For a Christmas gift I purchased the Kanto Gym Badges from Sanshee, sadly they were so popular they went into back order. But am I complaining? Heck no! Not only did they e-mail me to let me know of the situation the moment it came up, they also replaced my Gym Badges with the Pokeball pack. But not replace as in that I don’t get my Gym Badges but to at least give me something for my troubles while I wait for my Gym Badges to arrive. But once I got the Gym Badges They sent out the funnies letter!

The added gift of the Gym Badge from the Johto League was cute, now to get the rest of the set!

The Pokeball pack they sent out as a sorry. I’ve honestly never received such awesome customer service, not only was the shipping quick but they were so quick in responding each time I e-mailed them. As well each e-mail felt like I was their only customer, such care and consideration was sent each time to make sure I was as happy as a clam and still use their service. For sure I’ll be purchasing from Sanshee.com again, check out their amazing selection of silly otaku shirts, buttons, pins and posters!

AX Live! Every Thursday at 7pm PST! We’ve been doing Giveaways recently so make sure to check out the show to be able to win some awesome prizes!! Plus every week we give away a 4day badge to the convention for 2011!

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Those know who me personally know I have a 6th sense when it comes to Anime shops, I always have my eye open for one and just my luck while walking around in London I spotted one! It’s been a while since I’ve done a Figure Retailer Review, so I thought I’d bring you a treat with this shop I spotted! Also don’t forget to leave a comment for the upcoming Giveaway!

A Giant wall of just plushies! I know tons of girls who would be drooling over this wall!

Some awesome hats as well, I somehow missed out on that awesome Kero-chan hat!

Anime bags too!

Tons of shirts, cosplays too!

Very nice selection of manga!

Sadly my walls are out of space so i couldn’t pick up any one of these awesome wall scrolls, also no space in my suitcase.

Some awesome and recent figures! Also really good prices too considering that with the cost of shipping to Europe from Japan!

So many awesome figures but sadly again the lack of luggage space meant no new figures for me.

Lots of Pocky! Lots of phone charms!

Lots of Cosplay accessories!

Key Chains!

Loved this phone case!

Some of your favorite girls! I of course did get the Yoko mouse pad!

The plushie selection was just astounding! I’ve never seen so many plushies!

Really awesome characters to choose from! So many Card Captor Sakura ones! I got all but one! Also snatched up a Sailor Moon Plush as well!

Love the Luna hat!

Tokyo Toyz was an awesome store to walk into. I’ve walked into so many anime stores in the US and haven’t come across one like that that seems to truly understand their fans and what is popular at the moment. I’ve seen many stores that only sell what they can get a high profit on, or what is the latest fad like Naruto or Bleach. It’s a very awesome store to check out and they have an online shop too! Tokyotoyz.com!

Edit: I guess many people have realized some things in these images that i might have missed, Bootlegs. I’m sorry guys, I always just look at the figures first and if they are legit then I’m happy, but i really didn’t notice so many other bootleg items! Including the Yoko Oopai mousepad I purchased myself >_< FOr myself I’d say they might be nice to check out for figures, but you should, as I should as well try to never support bootleggers and purchased bootlegged items. Sorry guys

–Store Info–

Located – 13 Coventry Street London W1D 7DH
View Larger Map

–Special Deal for How a Girl Figures Readers–
Get 5% off on your entire purchase when you give the promotional code HOWAGIRLFIGURES

Was such a pleasent suprise to catch such an amazing shop in London, sadly didn’t stumble upon any stores in Paris but I’ll do my best from now on to keep an eye out for more shops in my local area or even when I’m traveling! Have you been to this store before? What were your thoughts on the shop?

Do you have an anime store in Southern California and want your store to be featured on How A Girl Figures Retailer Reviews? Know of a store in the So-cal that deserves a review? Contact me at Dancingqueen [at] Howagirlfigures.com

Also don’t forget the upcoming giveaway! Make sure to leave a comment! It’ll give you an advantage over everyone else when the giveaway starts! ^_~

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So I’ve decided to do a new segment that I’ll be doing at all conventions I go to from now on! It’s the Best Booth Awards! The Best Booth Award go to the booth that I just can’t stop going to, the booths that has overall the best selection in new and interesting merchandise, the booth that has some of the best prices and the booth that has some of the best customer service and knowledge of the items they are selling. This year’s award goes to Toylet.net and their amazing booth they had at Anime Expo.

Some amazing Queen’s Blades figures, oh dang, just noticed they had the Alter Nankyoku Sakura! Must have slipped my gaze, boy I’d love that figure! I’m now so mad at myself that I didn’t pick her up!

Also some awesome prices as well, $30 for that gun x Sword figure is not a bad price at all!

Queen’s Gate Booster Version, should have picked her up as well, but ran out of money by the time i saw her on the last day.

Really awesome selection of Figmas, they had the best Figma and Nendoroid selection at the Anime Expo.

Also tons of Touhou goodies, my brother had a field day once he saw all this merchandise.

