Jikai web page has been launched, well It’s not the final version more like an alpha/beta, there’s still a lot to do like putting the stock material online, arranging the transportation prices and other stuff. If you don’t know what I’m talking then here goes, Jikai is a small shop in Lisbon that deals anime merchandise in a wide variety, from manga, PVC figures, Gunpla and others plamos, magazines, art books, trading figures, figmas, revoltechs, gashapons, cosplay, that’s pretty much it.
Currently the shop only sells stuff in Lisbon area since it’s an only man shop (only one person, the owner, manages everything). Sometimes you can find rare figures in there that sold out everywhere, why does this happen, well because the Portuguese anime fans (the majority of them) are not very familiar with many series or are only interested in the current most famous ones leaving others behind and only purchase stuff related to those series they know, not caring if the figure is good or not, this also happens because there’s not enough publicity about the shop, I managed to find it almost two years ago when I asked in a forum where could I get the Aya Natsume figure and they pointed me there, after that I became a customer of that shop, purchasing 90% of my stuff there and also became a good friend of the owner.
My current role at Jikai is basically being a customer and try to spread the word as much as I can, I also “analyze” the prices of figures, plamos and other stuff to see if they are acceptable to the audience, of course he has the last word and he practices the prices he want because he’s the boss. The prices at the Portuguese market are great being the cheapest I found so far but still there are some (you’ll excuse me the word) assholes and find the prices high and they don’t even know what prices are made out there and sometimes they’re so stupid they purchase them even more expensive and then they won’t even say a word because of the mistake they just did. At European level the prices are still nice especially on the plamos, seen gunpla on both French and Italian online stores sometimes 3 times higher than he’s selling. So make yourself helpfull and take a look at the page itself, if you want to visit the physical shop look at me Euro shops page (top) and check for it’s directions.
Can you order from them in the states??
Yes you can order from the States but currently the web site is still being created and there’s still lots of stuff that need to be put there. Payments will most likely be made via paypal so that there won’t be much problems. And as I mentioned above there’s still the matter of the transportation fees which haven’t been decided.
For a small niche market store, he really gets good stuff at good prices. I also buy my plamos and manga there. it’s just too bad there isn’t more people interested in going the extra mile to paint the kits he sells or it could be possible to get more hobby tools and paints
In portugal you can only find humbrol or tamiya acrilics or lacquer sprays, no enamels and no mr hobby or other lacquer paint brands and no detailling supplies for mecha, plus everything is horribly overpriced
Those photos are a bit outdated, uh? But you don’t have to do propaganda for me at least, I already spend most of my money there.
Good to know Amon ^_^. Well yes they’re from last July and the last one is from April, unfortunately it’s not that simple for me to get pictures of the store since I can’t go there that easily because I live in Algarve
Oh, I simply said they were outdated because that Mark II is currently sitting at the top of my drawer. False advertising, eh?
And that reminds me, I need to go there this coming week.
Who cares, what counts it’s the intention, and who’s telling you that he didn’t get any more again ^_^. I’m not getting a kit any time soon cause the PG kinda exhausts one guy, plus I got some figures already reserved at the store.
I’m not aiming for Gunpla, not one currently in stock anyway. The Unicorn is still on my list but he’s got a few in stock so I’m holding out for a while. Going there for Manga and to check out some other stuff.
Maybe I’ll get an Exia but I’m undecided yet. I’m also considering one of those Yukikaze kits in the corner, after watching the series on his recommendation. That was some damn nice dogfighting.
I still have a Macross Zero VF-0S Valkyrie that I bought last week there to paint so I’m trying not to add too much stuff to my plate. Plus, school is starting and even five classes a week is dreadful stuff. Indecisions are the plague of me.
I just want to leave one thing here : http://taste.style.coocan.jp/room02.htm
Yeah allmost totally off topic but hey it’s .. don’t even have a word for it ..
