Anime Figures from Japan

How do I choose an anime figure from Japan when several versions exist?

By manufacturer and release, because the same character is usually made by several companies at different scales, prices and quality levels, and Japanese listings name the maker first. Good Smile Company, Max Factory, Alter and Kotobukiya make retail scale figures; Bandai Spirits makes Figuarts and prize lines; Banpresto, SEGA, Taito and FuRyu make prize figures for crane games. A listing that says グッドスマイルカンパニー 1/7 is a different product from one that says プライズ for the same character, and the maker name is how to tell them apart. Retail figures are sold on pre-order and reach the secondhand market once they sell out; prize figures reach it directly from the arcades. Every channel delivers inside Japan only, so OneMall supplies the Japanese address and yen payment and forwards from our Japan warehouse.

What do 予約, 発売延期 and 再販 mean for buying a figure from Japan?

They describe the release cycle that decides whether a figure is bought new or secondhand. 予約 (pre-order) is how retail figures are sold: the shop takes orders months ahead, and a pre-order placed through OneMall is paid at order time and shipped when the figure is released. 発売延期 (release delayed) is common and moves the date. 再販 (re-release) means a sold-out figure is being produced again, which brings the secondhand price down and gives buyers a second chance at retail. A figure with no 再販 announced is a secondhand purchase only.

• 予約受付中 — pre-orders open
• 発売延期 — release delayed to a new month
• 再販 / 再販決定 — re-release / re-release announced
• 限定 / WF限定 / GSC限定 — exclusive to an event or the maker's shop
• 発売済 — already released

How do Japanese secondhand shops grade figures?

With a shop rank and a separate note on the box, and the rank is the shop's own definition. AmiAmi's pre-owned section, Suruga-ya and Mandarake each grade opened figures on their own scale — typically a letter such as A, B or C — and state whether the box is present and its condition; private sellers on Mercari and Yahoo Auctions use the marketplace grade plus notes such as 開封済み展示品 (opened and displayed). The Japanese market also lists 海賊版 (bootleg) as a category word, and listings that say 正規品 are the seller's statement; OneMall is a proxy buying service, not the seller, and does not guarantee authenticity, so buy retail figures from shops when the difference matters to you.

• ランクA / B / C — shop condition rank, defined per shop
• 開封済み展示品 — opened and displayed
• 箱傷み / 箱潰れ — box damaged / crushed
• 台座付 / 台座欠品 — base included / base missing
• 正規品 — stated by the seller; not a guarantee

Where in Japan is the best source for a specific figure?

Shops for anything in print, marketplaces for anything sold out. AmiAmi, Animate, Amazon Japan and Rakuten take pre-orders and sell released stock; Suruga-ya, Mandarake and AmiAmi pre-owned sell graded secondhand; Mercari and Yahoo Auctions hold sold-out figures, prize figures and lots from private collections. For the figure types and their Japanese names, the Figures category page covers them.

Figure types, condition terms and search words →

How much does it cost to ship a scale figure from Japan?

A scale figure ships by its box, which is large for the weight, so the international shipping is priced on volume and two or three figures in one carton cost less per figure than three parcels. At order time you pay the yen price, OneMall's service fee, shown before you confirm, and the seller's domestic shipping if charged; when the figure reaches our Japan warehouse you choose a shipping method and pay for it. Collectors keep the box, so the volume is part of the purchase. Import duty, if your country charges it, is collected on delivery.

Estimate shipping with the OneMall calculator →

How do I search for a figure by maker and character in Japanese?

Maker name plus the character name in katakana plus the scale or line, which is how Japanese sellers write titles. Adding 未開封 or 再販 narrows to sealed or re-release stock.

• グッスマ / アルター / コトブキヤ — maker, often abbreviated
• 1/7 / 1/8 — scale
• ねんどろいど / figma / フィギュアーツ — lines
• プライズ / 一番くじ — prize and lottery figures
• 未開封 / 再販 / 限定 — sealed / re-release / exclusive