More awesome figures, Kotobukiya Nagi, Mao, Blanc Neige, Alter Chou’un Shiryuu I really need to plan better and have more money for next year!

Some amazing keychains, i got all the keychains that I posted earlier from this booth!

Also got my Mug, cups and Towel from Toylet. I think i’m gonna have to work on more merchandise that isn’t figures to stock up things around my house. Also got my Yoko hair Clip and the Pin here.

Should have also gotten the Yoko Pillow Cover, that would have been another awesome thing to get! Or at least the Aria Sachou Mug!

More Plushies and more figures!

More Figures, it was so hard not to have the desire to walk away buying the entire booth, but then i wouldn’t hasve had the money for it :’(

Spoted Eye up Yoko, up Up-lark as they are called now.

White Domo-kun, very cute.

Don’t really recognize any figures from here, but it’s to give you an idea how they were so fully stocked of so much Otaku Merchandise.

The Prized Yoko Towel she was far too hard to pass up!

Freeing Mikuru! Shouldn’t have passed her up as well.

The Toylet Booth gets my vote for so many reasons, The biggest reason would be that i stopped by the booth multiple times a day. I also had so many people stopping me thoughout the day when I was carrying my merchandise asking me where i got this or that, I kept directing them right back to the Toylet Booth or even taking them there myself. Most other booths had some of the same old figures for way over market value. Toylet had some of the best prices and even when my dear friend Benu was looking everywhere for any Hinagiku Merchandise and couldn’t find any anywhere we found a Hinagiku mug at Toylet.

Congratulations Toylet for having the Best Booth at Anime Expo, keep up the great work!

Stay Tuned for the Best Booth Award for Comic Con!

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Went over to Anime King Last Saturday to do another Figure Retailer Review. Was told about this store by many of my commenters in the Last Figure Retailer Review of Small Wonders. Located in Huntington Beach, CA it’s still a bit a away from me, but relatively close to my brother so I went to my brother’s place to spend time and to get him to take me to Anime King for this review!

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It’s a smaller store but they are mainly focused on figures. Unlike most stores i come across that try and do too much at once and focus on comic books, cartoons and pop culture that end up failing. Seems like Anime King knows what they are doing since they’ve been in business since 2000 and have had this location since 2002.

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Some nice figures in the display case.

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The beautiful GSC 1/8 Rider, i don’t understand why she’d be out of the box and on display really since she’s so rare and being out of the box makes her not Mint and therefor worth less. But then those are just silly details.

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Small section in the back for Gundams, can’t really comment on them since I don’t collect Gundam models. If my Ex were still around he’d be able to tell me, so i could in then tell you, but I’ll just let you look at the pictures instead!

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I have to say what i like about this store is how the merchandise they have is up to date and current.

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Villetta and Kallen figures, the anime store that used to be in my mall didn’t have anything current at all. I would have done a review of them, but they recently closed.

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Some Lovely Max Factory Shining Wind figures, maybe if I have more money I’ll pick them up next time I’m there.

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They have two Shuraki figures, sadly no Char. I would have snatched up Char if they did have her since she’s the only Shuraki i happen to be missing.

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Lovely Alter Kuro No Franco in the corner, have had my eye on her but didn’t snag her since I’m saving up for Anime Expo and hopefully Otakon as well.

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Cute Sega Rin figure, i’ve got my pre-order for the GSC Kagamine Twin set. They’ll go wonderfully with my GSC Miku.

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Lovely Eye up Yoko, they also had a Wave Space Yoko and both versions of the Wave Swimsuit Yoko.

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Look like they’re about to kick some butt.

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Figures everywhere!

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I didn’t even know Max Factory made this Shiranui Mai until i saw her there, still prefer the version i have of her instead.

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Lovely Alter Onee-chan Bara, have been considering picking her up.

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Klan here caught my eye first, but i already own her, She is such a beauty.

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Freeing Emiri Kimidori, she’s a beauty but 1/4 scale is a bit too big and a bit too pricey for my taste. Unless it were a Yoko, then size and price are no object.

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They keep the “Naughty” figures in the display case the the kiddies can’t get to them. I don’t own any “Naughty” figures like that only because there hasn’t been any that i liked. My Cast Off figures tend to be tasteful and look nice with their clothes on.

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Lots of Gashapons and very nice prices on the Manga as well.

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More Gashapons, was never really a fan of them. They seemed more like Toys to me than figures.

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Some dolls, wonder if they’ll get the Yoko Dolfie in stock?

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A couple of plushies, not the biggest selection of plushies. I try not to get many plushies since i already have so many from when i was little that aren’t anime related and that i just can’t bare to get rid of.

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Oh No! Run for your life! It’s GODZILLA!

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Didn’t really check out the anime selection, I’m not the biggest anime buyer. I spend the majority of my money on figures so I don’t buy as much as i should. They had a few Nendos but nothing i didn’t already have or didn’t want.

