Does anyone know of any toy spots there with Kaiju? I have a friend who lives there and I've asked him to buy me some Kaiju if he could find any.

Gunma?

I guess maybe that, Gumma was the name my friend gave me.

Yep its Gunma...hmm the only idea I can give you is that, Hobby Link Jpn operates from out of that area
Most towns except the most remote would have a toy store or at least one of those chain toy/collectible/game stores that buy up anything and everything. That would probably be a good place to start.

If you need specific names...I'm not too sure but try Book-Off (major used bookstore/hobby chain store that depending on the area has specialized used hobby/toy stores even tho they are mainly used books etc)

If you get no love with the above...in general if he's not in a huuge town tell him to check near the train station...A lot of Jpnese town follow similar development/town layout plans...and always the train station area is a hub of activity.

Thanks for the info!

I don't know of anything in or around Gunma, it's pretty suburban going rural. What kind of stuff are you looking for? If you'd be happy with stuff like 80's/90's Bandai vinyls for a couple of bucks then check flea markets (usually on Sunday mornings in certain parks) or Hard Off (Book Off, to my knowledge, only sells "media" - books, CDs, DVDs, etc but the same chain operates Hard Off which sells house goods, clothes, electronics and usually has a small toy selection).

If you're looking for rarer stuff (particularly vintage) he'll probably just have to dig around. I've had some awesome record finds at little dinky record shops in the sticks, and my buddys have regaled me with stories about ridiculously rare manga that they have bought for pennies at run-down used book shops. I almost snagged a bunch of original Ark kaiju (MIB!!!) at this incredibly out of the way shop in Kumamoto, Kyushu but I felt kind of bad because the guy was clearly reading the price sheet wrong. I asked him "You sure about those prices?" and sure enough he called the owner and was totally off (he was going to sell them for like $60 each). He wasn't even very friendly about it, but I figure that built me up a little toy karma.

The only problem is lately it seems like a lot of the vintage stores are starting to think that old+kaiju=$$$ and are marking the figures at ridiculous prices ($40 for this chewed up 80's Bandai vinyl with half the paint gone and no left foot? Sign me up!). You can still find some good stuff if you dig, though!

Wow, MIB Ark kaiju... in Kyushu no less. Do I dare ask which ones? Although $60 for an MIB Ark kaiju is actually about the going rate- I found a couple unbagged for $35 a piece in Nakano last year. I would love to take a trip through the Japan countryside and dig through the old mom-and-pop stores some day. Stuff of my dreams.

Winu- You could try to give Joseph @ Tokyo Hunter a ring... he works for Hobbylink, so he must know the area fairly well.

http://tokyohunter.blogspot.com/

Very personable guy; he used to purchase items from Akihabara stores for clients, but stopped due to time/cost.

Haha, yeah...this was before I discovered Nakano Broadway and most of my aftermarket research came from the 'bay. I saw more than one Baltan go on there for $250+, so I think that colored my judgment.

If I remember right they had Red King, Black King and I think Kong, although that might just be my mind trying to make this a sweeter score than it really was...

Oh, the ArkLON toys. Omg. Yeah that would have been a complete steal at $60 each.

Once again, thanks!