Dakimakuras anyone?

http://www.eveningcall.net/Book.aspx?pId=68

Apparently, they seem to have Dizzy available in stock.
Their website is still the cheapest since resellers are selling a bit over 13k for her.

Oh, nice, thanks. I have only ever purchased dakimakura through Rinkya and sites like ToysLogic and J-List - haven't made the jump to try and buy direct like that before. I did just register with SMJ last week and gave them a hefty deposit. Is this something I can do using their service?
Also, I just took an updated pic of my collection (everything that I could fit on my bed at once) the other night. I'll post it later this evening just for the sake of sharing. ;)

Yah,Just make a special order request. Fill in accordingly and put a direct link to buy page and state the quantity of the item you want.

Well I'll be...
Thanks, amigo. You just earned yourself a rep. point. :)

Yeah, just use this form: http://shoppingmalljapan.com/weborder.html

Put the homepage in the link section, then just give a brief description of each item you want, followed by the link to that page.

For Evening Call specifically, the easiest way to find out what's in stock, is just to go to the product page here:

http://www.eveningcall.net/Products.aspx

And then scroll down through the items; just under there's a link box which will either have a little red box with four kanji (meaning it can't be ordered) or a box with two kanji, meaning it can be ordered and is either in stock or still available for preorder. You can include a mix of preorder and instock items on your order; I recently preordered their Kan'u and then added the instock Asuka with it. They shipped everything out once Kan'u was released. Speaking of which, I just got both today. ^^


Edit: Lawl, that's what I get for not checking the newest page. Covered long before I even checked the page. :P

buying direct order is better cuz sometimes you get to choose the fabric type and you get it msrp. those auction bastards sometimes tax like a motherfucker.

MSRP. That's cute. You can't really buy direct unless you live in Japan. There's always proxy fees, internal and external shippping. etc. Even bank wire fees.

Yep, auctions can be harsh, especially for the sought after covers that are on the older end. I still have nightmares about paying 42500 yen for the one cover I bought; never again I swore, though I have broken the 30000 yen barrier a few times since then. Regardless of what you may pay on YJA, 99% of the time, buying from circles is the best option. There are times when a genuine of the cover will sell for less than MSRP or buying from Mandarake allows you to avoid proxy fees, but generally speaking the best price and options (as Dfan said, you may get to choose the material) come direct.

And Kobun, addressing your earlier comment about where you've purchased covers previously: You're about to have an overwhelming number of superior options available to you. 99% of the covers from Hobby Search are from companies and, generally not as detailed as covers from circles. Toyslogic and J-List have occasionally had some covers from circles (though J-list absolutely all credibility in my eyes when they made the mistake of selling bootleg covers. At the very least, it showed that they know jack shit about dakimakura covers), but they usually charge far more than what you can expect to pay elsewhere. Honestly, even past my little rant about J-List up above, I could probably write several pages on why buying from J-List is a disservice to yourself and hobby enthusiasts.

I don't know if you're aware of it, but the Dakimakura blog will quickly become your best friend:

http://blog.xn--er-573a1isbf1441e2hs87j.jp/

You can just browse through the covers listed, or paste the name of your favorite character/series in the search box (look up the Japanese text on Wiki.) It's far from complete and if you're browsing YJA you may have to do some serious searching for sample images, but it's easily one of the best resources available to us. Use it to find info about older covers or see when/where an item will be up for sale/preorder.

There are also a couple of circles that are willing to ship internationally, which is really nice since you can save quite a bit through proxy fees.

The Black and White Store has a lot of great covers, and they're constantly releasing new ones. Most generally sell for an all inclusive price of 13000 yen, and ship a month or two after the preorder closes.

http://www.bwstore.com.tw/

Bon Cool is quickly becoming another great place to buy that ships internationally. They have their own line of covers and sell some consigned covers too. From my experience with them, they have a lot of cool promotions and such. Most recently was that if you purchased a consigned cover, you could get one of theirs for 40% off. And on my first order, when they weren't running that promotion, they sent me a free double of the Bon Cool cover I ordered.

http://boncool.jp/

Dakemakura is also willing to ship internationally, but I'll be honest here: They have a ton of covers, some of which are really nice. But they seem to be available all the time, so there is no sense of urgency in ordering; I'd rather get a cover that I know isn't going to be available in a few months, versus buying one I can order a year from now. So I don't have any experience with them, but they have a huge selection at very good prices. As I haven't ordered from them before, I can't comment on how easy it is to go through the process.

http://dakemakura.com/top.html

Then of course, Mandarake has tons of covers available.

