The Anime/Manga I Bought Today Was...

Geriatric hedgehog said:
I've been looking for the best deal possible to import this on for a while - is Amazon the best price you could find?
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I didn't shop around a lot this time as Amazon had one in stock and the price was £65 rounded up to nearest £1, I couldn't find a better price on Ebay new or used though. I use Amazon for importing US anime releases relatively often as long as it says it's in stock as then they are generally reliable - unlike their shoddy track record for things like honoring manga pre-orders! Ofc it takes a lil while to arrive but I've been happy with the quality of service, though my Akudama Drive LE had some damage when it arrived, that was Amazon Italy tbf but regardless I've not had any really bad experiences ordering standard edition US Blu-rays from Amazon US via Amazon UK (occasionally slight damage to the case but that doesn't happen a lot). ToysandFilms or w/e the exact shop name is on Ebay are good but with the major caveat that I've had a couple of orders shipped via standard post go missing with them and they did refund my money in full both times but I now won't buy from them unless I can afford to and am willing to pay for the more expensive shipping option they offer which bumps up the cost by about a tenner! I've used UP1 before they used to be pretty good but less reliable and with more expensive prices now from what I hear, I'll also suggest that Otaku.co.uk might be worth a try as well. One of the pluses of ordering such things from Amazon directly (as in rather than third party marketplace sellers located outside the UK) is that there's def no customs to pay or anything else of that sort, DGMW I'm not the biggest fan of Amazon as a company but speaking purely as a consumer they're pretty good for this. I did just check otaku.co.uk and UP1/United Publications and both are more expensive than Amazon, so Amazon is prob your best bet in this instance and it does still say they have one in stock even though my order was def placed so that's odd but it's there if you want it :)

(also I'm so sorry this message is so looooong) XP
 
Nice one, you've perfectly summarized my own opinions on importing, except that I've been lucky with the occasional order I've put it with Toysandfilms and not had any issues.

Amazon, whatever corporate monster it may be, does simplify importing anime relatively reliably without having to worry about additional import charges and all.

A couple of sites I would add would be www.deepdiscount.com and www.wowhd.co.uk (I think someone mentioned they're the same company) and I just checked and saw they have Nana for about £42 - I've never seen it cheaper so you could try them instead of Amazon to save some dosh:

www.wowhd.co.uk

Nana Anamorphic, Subtitled on WOW HD

Nana, Blu-ray, Anamorphic, Subtitled, Anime, 816726021454
www.wowhd.co.uk www.wowhd.co.uk

*Update: I just tried ordering on wowhd and that price didn't include the VAT and on review of their shipping policy it also doesn't include the custom charge, hence the lower price * sigh *, nevermind, I'll just from elsewhere I don't have to jump through hoops for.
 
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NormanicGrav said:
Very nice haul. I had to put a cap on my haul because when you reach a certain amount the shipping gets too ridiculous. I'm probably going to hold off on another batch until the sale is over because the prices are roughly the same with GotAnime so having a coupon would make the non-sale haul worthwhile.
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Thanks. I only do big hauls these days, not sure if this is actually the most economic way of doing things, I haven't made any calculations regarding that.

The shipping costs is indeed steep and blows away a lof of the savings made in the sale. Will do some calculations later today to see how much difference there is between the regular price - sale price and the shipping costs. But all in all I think it will work out OK.

And to my surprise my Sale order from back in December also finally shipped. That meant I had to raise my credit card limit a bit otherwise it would mean hassle getting the payment done. One of the disadvantages I guess of large orders :)
 
Geriatric hedgehog said:
Nice one, you've perfectly summarized my own opinions on importing, except that I've been lucky with the occasional order I've put it with Toysandfilms and not had any issues.

Amazon, whatever corporate monster it may be, does simplify importing anime relatively reliably without having to worry about additional import charges and all.

A couple of sites I would add would be www.deepdiscount.com and www.wowhd.co.uk (I think someone mentioned they're the same company) and I just checked and saw they have Nana for about £42 - I've never seen it cheaper so you could try them instead of Amazon to save some dosh:

www.wowhd.co.uk

Nana Anamorphic, Subtitled on WOW HD

Nana, Blu-ray, Anamorphic, Subtitled, Anime, 816726021454
www.wowhd.co.uk www.wowhd.co.uk

*Update: I just tried ordering on wowhd and that price didn't include the VAT and on review of their shipping policy it also doesn't include the custom charge, hence the lower price * sigh *, nevermind, I'll just from elsewhere I don't have to jump through hoops for.
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I have used WoWHD once recently.
Went missing in the post, tracking rarely updated.
They add VAT and give you a VAT invoice. Postage is free, which is nice.

