MY KAIYODO DISPLAYS

[bmknj17]

Hey.

I've so far collected only Kaiyodo (and a very few related) figures of both modern and prehistoric animals.

Due to my having allergies and hating dust, I keep them mostly under glass.

I have a barrister with one shelf (wish it could be two) devoted to them, as well as a small case I had custom built for a very reasonable price.

I also make small dioramas for them, most of which I've sold or given away. And, as I could always use extra money, I'd be happy to make and sell some here as well.

And many of the figures are put away for lack of space, the plan being to occasionally rotate them.

Here are pics...

[sid]

How can you manage to get so many Kaiyodo models?

[bmknj17]

Hey Sid.

I get the basics of the question but I'm not sure if I really get your intent? I assumed everyone here who collected Kaiyodo likely had them all, or most anyway. But...

I learned about Dinotales at about the time of series 3. I bought most individually to start, as I was only interested in certain figures and I had an inexpensive on-line source (who's name I can't recall but who no longer sells). When the quality improved, and Kaiyodo reduced the number of skeletal pieces, I bought complete sets. When figures were released with alternative paint, I split the sets with a friend, choosing the colors I liked for my buying efforts.

With Aquatales it was all complete sets since the quality was pretty much there to start, and since it was cheaper that way. With Animatales, I bought almost all individuals as, since they came first, it took a good number of years and sets before the quality got to where I liked them. I only have a relatively few of those, an extremely small percentage of those made, and only the most naturalistic ones. At the beginning they weren't much better than Yowies.

I also bought from eBay sellers, and from a few contacts I made via collecting, one in Japan and two in Hong Kong. Buying from the latter was the best as the sellers didn't inflate the prices like eBay sellers did. And that was then. Now, the eBay prices are insane to the point that I often feel like we should all write and tell the sellers so.

I also supplemented my income (so that i could afford the collecting) by buying to sell, both on eBay and then directly to customers I'd met there, always making a point to do better than eBay sellers price-wise. That's how I met Sean.

My sellers all stopped selling for one reason or another but luckily I made it pretty far with the ones I had. The only Kaiyodo figures I'm missing that I want are the most recent (last year's) Aquarium set and a very few (surely less than 10) other pieces, mostly dinos (a few very common ones).

Last month, I found out that a friend of a friend is willing to buy that Aquarium set and those other few figures for me. He wouldn't be a source that would allow me to buy in numbers again, or to sell, but he might be a regular supplier for my own collection, should Kaiyodo start producing again. I sold my Siamotyrannus. Hopefully now I'll get one in the color I want.

And I still look for a regular source every now and then.

Last, in order to buy from those Asian sources I did have to have faith and wire hundreds of dollars at a time to guys I never met. Luckily, I'm a pretty good judge of character and I had no problems. But a few other sellers--both guys I met through eBay and bought from directly--were unscrupulous, one just a bit, one insanely so, with no integrity whatsoever. I didn't lose money, but I paid too much for things, sometimes on behalf of others, and even though my buyers approved the prices, I regret it somewhat now. But mostly I had good luck.

So I'm curious now...did you (or anyone reading) have trouble obtaining these? Are members here still looking for them? Were there bad stories? As I said, I expected everyone who wanted them likely got them all years ago and, with the exception of specials and secrets, with little effort.

And not to be jerky but just for the record I probably have about at least another 100ish figures not in the photos. ; )

Did this answer the question??

Brett

[sid]

Oh,thanks for the answer


I was surprised because,you see,here in Italy Kaiyodo models are basically nowhere to be found,they never reach our shores,plus it's difficult for me to buy them online (the shipping cost is something my financial resources can't afford) so for me it's amazing to see that you managed to get so many of them...You have my congratulations

I really like those models,i wish one day they will be easily available evene here...

[sbell]

When he says 'Sean', he means me.

Anyway, I can relate to his story--fortunately, I found out about them around the time of Series 2, so I had a head start on Series 3 and beyond. It got so that, when I was in grad school, I was a source for about a dozen other people to get their figures as well. I had a great source at that time who was very reasonable (his name was Hide, and he completely disappeared one day--curse you Yakuza).

Anyway, I was also a pick-and-chooser, and then decided to get that whole bunch. SO now I do have the full range (minus some variations, because that just doesn't matter to me). I do know that if I got interested now, there would be no way--I used to pay about $2.50/figure or so from Hide. Nowadays, anything from Series 3 or earlier could set a person back more than $15.

