Automaton Toys now carrying SH Figuarts

[Nemesis Predaking]

That right Toku fans. Mario & his team at Automaton Toys (http://www.automatontoys.com/) are now stocking SH Figuarts including Kamen Rider, Saint Seiya, Godzilla and Dragonball items (http://www.automatontoys.com/index.asp?categorie=Super-H%E9ros,%20Monstres%20et%20jouets%20cool%21).

Pop by the Automaton Toys Facebook page as well, as Mario & his team are looking for ideas on other figures & lines to carry, should things go well.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001822636740

[JTCh]

That's pretty cool that we finally have a Canadian place for Figuarts. But the prices do seem a bit high considering that I only paid $65 total for Trunks shipped from Legends Action Figures. Although I do like the fact that they have their "Order on Hold" option which might offset the price differences.

[pud333]

Agreed. Very cool you guys carry it, but the prices are a bit offside. I think I got Godzilla from HLJ even after exchange and shipping cheaper than what is listed there. Though the OOH option is a good one. Also, no duty would be paid, and it is supporting a Canadian retailer. I'll have to see what else you guys get, but it's now on my radar.

[Exillion]

Hi Everyone!

Mario here. We really need your help on this one: please pick 2-3 SH Figuarts products on our website and tell us what you be a decent CAN$ price that would make you jump and buy the item. :-)

As of now, our profit margin on those products is very low, but again, we are now looking for other suppliers for those products. Wholesale prices are the key words. We will do the impossible to stock this line.

But so far, and again, being an importer in Canada is not easy: especially with japanese products these days. We are not dealing with the same parameters as our US competitors,sadly.

You can also write directly to us at info@automatontoys.com with your suggestions for figures you would like to see.

Thanks in advance!
Mario

[pud333]

I'm not that familiar with some of the stuff there, but from what I can see, here are a couple suggestions. Bear in mind that I have absolutely no idea what margin there is on these things, as I am not in the industry, and can only give comments based on purely a consumer's perspective, so please don't laugh if these suggestions are ridiculous, lol. :rofl: I guess I just laughed, so you could laugh now too. :p

Trunks - It's awesome you guys are getting him, but when Legends is asking for $48.99, it's an easy choice to go with Legends. I think if you dropped the price on Trunks by a couple bucks, it would go a long way. $54.99 is a better price at the very least. (I can't remember if Legends is Canadian. Their contact info says Quebec, so I guess they are?)

Godzilla - I paid $80 total for Godzilla from HLJ. I think if you drop that by a few bucks it would help bring it in line with the $75 tag at Legends.

By the way, I'm not affiliated with Legends in ANY way. I have never ordered anything from them. Just trying to find a comparison from a shopper's point of view here at AFN. It's easy to compare when the links are right next to each other in the sidebar. Took me 30 seconds to compare prices between the two sites. So anything you can do to make it more in line with the fellow competitors here, it would help.

Money is so tight for everyone these days, so every bit counts. Trying to justify to my girlfriend why I need to spend $200 on an import toy gets tougher and tougher the closer we get to having kids.

Typical conversation:

GF: ANOTHER JET?!?
Me: Um... yes.
GF: Why do you need another one? That one looks EXACTLY like the one you bought last time!
Me: Wrong. This one has green and black trim. The other one is blue and black.
GF: ...
Me: Uh... I'm... sorry?

:straightface:

[pattycakeman]

pud speaks the truth... its tough with kids.. I have 3 so my budget is very limited so EVERY dollar counts. So i shop around for the best possible price and take into account everything from exchange rate to shipping costs to possible custom charges.

My example is this, I pre-ordered SH Figuarts Vegeta, Trunks and SS3 Goku from BBTS.

Vegeta cost me $39.99 USD plus shipping with was $10.89 for a total of $50.88

Trunks is $48.99 and Goku $54.99.

Lgends pricing is similar and their shipping for one item is $9, if i didnt already have Vegeta in my pile of loot i would have canceled the other two and went with legends, just mainly to avoid a possible customs hit. Since the pricing will end up being very similar. But would have kept shopping around if the prices i saw were $5-$10 more than other places.

I also picked up Piccolo from HLJ for $35 on sale plus shipping so it ended up being around $45, much cheaper than any other store i saw. Which was a good experience for me.

This is all just my opinion and personally purchasing taste. For us with kids its all about money. When customer service and buying experience are similar saving money is what it comes down to.

[Exillion]

Mario here.

Thanks already for those comments and suggestions.

Obviously, we must search (and switch) for a another more competitive supplier if we ever want to stock (and sell) those figures. Legends is offering DragonBall Trunks at 48.99$: we are not competive at all and the profit margin we do on the item is already VERY thin. If they're offering that retail price, they surely not feed at the same supplier as our.

The items listed on Automaton Toys right now are basically a market test: we are looking to position ourselves with this new line. We heard you.

We must adjust prices down, wich is not an option for now(based on the wholesale prices we have at hand). Unless of course, all we want as a retailer would be to transit merchandise from supplier to customers for free. ;)

We will let the listings up as they are for now, in the hope that we can lower the prices in the next few days.

