So true.  It's one of my absolute favorite stops in Akihabara.  Interestingly, the floor with the game music is actually quite new.  It was only there for my last year or so in Japan, if not the last six months.  Another great place to look for game music CDs would be Liberty.  There are at least three of their locations in Akihabara that sell game music, and I found some decent stuff there.  If anybody's ever going to be heading to Japan, I can give more specific directions to find stuff, assuming all the stores I liked remain open (loads of changes in that area lately... I mourned the loss of my favorite new game/music store, Yamagiwa Soft).

That said, why are we talking about these in an online vgm shop thread?

Visit Super Potato in 720p:
http://88.191.20.67/video/akiba/AKIBA_S … V_720P.avi
Later,

Alcahest

I'm interested in buying an OST from Amazon Japan. I'd be buying it used from the Marketplace, though (so, from a user and not Amazon itself). From those who have shopped there before, is there any way to guard against receiving bootlegs? One step would be to only order from sellers with near-100% feedback, I'd imagine, but there's still a chance of receiving bootlegs, no?

Also, so far I've tried checking out with two different sellers, and once I put in my address (using the International Address page) it said they didn't couldn't ship to my address. Is it hard to find sellers who ship to America?

Any other tips for buying on Amazon Japan would be appreciated.

EDIT: Also, I'm trying to determine if some of the sellers are selling this disc only. When I run the seller comments through translation websites, I often see "no band," "no belt," or "with a belt." Does "no band" mean it doesn't have the case (it's disc only)? And with a band/belt means it comes with the case?

Here's the product page with the different sellers offering it, btw. Sorry if I'm asking too many questions here, but this is my first time doing something like this.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/offer-listin … f=dp_olp_2

The band/belt refers to the OBI/Spinecard.
If the web translation says "no belt" then it doesn't include the obi. 

I haven't tried buying from other amazon USERS, but would estimate it could cause problems since the seller likely isn't expecting an international buyer.

Well on Amazon US you can select to ship international or not (and have to proactively check it for yes). I assume it's the same way in Japan -- so it theoretically shouldn't cause problems as it's up to the seller in the first place (i.e. Amazon won't let you buy if the seller didn't check it)

-Joshua

too bad it's all in Japanese :\
http://www.superpotato.com/

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let everyone know of a good seller on Amazon.co.jp Marketplace.

ジャックフロストのおもちゃ箱  (´・ｗ・｀）ノ
Jack Frost's Toybox
http://mkpl.jp/seller/A1JKV5Y7UY12F2/

The seller there, Ikuo has many game CDs at reasonable prices (At least reasonable to me when you have to buy through a middle-man). More importantly, he ships overseas!

I've also found that a small number of Japanese sellers will ship overseas. If you find one you like, you can put their store name into http://mkpl.jp/ and a list of all their items may pop up.

Just thought everyone might want to know!

http://jap-sai.com/

bump!

I was looking for a way to order SuperSweep releases (specifically, the 999 sequel "Virtue's Last Reward") and I came across a site called CDBanq.com

I'd never heard of it before, but they seem to have some interesting stock selections.

I placed an order, we'll see what comes of it and I'll give a review about how they are as a retailer at that point. Until then, has anyone else bought from them?

Ramza

If that doesn't work out, you can always use CD Japan's Special Request Service. I've been getting all of my Super Sweep stuff that way and have had no issues.

You can already get that album from CDJapan without the Special Request service:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SRIN-1094

hey all, just wanted to report in on CDBanq.

I ordered 3 CDs to go in one shipment: The Black*Rock Shooter OST, its relevant single (One OK Rock Re:Make/NO-SCARED), and the VLR soundtrack.

Two weeks later they email me saying they regret to inform me that they weren't able to get the VLR soundtrack and it'd take them awhile to get it from SuperSweep. So they refunded me the amount for that and shipped the other two.

They came quickly, in a nicely-wrapped small box, from Taipei Taiwan. In terms of cost, comparing this order to cheapest shipping from CD Japan, I think I saved a negligible amount (about $2.50).

In the future I'll probably just stick w/ CD Japan but it's good to know there are other options. ^_^

Kind of in line with my experience with CDBanq. Only that I ordered just one album (the first Atelier jazz arrange one, Cadena) and I had to write _them_ (after waiting an insane amount of time) asking about the delay. Turned out that they couldn't source the album at all, despite what the shop interface indicated. Order was therefore cancelled and I finally got my refund after another week of waiting. Another week later they finally managed to update their shop data, now reflecting that the album was not available from them. Confusingly they call this "Out of Print":
Cadena@CDBanq

You know what I call that? Scam. They could never source the damn thing in the first place.

