Robot Claw

Today I went to the Gundam Factory in Yokohama to see the life-sized Gundam.

It was brutally hot even at 9 am when I got to Yokohama, and standing in line in direct sun outside the factory almost made me pass out. Quite a change from the rain this past week!

There’s not much to this attraction truth be told: it’s just a life-sized Gundam, which gives an impression of what these things may be like if we actually could build them. As you can see (from the people in the pic) this guy is massive, and he looks fantastic.

But the big draw of course is that he moves!

He does a few routines every hour, and I got to see the full 11.5 minute one which includes a simulated startup as well as recreations of scenes from the original tv series. While his movement is slow, I felt it was fitting for such a giant object. It was like watching a building move!

The ‘trick’ is that this isn’t an actual robot at all; more a puppet. His feet don’t even touch the ground, but hover a few centimeters above it (but you have to look closely to notice this; they hid it well). He’s got a lot of articulation and fine details, and while you’re watching him you can almost believe he’s real!

This being Japan there’s a rather lengthy apology mounted on a wall near the exit, in which one of the creators explains why the giant Gundam can’t actually walk or move quickly (short version; it’s too difficult). He suggests the next generation learn to overcome these obstacles so that one day we may build a real Gundam.

After his routine he strikes a pose, and then eventually returns to the scaffolding awaiting the next performance. There’s not much else to do at the factory (it has a shop and a restaurant), so this can be as brief as a 15 minute stop if you time things perfectly. If you like Gundams or even the idea of Gundams, this is great, but if you don’t you may want to simply wait outside while someone else goes in and takes photos/video for you to enjoy.

After a gourmet lunch, I explored a nearby mall before shopping and ‘preliminary packing’. The Sun had drained my life and I actually fell asleep on the train before I got back to Akihabara station. Of course after a quick dinner I then headed back out to Akiba… but that can wait till another upcoming post 🙂

It’s the age-old question : “What’s better, Akihabara or Nakano Broadway?” Obviously speaking generally the answer is Akiba due to the gargantuan amount of shops, but if you want to find truly rare or obscure items a day at Nakano can’t be beat. That’s what I did yesterday.

As usual I was up with the birds, and since the 30+ Mandarake shops at Nakano don’t open until noon I killed time in a gourmet restaurant and game centers. Which brings me to my first Nakano tip: get their early and decide on which shops you were most interested before they open. Ideally you’ll want to be out of there before the hordes of clueless tourists arrive mid-afternoon. For me yesterday, the ‘TRPG’ shop, the game shop, the trading card shop, the vintage manga shop and the art book shop were the ones I was most interested in.

Nakano isn’t just otaku shops by the way; it’s also home to over 20 high-end watch stores. I saw a few watches costing more than a car, but given some shops have guards and security screens at the doors even when they’re open I imagine there’s watches costing more than houses there as well!

Which brings me to my second Nakano tip: bring money. Lots of it. If you want affordable anime/otaku stuff get it in Akihabara or Ikebukuro. If you’re after treasures to complete your collection open your wallet at Nakano!

Almost every time I’ve blogged about Nakano I show the above shop since it’s so visually amazing. Here’s a photo taken inside:

And another:

The mind boggles how many individual items this shop has, or how you’d even find anything? Rows of glass cases filled with tiny little toys and figures, and endless plastic tubs full of little books or cards or postcards. I always pull out a few for a quick look (“Maybe I’ll send myself one of these 1970s Ultraman postcards.”) and then put it right back when I see the cost (usually ¥1000 or more). There’s a few shops like this in Nakano, and it’s one of the reasons I love the place.

The above is another one, perhaps catering more to the modern anime/toy fan. At first you notice familiar franchises, but then you see the prices: ¥40,000 for a Dragonball figure or ¥8,000 for a Doraemon shopping bag?!? Almost every time I visit Nakano I see westerners walking around with a mix of amazement and dismay on their faces: “Who buys this?” they’re thinking, as I brush past them in a narrow aisle with a bag of overpriced stuff under my arm 🙂

I got some grail items yesterday (and soon enough I’ll be showcasing some here on this blog) but I also let one or two get away. Notable amongst them were some boxed R2D2 figures which would have been great in my embryonic (for now) boxed R2 collection. The above metal R2 (from 1977) tempted me once, twice and even a third time before my attention was taken by something in the case just below it. But I still wish I had bought it, which brings me to my third Nakano tip: Just buy it. Don’t waste time deliberating or counting costs; just buy it. If you don’t, you’ll regret it later.