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While i very much liked the store; no bootlegs, more current selection and newer figures.I would say they are a bit expensive, most figures are priced $5-$15 over Retail value, but then if you consider Shipping with most retailers it’s a good price. If they are in the area it’s a good deal to get figures from Anime King. If not they do have an eBay store where things are priced bit lower. But Mention the eBay store and they’ll give you the price at the store instead. You can also catch them in the exhibit hall at Anime Expo. While personally i have been buying figures in actual stores less and less since I’m tying to avoid impulse buys, it’s hard not to want to come and take a look around when i’m in the area for something that might catch my eye and call me.

–Store Info–

Located – 7188Edinger Ave, Huntington Beach, CA.
View Larger Map

–Special Deal for How a Girl Figures Readers–
Get5% off on your entire purchase when you mention that you found about them from Howagirlfigures.com at the register!

Do you have an anime store in Southern California and want your store to be featured on How A Girl Figures Retailer Reviews? Know of a store in the So-cal that deserves a review? Contact me at Dancingqueen [at] Howagirlfigures.com

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As long as I have been collecting figures and blogging, I’ve been planning on doing a store review. Not just for online retailers since we all know we tend to buy from the major online stores than others, but instead focus on the smaller local shops. Well, I decided the other day when I went to Newport Beach to visit my brother that it was the best time to start!

My brother brought me to this shop a while back to see if the store was good, to check out their selection and to mainly see if the figures were real or not. He still doesn’t know how to check for authenticity so he relies on me to let him know what to look for in figures.

I was surprised at their selection! They had some really good figures and some rare ones that I haven’t seen in a while. Oh and yes, no bootlegs.

Just an entire wall of figures, that just speaks paradise to me!

And unlike most anime stores I’ve come across, there are newer figures as well. Not just old ones they got cheap.

Not into just Anime figures? Small Wonders has an amazing selection of Marvel, DC, Star Wars and other figures!

An awesome selection of Bags and purses. I’ve got my eyes on the the pink Yoshi bag,

Some very cute plushies as well.

The selection of Anime shirts is astounding. Most places I’ve been to have only a small rack or shelf for anime shirts.

Also an awesome Precious Moments selection that would make any series Collector go bonkers!

I was impressed with the Art book and Magazine selection.

I was able to get a copy of Replicant last time I was there, and for a good price too!

I might have to pick up that Kenshin wall scroll on the top right corner.

To give an example of the variety of their selection, Winnie the Pooh, Garfield, Charlie Brown and more.

Some great deals on the Gundam Kits. I got 1/100 Gundam Dynames, cause you know how much I <3 Lockon. I got it for a great price!

Very, very nice selection of Gundams.

Love that Chobits wall scroll on the top right as well. If only I had more wall space.

A doll collectors paradise, a wall of dolls.

Fan of Gashapons? They’ve got tons! Some good ones too!

Pocky, don’t we just love our pocky? I’m kinda over it but will admit i used to eat it all the time.

More Gashapons, really a good selection, almost had me buying some and I dont’ even like Gashapons!

Swords, hats, good items for cosplay.

Aspiring artist? Display your art in the shop!

Those Kinomoto Sakura ones are pretty good.

A very nice selection of manga and they are always up to date with the newest releases.

While taking pictures, a customer, AlexielVIII, approached me and was raving about the store.

“I like Nina, who runs it. She’s very nice and treats people fairly and she’s always there to help us out. I like the selection here, as well. There’s a lot great stuff you can’t find anywhere else, and there is a lot of variety too; anime, fairies, Star Wars, costume pieces and more, it’s a really good store.

Spotted some figures I’ve had my eye on, but didn’t buy at the moment. I might have to go back and get these lovely ladies.

Nice sale on plushies going on as well. A good selection too!

I spoke to Nina, the store owner, to see what she felt made her store special compared to other anime stores.

“Within the mall we’re considered a specialty store. One of the reasons we’re considered a specialty store and not just an anime store is because of the fact that we carry a lot of the other gift items. We do carry the precious moment’s line, which is one of our tops sellers besides anime. One thing we’re really big on is fairies, different licensed products, Betty Boop is another one of our top sellers, Garfield, and Snoppy.”

When asked about whether they have an website,

“We are not planning on getting a website anytime soon, since it would be dealing with two things at one time. Plus the competition, I wouldn’t be able to keep prices down enough. Within the mall, we are considered a neighborhood shop. Although we will have a wide range of customers who come in, about 90% of the customers are neighborhood people; we see the same faces over and over again.”

Small wonders is a shop that has been in business for 11 years and in this location for 8 years. They don’t plan on moving any time soon so you won’t miss them when you go and check them out!

–Store Info–

Located – 2028 Westminster Mall Westminster, CA 92683
View Larger Map

–Special Deal for How a Girl Figures Readers–
Get 10% off on your entire purchase excluding sale items when you give the promotional code SW2009 at the register! (always check back as the code changes from time to time!)

Check them out, they’ve got some amazing merchandise and you might even catch me shopping there.

Do you have an anime store in Southern California and want your store to be featured on How A Girl Figures Retailer Reviews? Know of a store in the So-cal that deserves a review? Contact me at Dancingqueen [at] Howagirlfigures.com

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