By: Sean Effendi
January 15, 2014
As everyone knows I’m currently here in Japan and I’ve been visiting many different card shops.
I’m sure many of you have seen the pictures I’ve been posting on the Facebook but now I would like to introduce you guys to some of the card shops I visited.
I know that there are many different card shops but I only visited the card shops in Osaka and Tokyo (Akihabara).
If you guys thought that card shops will have singles at that are the same price as Yuyutei or more than you thought wrong. Most card shops were actually 200 – 300 yen cheaper than Yuyutei. Well Osaka was Tokyo on the other hand was just over priced.
Let’s start off with Osaka.
TSUTAYA
Location: Fujidera, Osaka (Kansai)
If you are coming from Abeno / Tennoji on the JR (Train) the card shop will be on your left right when you reach the Fujidera station in the same building as the Toy’s R Us and right next to the McDonalds.
Hours: 10AM – 12AM
Dueling Space: 36 Seats
Photo Taken from Web
Card Games: (Singles)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Z/X
Ange Vierge
Weiss Schwarz
Five qross
Precious Memory
Card Games: (TD & Booster)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Z/X
Weiss Schwarz
Five qross
Ange Vierge
Victory Spark
Precious Memory
Gundam War NEX-A
Card
Miracle Battle Cardass
Future Card Buddy Fight (Once Release)
The card shop where I first bought my first Weiss Schwarz TDs. Pulled 3 signs!!
TSUTAYA is originally known for being a rental shop for movies, manga, etc but started to sell trading card related products as well as singles. The TSUTAYA in Fujidera is actually very big and the card game area has descent space.
Photo Taken from Web
The picture above is actually a pretty old photo but it still looks the same. They have all the booster pack samples on the racks for players to pick up and take to the register to tell employees how many packs or boxes they want. The sleeves and other card goods are in glass cases so you must call an employee to get the item. All the single cards are also in glass cases so you must also call an employee to get the card. Random C, UC, and Rs are in a box for players to search by themselves.
Many local children come to this card shop because they can’t afford the train fee.
Card Labo (Tennoji Branch)
Location: Abeno / Tennoji, Osaka
Exit the station and go to the center of Tennoji and you will see a building that says “ANIMATE”.
Hours: 11AM – 9PM
Dueling Space: 64
Website:http://www.c-labo.jp/index.php
Card Games: (Singles)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Z/X
Ange Vierge
Precious Memory
Five qross
Weiss Schwarz
Battle Spirits
Prism Connect
Magic the Gathering
Duel Masters
etc
Card Games: (TD & Booster)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Z/X
Precious Memory
Weiss Schwarz
Battle Spirits
Prism Connect
Magic the Gathering
Duel Masters
Five qross
Ange Vierge
Future Card Buddy Fight (Once Release)
etc
Yes, it is the legendary anime store, ANIMATE! Animate is on the 3rd floor while Card Labo is on the 4th floor along with the Animate Cafe.
You have card shop and anime store in one building!! Unfortunately, the Animate in Tennoji is full of Fujoshi anime goods so there aren’t much to buy for us guys but hey, you can pick up chicks! So many cute girls go to this Animate!
Photo Taken from Web
Like many card shops, all Card Labo shops have their cards in glass cases lined up like the picture above. All card games have their own aisle. Card Labo was probably the best place to go to for card singles in Osaka because they had cards that were really hard to find such as Black Rock Shooter, KOF, CLANNAD, etc.
The Tennoji Card Labo branch is actually pretty unique than other branches because they push Prism Connect. The reason is because the Animate down below is filled with fujoshi.
Prism Connect: Uta no Prince-sama 1000%
Prism Connect isn’t just a fujoshi game, it is also for male players but there are series such as Uta no Prince-sama 1000%, female target anime, in the game.
Card Labo is also known for there cute mascot characters.
Card Labo Mascot Characters: Lalami (Pink), Botan (Blue), & Wa-chan (Dog): This is the playmat they giveaway when you scratch a winning ticket.
