More shopping today, and grails were found and purchased. Watch for them on this blog in the next few weeks.

Mandarake has a new store in Akihabara – their third – and it’s nine floors of some of the rarest and most expensive stuff I’ve seen in one shop in a while. From toys to cards to games to DVDs, it seems Mandarake is putting its best stuff in this one shop.

Who’s buying a $3000+ sticker? I often wonder such things as I browse a store like this.

The other day I had a conversation in Osaka Mandarake with a Japanese collector of Fighting Fantasy books. He expressed frustration with rising prices but said stuff is still selling, so if Mandarake has a rare item you want then you’ll just have to pay their price.

He was astonished to hear about my collection incidentally, and wanted to exchange contact info. I politely declined. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hasty?