[Editor’s note: this is part of a network-wide series of articles that will go up over the next couple of days. Be sure to check at the end of each post for links to the previous stories, in order to get the full picture of things! – DMV]

Being in Japan for a semester abroad, Colette and Topher bombard me with phrases like “lucky!” “awesome!” and “I’m going to murder you if you don’t bring me back something awesome.” Sometimes, I rub it in their noses that I’ve actually got the opportunity to buy figures and gashopon at reasonable prices, instead of the two to three times normal prices that you would pay at cons. Of course, I also have to bring up with them the fact that my bank account has taken a serious kick in the stomach from all of this.

And since I’ve been running around on Destructoid and Japanator talking about my time in Den Den Town, I wanted to share a few words with the fine folk over here at Tomopop. While I’m nothing in the way of an expert in figures like Toph, Colette, and everyone else here on staff, I do have an affinity for our PVC friends. Normally, my collection has been limited to gashopon and trading boxes, but being in Japan, I’m taking whatever opportunity I can to buy things that I’ve really wanted.

So, without further adieu, let’s get into the figures that rock Den Den Town.

There are a lot of figures in Den Den Town. An unbelievable amount, really. It’d be easy to spend an entire day just figure hunting, with the number of stores that they have here. A great majority of shelf space is devoted to gashopon, hung up in bags on large racks, organized by series and release. Depending on how rare and old each figure is, you can find items ranging from 300 to 1500 yen. There’s a decent amount of shelf space dedicated to the really popular shows, like Bleach, Naruto, and Dragon Ball, but it isn’t an overwhelming amount. The rest is a wide variety of series from the past ten years, satisfying most any need that you’d have.

Before I get more into the stock of these stores, let me get into what type of stores there are in Den Den Town. Some larger stores will have their figure sections set up, displaying various items from Nendroid, Max Factory, and other manufacturers. Most figures that you find will run you at least 3000 yen, and the figures here are the ones that will sell: The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Lucky Star, Fate/Stay Night, etc. The alternative to these stores are small stores, which seem to be no more than a hole in the wall. These are the places that will carry more of the gashopon and older figures.

I’ve learned that there is no one-stop-shop for figures – instead, you’ll likely spend your time going in and out of a half-dozen stores looking for whatever you’ve been hunting for. Of course, if it’s a figure that’s recently come out and is popular, like the Konokoe Rin figure (from Kodomo no Jikan) that I’ve seen in just about every store, then there should be little trouble picking it up.

What I fell in love with, though, are the little hole-in-the-wall stores that pop up every so often on the streets of Den Den Town. I can’t really show you photos of what these places are like, because there’s a great fear of violating their customers’ privacy. They don’t want their customers to feel as though they can be linked to their hobbies, however salacious they may be.

When you walk into these types of stores, there’s little room for more than one person to stand in the aisle at all. The walls are packed from floor to ceiling with gashopon from years past, bagged and arranged for you. Display cases are placed throughout the store, showing off more expensive figures that would make you salivate. Often times, there are items from Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy Arts Collection, along with various levels of clothed women.

Beyond this first section is usually a random assortment of boxed figures, depending on the store owner’s preferences. Neon Genesis Evangelion is an almost constant staple, and yet each store always has a different version of Rei and Asuka. It’s a mystery that I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand.

Finally, there’s the gashopon vending machines. Oh those delectable money-eaters. It’s even worse than the dreaded quarter-muncher, since you’re dropping 200-300 yen per try into the machine. Even in these tiny stores, there are some 20-30 machines packed into a tight area, each filled with promises of bliss in a ball. Gashopon machines are usually everywhere: a good chunk of Yodobashi Camera's videogame floor is dedicated to gashopon. Yet, what these little stores offer is to cut out the crap. No fake Mr. Donut charms, or utterly adorable pieces of bread. Instead, it's just hardcore otakudom on these shelves.

All in all, shopping for figures in Den Den Town is something that's wonderfully enjoyable, and ultimately exhausting. Every time I go back, I end up finding another store or two that sells figures, and shows me one or two more that I have never seen before. It ends up being a drain on my wallet, and gives me way too much stuff to carry back on the train. If you're looking for just about anything -- even American toys -- you can search fairly hard in Den Den Town and come up with it, or at least have someone order it for you.

Previously:
A Day in Den Den Town: An introduction
A Day in Den Den Town: Osaka's videogame spirit

For the next story, be sure to head over to Destructoid!