16 August 2008

Figma Fate sold out?

Thank you all for the comments and support you have kindly given over the blogosphere. I will return to posting shortly this week.

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I've mentioned that I have planned to buy figma Fate T. Harlaown from Nanoha StrikerS in the last post. After spending a whole afternoon going through different shops in various districts of Hong Kong, I came back empty-handed; figma Fate is simply sold out in the market.

Find out why things went like so after the jump. Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post.

Hong Kong has usually enjoyed the benefit of getting a lot of anime and game-related imports from Japan in good prices, as well as translated mangas and anime/hobby magazines published from Taiwan.

I can get my gunplas pretty much at the same price as those in Japan, with most of them below their original retail prices. Figma too enjoy their sales over here; Haruhi is still going at hot prices along with her SOS-dan members in many shops I've walked in so far.

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Haruhi is still selling strong 4 months after release, seen here owning my 105 Dagger with the famous Char Kick


After asking a number of shops I've found out that Fate is not available via official import agents from Max Factory. I was told that Nanoha from the same series did not sell as well as expected, so Max Factory of Good Smile Company has decided not to have Fate released to Hong Kong. This had led to shops importing them via other methods in a limited number, and sell them at much higher prices. The majority have been sold out within a few days, and the remaining ones out there are inflated to 160% to 190% of their original retail price (which is 2800 Yen). Saber has also met the same "fate" (pun not intended), but this is not so much of a problem as the second batch has arrived not long ago.

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Why can't we have stockpile of Fate like this Good Smile Company?? T_T
Pic from Moeyo


What has saddened me though is that a number of people have bought in a large number of the figures not for collection or for friends but to sell them on auctions. It looks like that they knew that Fate will be a "limited release" and they could make a nice profit out of it. This kind of thing has been known with the limited Olympic banknotes as well, where some people have been known to have sold them for 7 times of their original price. A teenager even told a news reporter that "this is even better than getting a job"...

I simply have not expected figma Fate to have sold out like so. I admit that I have come to look for it far too late due to lack of time; I could also have pre-ordered it but I was afraid with how it may actually come out (for example Gordon's Reijin was simply a disaster for him). A lesson has been learnt for me: if there's something that has tickled your interest, don't hesitate and go for it, or else it can be too late to regret. So please don't end up like me having a bad start to a weekend!

If there are more batches importing to Hong Kong I would definitely take my chance to buy one, but one can only hope.

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I won't give up!
Pic from forum member 夏娜(Shana) in Toysdaily

9 comments:

  1. It is a nice figure so I can see why it is sold out. How bout ordering it online?

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  2. @ Kairu90:
    Fate has already been sold out on Hobby Search and Hobby Link Japan unfortunately. Other sites are either too expensive (YesAsia) or not even available...

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  3. Sucks to hear that you couldnt get your hand on Fate.I wonder what kind of sales they expected.I mean its clear that the Nanoha Merchandise wont sell as good as the hottest anime merchandise in recent years.

    I hate it when a few people buy large quantities of an item just to sell them off later at horrendous prices.

    Did you check some Non-Asian Retailers?Maybe they have her in stock for a reasonable price

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  4. don't be disheartened. i believe they will release the 2nd batch in the near future. just keep an eye out for that.

    as for pre-ordering, i also learn that if one doesn't do so early, it will either be sold out upon release or sold at a much higher price.

    for figma u can rest assured that the quality is good unlike my crap reijin. :-/

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  5. @ Blowfish:
    True, it's not surprising that Nanoha merchandise won't sell as well as say, Haruhi franchise. But I'm not too pleased with the decision made for the import this time; the Hong Kong market went upside down whereas Taiwan still has a very healthy stockpile.

    A lot of non-Asian online retailers haven't got Fate on the list. I'm not sure whether it's still early right now or that it's not available to them either.


    @ Gordon:
    I do hope that a 2nd batch will come. It should only be a matter of time and I've asked a shop I know pretty well to keep an eye out for me. I am currently checking the situations on auctions, but the bids there are going very competitive.

    I thank you for the reassurance. I will continue to look for Fate!

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  6. don't you just hate it when ppl buy for the sake of selling it. btw, since u went around, did you happen to spot any figures of c.c. from alpha omega?

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  7. @ ivan:
    I surely don't like that feeling, but unfortunately a lot of people over here have money in their mind over interest and hobby. I suppose that's how the society has morphed them into these days.

    As for the C.C. figure I know which one you're talking about. Haven't noticed it yet but will contact you if I do see one.

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  8. q, thanks bro. malaysia is having a lot of problems and one recent one where they raided figure shops for selling hentai figures. how absurd! with that i'm just afraid they might label the whole figure industry as something immoral and start banning figures. sigh

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  9. @ Ivan:
    I have heard about the bad news over in Malaysia (mostly via valho). I do feel sorry for you guys in Malaysia. The public is easily persuaded to start generalising and taking their time to go against the figure industry and hobby, rather than tackling the more serious issues out there.

    Hope the heat dies down soon in your area.

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