Shopping in Japan

Silber334

Japan has a relatively smaller, albeit potential market for Legos. As you may suspected, Lego prices are a bit pricier than the rest of the West. However, there are a lot of fans who'd kill to import any sets that don't officially sell here. Yes, we don't get most creator and exclusive sets and that's why we use importers and even pay a little extra for it.

Unless you do your price searching very well, I wouldn't recommend buying Legos here. Nonetheless, with a little research and some browsing, you may end up getting great deals for a certain set you're looking for. Some pawnshops ( the Book-off chain ) occasionally sells used Lego sets. Of course it's worth browsing the shops whenever you have the time touring Japan.


Here are some of the SRP for some sets ( incl 5% tax )

*Exclusives ( non-Japanese market items )
Emerald Night 10194 ¥21,000
Grand Emporium 10211 ¥26,000
City bank and money transfer 3661 ¥14,800
Public transport station 8404 ¥15,300


*Lego City
Lego trailer truck 3221-1 ¥6,300
Lego airport 3182 ¥15,750
Compact car 3177 ¥735
Cargo train 7939 ¥27,300
Fire truck 7239 ¥3,990
Space shuttle 3367 ¥5,775
Police boat 7287 ¥6,300
Container ship and harbor 4645 ¥11,550

*Star Wars
(yes, and like all licensed items, they cost a lot! )
Geonosian starfighter 7959 ¥5,250
Republic Frigate 7964 ¥21,000
Clone Turbo tank 8098 ¥21,000


*Pirates
Pirate ship 4195 ¥17,850
London escape 4193 ¥8400
Cannibal island 4182 ¥5,880
Captain's cabin 4191 ¥1,890


*Technic
Unimog 8110 ¥26,250
Helicopter 8068 ¥6,300
Motorcycle 8051 ¥6,300


Last and definitely not the least, the Minifigures cost ¥300 a pop in vending machines.



And some discount retailers will sell Legos at 20 to 30% off SRP; BIC camera and Yodobashi Camera. And as you can guess by the names, you can also shop for digital cameras and other electronic goods at duty free prices ( heh, off-topic I know. I'm not a tourist promoter by the way ) Amazon.co.jp also has better prices, although you'll need a Japanese account and live in Japan to purchase from the site, as they won't ship abroad.
On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend TRU or Bricks ( Lego's exclusive retailer ), since you won't get much of a discount.

Legogeek

As Silber334 mentioned, there are many places to shop for LEGO in Japan, but I wouldn't recommend going there just to shop for LEGO. Most of what you'll find you can find elsewhere, although for US tourists, you may be able to find international sets that we don't get in the USA.

Other than buying some Collectible Minifigs from a Gacha dispenser, and one or two small sets purchased from Amazon Japan, I've not bought any other LEGO there - it just really isn't worth it. You can hawever find some interesting items at the Click Brick stores which seem to be the equivalent to a LEGO Shop.

atkinsar

Much better to get yourself down to Roppongi and have a few shots in Geronimo's, ahh good memories!

Legogeek

LOL, I try to stay away from Roppingi. I just hang out with my friends at small local establishments or we head over to a Mos Burger.

drdavewatford

I also love gadgets and videogames, so Akihabara was my heaven ! I didn't see any LEGO there, however......

tommyboa

Pocky Sticks at the train platform. MMMM....

Legoboy

Love that minifig vending machine. No feeling up the polys beforehand though!

streeker

Natsukashii!! Never bought lego in my years in Japan, can't imagine dropping ni man for a lego set, but fond memories of those vending machines. San byaku yen for a minifig is relatively cheap, though.

Silber334

Akihabara is Lego's nightmare. Of course if any of you are into Akihabara stuff, you can use that money and dedication for all the Lego stuff :P

And yes, Japanese people use those capsules to avoid buyers from feeling the contents inside. You think those are mechanical wonders when they're actually "security" measures!
BTW, we get the series 5 minifigs next month. Can't wait man.