OTAKU ROAD / NAMBA, OSAKA
Yellow Submarine
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road) Right next to Yellow Submarine Figure & Game Shop
Hours: 11AM – 8PM
Dueling Area: 2nd Floor
Photo Taken from Web
Card Game: (Singles)
Weiss Schwarz
Chaos TCG
Victory Spark
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Magic the Gathering
etc
Card Game: (TD & Booster)
Weiss Schwarz
Chaos TCG
Victory Spark
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Magic the Gathering
etc
This was probably the best Yellow Submarine with card singles. It also had a lot of card supplies but not that many character sleeves and boxes.
They have a section to find random C & UCs but most of their singles are in glass cases or in a folder with a print out. To get the singles from the folder you must write on a sheet of paper in Japanese so this might be a bit troubling for those who can’t read or write Japanese.
If the singles in the folder does not have a price tag that means that they do not have the card.
This is the Yellow Submarine Figure and Game Shop. You can see that there is another Yellow Submarine on the left. That is the card shop. There is also another card shop, Yellow Submarine #3 right across from this shop which is explained below.
Yellow Submarine #3
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road) Across from Yellow Submarine Figure and Game Shop.
Hours: 11AM – 8PM
Dueling Space: 2nd Floor
Photo from Web
Card Games (Singles)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Weiss Schwarz
Chaos
Miracle Battle Cardass
Battle Spirits
Duel Masters
Pokemon
Ange Vierge
Card Games (TDs & Booster)
Card Games (Singles)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Ange Vierge
Weiss Schwarz
Chaos
Miracle Battle Cardass
Battle Spirits
Duel Masters
Pokemon
Yellow Submarine #3 wasn’t actually the best place to find singles for many card games. They were actually the best place to buy character sleeves, deck boxes, and storage boxes. With all honesty it was really hard to find deck boxes and storage boxes anywhere.
BIG MAGIC
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road)
Hours: M~T: 12PM – 9PM, Fri: 12PM – 10PM, Sat ~ Sun: 11AM – 9PM
Dueling Space: 2nd Floor
Card Games: (Singles)
Magic the Gathering
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Weiss Schwarz
Five qross
Gundam War NEX-A
Crusade
Battle Spirits
Duel Masters
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Chaos TCG
Victory Spark
Ange Vierge
Z/X
Sangokushi Taisen
Many Arcade Card Games
Card Games (TD & Boosters)
Magic the Gathering
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Five qross
Weiss Schwarz
Gundam War NEX-A
Crusade
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Chaos TCG
Victory Spark
Z/X
Sangokushi Taisen
Duel Masters
Battle Spirits
Many Arcade Card Games
Future Card Buddy Fight (Once Release)
As you guys can tell by the card shop’s name, Big Magic, this shop is mainly focused on Magic the Gathering. The shop does have a great variety of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Vanguard, and arcade card games. It looks like they are starting to push more Bushiroad related card games.
Cardfight!! Vanguard Singles in Glass Case
Card Pal
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road)
Hours: ??? – ???
Dueling Space: None
Card Game: (Singles)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Weiss Schwarz
Z/X
Many Arcade Card Games
Card Game: (TD & Booster)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Weiss Schwarz
Z/X
Many Arcade Card Games
This shop doesn’t have many WS singles so I don’t recommend going to this shop if you are looking for WS.
Dragon Star
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road)
Hours: 11AM – 8PM
Dueling Space: None
Card Games: (Singles)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Weiss Schwarz
Z/X
Ange Vierge
Five qross
Victory Spark
Chaos TCG
Ange Vierge
Battle Spirits
Duel Masters
Precious Memories
Gundam NEX-A
Crusade
Miracle Battle Cardass
Pokemon
Many different Arcade Card Game
Dragon Star was a really great place to find many different singles. Other than the singles in glass cases they had card singles hanging from the ceiling.
Of course they had a section with random card singles in a box and in that section there are folders on shelves that have print outs of singles. Some singles have price tags on them and a tag saying that this card is in the glass case but if the card single is not in the folder it is probably in the box full of singles. To get the price tagged cards you must bring the folder to the counter and tell them you want that card. The employee will search for the card in the back.
