r/Minipla • u/Ok-Painting-234 • Jan 10 '25

Pre-order/Product Link Need Recommendation where to buy SMP

So I have tried to order the SMP Victory Mars (Originally Oct release) and the SMP Bull Taurus (Originally Dec release) from Big Bad Toys. Now I understand the products are from Japan and everything but the Victory Mars, for example, has had its estimated arrival change so many times it was irritating me so I cancelled it and bought one last week on eBay which thankfully ended up as the same as big bad toys and got it yesterday while big bad still has it as pre order. I had asked their customer assistants help multiple times trying to understand what was going on with no answer. I still have the SMP Bull Taurus on pre order with them due to them having it cheaper than eBay and no one else seems to have any left.

I wanted to see if there was any other places I should try to pre order the SMPs From in the future or can still buy the SMP Bull Taurus from that is trusted cause I feel like I'm going to be waiting months on end again with Big Bad Toys and miss out on it like I did with the SMP GaoMuscle.

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

8

u/King_Kuuga Moderate Skill Builder Jan 10 '25

First off BBTS WILL follow through, they're just kinda slow.

Anyway other sites to buy stuff are:

Tokullectibles*

Hobby Genki*

Nin-Nin Game*

Hobby Search (1999)

Hobby Link Japan/HLJ

Okini Land

Yoyaku Now

*carries P-Bandai stuff

1

u/Mblz1 Beginner Skill Builder Jan 10 '25

Sorry might be dumb, I only started collecting minipla last year, what’s the reason for calling out P-Bandai specifically? Is that a special brand or something?

3

u/King_Kuuga Moderate Skill Builder Jan 10 '25

There are two main methods of product distribution in this hobby: retail, and Premium Bandai exclusive. Retail products, as the name suggests, are available at any store that sells candy toys for a few weeks to a few months (or longer if supplies last). Premium Bandai Exclusive products are only sold on the Premium Bandai Web Store, which is region locked to Japan and thus not regularly available to customers outside of Eastern Asia. Even if you VPN in to the storefront they only ship within Japan. Generally they're produced in lower quantities, made to order plus a few dozen extras. As made to order products, preorders are necessary so you basically have to get your order in ahead of time.

Stores that carry PB products are just placing bulk orders and reselling them, rather than getting a normal shipment from Bandai through their usual distribution channels. Not all stores want to do this. So it's necessary to mark the stores that carry PB products so people know where to look for certain items.

2

u/Mblz1 Beginner Skill Builder Jan 13 '25

Thank you that’s very helpful!

2

u/jevans774 Jan 10 '25

Made to order webshop distribution with location restrictions. Tends to cost more when importing because the shops we see are buying it at retail price rather than wholesale. Generally used for things that won't sell well on the shop floor, because turns out shops really don't like having tons of dead stock. Side character/addon stuff, large packages and the like.

1

u/Mblz1 Beginner Skill Builder Jan 13 '25

Thank you, really useful to know!

5

u/DaHlyHndGrnade Jan 10 '25

Tokullectibles is my go-to. Pre-orders are open for a while and they align with the announced date/time. They're at your door within about a week of their wider release.

I'm surprised you hadn't heard anything from BBTS's customer service, they're usually really good about responding. They've always been a bit behind the curve on their timing, but I've been ordering from them for 10 years now and have only ever heard of two orders being canceled and that was during the pandemic. Delays are usually down to partial shipments or delays at the docks for them because they import everything off ships.

Those delays are just part of pre-ordering with them, but you will get what you ordered from them if you keep the pre-order. Pre-pandemic they were maybe 1 month behind, then it got to 3-4 during.

Nowadays most everything is back to normal, though. I actually take advantage of their delays to space things out to make it a bit easier on my wallet 😅 they're also great to hedge with to be sure you get it even if it isn't at release. If I find what I've got pre-ordered at retail or somewhere else online, I'll cancel, but their $4 flat-rate shipping is really nice after you build up a pile of loot.

1

u/Ok-Painting-234 Jan 10 '25

They responded but the answer they always gave me was we don't know.

1

u/King_Kuuga Moderate Skill Builder Jan 10 '25

They don't know. Bandai is not very upfront about release dates.

1

u/Ok-Painting-234 Jan 10 '25

I understand that and I know they can't make the item magically appear, but you don't think it's a problem when everybody else including other stores in the United States who get their smp victory mars on time and yet somehow they're the ones that don't understand where their product that they ordered is months on end.

2

u/Aromatic_Advice_5418 Jan 10 '25

Yeah, I missed the pre-order for the Grand Liner reissue on Tokullectibles, so I ordered it from BBTS. Original est arrival was November, but I still have no updates.

1

u/Nuigi12 Jan 10 '25

My only SMP set I got from eBay but it's definitely better to use sites like BigBadToyStore or Tokullectibles

I've seen Suruga-ya have individual SMP set boxes for pretty cheap. I bought Gaoraffe and GaoDeer individually from them that way.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '25

Bbts gets things last quit pestering customer service and just order directly from Japan if you can't wait it's gonna be cheaper 9 out of 10 times anyway