Incidentally the staff yesterday was immensely helpful. Not once but twice did people go ‘to the warehouse’ to (attempt to) retrieve items for this curious collector, and in two stores other staff members spoke good English and gave me some interesting perspectives on items I’ve been looking for. Which brings me to my final Nakano tip: If you ever have the dumb idea of collecting all the games in a series, don’t ever ever decide on Wizardry. It’s a fools errand! 🙂

So as I love to do, let’s see some other weird and wonderful items I saw yesterday at Nakano:

The above is a nearly 50-year old issue of a weekly manga magazine. It’s so expensive (~$700) since it’s in incredible condition and features a full length Osamu Tezuka story.

For about the same price you could buy just one single trading card. Sure it’s sparkly and gold-foiled, but given this was in a ‘rental cube’ I half wonder if whoever owned it and put it here for sale is just having a laugh. The series it’s from isn’t even popular any more! Surely there’s no one that would consider buying this?

One of the Mandarake shops had a cabinet full of Beyblade, which is the kids game involving battling tops against each other. Before you ask “Does anyone actually collect Beyblade?” understand that Mandarake wouldn’t sell them if people didn’t, and marvel that one of them was about $250!

The above is a 1984 board/card game ‘Treasure of The Labyrinth’ which seems to have an Indiana Jones inspiration and has beautiful art. If I had grown up in Japan I bet I would have played this one!

And this tiny little thing – for about $70 – was sold at the ‘candy toy’ shop. It’s a tin ‘western television’ so tiny it would easily sit on the tip of your pinky finger. I just love that someone found it and sold it to Mandarake and that presumably it will end up in a collection. Items like this one I find particularly interesting because it suggests that Mandarake is a store that sets prices rather than looks them up. Many times I’ve seen stuff for sale that (probably) no other store has ever had and I wonder if Mandarake just rolls a die to determine a price or if they have an extensive network of expert appraisers: somewhat like an ‘antiques roadshow of weird toys and anime merchandise’? Knowing Japan, probably the latter.

I filled my bag yesterday to the point of barely even being able to carry it and staggered ‘home’ (I’ve settled into my room by now) before shortly thereafter heading right back out to Akiba for an early gourmet dinner:

I did even more shopping, played some games, people watched and eventually – since I’d forgotten my umbrella – ran through a heavy rainstorm to get back to the hotel.

It had been exactly the sort of day I was hoping from this trip 🙂

I visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building this morning. It has a free observatory on the 45th floor, and you know I like observatories!

The view wa clear enough (in some directions) when I was up there, but this wouldn’t last. By the time I descended and walked to the shopping district near the station (a few blocks from the tower) the skies had opened and the rain fell in sheets. I took shelter in the House of Grimace:

Incidentally the marks on my nose and left cheek are from a mask. I estimate about 50% of Japanese still wear masks outdoors, and even more do indoors or on trains. I’ve joined them (mostly out of respect) but I’ll be honest and say the humidity isn’t pleasant when you’re masked!

It was still raining after I finished lunch, so I went into Yodobashi Camera (the Shinjuku branch included about ten shops spread over several blocks) and took refuge – alone! – in an upper floor arcade where I played a card-based Ultraman game for about half an hour. This was blissful since I didn’t get much sleep last night (due to waking early for laundry) and the AC in the arcade was sweet relief from the humidity outside.

The rest of the day was shopping, with a focus on gacha machines and UFO catchers. As I’ve discussed before on this blog gacha’s are everywhere in Tokyo, and stumbling upon a sight like the above is hardly unusual. The variety beggars belief as well, and there’s something for everyone. Here’s some examples I saw today:

How about a weird ‘floor plan’ (?) gacha? Or a ‘calling bell’ that they suggest can be used to summon a pet? Or a mini cart and groceries? Or – and this one is incredible – recipes handwritten by a handsome young man? (Yes this is correct; KLS and I purchased something similar in January which was a small piece of paper with a message about hard work handwritten on it!)

Or you could get a mini appliance, a device that (claims to) protect you from EM radiation, a mini-zip line or even a sangria mascot. This is just 8 of hundreds of different machines I’ve seen this trip, and not even the most unusual. I’m not putting the truly crazy stuff here so as not to spoil souvenirs for KLS 🙂

I’ve been unlucky with crane games this trip, and not for lack of trying. The prizes range from trash (mini food items that cost less to buy than you pay trying to win them) to exceptional (large and very detailed anime figurines) but the machines remain frustratingly difficult and that’s not even accounting for sunk-cost fallacy which all-too-often rears its head.

