All Point Bulletin! Need all you advise/help! I'm going to Tokyo Next week, Pokemon questions!

General
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Hello E4 members,

As you are the purveyors of Pokemon knowledge, I am requesting some advice on Pokemon purchases for my trip to Tokyo next week. This will be my 3rd time going, but my last time was in 2019. I have visited the various pokemon centers and several Akiba pokemon places, but I was hoping some of you fine individuals would be able to answer some questions:

  1. I want to by 2-3 booster boxes for my nephews, am I better off just buying them online here and having shipped?
  2. If I did buy them in Tokyo, Where would be best place to buy booster boxes? (I would like some older gen ones too, any suggestions)
  3. I did want to seek some older raw vintage cards, say a Grand Party pokemon. Where would be a place for that era?
  4. I never did the hard off/hobby off sadly my previous visits, I know it sells pokemon cards and toys etc, will they have vintage cards?

Thank you and if you have any other suggestions of things you think might be worth bringing back let me know! It can be anything, but I prefer vintage stuff, vending, Japanese VS etc, but wanted some booster boxes that might be harder/cheaper to get directly in Tokyo :slight_smile:

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It does not answer your question directly but, please have a look through this thread by @genchiro.

Likewise I recently came across some YT videos that might be of use to you for shopping in Japan, here, here and this one by VeksTCG. I believe @veks also made a recent trip to Japan, so maybe they can share more info personally. Mostly long form content that you can explore before your travels.

Success and wishing you a safe trip.

Cheers!

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+1 for @genchiro

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Thanks for tagging me, @Rattlesnake and @mrbubbles . I will try my best to answer your questions! :blush:

  1. When I went last year, it was quite tricky to buy boxes. But apparently the situation has improved since then. And maybe you are lucky to find some boxes in stores. Loose boosters should be no problem to find in the Pokémon Centers, but prepare for a 30-minute to 1-hour queue at the registers. So if you want to be sure to get some boxes, you should simply buy them online.
  2. The best place to buy modern boxes are the Pokémon Centers. Most other small shops only distribute them via their lotteries. Older booster boxes can be quite tricky to come by. I know of 2-3 stores selling some vintage boxes. Depending on what era you are looking for, I could recommend some shops. But overall, sealed boxes of out-of-rotation sets are extremely rare.
  3. The best place for a grand party is definitely in Akihabara or Nakano Broadway. Low-end vintage items can be found in most shops, but for the high-end stuff, “magi” stores are the way to go. But beware, they charge quite a price.
    I’ll also send you a shop via PM where you could find some boxes and vintage cards you are looking for. If others are interested, feel free to PM me as well! :blush: Just don’t want scalpers to find this shop.
  4. Book Offs and Hobby Offs will have Cards most of the time. I can definitely recommend checking them out. Hard Offs only have them sometimes, so check their reviews for the keyword “Pokémon” to be sure.

As a little bonus, I would throw in to check out all Mandarake stores you can find, since they carry a lot of vintage cards.

Fell free to get back to me should you have any more questions.

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thank you so much, I will futher investigate :wink:

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Hello jmich!
thanks @mrbubbles for the mention!
answers as follows:

  1. The pokemon center jp site now has stock and you can use proxy service but with the recent sets they are all pretty accessible! I think most pokemon centers in jp will have stock, when i was there in feb, there was a lot of stock but there is a limit per amount you could get , but it should have changed by now as the website allows you 2 boxes per person. Check 7/11s and other convenis they will have stock, otherwise i am sure stores in akihabara will have it for retail price.
  2. as above!
  3. I suggest Akihabara or Ikebukuro to find cards, card shops are abundant there. I don’t have notable stores but you will see them everywhere. You can google names such as surugaya, magi, yellow submarine etc, there will be many in akiba. In Akiba, go through little nooks and crannies, the more off beat stores, you will find more steals, usually if there is a lot of flashy ads, usually the prices aren’t the best. Look around before making a decision also , prices vary!
    4.Yes book offs have vintage cards! also check Mandarakes! my fave place is to go Mandarakes! there is one in nakano broadway, shibuya and akiba!

Do you have other hobbies or manga/anime interests? I could point you in the right direction also!

this is a recent small haul from Tokyo:

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Sorry! I should have scrolled up! Genchiro stated many of the points already!!

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No thank you that helps a lot!

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for time schedules I would suggest you google ahead for when card shops close, usually i would say it is around 8pm, so depending how you want to maximize your card hunt times, i would always eat dinner after 8! haha you can always go for a cheeky late night at book offs (they close at 10pm)… Can check all pokemon centers, there are multiple in tokyo so i think you should be fine for stock but just plan out your routes. My fave pokemon center is the shibuya one in Parco, they have the life size mewtwo statue, but also on the same level you get the nintendo store, capcom store and jump store… so it is easy to lose a day in there. That same mall always has art exhibitions and trendy clothing. I do suggest for souvenirs if it is snacks (if they aren’t store exclusive), you can get them on the way out at the airport so you don’t need to haul everything around. Bring a deckbox or some form of card holders if you buy singles.

Eat ramen, enjoy vending machines to rehydrate, get onigiris at 7/11 !

Roll gachapons!! they are a lot cheaper in Japan

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