OH MY LORD I JUST COLLAPSED (e borrei-me todo), now that’s something I might do to my future house if I get enough money when I start working XD. Of course most of the stuff there like Mazinger, Getter Robo, Kamen Rider and others don’t appeal to me, I’d do only of Gundams and figures ^_^
I’d shit two bricks to have room for those. I might as well live in a two by four when it comes to space.
Thanks for the post, B-san!
Still a lot to do at the site, pages, products, translations, shipping costs, payment options, etc…
Eventually switch to another webhoster as well, I’m not that much satisfied by the performance.
The products’ prices actually aren’t the best I can do, but I’ll have to take in account the real sales’ volume after it opens to understand where can be tweaks and treats. Prices are ok, but not competitive enough. Big thanks for those of have supported me so far… it will not be forgotten ever.
Hope I can get some feedback before it opens.
@Amon et al:
Not all items mentioned at the site will be available at the shop. Some will require preorder in order to see light at the store. The way world economy is now does not favor me to overstock certain items, hoping someone one day will pick-up this or that. Although, nice surprises sometimes happen (for instance, I never though the Hi-Nu would go ^_^).
Also, I’m so glad you enjoyed Sentou Yousei Yukikaze. I might have recommended it, but you know… it all comes down to personal tastes, and that’s quite subjective. I think Yukikaze is probably one of the most overlooked OVAs out there, IMHO.
@Rahvin:
Maybe one day I’ll contribute to figure and mech fans out there the chance to fill in their rooms with goodies like those. But, from my personal point of view, I’d probably get bored of being surrounded exclusively with japanese hobby goods…. Some equilibrium there is lacking, but again, it’s a personal choice.
@Nakano: Hey I’m Into airplanes and cars (to a lesser degree) as well, but considering how long I take to build one kit and how many mechs I need before I shift those to a lesser priority, it will take a while before I build something other than mechs
But yes business wise it’s good to have diversity, but beware that there are allready some pretty good modelling stores in Portugal. Their only problem is that they sell too much sucky paints or humbrol which is enamel and not ideal for airbrushing, don’t have anything mech related ( detail stuff and specific tools) their prices are high and their websites suck beyond comprehension.
hmm on second thought, there seems to be a good business oportunity here …
Kool.
I expect good stuff in the future ^_^
Olá B-San
Quero só dar-te os parabêns por este blog e por teres o altruismo de elogiar e principalmente divulgar aquela que de facto é talvez a melhor loja de anime e de figuras ligadas á animação Japonesa em Portugal (e acredita que conheço todas as de Lisboa, Coimbra e Porto). Não só pela diversidade de artigos e figuras, mas principalmente pela disponibilidade do Leonardo em ajudar cada cliente a encontrar o que procura, pondo inclusivamente á disposição várias das principais revistas da especialidade (Figure Oh, Figure King, Hobby Japan, etc.) que são só por si uma raridade em Portugal.
Vamos esperar pelo pleno funcionamento do website, e desejar que ele seja actualizado regularmente… e então sim, a Jikai vai de facto chegar a todos os que coleccionem ou apenas gostem desta nova forma de expressão e de arte.
Um abraço
Obrigado JMG, tento actualizar o blog com fotos minhas e futuros lançamentos quando posso, infelizmente por vezes o tempo escasseia e não consigo actualizar de modo como gostaria.
Quanto à Jikai, é a única loja que conheço que está virada totalmente para o merchandise de anime e que contém os preços mais acessíveis. Felizmente a disponibilidade e amabilidade do Leonardo é imensa que muitas das vezes não é retribuída pela maioria das pessoas que frequenta a loja.
Sería ideal ver o site a funcionar em pleno e começar a distribuir mercadoria pelo nosso país e por essa Europa/Mundo fora, mas o site foi criado e é gerido por uma pessoa apenas o que dificulta imenso a sua manutênção, eu gostaria de o ajudar mais mas os meus conhecimentos de programação/web são limitados, por isso o que posso fazer de momento é divulgar o nome da loja o mais que posso por essa web e pelo Algarve