Mandarake

Honestly a little disappointed but maybe it was my high expectation. It is still an interesting place to visit but not as glamorous or well presented as the other buildings nearby.

If you’re looking for cosplay items, you probably won’t find all you need here. On the first floor, you find an area to sell back your collectibles. It’s like a thrift shop area where you bring in your bags and they do the pricing. The cosplay section is a few floors up and it’s really tiny and there are a bunch of dolls to look at. It was pretty dusty inside the stores.

Best of its kind. Puts Super Potato to shame in terms of scale and selection. Went to browse but found a gem.

Hands down one of my favorite stores in Tokyo. It is 7 stories high and is absolutely amazing. When you walk in, the first floor has tons of old retro toys. Mostly from the 60’s and 70’s. I saw a lot of metal robot toys looking like the one from lost in space. Anyways, i didnt spend too much time on that floor. Where i went to town in Mandarake was the 4^th and 6^th floors. The 4^th floor is an INSANE bookstore. It has every Animé, comic book, graphic novels, EVERYTHING!!! I bought tons of comic books for about $ 2 each, many books, and graphic novels. But the 6^th floor is where i really fell in love with this place. It is retro game heaven. Shelf after shelf of Famicom, Super Famicom, NEOGEO, and modern games also. Tons of games and an AMAZING collection of rare games and items in the glass case. They have some other floors full of toys, cards, and action figures that was astonishing as well. Absolutely amazing collection and very reasonable prices. One of my favorite shops in Akihabara!!! Must stop for anyone visiting Tokyo.

Amazing place. Not only do they have new stuff but they stock hard to find items like 1980s Transformers and limited model kits. I was able to get a Minmay painted Robotech Valkyrie that I’ve never seen before. Just wish they had Voltron.

Mandarake is one of the best shops for used toys and comic books in Japan. The one in Akihabara is called Complex and includes 7 floors of books, toys, cosplay outfits, and even media items. Any person who is interested in toys or manga must visit at least of these locations while here. Other locations usually specialize in one genre of items, but the Complex has everything.
There are entire floors dedicated to shoujo and shonen manga, cosplay, action figures, Tokusatsu, hentai, and CDs/​DVDs. A lot of collectors come here to get one of a kind items, but it is a great museum for casual visitors.
Mandarake has a fantastic mail order service. I have ordered over 20 times over the years, and 3 – 4 times from the Complex. They usually get back to you within the day. The workers there are also really helpful, but mainly speak only Japanese.
Because Mandarake Complex is mostly a used merchandise store, the items are usually opened or at least preowned. You are free to check out any of the merchandise for damages. Only on one occassion has an item broken right out the box for me. But please don’t deter you from shopping here. The first floor is the buyback counters. They buy anything toy or scifi related. So if you are American, you can probably work out a deal for US toys here as well.
The Complex is one of my go-​to shops for used items. Since a lot of collectibles sell out rather quickly, I find that this is best route for finding a particular item.