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Going on a shopping trip soon


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I am guessing this is probably in the wrong section but everyone hangs out here so I'll get more bites.. sorry in advance. ;)

I'm going to Singapore for work in 5 weeks and I'll have ample time to scour the toy stores. I've heard of Rapid Culture and of course Blackaces store (but I recall Noel moved to HK?)

so any locals or visitors who've done the rounds, your experience would be mucho appreciated!

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Rapid Culture shifted to the Orchard area -- that's the main shopping district, for those of you non-SG folks. The floor space there is actually smaller, but the displays are better. They stock more of BT than Yammies though. :(

Blackaces, his store around the Peninsula Plaza area closed (or at least I couldn't find it last I recce'd the area), so I'm not so sure where he is by now.

What I do know is that the toy hub is shifting to a shopping centre in Chinatown, which because of the current Chinese New Year period is rather packed and I rather not go exploring at the moment.

Hey Guppy, what are you working as here? And how long?

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haha, sebastian. Yes, I will buy you something to show my thanks for letting me stay at your place.. maybe a sailor moon doll? Or even worse one of those Saint Seya dolls.. I know how much you love them!! :p

izzyfcuk - I'll be there from March 12-20, but don't know where I am staying. probably in the middle of the city - close to where your big Convention/Entertainment centre is (ie, where Disney on Ice will be showing). Mainly looking for a few BT's and the Konig Monster and maybe a gundam kit or three. or ten. :D

Lynx7725 - I'm going over to SG to shoot the Disney on Ice show for the kids tv show I work on (a disney show) so it can air in Australia a month or so before the show gets here - its good publicity I guess.

It's my 1st time to SG, I'm looking forward to it!

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Disney on Ice is probably in the Indoor Stadium (it's covered and it's aircon'ed, reasonable place to put ice thick enough to skate on... :D ). It's not in the city itself, but it's reasonably close. (Given SG is 42KM long, I guess anywhere here is "reasonably close" to each other.. :) )

There aren't many good hotels nearby though, so chances are good you'll be billeted in the city itself.. unless your company is a cheapskate. :p In which case you could end up in our red-light district....

If you are in the city though, it gets better. Takashimaya is a big departmental store with (IIRC) good support for Gundam plamo, and Rapid Culture has a good stock of BT last I checked. There's also a store in our local HMV, so for those two items, you're not likely to have problems. Though I can't guarantee bargains because I normally don't go out of my way to look for them.

The Koenig though.. that might be a toughie. Yamato products aren't normal in departmental stores, so your best bet is speciality stores like Rapid Culture. But those are also a bit harder to find nowadays IMO.

There is also a flea market on weekends I believe, on the outskirts of town. I think some of our members are more familiar with that than I am.

Once you get your location/ hotel fixed, we can probably get the necessary public transport data to you. While our taxis are fairly cheap relatively speaking, it's still more interesting to use the public transport for visitors. :)

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excellent! thanks for the info. I was expecting to go hunting for those tiny little toy stores. That's where you find all the good (and less expensive) stuff. I'll be in town over the weekend so I'll check out the flea market too. Singapore tourism will be putting us up so they'll probably get us an ok hotel in the city.

Or maybeI'll choose to stay in the red light district!! :blink:

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I can show you around either on the 12th or the 13th

The stuffs you are looking isn't difficult to find

But im afraid Monster is not easy, you didn't come at a right time though, cos all the shops' shifting...

Blackaces's shop is gone, i'll bring you the Rapid Culture and other places. but give me a list of what you intend to buy...i'll work out something, but of course nothing is confirmed right now, need to see my schedule.........

BT's no problem...Gundam Kits' a breeze... well yammies are not really difficult but not easy too..

You can forget about the Flea Market cos since all the shops' shifted....there aint nothing at the flea market though...

Call me when you reach Singapore...my mobile's 97694457...probably i can get some of the Macross Mafia out too to bring you around

Regards

Teo

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Some of the better shops from the former toy hub at Clarke Quay have moved to China Square, but I'm not sure if they've opened yet, due to the Chinese New Year bustle. Meanwhile, for the Konig Monster, try to call ahead at The Falcon's Hangar located at Far East Plaza. Ask for Roy to see if any new stock has arrived. Local price is about 240SGD. There's also a couple of other toy shops at Far East on different floors, but their prices/selection usually don't come close, and I've never been price-gouged at TFH.

And while Blackaces has moved out from the basement of Excelsior Hotel (for good?), there are still one or two toy shops there with some vintage stuff for sale. One is run by a dude called Joe Tan, who used to be a regular at Clarke Quay. He's got loads of new and vintage Zoids, and quite a fair bit of Popy-era diecasts too. But if it's strictly Yamato's and BT's you're after, this probably ain't your best bet; stick to TFH and Far East, and do give Rapid Culture a try as well.

Since your visit is in March, there's a good chance the China Square shops will be in operation by then...

