Merchandise tip-offs

[putrocca]

I figured I should start a thread for people to alert each other to good sources of Tezuka merchandise. I have ebay programmed to alert me whenever there's a Tezuka-related auction up, so I'll probably post here regularly with tips about particularly appealing auctions.

Right now there's a good price on one of the nice little jointed Black Jack actino figures, the one with the detatchable coat, briefcase and scalpel. I already have it, but it's starting bid is $1, so if you go to ebay and search for Black Jack Figure you'll find it.

[strobe_z]

I'm looking for a reasonably-priced set of Cratere (french) manga... It pains me that Amazon.ca had them listed as available just a couple of weeks before I could place my order... when I went to click the button... they were gone.

I've seen them on eBay a couple of times, but they're either higher-priced than I want to pay, don't ship to Canada... or I miss out at the last second.

[putrocca]

I've also been failing to find Le Cratere. I have vol. 2 which I got from BDNet (they don't have it any more) but I've never been able to find a copy of vol. 1 anywhere. I'll keep hunting and post if I find it.

[jonerik]

I'm fond of the Kaiyodo series of figurines, which tend to be in the neighborhood of three inches tall and - when purchased in Japan, anyway - are very cheap; two bucks, $2.50...something like that.

[putrocca]

Do you mean the little gashapon-type figures that come in sets of 6? I think there are 2 mixed sets now, with vignettes from all different series including BJ, Phoenix, Triton, Vampires, Dororo, Melmo, Princess Knight, Ambassador Magma, Three-Eyed One, Amazing Three and others, plus there's an Astro Boy-only set. I've never found a good source for those in the US other than ebay.

[jonerik]

Yeah, that's them. I have a bunch of them lined up in a row on a shelf here in my office; l-to-r Dororo, Vampire, Black Jack, Marvelous Melmo, Princess Knight, the Three-Eyed One, Kimba (adult version), and Wally Kisagari. My brother has a few I've brought back for him that I don't have. I think Triton is one. I'm jonesin' for the Amazing 3 one. They're very nice, and quite detailed. This place -
http://www.click2won.com/index.asp -
is located in Hong Kong, but seems to have good prices on the sets. Even considering the postage they'd probably be rpetty reasonable. Look under "Tezuka Osamu Story Characters" and "Astro Boy." It looks like they don't have the first series anymore, but they do have the second and third. You can probably get the first series on eBay anyway.

[putrocca]

Exciting news: as some of you know, I recently met with Marty Gross, who handles US copyright issues for Tezuka Productions. He has a bunch of Tezuka merchandise not avalible in stores which he says he is willing to make avalible for users of TezukaInEnglish.com to order direct from him by contacting him through the web page.

More items will be listed later when he can take an inventory and post pictures, but for now he has three copies of the OSAMU TEZUKA MUESUM CATALOGUE and one copy of THE ANIMATION FILMOGRAPHY OF OSAMU TEZUKA.

For those not familiar with these books, the filmography is a thin but well-illustrated and comprehensive overview of Tezuka's animation and other film works. The TEZUKA MUESUM CATALOGUE is a very large high quality paperback with a green and blue cover with Astro on it. The inside contents are high-quality large reproductions of choice pages from a variety of Tezuka manga which are on display in the museum, including color pages of Princess Knight, Rock Monogotari, Phoenix and other series. The catalogue also includes essays about Tezuka's work and short summaries and discussions of many of his key manga, in Japanese and English translation. This book can't normally really be bought anywhere except at the museum itself, so this is a great opportunity.

I do not yet have prices for the books, I'm afraid, but those interested should e-mail marty@martygrossfilms.com

I'll let you know when he has more ready. He says he has a lot of Kimba stuff, including notebooks and stationery sets.

[putrocca]

This week only the bilingual US dvd of the "Jungle Emperor Leo" movie is only $6

http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/catalo ... 0676/4/0/0

[putrocca]

There's a great Hyoutantsugi plush doll on ebay right now. I already have one and I love it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :B:SS:US:1

[putrocca]

Score! Jlist doesn't have it this year, but CDJapan has a new calendar sale section, including the 2007 OSAMU TEZUKA CALENDAR:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=2007CL-236

It costs about $9, but shipping is expensive, $18 is the cheapest. I get the Tezuka calendar every year, it's very worth it. The cover and December page always have great cross-over pictures with lots of characters, while the other months are dedicated to different series. The images are very large and poster quality. Black Jack, Kimba, Princess Knight and Astro Boy are always included, and while less popular series vary year to year; in the past they've had Unico, Vampires, Three-Eyed One, Don Dracula, Phoenix and many others. Definately the best Tezuka merchandise out there!

[deadbeatpete]

They also have the calendar at www.yesasia.com and it seems to be cheaper shipping. Certainly is to the UK anyway.

[Path]

http://www.hmv.co.jp/search/artist.asp? ... rmattype=5

This site seems to have quite a bit of Tezuka manga, among other things. I have ordered from there before (and gotten my items on release date!) and they have excellent service. It is also easier to checkout then, say, Amazon Japan for most people.

[deadbeatpete]

[putrocca]

Mine's waiting for me at home in the US so I won't get it until August, but I still have the 2006 Black Jack calendar to tide me over.

I just found this site:


It has Metropolis figs, Kenichi statue, Astro Boy special birthday box and a lot of artbooks and infobooks about Tezuka including vol. 2 of the Character Encyclopedia (The BJ volume) which I still don't have. Must order that when I have a chance.

[putrocca]

Somebody just put the very excellent 2007 Tezuka calendar on ebay. It's $8 or $12 buy it now with $8 shipping, which is much less than you'd pay ordering it from one of the usual stores.

Ebay item#: 250062254545

If someone bids on it, please post that fact here so we don't wind up bidding against each other (I already have it so I'm content).