Akihabara Express

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale! If you have only have an hour in Akihabara and have an urgent flight/train/meeting to catch over the next hour, where do you go and what do you do? Well, that is the exact situation I found myself in between my transit from Nagoya to Tokyo before taking a night flight out of Haneda Airport. In my case, I spent the first hour at the Love Live x Atre Akihabara exhibition and spent the next hour at the one place that I knew would be able to meet all of my browsing and shopping needs in one place. That place? AmiAmi's flagship store in Radio Kaikan. 

Located just a literal minute walk away from the Electric Town exit of the JR Akihabara Station, AmiAmi's brick and mortar store is probably the best and most well rounded hobby store in the entirety of Akihabara. From brand new to used goods, figures to plush toys, it is no exaggeration to say that AmiAmi Akihabara has it all. And for foreign visitors, AmiAmi is also a registered tax free shop and they are able to make all of your tax claims at the payment counter itself!

Embarrassingly enough, at the time of my visit at AmiAmi, I still had several souvenirs that I had not gotten yet. Fortunately, I found this lovely Monster Hunter plush which helped to round up the last of the souvenirs that I was planning to get. Because AmiAmi practically gets all of the latest merchandise in stores, this is the perfect place to pick up merchandise of the season's most popular series and trends.

Aside from the already released goods, AmiAmi Akihabara is also exceptionally unique in the sense that they also have unreleased figure (which are usually up for pre-order) on display. Not only does this mean that AmiAmi has exclusive access of showcase before launch, it also gives potential buyers a good idea of what they can likely expect from the final product as opposed to just looking at pictures online.

Prior to that, the only real way to see a pre-release figure which has been finalized and is up for pre-order was at hobby shows or as special exhibition in a select few few hobby stores. AmiAmi helps to make that purchase decision that much easier with this showcases. Take this Nero for example which I was already pretty impressed with just from the pictures but, the seeing the figure itself in three dimension really made it look all the more impressive and convincing that this would be a perfect birthday gift for a friend of mine who also happens to be a big fan of the character.

Of course, this does not apply to all pre-order figure as that would, for starters, just make for too many figures to be feasibly displaced. The figures that AmiAmi usually has on for display are focused on those whom they have a special collaboration with such as those offering AmiAmi pre-order bonuses.

Aside from yet to be released figures, AmiAmi also has a healthy selection of newly released figures on display including some very Grail-type figures such as the glorious Lancer Altria Pendragon figure made by Good Smile Company. This figure is absolutely stunning to behold and has a presence of space unlike very few other figures out there today. 

This is without a doubt a perfect figure to have at the center stage of your collection and a certain must have for all fans of Altria Pendragon. My only two gripes about the figure are the fact that Good Smile Company did not elect to include both the full armor and lion head version. Secondly, the price is a little difficult to swallow but, that is to be expected of a figure of this scale and size. In my opinion, this is one piece that will continue to appreciate over time.

If you are out hunting for the latest release, the place you absolutely have to be are over at the two ends of the shop where the cashiers are. Just in front of the escalators going up and coming down, you will be greeted by a section dedicated to all of the newest releases. This may sometimes be limited to one unit per customer so, be wary about that.

While I would have really loved to spend more time in AmiAmi and take more pictures for that matter, I was on the literal clock and had to make it out lest I would dare to risk missing my flight. Nevertheless, I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have about AmiAmi and Radio Kaikan or even how to get the most of your trip here. Last but not least, if you have the time, do not forget that AmiAmi has another store in Akihabara which you should absolutely not miss as there are often tonnes of really great deals and rare finds there!

Alright, that is all for now. Next time, I will be rounding up all the souvenirs I got from my Japan trip. Until then, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!