Buying from Japan & collecting FAQ

TANA (棚 — 'shelf') covers manga, TCG and figure releases from the Japanese side: announcements and pre-order windows read from the maker's own source, plus the reference guides to buying from Japan (proxy services, shipping, customs basics). Info first, store links second.

No. TANA doesn't sell or stock anything, and never handles your payment — where we link a store or proxy service, you buy from them, on their terms. Some links are affiliate links; our rule is that the disclosure sits with the links. See How we review for the full policy.

Never. We don't give investment advice on collectibles — no 'this will go up'. When we cover the aftermarket, we explain structure (supply, reprints, demand cycles) so you can decide, not speculate.

A middleman with a Japanese address: it buys the item for you from a Japan-only store or auction, receives it at its warehouse, then ships it to your country. You pay the item price, domestic shipping, a service fee, international shipping and payment processing — see our fee-structure comparison.

It depends on the item, weight, destination and payment method — each service structures its fees differently (per item vs per order, plan tiers). Our /proxy page compares the structures and links to each official rate page, which is always the current source.

Possibly — import duty and tax follow your own country's rules and thresholds, and are charged separately from anything the store or proxy collects. Check your customs authority's site before a large order.

Most scale figures are produced roughly to order: makers gauge demand during the pre-order window, then manufacture. Missing the window can mean paying more on the aftermarket or waiting for a re-release — which is why the deadline, not the release day, is the date that actually costs you something.

The date announced by the maker or store, as we read it on the date stamped on the page — never our own estimate. Dates shift, so treat the stamp as the age of the fact and the linked official page as the current source.

They're different products: sets can differ in card pool, rarity spread, print timing and price. Japanese boxes often release first. It comes down to your goal — playing, collecting or display — so where we compare a set, we set the JP and EN releases side by side and cite both, rather than declaring a winner.

Some stay Japan-only, some get international releases later — it varies by maker and license. Our rule is not to call an international release announced without a source for it; where none has been announced, treat 'exclusive' as 'currently, and it can change'.