Japan Trip - Retro Shopping

[vcoleiro1]

Just came back from Japan, great place, hiighly recommend going, so many beutiful places to see.

Anyway, while I was there I did two trips to Akihabara (Electric Town)  . Went to the Famous Super Potato Retro shop which had several levels of Retro Gear , however it was pretty pricy.  On the second trip I just combed the other small used electronic shops in the back streets of Akihabara and found some decent offerings there.  For example a Boxed DreamCast at Super Potato was $85 , at a place 5 doors down they were selling basically NIB DreamCasts for $50 -$60.  

 

Anyway the best deal I grabbed was a NIB Retro Duo Portable a guy was selling among other goods in a 1.5m gap between two buildings.  Looked down and couldn't believe it, $5  - Sold.

 

Pics I took of Super potato - Click them to expand

 



 



 



 

 

[ekianjo]

Super Potato is not only in Tokyo, it's a chain and they have many stores all over the country, and especially a lot in Osaka (not far from me). But yeah, the one in Tokyo is pretty big and has a decent offering. 

This being said, Akihabara's Electric Town is not what it used to be. You can't really find much anymore in terms of retro games, they torn down a number of older buildings where you had retro stores inside, and they completely disappeared. Arcade centers with ancient coin-ops close down year after year and there are only a couple left now. It was way better 5 years ago and the trend is concerning...

 

[vcoleiro1]

I'm just sorry I didn't have enough time to check out the recycle shops , especially those outside of Tokyo . I did look at the Hard Off in Akihabara , but it was pretty small, I know there are larger ones elsewhere along with recycle shops that carry a lot of retro gear for reasonable prices.

 

[ekianjo]

I'm just sorry I didn't have enough time to check out the recycle shops , especially those outside of Tokyo . I did look at the Hard Off in Akihabara , but it was pretty small, I know there are larger ones elsewhere along with recycle shops that carry a lot of retro gear for reasonable prices.

If you want cheap retro gear, you should'nt buy them in shops in Japan, but on Yahoo auctions. I got working Dreamcasts and Saturns for less than 10 dollars, in mint conditions. That's really the best place to buy retro stuff.

 

[vcoleiro1]

I'm just sorry I didn't have enough time to check out the recycle shops , especially those outside of Tokyo . I did look at the Hard Off in Akihabara , but it was pretty small, I know there are larger ones elsewhere along with recycle shops that carry a lot of retro gear for reasonable prices.

If you want cheap retro gear, you should'nt buy them in shops in Japan, but on Yahoo auctions. I got working Dreamcasts and Saturns for less than 10 dollars, in mint conditions. That's really the best place to buy retro stuff.

Yeah, I've bought a lot of stuff from Yahoo Auctions Japan, the problem though for me is that I need to add internal (within Japan)  shipping costs, Proxy buyer  Fees, then the shipping to Australia - if it's heavy this is very expensive (boat is a little cheaper but very slow).  A lot of times it ends up more than local ebay prices.

 

[ekianjo]

I'm just sorry I didn't have enough time to check out the recycle shops , especially those outside of Tokyo . I did look at the Hard Off in Akihabara , but it was pretty small, I know there are larger ones elsewhere along with recycle shops that carry a lot of retro gear for reasonable prices.

If you want cheap retro gear, you should'nt buy them in shops in Japan, but on Yahoo auctions. I got working Dreamcasts and Saturns for less than 10 dollars, in mint conditions. That's really the best place to buy retro stuff.

Yeah, I've bought a lot of stuff from Yahoo Auctions Japan, the problem though for me is that I need to add internal (within Japan)  shipping costs, Proxy buyer  Fees, then the shipping to Australia - if it's heavy this is very expensive (boat is a little cheaper but very slow).  A lot of times it ends up more than local ebay prices.

Yeha, but if you are visiting Japan you can order and have it delivered to your hotel during your stay. Usually delivery is pretty fast

 

[Fzero]

...It would be so dangerous for me to visit there

 

[Klumpen]

@ekianjo

Out of curiosity:

Do shops like this exist in Japan with western games (and related stuff) too?

I'd like some Fallout merchandise as decoration. ^^

 

[ekianjo]

wesern games? nope, apart from a few exceptions western games are not popular in japan.