Stay tuned! :)

Regards,
Mario

[JTCh]

My main source for Kamen Rider Figuarts is Amiami, but since I usually order a whole bunch of other stuff along with my order, I don't really notice the price per figure with them. I would say I pay around $40 per figure from them. Even though their prices are discounted, I usually end up using EMS which is very expensive (because usually the EMS option is only a few bucks more than SAL for my order size).

I just ordered several figures from Toyarena from the states and they come out to about $44 per figure after shipping.

So I'd say on average about $45 would be a decent price per figure (at least most of the newer ones).

[Exillion]

Mario here.

Great news folks! We have already reduced the prices on 4 remaining figures advertised on our website: we have taken down the other listings only to upload new ones this evening. It was a matter of timing some newer items with upcoming preorders available at our suppliers. :) Another fresh start if you will!

Take a look! And please stay tuned!

Mario and the team at Automaton.

[JTCh]

Hi Mario, what's the maximum time for OOH?

[Exillion]

Hi Mario, what's the maximum time for OOH?

No maximum time: it's more a limit of space and what you can put in one shipping box covered by our Flat Rate.

Regards,
Mario

[JTCh]

Sweet, thanks!

[pud333]

Mario here.

Great news folks! We have already reduced the prices on 4 remaining figures advertised on our website: we have taken down the other listings only to upload new ones this evening. It was a matter of timing some newer items with upcoming preorders available at our suppliers. :) Another fresh start if you will!

Take a look! And please stay tuned!

Mario and the team at Automaton.

Good stuff. Okay, I'll bite. I just preordered Trunks. This will be my first Figuarts toy and first order with Automaton. If it goes well, I'll probably buy more.

Now, if only you guys were able to get me some Tamashii Web Exclusive Macross stuff, we'd be all set, haha.

[Exillion]

Good stuff. Okay, I'll bite. I just preordered Trunks. This will be my first Figuarts toy and first order with Automaton. If it goes well, I'll probably buy more.

Now, if only you guys were able to get me some Tamashii Web Exclusive Macross stuff, we'd be all set, haha.

I will certainly look out for those. Thanks for your preorder!

[astrana]

Hi Mario, can you guys price match with HLJ or Amiami for Saint Seiya figures?. I have Marin and Scorpio Milo preordered with them, if you guys can price match, then i will definitely switch to you guys

[Exillion]

Hi Mario, can you guys price match with HLJ or Amiami for Saint Seiya figures?. I have Marin and Scorpio Milo preordered with them, if you guys can price match, then i will definitely switch to you guys

For now, 68.99$CAN is the best price we can offer on that particular figure. Considering import from Japan, we are offering the average North American retail price, i.e following most of our US competitors.

Regards,
Mario

[JTCh]

Will we be seeing more Kamen Rider Figuarts?

[Exillion]

Will we be seeing more Kamen Rider Figuarts?

Yes! We will upload more this week!:)

-Mario

[Exillion]

Hi Everyone!
We have some totally awesome news regarding the SH Figuarts/Tamashii Nations figures: following a business talk we had with a new supplier, I'm happy to announce that we will be able to offer a larger variety of those products at Automaton! Even cooler: at retail prices that will be VERY competitive. In fact, we will be able to offer prices lower, or at least on par with our US/CAN competitors.

All those items listed in Canadian bucks and featuring our highly popular Order On Hold service and Flat Rate shipping in Canada!

Our goal here is to become the #1 Canadian online store for those products and I will personnally give an extra push to make sure the lines are successful.

For a start, we will focus on the following franchises:
Saint Seiya (we will upload more in the next few days); Kamen Riders (same thing); Godzilla; One Piece and DragonBallZ.

Patience will be a prerequisite: we will upload new items as fast as we can in the next days as well as opening an official section/category on our website for those new lines.

We are VERY excited to launch, more officially, those new lines of figures at Automaton! Hope you will support us in this new adventure!:)

We have even marked down the retail prices on already uploaded items! Worth a look!

Stay tuned!:D

Regards,
Mario and the team at Automaton

[Exillion]

Hi Everyone!
We have some totally awesome news regarding the SH Figuarts/Tamashii Nations figures: following a business talk we had with a new supplier, I'm happy to announce that we will be able to offer a larger variety of those products at Automaton! Even cooler: at retail prices that will be VERY competitive. In fact, we will be able to offer prices lower, or at least on par with our US/CAN competitors.

All those items listed in Canadian bucks and featuring our highly popular Order On Hold service and Flat Rate shipping in Canada!

Our goal here is to become the #1 Canadian online store for those products and I will personnally give an extra push to make sure the lines are successful.

For a start, we will focus on the following franchises:
Saint Seiya (we will upload more in the next few days); Kamen Riders (same thing); Godzilla; One Piece and DragonBallZ.

Patience will be a prerequisite: we will upload new items as fast as we can in the next days as well as opening an official section/category on our website for those new lines.

We are VERY excited to launch, more officially, those new lines of figures at Automaton! Hope you will support us in this new adventure!:)

We have even marked down the retail prices on already uploaded items! Worth a look!