The only problem with this card shop is that the walking space is really small. It was really hard to get through the crowd to get to the section want to go to and it gets really hot because of so many people.
Card Ou
Location: Namba, Osaka
Hours: ??? – 8PM
Dueling Space: 2nd Floor 28 Seats
Card Games (Singles)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Z/X
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Ange Vierge
Five qross
Weiss Schwarz
Chaos TCG
Card Games (TD & Booster)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Z/X
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Ange Vierge
Five qross
Weiss Schwarz
Chaos TCG
This card shop had a great variety of the card singles in the list above. They also have folders with print outs of card singles but there is a problem if you can’t write or read Japanese. To get the singles you want from the folder you must write on a piece of paper from the shop and give it to them so that they can search for it in the back.
Out of all the card shops in Otaku Road this card shop had the most Weiss Schwarz PR cards. This was where I found my Maid Hibikis.
Trade Card Park
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road)
Hours: ??? – ???
Card Game: (Singles)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Duel Masters
Battle Spirits
Z/X
Weiss Schwarz
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Ange Vierge
Five qross
Chaos
etc
Trading Card Park was a shop that mainly had Z/X and Yu-Gi-Oh! There WS section was only 2 cases and a half. Chaos filled the other half.
They also had a lot of rare sleeves from places such as Comic Market 85.
Card Labo #1
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road)
Hours: M-F: 11AM – 8PM Sat~Sun: 10AM – 8PM
Dueling Space: Yes
Tora no Ana / Gamers Building
Card Games: (Singles)
Weiss Schwarz
Z/X
Precious Memories
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Five qross
Ange Vierge
etc
Card Games: (TD & Booster)
Weiss Schwarz
Z/X
Precious Memories
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Five qross
Ange Vierge
etc
The picture above is the building where Card Labo #1 Namba is located. The problem is that it doesn’t say Card Labo anywhere on the building. If you look at the bottom left in the picture there are Gacha Gacha machines. If you walk towards that hallway there will be stairs that lead to an underground card shop.
Entrance to Card Labo #1
Card Labo #1 Namba is underground!
Be careful when you walk down and up the stairs because people actually get hurt. I actually saw someone fall down these stairs. He wasn’t that high up though so he wasn’t seriously hurt.
The view once you walk down the stairs
This Card Labo mainly had Weiss Schwarz and Precious Memories. Of course it had many Yu-Gi-Oh! and Vanguard singles but it had more Z/X singles.
#1 also had the best selection for limited edition card sleeves. This is where I got most of my Comic Market 85 sleeves.
In the dueling area there were a lot of Gacha Gacha machines and pretty old ones too.
Card Labo #2
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road) 2nd Floor
Hours: 11AM – 8PM
Dueling Space: Yes
Entrance to Card Labo #2
Card Games (Singles)
Z/X
Weiss Schwarz
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Ange Vierge
etc
Card Games (TDs & Booster)
Z/X
Weiss Schwarz
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Ange Vierge
etc
Entrance to Card Labo
Card Labo probably had the most WS singles and sign cards but they were actually the most pricey shop in Otaku Road. You would think that all the Card Labo card shops would be the same price but they are actually different. So keep that in mind.
Most card shops will have random C, UC, and Rs on a shelf like this.
Card Labo
Location: Namba, Osaka (Otaku Road) Animate Building 5th Floor
Hours: 11AM – 8PM
Dueling Space: Yes
Yet again, another Card Labo is in the same building with the popular anime goods shop, ANIMATE. The card shop is located on the 5th floor.
The 1st floor is a DVD/Blu-ray and CD shop which is Animate and the 2nd floor is also Animate but it is the floor with all the character goods. The 3rd floor is a shop that has many event goods from events such as Comic Market. There was also the visual novel floor which is on the 4th floor.
It was hard not to ignore the the event goods floor because everything was really cheap for being rare event only goods.
Of course there are more card shops in Namba but they weren’t as great so I won’t talk about them.
I would talk about the card shops in Akihabara but I will write about them in another article.
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