Diamond Rush 3

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale for the third and, possibly, final chapter of Diamond Rush. In the past two chapters, we have taken a look at Dia merchandise from Akihabara and Kashiwa. Today, we will be taking a look at the various Dia merchandise from non-other than Mandarake's Nakano store. Starting off with this acrylic stand of Dia in a Japanese outfit. Commonly, acrylic straps and character stands are often sold for a very high price, often above 1,000 Yen. With Mandarake being the only real exception to the rule where their acrylic merchandise often sells for the same price as rubber straps. While they do offer the best prices around, the trouble often arises with availability as Mandarake does not often sell many acrylic character merchandise.

Speaking of rubber straps, Mandarake has entire piles of rubber straps sitting around in baskets around their various stores in Nakano's Broadway Mall. As such, it is entirely up to you to find the character you are looking for. Fret not though, as Mandarake does a good job in sorting out these rubber straps according to series. But in the case of Love Live Sunshine, this does mean that you will have to wade through eight other characters just to come across the rubber strap you are looking for such as this recently released arcade Dia rubber strap. 

When you do finally come across the trinket you have been looking for though, it is more often than not a very pleasant experience as Mandarake prices trinkets at a comparably lower price. As evident by the fact that these trinkets are labelled simply as "other items". Even this rare Noppo Dia rubber strap that was made available only during a limited campaign sold for just 500 Yen. Where other stores around Akihabara would be selling the exact same rubber strap for double the price. 

Browse around the trinkets and it is not just rubber straps and acrylic charms that you will come across, as other arcade related goods are also often bundled in the same category. If you worry that straps/charms do not possess any practical function and would like to spend your hard earned Yen on something more substantial, perhaps then you should consider this arcade Dia mini-pouch. At just 600 Yen, it costs exactly the same as most rubber straps but, is considerably larger and, more importantly, actually serves a practical purpose.

If a pouch is not exactly up your alley of practicality, I would then suggest taking a look at this Aozora Jumping Heart Dia tumbler. These character tumblers have been all the rage in arcades recently especially when it comes to Love Live Sunshine. At under 1,000 Yen, this is far less than one would ordinarily expect to spend trying to win this in the arcade. Just like the pouch, it also serves a very practical hydrating purpose. After all, everyone needs to drink.

Still not convinced? Then, how about a sports towel of a stern-faced Dia dressed in her training outfit? Costing just 600 Yen, this sports towel is sure to give all you Dia-fans out there the necessary motivation to continue training. Yes, the price may seem a little steep for a sports towel but, when you consider how much other similar anime-themed sports towels cost, this is not too bad at all. And once more, serving a practical purpose too.

With all this talk about practicality, maybe it is time to take a break from it all to focus on something more collectible instead. Say you like the stern-faced Dia but, would prefer it on a small scale or at the very least not be on a towel. Well, Mandarake has you covered too with the exact same Dia. Only this time, in rubber strap form and costing 100 Yen less than the sports towel. These days, 500 Yen rubber straps are becoming an increasing rarity especially concerning popular series. Despite all that, Mandarake continues to be a champion of value when it comes to discerning collectors.

That is not to say that everything sold by Mandarake concerning Dia is cheap though. No, not at all. Mandarake, like every smart business, is able to discern between the uncommon and truly rare and sought after collectors's merchandise. In fact, more recent event exclusive items and fragile merchandise are often locked behind glass cabinets with heft price tags. Case in point, this swimsuit Dia IC Card Case which sold for 1,500 Yen. Love Live Sunshine is easily one of the most popular anime series at this very moment, yet card cases from the series are still relatively rare. As such, the value of the few card cases which were produced often goes up quite markedly in the re-seller's market.

Besides that, event exclusive items such as those limited to sales from concerts or campaigns often fetch a very, very high resale price. More so when it comes to the more popular character. Earlier I mentioned that Mandarake more often than not sells acrylic merchandise at a low price and these are one of the few cases where Mandarake's prices surpass those of prize figures. Even then, Mandarake still remains to be one of the cheaper places to obtain them.

Fragile goods such as coasters, postcard and stickers are often kept behind glass cabinets to prevent them from becoming damaged or misplaced. Depending on their rarity, they can sell for rather exorbitant prices. Some even up to 1,000 Yen for a single coaster such as those from the Sega Collaboration Cafe!

With all the event exclusive coasters on display, I could not begin to explain the origin of each one and you would likely need a super-fan to be able to pinpoint the origin of each one. Nevertheless, this is quite the sight to behold and one I am sure many collectors would not mind having in their own homes. 

With that, we come the end of this installment of Diamond Rush. I hope this has spurred on your interest to collect more Dia-related merchandise. As always, if you have any questions do not hesitate to leave them in the comments section below. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!