Stay tuned!:D

Regards,
Mario and the team at Automaton

[JTCh]

Thanks Mario! This is very exciting news! Can't wait to see more Kamen Rider figuarts!:clapping:

[Onslaught]

Ooh, sounds interesting. I look forward to seeing if you guys put up some of the Ryuki Figuarts and Figuarts Sanji (the only one of the OP Figuarts I'm missing right now). If you guys put those up, I'd definitely be interested.

Good luck with that goal of yours, and if your enthusiasm here is any indication, I think you guys will accomplish it in no time.

[Richardo]

I'm personally interested in the Sentai line of Figuarts.

I already have the Gokaigers, but I'd be interested in what kind of pricing you'd be able to offer on future Sentai lines...

[pud333]

Looks really good. Curious to see what you guys add in the future.

[Rogue_Optimus]

Awesome, kinda. I'm really tempted with the Godzilla line but with the prices on HLJ, I was gonna pass and save a few bucks. Looks like you'll sucker me in hardcore. I didn't need the 2nd kidney anyhow ;)

[Rogue_Optimus]

One quick question, will you be carrying the MechaGodzilla monsterart fig as well?

[Exillion]

One quick question, will you be carrying the MechaGodzilla monsterart fig as well?

Yes! We will upload it this afternoon!:p

[Exillion]

Ooh, sounds interesting. I look forward to seeing if you guys put up some of the Ryuki Figuarts and Figuarts Sanji (the only one of the OP Figuarts I'm missing right now). If you guys put those up, I'd definitely be interested.

Good luck with that goal of yours, and if your enthusiasm here is any indication, I think you guys will accomplish it in no time.

OP Sanji: for sure.:D
OP Ryuki: possibly(I will confirm with my supplier asap).

[pud333]

Awesome, kinda. I'm really tempted with the Godzilla line but with the prices on HLJ, I was gonna pass and save a few bucks. Looks like you'll sucker me in hardcore. I didn't need the 2nd kidney anyhow ;)

Get Godzilla. He's badass.

[Rogue_Optimus]

Get Godzilla. He's badass.

Talked me into it :clapping:

[Exillion]

Hi Everyone! So it's done! We have just uploaded a good selection of Tamasii Nations/S.H Figuarts on Automaton Toys! Mostly Saint Seiya, Tiger and Bunny, Kamen Rider, One Piece and Godzilla figures! For now, we have listed all those fantastic figures in our Super-Heroes, Monsters and Cool Stuff section: we will open a new section with sub-categories very soon for this new line. Hope you will enjoy! If you have special request, do not hesitate to write to us: we will do our very best to find the items you want!:D

http://automatontoys.com/images/jouets/KRZXsic01_v.jpg

[JTCh]

Awesome stuff Mario! I just pre-ordered several Kamen Rider figures and sent you an email to start an OOH. Hopefully we will see more Kamen Rider figuarts so I can fill that OOH up:clapping:

Thanks for being the first store in Canada to finally carry Figuarts at a reasonable price! Props!:canada:

[Exillion]

Awesome stuff Mario! I just pre-ordered several Kamen Rider figures and sent you an email to start an OOH. Hopefully we will see more Kamen Rider figuarts so I can fill that OOH up:clapping:

Thanks for being the first store in Canada to finally carry Figuarts at a reasonable price! Props!:canada:

Thanks! We will try and upload more of these this week. So far, the most popular lines are definitely Kamen Rider, Godzilla, Dragon Ball and Tiger & Bunny. No love for Saint Seiya or One Piece: do you know guys if those franchises are somehow popular in Canada? Just trying to focus our efforts on the lines that might have some success.:)

[Onslaught]

I'm pretty sure both One Piece and Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac over here and a few other places) both have a pretty decent fan base over here, so maybe the problem is just that word that you're carrying these figures hasn't spread enough.

Another problem, at least for Sanji is that he's $39.99. That may the be the retail price, but compare that to Kamen Rider Dragon Knight/Ryuki, 5 dollars more for a lot more within the box. It may also be the fact that his fellow OP S.H. Figuarts figures have significantly dropped in price, so maybe people are just waiting for that to happen.

[Exillion]

Hi everyone! Following the hot arrival of the Tamashii Nations/S.H figuarts figures at Automaton, we've just uploaded new preorders for upcoming items! Tamashii Nations Web Exclusive Little Godzilla and D-Arts Megaman X Vile as long as 2 new Kamen Riders: the highly awaited S.H Figuarts Fourze Eleki States and Fourze Fire States! Reserve yours now! Those new items are listed in our Super-Heroes/Monsters section! Happy shopping!:D

[Exillion]

Hi everyone! We have just uploaded preorders for 2 new S.H Figuarts figures: Tiger & Bunny Origami Cyclone and Kamen Rider Fourze Magnet States! Both have an ETA of May 2012!

http://automatontoys.com/images/jouets/SHtigerBunCyclone_v.jpg

http://automatontoys.com/images/jouets/SHFigKamenMagnet01_v.jpg