I’ve become good at spotting the ‘avalanche’ machines ready to pay out, and so far I’m on a 100% win streak! The above prize I’ll give to a student (who’s name is Kirby), but some of the other wins will be pride of place on shelves at home for many years.

The rain didn’t last long this morning but it dumped enough water to make the afternoon shockingly humid. Today was probably the most strenuous day of this trip so far, and I even saw Japanese struggling with the humidity. But I managed – due to imbibing vast quantities of water – and ultimately had an enjoyable day of looking and shopping and eating. Tomorrow will be more of the same 🙂

The very reason I booked a hotel in Akihabara was to maximize the shopping potential of this place. On every previous visit to Akihabara, bags would fill, bodies would tire, and senses would be overwhelmed. Inevitably this would mean a return to the hotel to refresh, but since my hotel is right here this means I can have a rest stop and then head right back out into the wonderland. Yesterday that’s exactly what I did.

The rain was pervasive, but this only served to diminish the crowds (somewhat) and didn’t bother me. I ended up shopping for about 8.5 hours, visiting dozens and dozens of stores including some on higher levels of buildings that were only accessible by stairs.

It was, for me, a close to perfect day. I saw a lot of wide-eyed tourists standing around overwhelmed and thought “That was me over 20 years ago.” Now I’m an old hand, and navigate these streets like a local. Even the maids reached out to me, and they usually ignore foreigners 🙂

So what did I buy? Lots of books, games, gacha toys, trading cards and other otaku stuff. Wonderful things in other words, including some that were special, and a few that are even ‘holy grail’ items for my collections. One thing in particular almost made me pass out with surprise when I saw it, and I’m sure I set some sort of speed record grabbing it off the shelf! In time I’m sure you’ll see them all on this very blog. Today I’ll showcase – as I do – some of the items I didn’t buy 🙂

Let’s start with the above. I haven’t seen an actual Black Lotus (the most expensive Magic The Gathering card) in many years, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen an Alpha version. And yet yesterday I could have just bought one for about $111,000. Or an Alpha booster pack for about $35,000! The same store had dozens of ‘power’ and dual lands, and even sealed boxes of older sets. Incredible!

Speaking of cards, I also saw the above Pokemon card for about $45k. I don’t know much about the Pokémon card game, but a quick search showed this was a card depicting the Pokémon company president that he gave out to friends. As few as 30 exist!

One store I went into had an exhibition of superbly build model kits and the above stood above all of them in my opinion. The artist used some sort of reflective metallic paint that seemed to change colour depending on the viewing angle. It was absolutely beautiful, and his comment (on the card) which read: “I did my best.” may be the understatement of the year!

Quick, someone tell Jonathon Ross there’s a boxed Micronaut for sale at Mandarake 😉

The retro game market has exploded these past few years, which is one of several reasons I’ve sold half my collection. And yet it’s still extraordinary to walk into a shop and see things like this Famicom (NES) cart for ~$2500. I’m always looking for Wizardry games (it’s the series I collect) and they’ve become rare now, but I saw cart-only examples of games (I own mint-in-box) for hundreds yesterday. I’m happy I was into this stuff decades ago.

Speaking of games I was finally able to visit Beep, a small retro game store with a focus on old Japanese PCs and arcade games. It was an amazing dungeon of treasures, and had a vast array of (working!) old Japanese home computers for sale, as well as dozens of arcade boards and even modern tech to play them on your TV. They had a library of old game guides (which I bought a few books from) and they also had these two items I didn’t buy:

Both of these date to the late 1980s and were for the Wizardry tabletop RPG (like D&D). At over $300 for the metal dragon figure and $200 for the ‘module’ you’d need deep pockets indeed to shell out for this pair. Still it was a treat to see an example of a Wizardry RPG book, which I’d never seen before.

I had breakfast, lunch and dinner in Akiba yesterday (all at fine dining establishment, I assure you) and took frequent breaks in air-conditioned arcades and drunk lots of water. I even had two rest stops back at my hotel. But at the end of the day I was still absolutely ruined which is why this blog entry waited for this morning. I didn’t visit every shop I planned to, nor buy everything I wanted to, so I’ll absolutely be back to Akihabara this trip. Look forward to another post like this one in a few days 🙂