Let me start by saying, I love Monstock! I thought I would share this fun story with you that took away some of my Monstock love. Here's what happened. I watch the monstock blog pretty often and just like many of you I saw the new sculpt he dropped "Tsutenkaku-Robo". Super cool giant piece of Osaka Robot vinyl with a background story that kicks ass! My first thought, NEED!!! Monstock posted the sales info on his blog, 27cm vinyl for only ￥6980. A great price if you ask me. A day later I got an email from Mr. M., yes, the middleman that many of you probably know offering this same guy for ￥10000. My thought, fuck it, I will email monstock directly and request this toy. I never got an email back from Monstock but I did get an email from our favorit middleman Mr. M who I never contacted about "Tsutenkaku-Robo. My question to you, does Mr M have a point reacting offensive? Or does the "M" stand for Maffioso? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: M To: Martoy Re: IMPORTANT Message from M Hi,Martoy. We heard you directly contacted Monstock and ordered "Tsutenkaku-Robo". We are shocked. You don't need "MIddle-man" like us, anymore? Due to the license contract issue, they can't sell the doll to overseas. Monstcok accepts us as the official dealer for the foreign market. Our price includes commission(s), the domestic postage from the manufacture, the remittance fee and etc. (When the item is very hard to get, we will have to pay the special commission to our connections to get it.) We don't think the price is not fair. Do you want to remove yourself from our mailing list? Please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you. Best M ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, does that mean they have an exclusive? To be honest I would've never expected that getting in touch with a maker directly would've been an issue for anyone.
They're shocked. I once contacted Target Earth about buying directly from them as well, and got an email from M-World to conclude the sale. They must be the only international connection for quite a few Japanese makers.
now you mention it... I haven't received emails since October 2011 (and I've been receiving them for years - although it's been awhile since I've gotten anything).
In my experience it never has. Even if they don't ship overseas they genuinely seem glad you are interested in their toys. I've always enjoyed my dealings with MR. M. I just wish the Dollar to Yen was better.
My thought exactly.... Maybe due to the language barrier. Or maybe because Maffioso M talked them into a bad deal giving him exclusivity for there toys... You must have "shocked" him somehow!!
They once removed me after not buying anything for a long time. I emailed them to get back on the list.
I met the owner in Monstock when I was in Japan and he is a really great guy. I walked out of the bar with a mini Borugogon as a gift after an amazing night. His english is terrible though, and I think most Japanese creators are a bit afraid of dealing directly with foreigners. They put service at a very high level, maybe so high that they could not deal with having a bad issue with a foreigner. But I did not know M was anything as an "official dealer".
A lot of companies have deals with him to sell their toys overseas, at least that's the impression I get. It's easier for some people to have someone sell your toys (language barrier, convenience, marketing) and mark them up a little bit than to get into the whole fiasco of mailing things overseas. Payments over there are via wire, we don't do wire transfers here in the US so that in and of itself is a headache cleared up for some sellers. I know that my bank charges $40 for an international wire transfer. And we thought paypal fees were bad... What most likely happened is that Monstock got your email, sent it to Masato to "deal with", and he realized you already are on his list. Still creepy though. There are ways to get around him though I'm pretty sure he posts/reads this board, maybe he'll chime in on his business model.
What did you expect, you just grabbed the bosses phone number off your regular dealers cell phone, when he had his head turned. Man sometimes the Toy game, and the drug game, are exactly the same, everyone is always trying to move their way up the ladder. Seriously, the guy refereed to himself as a middle man. It's kind of sad...
Masato is a nice guy but his pricing can be a little on the high side, especially since you know he's getting them for cost. I like many was on the M-World list for years but got booted because I didn't order anything. Oddly enough I got back on it, ordered some things, but 2 months later was kicked off for not ordering again?! Basically if you don't order every month you're off. I stopped caring because if I really want something I'll find a way (and not his pricey way).
I've been on the list for a long time. I've been surprised sometimes that he can get me stuff that otherwise I wouldn't have been able to. So yes, he probably has some good connections! He can be pricey but somethings add up at the end to the same price you'd find in other places. I actually have had a couple fall outs with him. Had been menaced to be dropped off the list, but never have been. Guess I'm a good costumer? And actually one of those times it was indeed my fault!
I've always kind of stayed away from the whole, "Buy through a middle man" thing because if I did Celga or ordered directly from Japan I would be homeless. That e-mail is surreal, but like many people have said there are other ways.
Without a middleman no one outside of Japan could get a lot of the toys. Though not the case with originals, any licensed character can't be sold outside of Japan without an expensive license being payed. Not something that is affordable for most companies. The middleman becomes the person who is making the original purchase and then the terms of the license aren't broken. I'm sure most people know this, but it's important to remember the necessary hoops that are jumped through to get these toys outside of Japan.
Masato's prices are a bit high, but I don't like waiting so long for him to ship. He only ships once a month.
A "flipper" is a middle man who's prices are higher then the "retailers" who are also middle men. I've bought some well priced stuff from M in the past. I've passed on other crappier priced things. Lots of times I just like him for info. Just think if he had a "webshop" or actual store, it'd all cost more probably to deal with all that. His reaction's weird though. You'd think he'd hit you up and be like "hey, heard about you asking, sorry it's only me, let me know if I can hook you up" something positive to keep a good face. It's interesting he stopped selling Gorilla Ju stuff. I mean though GJ went intl on it's lotteries, Zollmen is too and he still puts Zollmen out there. I wonder if GJ told him to "bounce" as the kids might (probably don't) say.
The problem with M's service is that he prices things based on perceived demand (from what I recall). You could argue that other buying agents do the same, but at least they generallly have a set fee structure. He's really not comparable to a retailer because he doesn't bear the costs of carrying inventory. He buys things only when he can resell for a higher price. That's a flipper. If he's marking up items as an 'official dealer' of stores like Monstock, shame on him. Business must be slow if he has time to send out e-mails like that.
Yes, this is true. Prices also vary if he offers you something or if you ask him to buy it for you (as in something you found).
You can't, monstock only deals internationally with M-World. Masato has exclusive rights to sell. Your best bet is to find a friend in JP and ask them to buy if you want to avoid the fee. It really sucks. I've passed on a few releases I've wanted.
Also the Monstock pre-orders through M-world take forever. I'm waiting on two Froggens and a standard size Moai Robo, some of them I've been waiting on for 9 months now. It's starting to really irritate me. It's not like they are offering pre-orders on a new sculpt, both figures are already in vinyl, all they have to do is pour the vinyl and paint. I will never order another Monstock figure through M-World, you're better off just paying more on YJA or mandarake. At least then you don't have to wait a year to get your toy.
