Tokyo Toy Shops – 4 of 4 : Akihabara
There are a few places to visit in Akihabara. The main one would be the Big Yellow Sign Building. At the JR Akihabara station, look for the Electric Town Exit and exit through the left side. Once out, on the right the distance should be the building.
Jan 2010 UPDATE: Updates in Blue. Check the pics out below!
There are about 4 floors to explore in the building with a variety of toys. You should be able to find all brands here. The best thing is that both Kotobukiya and Kaiyodo has stores in the building! Kotobukiya has a few stores on the different levels, each with some pretty fancy shop front windows.
12 inch fans should also be able to find some nice lose items on sale too. They have some pretty cool zombie headsculpts as well.
I really love how the stores here display all the toys in their full glory. It makes one drool on seeing them and that’s half the battle won in terms of getting someone keen to buy the item.
You can also find some weapon shops which have pretty damm cool weapons on display.
One should also check out the main streets of Akiharaba. Instead of turning left on the Electric Town Exit turn right and then left and walk to the main road where you should see some electrical shops on the left and the buildings in front of you as shown in the pic below.
From here, turn right and walk down the road all the way. The google map at the bottom tells you where to turn back as there’s nothing further up. Along the road you will be able to find some Anime/Game/DVD shops, some of which have toy floors up above. You will also come across some toy stores that sell some 2nd hand toys. Below is a pic of one such store.
I managed to find some vintage Transformers figures as well as other cheaper 2nd hand stuff that were pretty good value. These 2nd hand toys are usually not too bad as they are checked before being put on sale. And some have not even been opened before. So a mix of old and new.
Along is the same street is this place call GoldenAge. It’s a pretty cramp store, but there’s heaps of stuff there. Vintage & new Transformers, GI Joe, Star Wars, and heaps more American stuff.
Near to GoldenAge is another store which sells 2nd had stuff on the ground floor, as well as new stuff on the floors above. I found a Fortress Maximus there! Though the box was in bad condition and it costs nearly SG$2,000. heh. There was also this figure called Prisman?!?? Shesh, you’ll find all kinds of toys in these shops.
On the top floor, lies a floor nearly fully dedicated to Star Wars stuff. You can find really old vintage stuff still in good condition in box as well as brand new stuff. Really cool!
Another place to check out is Yodobashi Akiba which you can see the huge building from the subway platform. You can see the google map below for directions
Akihabara is a definite must visit for any toy enthusiast. There are always toy stores opening and closing so every visit is a new experience. It’s a fun place to check out the 2nd hand shops and find some real gems hiding from sight.
