit of a problem with them, though: That Dom that they use for their site graphics...

Pazu's Dom Firebat

They used it without permission, last I heard. Plagiarism is not cool.

Pazu's post (for those not registered on CoM...)

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---GEC
It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

I don't know how old that topic might be at the CoM (I'm not a member) but he definatly does have a case. The model is copyrighted to him. All he has to do is prove that he built the model before toycup used it for their logo. This shouldn't be too hard to prove.


Back on topic, I just use HLJ. Their shipping rates can get a little expensive, but nothing beats their selection.

Well, actually doing something about it (that is, hiring a lawyer and making them stop) may be more difficult, or more costly, than it's worth. I dunno. This all went down about two years ago. I don't know if there have been any other developments, I just know it's not cool what that place did.

_________________
---GEC
It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

I was unaware of that regarding Toycup. I'll pull the link if people here would like me to do such.

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Gundamplus.net
Gundam Plus Forum

Good sites for cheap gunpla makers?

Mines dead and the only store near me supplier is out.

http://www.gundamstoreandmore.com/gundammarkers2.html

seen this?

Well as for Best1hobby they just went out of business

This site also sells Gundam kits and figures at reasonable prices:

http://www.angolz.com