The most reliable for me are Amazon, ToysandFilms (I've always assumed their product is in the UK) and allyourmusic (although they are a pain to deal with if something does go wrong.
 
I ordered a couple of anime-related desktop accessories for my main computer desk in my basement theater room / Man Cave last night, shortly before the live Discotek stream. The first was a new 40x90cm (16x35") desk mat for under my keyboard and mouse, with this glorious Girls with Guns image on it:

lycorisrecoil900.jpg


Ah, my darling Takina... 😍

Second - although I may have gone a little overboard - I was also looking for a replacement mouse pad with gel wrist rest in addition to the desk mat, and I found a nice Japanese import mouse pad with a 3D image of my favorite Evangelion Rebuild waifu Mari - but for little more than the cost of just the Mari mouse pad alone, I was able to get a set of all THREE Eva girl 3D mouse pads instead:

evagirlsmousepads.jpg


Not sure if I really needed 3 mouse pads, or how well the 3D surface will work or last, buuut what the heck... at least I'll be getting 3 times the exposure of sexy plug suits, and can swap them out for whichever one fits my mood at the time, lol! 🤤
 
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I'm starting to think I was better off without internet access.
Urusei Yatsura TV Series Part 2 Blu-Ray $55.97
$25 Blind Box Bargain Item $25
Ranma 1/2 Standard Edition Blu-ray Set 2 $23.75
Ranma 1/2 Standard Edition Blu-ray Set 3 $23.75
Ranma 1/2 Standard Edition Blu-ray Set 4 $23.75
Ranma 1/2 Standard Edition Blu-ray Set 5 $23.75
Ranma 1/2 Standard Edition Blu-ray Set 6 $23.75
Ranma 1/2 Standard Edition Blu-ray Set 7 $23.75

Subtotal: $ 223.47
Tax and Duty: $ 56.67
Insurance $ 4.47
Shipping: $ 48.98

The Ranma's work out to around £30 per set, which is a £10-20 saving on other sources.
 
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Ordered
Dropout Idol Fruit Tart and Taisho Baseball Girls from allyourmusic on eBay. 20% off when you buy more than one.
I really only wanted to buy Dropout at the moment but the UK eBay seller (toysandfilms) had receive by 18/7/23 when I put in the a basket. I figured if I was waiting that long then I'd get a sports anime.
I did enjoy Tamayomi and Cinderella Nine. I think the latter is based on a card trading game but oddly liked it more.
 
Otomo said:
Ordered
Dropout Idol Fruit Tart and Taisho Baseball Girls from allyourmusic on eBay. 20% off when you buy more than one.
I really only wanted to buy Dropout at the moment but the UK eBay seller (toysandfilms) had receive by 18/7/23 when I put in the a basket. I figured if I was waiting that long then I'd get a sports anime.
I did enjoy Tamayomi and Cinderella Nine. I think the latter is based on a card trading game but oddly liked it more.
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Curse you! I had to look and see if there was anything interesting in the sale. Eventually decided on
Ladies Versus Butlers Collection [New Blu-ray] £21.37,
Squid Girl [New Blu-ray] Anamorphic £46.21
Akiba's Trip: The Complete Series [New Blu-ray] 2 Pack, £23.54
which, with the 20% off, came to £87.48.

Was sorely tempted to upgrade my Betty Boop DVDs to BR, as the prices were the best I have seen. If anyone likes classic cartoons with a lot of jazz music, I can recommend these as they are excellent restorations.
 
RonJB said:
Just the title Dropout Idol Fruit Tart has me fascinated.
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Somebody recently posted receiving it. Their photo had the Australian Mature Audiences sticker and this piqued my interest. I'm describing it as Love Live with fanservice and crude humour.
Seems to have been protests against it in Japan.
And that's all the incentive I need.

I am hoping for some good Rightstuf bargains but for me most would need to be $20 or below to make it worthwhile.
This isn't happening so far.
I do admit that the discounts are often 50% but half of $70 or $80!

Ladies Versus Butlers is a classic.
I'm in love with
 

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Ordered from Ebay:

 My Senpai is Annoying - Complete Series LE (Blu-ray/DVD)
The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar - Complete Series (Blu-ray)
 
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