Hi, everyone, this is my first post. Hopefully I did not break any of the forum's rules. So I would like to find more places to get pvc figures. I purchased an 1/8 srw figure on Hobbysearch. They only ship with EMS. It took 3 days for them to get the order ready for shipping and just another 3 days to arrive California. The figure is about 42 dollars plus 14 bucks of shipping and 3 bucks of foreign transaction fee for the credit card. I hope I had a capitol one card then suchtransaction would only cost a buck. The figure arrives with no sign of damage to the figure, so I am pleased with their service. Also, I get discount for my future purchases, which is another plus although it doesn't indicate if it does any good to me... I also heard about hlj, but did not purchase from them since the figure is a little more expansive the hobbysearch. They offer a cheaper shipping method though. I also surf through some auction sites. Sellers from ebay usually post a much higher price than the original cost, and shipping is usually from Hong Kong. I think that the best deal can be find on yahoo auctions of Japan and Taiwan, but most sellers do not offer shipping out of the country, plus most of them only accpet bank money transfer, so it's also a pain in the bud. Anyway. I would like to hear you guys to share your purchase experiences and your sourses of getting your favorite figures. Thx for reading.

Hey humanallien. Welcome to the forums! Unfortunately I can't answer your question because I'm not really into figures. But I know a few members here are pretty rabid about em.

i'm not into figures much too. but if i ever decided to buy one, there's a local shop near my house where they sell posters and figurines of anything anime. ^___^v look around maybe there's one near your place.

Yes, there are a couple of hobby shops around where i am residing, but their price is more than 150% of the orginal price, so ordering from Japan is actually cheaper than buying from one of those stores, and they mainly sell gundam model kits

Hobby Japan sells at the retail price.If you live close to Japan, SAL shipping would be better. And that's assuming you're buying the more sturdy stuff like PVCs 

Welcome to the figurine universe! It's magical, makes your money disappear! Visit my site for reviews once in a while.

Honestly, if you haven't checked the AoD forums yet I highly suggest you do.  This thread is perfect for what you are requesting.  Bakaboobie's post on this topic is another good source too.  Personally for myself, I order 99.5% of my figures through HLJ cause of the cheaper shipping.  The wait can be a pain but I have yet to receive a damaged figure yet in the years I've purchased with them.  The packaging boxes are another story but yea...

On the other buying method you mentioned, Ebay s'okay but I only suggest it for gashas/trading figures or for a rare figure you may be able to pick up.  Of course, only buy from folks that have insanely good ratings ;)

Speaking of auctions, Yahoo! auction is also not bad if you're willing to pay for the extra service charges; probably the best for rare items you *must* have.  Like I mentioned, if you use a 3rd party service to do the auction for you, you should be able to get stuff through Yahoo! auction.

Anyway, welcome to the world of figurine spending!  Your bank account and sanity will be crying in the coming days!

What's the less sturdy stuff out of interest? Since I do love me some cheap shipping also (not that I live close by or anything).

Thanks, that's a lot of help. Now I have to work on getting familiar with these sites. I've already felt like my wallet getting empty right now. Hopefully I don't get addicted to these figures or my bank account may blow up XD

The only time I buy figurines is when I'm either at a convention or I'm overseas. I'm not a fan of online shopping.  

I get them all from the local anime figure shop here in Singapore. XD

I live in LA, so i typically buy them in downtown/little-tokyo and Anime Expo when it comes around. But i also use Akadot and HLJ, as well as some others. It really just depends on where i can find the figure(s) im looking for, although i typically like to stick to those 4 options so that i know im atleast going to get what i asked for and in the condition i expect it.

I live around east LA. While I was in Little Tokyo for a walk, I saw sushi, barbecue and starbucks -_-, and that's about it. Can you provide the name or address of the anime merchandise store located there?

well theres only one store in little tokyo (they sell some in normal-non-little-tokyo as well nearby, so circle around the area into the ghetto though and look thru some of the stores. Theres like 5 stores packed away behind all those bong-shops and things that are all anime, and usually great prices. Seeing as how 90% of everything in downtown is jacked. lol

 First off, by little tokyo, i mean the actual shopping area of little tokyo, not the entire 'area' which spans into the "toy district" of downtown as well as into its own museum and such. I mean the big square of little tokyo that is all well...little tokyo. There isnt a starbucks there, so your obviously not where im talking about, lol. Although there IS one a street or two down, so your close!

Anyway, the easiest to find store, and one thats right in little tokyo, is Anime Jungle. They have a shitload of stuff, from really rare figures (and really easy to find ones as well) to really nice quality official posters for $1 each. Yayay.

The address is : 319 East 2nd Street #103

But really its not hard to find. If you go into the little tokyo like area (where theres a lot of restaurants, a market, shops, karaoke bar, etc) go into the structure that isnt a building but is too stories with little shops in it. Its all the way in the back by the stairs on the first floor. Which is RIGHT NEXT TO THE PARKING STRUCTURE. So if you park in the parking structure by that big Miyako Hotel (or wtfever its called) then you should see an entrance, the first store in there is AJ. 

For other anime-related goods (including anime and manga themselves) you can find a few stores on the outskirts of the little tokyo shopping area. Im not sure which side its on (it all depends which direction you come in from) but on one side, on the outside of the little tokyo shopping district, but on the same street, if you walk around it you can find these stores too. One has a lot of PS2 J-games, dvd's, wallscrolls, a shitload of j-music (indy and professional alike), a shitload of japanese language manga (including hard to find stuff) and other stuff. 

As for me its LaTendo in Singapore ~~

So far it's all local for me, can't do internet shopping without a creditcard...So everything comes from Urban Attic...at discount prices, lol.