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| Where to
buy? |
Pullips
aren't sold
partcularly widely outside of Asia. You won't find them in your local
Woolworth's or Walmart toy department.
EBay is always a good place to look, but prices vary a lot and there's
always the chance of the perfect doll slipping away to someone with
more money to blow.
Some comic stores will carry them, but often sell them for rather more
than exclusive sellers of Pullips.
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| Online Sellers
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# Pullip Style.
Illinois
(US) based. My prefered seller! Shana is lovely, has good
prices and a good range of stock. She opens pre-ordering very soon
after new dolls are announced and gives a good pre-order discount. She
usually had her stock within 3 days after the release date, from her
suppliers in Asia. Also
sells via EBay.
# Magma Heritage.
Singapore based. MH have had exclusive dolls from JUN Planning from
time to time, but have not had one in a long time. They also sell a lot
of other collectible
dolls, such as Fashion Royalty, Momoko and Misaki. However, MH's
service is incredibly variable. Many who have ordered nude dolls from
their ebay stock have recieved them badly packed and in poor condition,
and also those who have been treated rudly after voicing concerns about
late packages and damages. However there are just as many who have had
nothing but wonderful expeirences with the shop... Also
sells via EBay.
# The
Valley of the Dolls.
California (US) based. Good range of dolls, but he seems to get his
stock from the US division of Jun Planning so gets them a little
later than others. He is also willing to seek out rarer dolls, but
expect to pay a high price for it. I think
he also has a physical shop Also
sells via
EBay.
# Natalie's
Toy House
- Based in Hong Kong. I've never bought a Pullip from her, but have
bought other doll related stuff, she's always been very good.
# YesAsia. Hong Kong
based. YA are
sellers of all sorts of asian goods. They do seem to charge a little
more for the dolls than usual, BUT they offer free shipping on orders
over a certain value and Pullips almost always qualify for that so it
usually evens out with how much you'd pay with shipping incuded from
other sellers.
# Wlyhidy
Toys
and Dolls - Hong Kong based. Often sells nude dolls and stock
outfits seperately as soon as they're released. Be warned they do not send dolls in a shipping box as
well as their display box, so the boxes do not always arrive in
wonderful shape, meaning they're not recommended if you're an NRFB
collector.
# Yahoo!
Japan Auctions - You will most likely need an auction mediator such
as Celga, Shopping Mall Japan, Rinkya or Crescent Shop to bid on the
auction for you, but rare dolls often show up on Y!jp. Most sellers on
the site will not ship internationally and require a bank transfer as
payment, quite aside from it all being in Japanese! An auction mediator
will do the bidding for you, and reiceve the item on your behalf then
ship it to you overseas, for a fee.
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| Physical
Stores |
# Forbidden
Planet - UK.
I don't know how many of their branches carry Pullips, but the one in
London deffinitely does. They may not however, have a very wide range
and sell them for around £60 (or did when I was last there). They
do have a wider range available on their website now.
# Forbidden Planet
International - UK. NOT the same chain as the one above, but so
similar they might as well be. Limited range, they only have two
available online right now but may carry a wider stock in store.
# FAO Schwartz - New York. This is a department store, apparently they
carry a few newer releases along with the other collectible dolls lines
they sell. Worth a visit if you're in NY just to see the dolls in
person!
# Frickart Dolly Shop - Based
somewhere in Japan, I think it's Tokyo but I'm not sure as I can't read
Japanese! Do check out their blog site as they recieve samples from JP
and post photos of them there. They're also often the first with news
of new releases. They also sell dolls like Momoko, Blythe and Jenny.
They also sell online but do not ship internationally.
# Magma Heritage - The
same Magma Heritage as mentioned above.
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Prices
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Prices vary, a
lot,
and there's no real rule as to how much a certain release will go for.
New releases usually have a price around $60 to $70 (USD), but even
this is variable. Some new releases have a higher price due to higher
production costs, being a more limited run than usual or being a
collaboration doll. Dolls usually rise in price after being released,
depending on how popular they are. Only so many of each doll are made,
and are never reproduced, so demand goes up for a doll thats already
been snapped up by a lot of people, and so does the price.
Early popular releases such as Moon and Noir can go for $300 and
upwards now when auctioned on Ebay and Yahoo Japan, as so few are left
in circulation. Alice is another very hard to find and pricy doll,
because she proved popular among Pullip collectors and those collecting
Alice in Wonderland related merchendise but were otherwise not
collectors of Pullips. Similar is expected by many for the Rozen Maiden
releases becasue of the dual markets attracted by them. However there
are other early releases, such as Withered and Squall who are still
fairly easy to find and do not cost much more than a newer release. So
it's advisable to have a look and see what prices are around for the
doll you're after before you set your heart on her.
Individual sellers always have slightly different prices for the dolls
they have in stock, so shopping around is always a good idea!
Pre-orders are usually a good deal as many sellers offer a discount on
them. If buying online always check shipping fees as these can add on
up to another $30 if the seller is overseas from you and intent on
shipping via EMS (Expediated Mail Service) or includes a packing fee. A
lot of physical stores sell at a high mark up, mostly due to having to
import the dolls, so their prices are often as much as you'd pay
including shipping, or more.
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