Mandarake Sapporo: Revisited
Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale and our month long Sapporo special. The last time I visited Mandarake's Sapporo branch was back in January of 2017, which also happened to be my second time visiting Mandarake's flagship store in Japan's northern peninsular. Despite having a very tight schedule this time around, I still managed to find a two hour window to pay a visit to Norbesa, which houses the three major hobby stores in Sapporo (Mandarake, Jungle and Surugaya). Of course, you did not think that I would miss my chance to visit Mandarake after traveling so far would you?
Heading straight for the figures and collectibles section, I was immediately greeted by this Youjo Senki tapestry which immediately served as a predictor of things to come. While the layout has not changed much over the past two years since I visited, the variety of goods in stores certainly has improved by leaps and bounds!
Mandarake being Mandarake, you can find everything from modestly priced plush toys such as the adorable Kitsune from the "Tanuki to Kitsune" series;
All the way to prohibitively expensive premium scale figures and collectibles sealed behing the infamous glass cabinets that is seen in every Japanese hobby store worth its salt. Of course, Mandarake being the bargain-dealer that they are, do manage their glass cabinet concepts a little differently with a noticeable approach towards space efficiency. More of this in a bit.
But first, let us take a look at the common shelves where most of the browsing will go on. Do not be fooled by this deceptively simple looking exhibits! Before long, you would find yourself having lost hours just wading through the bevy of merchandise available. Because each item is only broadly categorized and arranged, you will very likely find only one type of each product in store lending to the wide variety of goods on offer. While the Nesoberi you are looking for may not be front and center on display, a closer inspection towards the rear of the pile may be where it just it. By the way, I have to mention the row of Love Live Nesoberi(s) laid out along the shelf just looks super adorable.
And such is the nature of Mandrake as a "second-hand" hobby store where much, if not most, of their goods are re-sale items. While this does mean that stock is normally limited to individual quantities, this has not stopped the staff at Mandarake from doing their best to sort things out in a way that would make sense for both their customers and staff to navigate.
For example, all figures go into the figures and collectibles section of the store. Then, the figures are further subdivided and placed into their own category. For example, prize figures are all bundle together and placed on a single shelf. Finally, the staff will do their very best to organize these products according to series. This is all in a bid to put order to the otherwise chaos for the thousands upon thousands of products available in stores!
Despite their best efforts, things still do get pretty jumbled up and messy as new products are added and removed on an hourly basis. On top of that, there are the myriad of customers walking in and out who inadvertently move the products around too. Nevertheless, I think this just serves to add to the charm of Mandarake's stores especially the Sapporo branch in particular as it makes the stores feel alive. You never know what you might find on your next visit there!
And I do mean that in the truest of sense as every single series, no matter how obscure always seems to get some form of representation in-stores as long as there had once been a steady supply of merchandise for it. Case in point, the KonoSuba series that was very popular when the first and second season aired. Some time after that, the series still remains in the heart and minds of fans but, its merchandise popularity has faded somewhat.
But, that does not stop Mandarake Sapporo from having some pretty great KonoSuba merchandise on offer. Sure, these may not be the now much sought-after BellFine KonoSuba premium figures but, these set of rubber straps are one that I have yet to see together as a complete set! Thankfully for me, I have already gotten my hands on the Wiz strap.
Mandarake often sports a very impressive Nendoroid collection especially for the stores in their Tokyo Branch (Nakano, Complex, Ikebukuro, Shibuya) and Sapporo was not keen to disappoint in that department too. A good mix of rare and common, new and old, there was certainly something for every collector. To top it all off, the prices at Mandarake's was hard to beat, as usual.
Of course, to find the truly rare products be it premium scale figures or collectibles, the place to find them would be in the glass cabinets no less. Reserved only for the most popular of series, there are entire glass cabinets dedicated to the a single series such as the incredibly popular Fate and Love Live series. But, do not for a moment let their premium appearances fool you as the glass shelves are home to perhaps some of the greatest deals in store too!
Aside from that, there were also other great premium scale figures on offer such as the very popular Birthday Series. These are still relatively easy to find in the re-seller's market and at very good prices too. It would be best if you can nab them with the pre-order special clear file but, the figure itself is more than sufficient as it is indeed a very high quality product.
KanColle too had it's own portion of the glass cabinet action with several rare Figma(s) and Nendoroid(s) on offer. the AGP Atago certainly caught my eye but, having both the WHS and Nendoroid Atago was more than sufficient for me.
Snow Miku may be the official mascot of the Sapporo Snow Festival but, her original counterpart Hatsune Miku is pretty popular here in Sapporo too. And the best part is, many of the offering within the glass cabinet were not too expensive too making them accessible to aspiring collectors everywhere.
Mandarake may be most well known in the figure collecting community but, their claim to fame does not stop there. If it is related to hobbies and collectibles, you can almost be certain that Mandarake has their hands involved in it.
These include premium Gunpla, some of which I never even knew existed. Do be warned though that the limited ones do indeed command quite a hefty premium.
Gunpla aside, Mandarake is also very well known for their vintage toys collection. Another staple of their which sees the greatest highlights during their regular Zenbu auction. We are talking vintage collectibles which cost well above 100,000 Yen! Now, that is some serious collection! Lest we forget that Mandarake first got its start as a vintage toys and second hand manga store.
Browse for a bit and you will start to realize that almost everything on display in store is available so sale.
Head on over to the opposite end of Mandarake's store and you will be greeted with their very generous cosplay section.
Where you will be able to find cosplay outfits for almost any imaginable character.
Since I am not at all well versed in the world of cosplaying, I am unable to judge the quality of what was on offer. But, they do appear to be very well made.
Fans of Love Live would certainly not be disappointed as there were almost every Live outfit for both Muse and Aqours.
Certainly a sight to behold. Although, I do wonder what is Mandarake's policy upon purchasing these outfits. Do they first have to dry clean them before putting them on store shelves? And how exactly, can they offer them at such low prices?
But, the item which certainly caught my attention the most was the 1/1 scale replica percussion lock musket that Mami uses! However impractical, I certainly want to add this to my collection one day! I just have to figure out the logistics of it all first.
Other things which impressed me include, this huge Jumbo Hatsune Miku Nendoroid. I first saw it when it was released in Wonder Festival and the thing never ceases to impress me.
What else? Oh, right! 4,500 Yen for an opened figma Motoko from Ghost in the Shell:SAC? I am so glad I got mine when GSC re-released her.
I once contemplated getting Rize's premium scale figure mostly because she is wielding a handgun. But, those urges have since subsided. Is the Order a Rabbit? still makes some very impressive premium scale figures though!
If there is any servant popular enough to have her own sub-section, it has got to be Umu! Nero Claudius who is always getting a steady stream of premium scale figures.
Two of the most sought after Nendoroid(s) in the Fate Series, that has to be Mash and Gudako of course! Both coming with their regular premiums on top of the usual sticker price, no less.
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