First and last time I dealt with CDBanq. If you want to do business, then you have to present reliable information in the shop interface. And if something turns out to be unavailable at the moment, then you've to relay this information to the customer, and not just simply sit it out. Same reason why I quit using PlayAsia years back.

Too bad for VGMWorld...:(  I bought so much from there.

By the way, I found that this small shop offers 15% off during Christmas season with this coupon code : "wayonoel2012". The catalogue is limited to few CDs though, but the recent album "Black Ocean" from Masashi Hamauzu (officially composing for FFXIII-3 Lightning returns!)  is quite great and worth its price.

http://shop.wayorecords.net/index.php?lang_id=2

Yeah, I just tried to go here so yeah... I'm really surprised.

Can anyone fill me on buying a used item from Otaku? Do you actually get the item in the picture with a used item? Would I have to worry about condition and completeness if that's not the case?

I would ASSUME so, quality has never been an issue with them and they get some cool stuff. However, their shipping charges PER ITEM are a huge issue and is largely why I don't buy more from them. The charges keep stacking with each item you put in your cart and end up becoming outrageous if you're buying like 4-5 items.

Yeah... when I first started out collecting VGM I ordered from otaku a lot... but the shipping really added up and, while some people would absolutely love it, I just didn't need my items THAT quickly. The cost kind of outweighed that unnecessary convenience to me. However, considering the two items I'm after it wouldn't be too big of deal this time around...

I haven't used otaku since 2004 when I had a bad experience ordering from them.   I don't have the full details anymore since I only have one side of the email conversation (them responding to me), but I ordered an album new and waited, was sent an invalid tracking number for something that never shipped, and then was told they only had a mint copy left which I had to take because there was no other stock left and wasn't even offered anything for their mistakes.  Also, despite listing tons of albums on vgmdb that say negotiable or best offer on ebay I haven't gotten them to budge off the often inflated listing price.

The few times I've used otaku.com (and Alex), I've never had an issue, both on the website and on ebay.  I don't use them often because they do tend to be overpriced for fairly accessible items, but I have in the past for some harder to get items.  In the past 8 years I've ordered 4 times from him without major issue:

Napple Tail CDS + Honou no Alpen Rosen OST (Ebay)
Gradius Box set (Store)
Soukyugurentai reprint (Store)
Atelier Escha & Logy OST (Store)

The only one that can even considered an issue would be the Atelier OST, which he answered via email was a release date mix-up (public on sale vs. special or something, I forget).  I did get it, albeit a few months later than I thought I would.

Yes. Oh hell yes. I think they need to take a gun to every listing on vgmdb that says "negotiable", Otaku's bulk loads being the #1 offender. Talk about needless clutter! Is almost like they tried using the marketplace, decided to spam it and then abandoned it.

I have said numerous times, marking your prices as "negotiable" on vgmdb is a very easy way to keep things IN your possession, as opposed to selling them. To me, listing prices is all part of the game. You might score a deal, you might make a few extra bucks. If something doesn't sell, you lower the price or delist. Last thing I want to do is haggle with a seller, I want to send them an email, get a confirmation/paypal address, send paypal payment and rock out 3-5 days later.

Actually, I wanted to talk about this as well but I didn't want to start a separate thread for it. I was looking around for some albums and some (e.g. A LOT) of prices are VERY inflated anymore. I'm sorry... I do want the standalone BOFIII soundtrack since I collect BOF stuff but $130 for a one disc album with a fragment of the score on it? Um... sure, considering I paid a little more than that for (almost) ALL the BOF music a few years ago.

I'm sorry but some of the prices I've seen are just so ridiculous and most collectors that would sell things for a decent price seem to be holding firm on what they own these days. I know this isn't a cheap hobby but I just don't get these sellers. The demand for some of the albums I'm looking for just don't justify these prices. Right now it just appears to be a lousy time to try and obtain things... kind of stinks that patience has (seemingly) become an even bigger part of the game.

Yeah, prices like that just look out of whack and I remember back when that soundtrack was in print and easily bought. I'm always shocked on occasion when I see goofy prices on things I remember going for for $20-$25 back in the day. I was glancing for a copy of Alphabet Planet the other day and saw the price had ballooned on yahoo japan. No thanks, I'll stick with the mp3's. The album's good, it's not worth 3-4 times what it retailed for. I know, I know, VGM is a niche hobby and only a small fraction of people care about these things, so high fluctuations are bound to happen, but I think some sellers (Japanese and western) should keep their expectations in check if they ever hope to sell what they list. Then again...it only takes one buyer...

