The Energon Pub

Over the past year I've acquired two of my grails: Raiden and Liokaiser. I got pretty good deals on them and they are both near mint, no yellowing on Raiden and no GPS on Killbison! They thing is neither is 100% complete. I lack the individual guns and train connectors for Raiden. For Liokaiser I'm missing Killbison's turret and guns, Jaruga's missiles, and Gaihawk's animal partner. I've turned Ebay upside down looking for these, and I've Google searched the living Hell out of these things. I've found a guy who does casting who has made Jaruga's missles in the past and I've emailed Darkov of TFW05 about the parts I need. Anybody have any other thoughts or suggestions?

Have you tried Yahoo! Japan auctions? It is intimidating at first because you need a proxy service (middleman) because most Japanese sellers won't sell their items out of the country. But you might have some luck finding some of the parts you need there.

SnapTrap wrote:Have you tried Yahoo! Japan auctions? It is intimidating at first because you need a proxy service (middleman) because most Japanese sellers won't sell their items out of the country. But you might have some luck finding some of the parts you need there.

Do we even have members still in Japan? I know Diem left Japan recently.

From what I've seen on YahooJapan, you're not likely to find just parts. There's seems to be mostly boxed newer and some vintage figures; relatively few loose figures and accessories.

Some sellers in Japan and in the states part out complete Japanese figures on eBay, so the parts you're looking for might show up eventually. Otherwise, you could try and find incomplete figures with the parts you need, then sell off the remaining figure and parts. Both ways will probably require a bit of patience.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I hadn't really considered going through YahooJapan auctions. Provided the reproduction Jaruga missiles look and fit the way they are supposed to I will be content with them and that will complete Jaruga. To get Gaihawk's breast animal and Killbison's turret I figure I will probably end up re-buying them. Maybe I'll get lucky on Killbison, with so many ravaged by gps I figure I might be able to pick up a broken one for parts. As suggested I can always sell off the extra stuff I end up with.

As for Raiden, I think this one will be harder to pull off. The individual guns anyway. If I can come up with one connector and can send it off to be molded and have duplicates made. I can deal with reproduction parts. I don't plan on selling, and if I did I would disclose the repro parts.

best place for parts is usually the conventions, I know there are some great cons in Japan.

To say dealing with YahooJapan is a little intimidating is an understatement! I'm still trying to get that process worked out. I ordered a set of reproduction Jaruga missiles from Alyosha at Brokenarrowtoys.com. It will probably be a while till I get them since these guys who cast their own parts usually make them to order rather than just having them on hand. I'll report on the quality when I get them, of course I won't have any original to compare them to.

It depends on the proxy service. Some like Rinkya have a system set up where you set up an account, browse for items in english, and through their website manage your auction transactions. Others are as simple as posting the URL of the item you want, the max amount you are willing to pay for the auction and they will contact you if you win or not. The only real gripe with buying items this way is the middleman mark up (commission fees) and the expensive shipping from Japan. You really have to know what the item's worth vs. rarity is in order to justify the added cost of the commission fees. I have purchased figures this way and it was less expensive even with the commission and the shipping than buying the same item on eBay; but that was a few years ago when the US dollar was stronger against the Japanese yen. Personally I think it is a good idea to check out Y!Japan auctions because part lots do show up there from time to time.