There is a cycle that repeats for every non exclusive Masterpiece release from Takara.
A toy is announced at a show
Early preorders from importers show a high price (since the price is inferred)
The official preorders in Japan come out with official images and a lower price
We are in between the second and third step right now for the MP-46 Blackarachnia release with fans debating if they should preorder now from a stateside vendor or wait for Amazon Japan.
The ability for international fans to order toys from Amazon Japan is still recently new in the grand scheme of the online market so it has yet to be a norm. However, with the toys being priced higher now, there is a greater incentive to go buy from Amazon Japan since prices there are more indicative of the actual Japanese retail market where toys are sold between at 70%-80% of the MSRP issued from Takara and the shipping is both quick and inexpensive.
That being said, this article is to show fans both the pros and cons of ordering from Amazon Japan and with the pros stated above (price and quick shipping), it's time to look at the potential negatives.
What local vendors lack in price competitiveness, they make up in the simple fact that they are local and thus ease the return process if anything goes wrong. Amazon Japan will of course be very helpful with returns as well, just as Amazon is in general, but the experience can leave a lot to be desired simply on a practicality basis.
With the recent flaw of Beast Wars Megatron, where
we are still getting reports of broken pelvises today, several fans had to send them back to Amazon Japan. And now we have a much better idea of what is in store if you have a problem on your toy from Amazon Japan.
Godimus Prime over at TFW2005 wrote a very detailed description of their return process with Amazon Japan and it helps us see what is involved which I will sum up for you now.
Firstly, returns can only be done through DHL. So you need to go to a DHL (or affiliate) station to ship back your item.
Secondly, you pay the shipping cost up front and Amazon Japan will reimburse you later. In the case of Megatron, that was
$228 USD.
Finally, depending on how you paid for Megatron, the return may come to you in a method you do not want. For instance, in the example from Godimus Prime, since they initially paid for their item with a gift card, the return shipping expense was refunded on an Amazon giftcard. So while everything was repaid, the fan didn't really get their money back, they got $228 worth of credit. Now they have to buy from Amazon Japan again and the same cycle can happen once more if anything goes wrong.
So there you go. Some may feel the hassle involved in the chance that you have to return an item is worth the savings and some may not. Hopefully this helped, let us know what you think!
