Back when I use to do a lot of figure news and reviews around here I would often make mention of the the Usual Suspects when it came to where you could buy such figures and other goodies from Japan. But, I never really said who these suspects were. So over the next few months I plan on doing a series of post on just who the Usual Suspects are. Now this will be by no means a complete list of where you can get such items but will mainly deal with online sites that I have directly or indirectly dealt with.
So first up is J-List.com. J-list is probley the oldest online Japanese interest store out there. Founded in 1996 by Peter Payne an American living in Japan and teaching english. Jlist oringally starting mainly more adult item like Gravure Idol books and JAV videos. They quickly started branching out and started selling a lot of those weird thing from Japan you just can’t get here in the states. When videos first started making their way to DVD Jlist started carrying region free DVD player so you could play you Japanese DVD with out having to have two player. Now a days Jlist sells everything from Magazines to T-shirts to Japanese snacks and Japanese study aides. J-list also produces some of their products both through their association with JAST USA who release English translations of Japanese Dating Sims and Visual Novels. And also a a line of t-shirts with ‘wacky Japanese sayings’ on them.
Selection: Overall J-list’s selection is very broad and you can often find items there that are not available anywhere else. J-list does not specialize in any one aspect of Japanese culture. While the selection is broad it is often not not very deep. For example when I was shopping for figures they only seem to have about a quarter to a third of the ones I was looking for at the time. One of categories where they do excel is calendars. Starting in last September or early October they start taking pre-orders for calendars with subjects ranging from your favorite anime to J-pop idols. These calendars are often not your typical wall calendar like you get in the States but are huge poster calendars.
Price: When it comes to price J-list is kind of a mixed bag. On many things they are right in line with other retailers. But, some items, figures in particular, they are very expensive. For example the new Mio Akiyama 1/8 figure from Alter, J-list price $88.00 US, while HLJ has the same figure for $65.00 US at the current exchange rate. One advantage with J-list however is that all prices are in US dollars so you know what your price will be on pre-orders even if the exchange rate goes in the toilet. They also offer many discounts if you buy multiple items.
Shopping: The site is well laid out in a two column layout with categories on the left and item listed on the right. Each category has several categories to help refine your browsing. The problem is that you often get items in a catorgy that don’t belong there. For example in the Anime & Toys – pre-painted anime figures category the first three items (as 8/12/2009) are not anime figures. The first two are K-on! cosplay outfits and the third is a Naruto ANBU mask. Of the fist 40 items displayed 14 are not anime figures. This problem also shows up when searching. Now if you are the type that get offended by naked breasts or you simply don’t want to see their adult selection you can enter the site through the Jbox.com portal. Jbox.com is the PG version of the J-list site.
Shipping: Jlist is a bit different then other online dealer of Japanese goods in that they have two shipping locations, one in Japan and one in San Diego. San Diego location mainly ships T-shirts and DVD players. With most everything else shipping from Japan. For items shipped from Japan they offer many shipping methods, from the slow and cheap (SAL) to the fast and expensive (EMS).
Overall J-list is a great place to find that strange thing from Japan you just can’t live with out. From Japanese snacks to Adult DVDs and manga J-list the first place to look. For figure collectors though I would have to put them near the bottom of the list both do to the small selection and higher prices.
However because of their prices they often still have figures for sale when every one else is sold out. So if there is that one figure that you can’t just live with out and it’s sold out every where else Jlist just might have it.