Edited by drifand
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Hey guppy,

glad to hear that you are coming to SG...hmm 12th to 13th..it the weekends...in so i guess i would be free to bring you around with izzyfcuk. Yaps agree with izzy..bad timing as most of the shops have relocated to either excelsior, china square or the town centre. hope you dun hope to find a wide variety of toys, merchandise available in SG as the number of toy shops is small comparable to HK side. Gundam kits are plentiful around be it at RC, Falcon's hangar, departmental stores and so on bur as for macross line..its pretty scarce. You may find plenty of TF esp the new line Galaxy force up for grabs too if you are interested, not to mentioned zoids. Will confirm meetup and place as the date draws near.

Cheers

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Hey REcon, it'd be great to catch up again! :) I was already of the opinion that SG would have less than HK, but it'll still have heaps more than australia.

Drifand - I'm looking for heaps, not just the BTs and macross. there's a few 'wish' list SOC toys I'd like, plus I want to get the Garada, and if I found a 1/40 Orgroid toy for a price I could afford I'd be very happy. I've been ebay-window shopping for that one for years. I've even had a passing thought to grabbing one of the SOP Yamato, which was relreleased not too long ago IIRC. They're probably all gone by now anyway.

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Well, bookmark this thread and we'll all update ya once the New Year festivities are done. You'll probably find the SOC's at China Square, specifically at the venerable "Ng's Collections"... but the SOP Yamato, this is trickier. Despite its slightly iffy electronics and warpable PVC fins and such, it still commands a very high price of about 350SGD... I don't think it's worth that much, but the recent reissue was sold out damn quick. This one won't be cheap if you find it for sale.

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bookmarked!

Hm, I thought the Yamato was a long shot. What do you reckon my chances are of picking up a Ltd colour version of the new Getter robo? And the only Yamato toy besides the monster I'm after is the Scopedog. How popular have those been?

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bookmarked!

Hm, I thought the Yamato was a long shot. What do you reckon my chances are of picking up a Ltd colour version of the new Getter robo? And the only Yamato toy besides the monster I'm after is the Scopedog. How popular have those been?

The limited metallic Getter seems to be quite popular. If you're keen and know a good friend here, you should consider asking him for a favor and picking one up now. Aoshima does reissue its gokins, but not usually after only one or two months (ie. you might miss the window of opportunity). Scopedog... haven't seen it around these parts yet.

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hey guppy...nopes no retailers brought in the scopedog nor the monster as of yet..if there was any ...either it has been ordered from base on request or the fans themselves ordered from hlj. In regards to the metallic version of the new shin getter robo, first wave has seen stocks flown off the shelves like hot cakes..i myself got one of the ova and metallic version...would be planning to pick up another metallic version upon the arrival of 2nd batch. If you are keen on it, do give me a pm so that i may pick it up for you.

Cheers

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hey dude.. well i know a few places here in SG were to buy toys.. i managed to get a monster for a good price coz the shop is moving so he has this clearance sale.. maybe once theyve moved in to their new location we could go there n may be able to talk to the shop owner to get it for the same price i get... :D

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hey dude.. well i know a few places here in SG were to buy toys.. i managed to get a monster for a good price coz the shop is moving so he has this clearance sale.. maybe once theyve moved in to their new location we could go there n may be able to talk to the shop owner to get it for the same price i get... :D

hehehe.. that would be great! We will all have to have a get together for a big drinking session while I am there! You know us Aussies.. we LOVE to drink!

Noel - hope you're around when I'm there! If not I may have another trip to HK in September so we can catch up then for a Macrossworld Shopathon pt.2!

Recon - thanks for the kind offer! I PM'd you about it.

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That would most probably be vincent's collection, saw someone grabbing about 4 monster last sun. but heck he gets his stuffs from "Falcon Hangar" too...

you got that rite dude... i did get it cheaper from wat i expected so i just bought one anyway... hehehe :D

we can check out sunshine plaza theres a few shops there too...

i do get most of my macross stuff from noel but its just too bad.. thanks noel... :rolleyes:

4 monsters?? is he goin to open a shop too?? hmm... hehehe :D

guppy aussie.. hey mate... my sis lives in aussie at sydney rooty hill.. thats all..

anyway i think ill pass the drinking session... :D

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hey SG guys, I am staying at the Royal Plaza on Scotts st. I get there this saturday and fly out the next saturday afternoon. Looks like I have Sat, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights free from about 6pm onwards. I'll probably have most free time on Sunday as we're just shooing the disney on ice show for overlay.

I found a good site listing SG toy shops too:

http://www.sgcollect.com/affiliates.php

So if any of you dudes are free for a couple of hours this saturday or sunday night, I am keen! :)

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I posted the same thing at SGcollect too...

For anyone interested in the get-together, I think this Saturday (March 12) might be best for me.. looks like I have to work most of sunday and some of the evening.

I fly in at 1:30 so I should be free by 3 or 4pm.

I can also do tuesday night (free by 6pm) and friday night (free by 7pm).

I love the pub too! good to see words like 'arse' and 'pub' being used in SG. Makes me feel at home! :p

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Update -

there's several of us meeting at 4pm saturday (tomorrow, March 12) at The Falcon's Hangar shop.

You can spot me - I'm 183 cm tall with brown/red messy hair and I'll wear my cap that says NOFRNDS on the front. seriously!

hope to see at least ONE person there! :lol:

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