Holy s**t! Look at how much this Roll dakimakura went for! ('@_@)
Rinkya Auction

Absolutely bananas!

Also, thanks for the direct buying tips, everyone.

Yeah, I found that blog.xn site, but usually use this site: nijigenshingu.info to see what's new.

Yeah, I've seen a few covers sell for even more than that; a few Miku covers in particular can get pretty crazy. A used copy of that Roll cover with a couple of dirt smudges sold for over 50000 just the other day.

duh -_- but that i mean it's better to buy shit directly from store order than aution >.>

The very first Marks Miku dakimakura was auctioned for 100k.
Several of my covers have been in the high 20k to mid 30k range, and god do I swear never to have to go through those times again.

Is that why it's so damn expensive? If it's the Marks Miku I'm thinking of (is there more than one?), I frequently see it listed at 90000/100000 buyouts... and even got into the bidding once myself for a cover that ended up selling at around 72000ish.

And yeah, that's pretty much why I've taken to preordering absolutely anything I may want, if I can afford it. The worst case scenario is you'll never see it again after orders close, but at best you can usually expect to pay a retarded premium if you really want it. >.

I have 3 Dakimakura, none of which have nudity on them. Wanted to keep em clean ._.

I have one of Rin from Little Busters!

1 of Hinagiku Katsura: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10061800a/20/1

and 1 from Shinkyoku Polyphonica: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polyphonica-Crimson-S-Japan-dakimakura-hugging-pillow-case-/180761693176?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a163c8bf8

I need to get another body pillow though, I just keep the three in a rotation using one pillow.

Yah, So the sellers are assuming someone might be crazy enough to buy it again.
After all, if you saw the recent Miku wedding dress figure(Just a Tama-Nee figure with a Miku head attached) Sold for tons of yen.
Dakimakuras are already very luxurious premium goods, And I absolutely never want to pay more then necessary.
I even threw down the cash to pay up for my Super Sonico figure from Native and 2 Sena dakis from Evening Call upfront. And I got to pay up for my PS vita the week after.>_>

For a small collection like that, one is more then sufficient really. I've got 3 bodies but I'm using 2 only on a Super single and barely have enough space for myself so unless you sleep on a queen size bed, you won't have much space for yourself.

Yeah, I never want to pay more than I have to again. Unfortunately my finances are hurting paying for all these preorders, but if it's for stuff that I absolutely want... I'd rather pay a bit of interest than wait to see if it's ever available again/up for an outrageous mark up. My most recent example of an outrageous markup was a cover on Mandarake's Japanese site for 18000. It wasn't on the English site, so I tried putting in a special order in with SMJ, but you know how that goes; it sold out long before SMJ even got back to me. I popped up on YJA a few weeks later for the outrageous buyout of 32000, and I didn't hesitate. >_>

I hope I never have to do that again, but when it's for something that you've wanted for awhile, it can't be helped sometimes. Currently, there are a ton of Evening Call covers I want to preorder, but they'd all be dropping around February or so, when Anko/Marks are set to ship... so I can't afford all of them. T_T


Edit: And yeah, on the subject of makaizao figures, they can't be pretty crazy. I've seen some top tier modelers sell their figures in the 200000+ range on a regular basis; a lot of the lower tier modelers still have the occasionally figure selling in the 100000+ range. I've personally bid on a few that have sold at about 50000-70000 (though I've yet to go that high yet. >_>)

yeah...I actually do sleep on a queen size bed...hahah. That's why I feel like I need one more.

I did for a while (like a month and a half) sleep with 3 body pillows, and I'm using a fullsize mattress. After a while though, I wanted a little more space, so I put one away. 2 is perfect actually. You can sleep with one in each arm. I do have a queen back at my old place, but then again, I don't dare use daki when living with my folks lol.
It may have been mentioned before, but if you're living in the states, you can get a pillow from royalpillow.com
I got all 3 of my pillows from them, and you can even do a custom order and choose what size you want. As for the type, I highly recommend using their cluster fiber filling. It's better than the standard and it's got a good amount of volume.

Now then. Have any of you guys/gals measured your 160x50cm daki. I find that in many cases, even if advertised as 160cm long, it tends to actually be longer than stated. I remember buying a pillow with exact specifications for a 160x50cm dakimakura, and it ended up being too small.

OK, I am really regretting finding this thread now. In addition to the 3 or 4 that I have coming in the mail, I just bought another two over the weekend that combined, came to 22500 yen.

Why do I do this to myself? ( '-__-)