Who owns Shiina stuff?

[Jesse]

Sooooooo jealous!

[Controversy]

me too!

after hearing so many horror stories on ebay, i'm pretty wary of it now. but after reading through this thread, i feel like giving it a try again lol. after all, it's the only way for me to get ringo stuff at an affordable price (read: student allowance budget).

[Glathannus]

Originally Posted by Controversy

after hearing so many horror stories on ebay, i'm pretty wary of it now.

I've been scammed, Jesse has been scammed, and we're not alone in that regard among Shiina Ringo fans.
Try to maintain your healthy level of skepticism.

Originally Posted by Controversy

after reading through this thread, i feel like giving it a try again lol. after all, it's the only way for me to get ringo stuff at an affordable price (read: student allowance budget).

I've always tried to play it very smart, so I have a lot more success stories to tell about eBay than horror stories. But as a collector who already owned the 85% most common Shiina Ringo items out there, eventually I had to come to terms with the fact that eBay was going to waste my time in pursuit of the remaining 15% - whether or not I was even trying to save money.

Being a rarities hunter on eBay will give you a very.. sheltered perspective of what's out there and how often it's available. eBay is a place to save money when you're not getting scammed, more than eBay is a place to.. find rarities. Like I got one used copy of Shoujo Robot on eBay three years ago, and (as far as I know) no other copies of Shoujo Robot in any condition have shown up on eBay ever since. eBay has all of these.. ahem, "once in a lifetime" opportunities, which present themselves on Yahoo! Japan Auctions every week - if not every month. Now factory-sealed copies of Shoujo Robot - you could spend the rest of your life searching on eBay and not find a single one, while you could search every week of a whole year on Yahoo! Japan Auctions and maybe find two. Ringo~Bingo is probably the only person in Europe who has one right now.

I don't mean to break your spirit. I've secured some pretty good deals on eBay before. I got a new copy of Electric Mole limited edition from there, a new copy of Dynamite Out! first-press, a new copy of Seteiki Healing Vol.3 first-press - and these were all very modestly-priced. Two KSK vinyls have also shown up on eBay before - basically an average of one copy every two years (if the clock starts from late 2005 when I first started searching - instead of mid 2003). Once in awhile I do get surprised by the things other Shiina Ringo fans manage to find on eBay. But everytime someone gets excited about seeing a certain rarity on eBay for the first time, I can't help but shrug it off as "nothing I haven't seen on Yahoo! Japan Auctions at least a dozen times before".

Now, one of the nice things about Yahoo! Japan Auctions (aside from having a much wider selection and frequent availability of 'rarities') is that illegitimate goods can be deleted from the listings. So even when you are dealing with a seller from Hong Kong or Taiwan, they're more trustworthy in the Yahoo! Japan Auctions system than they are in the eBay system - because eBay doesn't care if they sell counterfeits or samples. eBay doesn't understand the Japanese economy. I searched eBay for years for a legitimate Cowboy Bebop CD-Box, and all-the-while there were dozens of counterfeits being listed at any given week. You search Yahoo! Japan Auctions, and there are several legitimate copies of that floating around all the time, and absolutely no Taiwan counterfeits. Depending upon which animes or videogames you want music for, eBay could be 99% counterfeits while simultaneously Yahoo! Japan Auctions could be 99% legit.

Another nice thing about Yahoo! Japan Auctions is that if you are willing to buy in bulk, it can be cheaper than eBay. If you can find 8 magazines in one auction, the shipping might be highway robbery, but buying those magazines individually through eBay would be like losing your life savings through a Ponzi scheme in comparison. It's not entirely uncommon for people in Yahoo! Japan Auctions to sell near-complete collections of Shiina Ringo CDs/DVDs in fairly good condition. Even after you pay all the fees to move that cargo out of Japan, it's only half as costly as securing those items via individual eBay auctions.

So I would have to say that Yahoo! Japan Auctions is a very misunderstood setup among international Shiina Ringo fans. It can be (and often is) cheaper than eBay when you're not going after factory-sealed rarities. Then when you do want factory-sealed rarities, yeah, Yahoo! Japan Auctions can be expensive, but you've got pretty much no other place to go. These are two key facts which have been mostly ignored throughout the years.

Ringo~Bingo has a respectable collection because he already knows eBay is going to hold him back more than it's going to help him. It's not to say he never buys anything from eBay (he keeps his options open), but he knows better than to treat eBay as his one-stop-shop for Japanese out-of-prints.

[Ringo~Bingo]

I bought some more stuff recently \0/

01. Shiina Ringo's autograph (competition prize version)
02. Artwork sheet in a box + mobile phone charm thingy
03. Mayonaka cardboard promo

I managed to find the elusive brand new Gekokujyo video tape but the bitch wont take bids from a deputy service so the search continues

No pics as I haven't requested delivery yet.

[Scribble R]

Gotta catch 'em all!

[Glathannus]

Originally Posted by Ringo~Bingo

the bitch wont take bids from a deputy service

I've ran into that problem before, and not just with one seller. Thankfully they weren't selling anything I wanted super badly, but even so, that's their loss if they don't want to grant us the opportunity to outbid (or raise the winning bid of) Japanese buyers.

Keep searching. Eventually you will find an indiscriminate seller offering what you are looking for. I've seen less than 10 different Shiina Ringo items that appeared "never again". Once you aim that high, then you're bidding against the big dogs who won't let you win. It's one of the most frustrating experiences, but it's probably right around the corner just waiting for you, now that you've been far enough around the block to encounter at least one seller who doesn't want to deal with any deputy services.

[shiinafile]

I own almost everything on cd and dvd. what I really would love to own is IMHO the holy grail: the SR honnou PV doll. Saw it on line at one time, but it was already out of stock. Wish I'd picked up the Gekokujou Ecstasy tour zippo too when I had the chance.

[Glathannus]

Originally Posted by shiinafile

what I really would love to own is IMHO the holy grail: the SR honnou PV doll.

Those aren't too hard to get, but you have to assemble and paint them yourself. There are assemble-&-paint dolls for Tsumi to Batsu and Stem too. The dolls are almost the very last Shiina Ringo collectibles I'll ever try to buy. I'm more concerned about the posters - especially the older ones (from before Tokyo Jihen).

Originally Posted by shiinafile

Wish I'd picked up the Gekokujou Ecstasy tour zippo too when I had the chance.

Nowadays you'd have to search for months at a time, and be ready to pay hundreds of dollars. But it's still possible to get one.

[shiinafile]

Originally Posted by Glathannus

Those aren't too hard to get, but you have to assemble and paint them yourself. There are assemble-&-paint dolls for Tsumi to Batsu and Stem too.

I didn't know they were pvc (the site was in kanji)Yeah, I saw the stem and Tsumi to Batsu ones there too. Actually, those 2 were available, but that nurse cosplay thing is more my cup o' tea Do you know the keywords for a search for them?

Originally Posted by Glathannus

Nowadays you'd have to search for months at a time, and be ready to pay hundreds of dollars. But it's still possible to get one.

I got to quit smoking anyway.

[Glathannus]

Originally Posted by shiinafile

Do you know the keywords for a search for them?

I avoid using keywords because I'm bound to overlook things that way. But I can tell you I've seen unopened boxes for the Honnou doll dozens of times (throughout years of ambiguous searching), usually selling for somewhere between 3000-6000yen. If you're not in Japan, then you have to jump through additional hoops and pay even more money.