I use Otaku sometimes for stuff I don't want to pay YJA prices for, if he's got it.  I just don't like the snail mail it seems to take to get to me.  I'm too used to using EMS for everything.

"Princess Isabella Syndrome"

champ_des_pins suffers that syndrome too. Back when I was first starting to collect he started auctions at a penny, but all it is now is relisted blocks of buy it now auctions. They aren't all overpriced, but the good items usually are. Ultimate Ecology BIN at $200 is completely insane.

I was going to mention champ as well. Things started out well with him. I did get some great deals in the beginning like Mega Man X7 and Mega Man Legends sealed... but I think those days are over.

When it comes to sites that sell VGM, does anyone kind of get annoyed that they include out of print/out of stock items in their search results? I mean if you don't have an item don't get my hopes up man...

Memories of Game Music Online...

And yeah, champ can go in a hole and die. He's not doing anyone any kind of decent service with his prices. People are well off downloading stuff rather paying those types of inflated prices. What's sad is someone that has ready access to Yahoo Japan and Amazon Japan could probably make a killing buying soundtracks and adding a SMALL premium to them for overseas buyers on a regular basis. Kind of like a retail middleman service.

And while I've heard stuff about Isabella, as I understand, she sells from her own collection and I've bought from her with no issues. Again, there are some inflated prices in there, but I have soundtracks I've listed for inflated prices in the past where I wasn't dead set on selling them too. A retailer like Otaku or champ (yes, I count him as a retailer), I feel is more likely to squeeze people that don't know the market values.

This is kind of off topic topic, but it has to do with downloading. Is it just me but I've gotten to the point where I'm done with physical releases when it comes to non-VGM music. Does anyone else feel this way?

About every two years I accumulate so many CDs and then just sell them off for next to nothing. There's one band were I plan on buying physical discs because I have almost everything prior (and of course VGM) but everything else I'm just itune-ing from now own.

I know I was a very vocal supporter of physical or bust for years but when your tastes change and fade it just starts to make more sense.

Surprisingly, I can't find a lot of mainstream releases in FLAC, so I buy the discs as cheap as possible either on ebay or gohastings.com (usually around $2-$3 per CD...even cheaper if they have a sale) and just rip them, then they sit on the shelf like happy little decorations. Amazon is a good source, but they charge $4 PER CD for shipping if bought from the marketplace, so buying in quantity is a last resort from them. Secondspin never has anything I want and you don't know which print you're getting half the time. Metal CD's are generally a bit more (and metal-wise, I haven't really branched out of the same 30-40 bands or so...I think I'm going to be swearing by Iron Maiden when I'm old and deaf), but Amy Grant, Roxette, Eddie Money, Huey Lewis, Celine Dion, Billy Joel, Heart...worth its' weight in gold to me and can be had dirt cheap.

Over the past couple years, I've probably bought around 400 CD's like this. Not every one's a winner (I've been on a track rating marathon), but not every one has to be when they're that cheap. Figure if I can get 2-3 good tracks per CD, it's a good deal.

Speaking of them I still have an e-mail all about that...

> Regarding: Other Questions & Comments
> Order Number: no order number provided
>
> -------------------- message ------------------
>
> It's nice to see you have updated the look for the website, but one
> thing puzzles me.  After finally updating everything, why weren't
> listings for obsolete cds removed?  I have the habit of browsing most
> of the selections to see what is available that I perhaps never
> noticed or forgot about, but it's irksome to click on a multitude of
> out of print and unavailable items.
>
> Thanks for reading.

We decided to keep the obsolete items because if we remove them we will
be constantly getting requests for them.

Thank you very much for your comments.

Regards,

GameMusic.com

That was from Sep 15, 2004... boy that is such great logic

Play-asia was worse though, since they just took all the albums from Chudah's Corner and put them up even though they never had them in stock to begin with

They do accurately mark their out-of-stock items though right?  Would like to know if that wasn't the case, it's been a while since I've ordered from them myself.

They are marked out of stock, it is just ludicrous that you would list albums that never were and never will be in your website's stock; and unlike Amazon, there isn't a marketplace where the albums would be listed secondhand.

Oh, and regarding GMO despite that baffling choice, it was the BEST site starting out as a VGM collector...

Oh, absolutely. I bought most of my "firsts" from there. I remember spending $200-$300 a pop to fill out my collection - lots of old FF albums, Valkyrie Profile... damn, that brings back memories. RIP.