And yes, I do regret not buying every figure he had, hoarding them for a while, and then selling them off now!

[bmknj17]

Yes, Sean. Hide!

What was his site called??

[bmknj17]

Hey Sid.

I didn't know that you were in Italy. My great-grandparents were from Northern Italy, near Naples, I believe.

If I ever find a Japanese contact, I'll let you know. What I used to do is buy whatever I and my buyers needed over a period of a few months--both old and new figures, individuals and sets--so I only paid for shipping once. So maybe I'd be able to buy a bunch of figures for you and send them at once, if that would help. And the way they sell over there, it wouldn't be $15 per figure like Sean noted in his observation of eBay pricing.

It's surprising that I can't find anyone there to sell to me. Not sure if anyone here has tried also but one would think there'd be any large number of people over there interested in making a few easy dollars by selling these.

I wonder if we'll ever see eBay Japan and what will happen with prices if we do.

Brett

[sbell]

Jan 7, 2009 16:32:29 GMT bmknj17 said:

Hey Sid.

I didn't know that you were in Italy. My great-grandparents were from Northern Italy, near Naples, I believe.

If I ever find a Japanese contact, I'll let you know. What I used to do is buy whatever I and my buyers needed over a period of a few months--both old and new figures, individuals and sets--so I only paid for shipping once. So maybe I'd be able to buy a bunch of figures for you and send them at once, if that would help. And the way they sell over there, it wouldn't be $15 per figure like Sean noted in his observation of eBay pricing.

It's surprising that I can't find anyone there to sell to me. Not sure if anyone here has tried also but one would think there'd be any large number of people over there interested in making a few easy dollars by selling these.

I wonder if we'll ever see eBay Japan and what will happen with prices if we do.

Brett

Hey, my maternal grandparents are/were from central Italy as well (my mom was born there as well)!

As for Hide, I have no idea what the site was called anymore. It has been at least 6 years or so since he vanished.

The next in line was of course UDF on ebay--until health problems (=Yakuza) made him a slower, less responsive seller, and then he too disappeared. It's too bad, because he was at least a source of the COlorata figures.

I am guessing that our next best option is someone in Hong Kong--they are money people there, they are fairly close to Japan, and there are already a few people from there that sell the figures.

[bmknj17]

Sean...

My Hong Kong sellers were the best, but Yahoo! Auctions Hong Kong raised its listing fees (or did something similar) and that was detrimental to sellers listing a large number of inexpensive items. And because they could no longer make money there, many stopped selling all together.

Had that not happened, I'd probably still have a source.

Hide's site...Was it Dino Avenue

Brett

[sbell]

Jan 7, 2009 19:30:59 GMT bmknj17 said:

Sean...

My Hong Kong sellers were the best, but Yahoo! Auctions Hong Kong raised its listing fees (or did something similar) and that was detrimental to sellers listing a large number of inexpensive items. And because they could no longer make money there, many stopped selling all together.

Had that not happened, I'd probably still have a source.

Hide's site...Was it Dino Avenue

Brett

Now that you say it, that sounds very probable. It really is too bad he disappeared--a lot of people knew him, and he was a very good business man.

[bmknj17]

Hide was great, even though I only caught and dealt with him toward the very end of his site's existence. But his prices were extremely fair.

But as far as the Yahoo! Auctions sellers go, that wasn't a guess. My question was as to how well I recall what the exact fee change situation was. But it definitely occurred. My then source informed me of it at the time it was happening and that's why he stopped selling.

We really need direct access to Yahoo! Auctions Japan, not through a service like Rinkya.

[stoneage]

I got the first 5 Dinotales sets. I got them from guy on E-bay in Japan. They cost about $60 for a 24 piece set. When they devided them in to 2 sets of 12 (one of each color) ,I just bought one color. Then on the last set I just bought a few of the figures that interested me. I only need so many T-Rex's etc. I got these from Clawmarktoys. I was hoping there would be more but it hasn't happened. I have 2 sets of bandi, most of Miracle Planet, and some others. I also have all the Prehistoric Yowies ;D

[bmknj17]

I bought some figures from Clawmark, but Animatales, I think. And though I didn't get the Miracle Planet set (though I like and have that little primitive primate), I was able to get a lot of complete sets for my buyers at the time.

Brett

[kikimalou]

Kaiyodo and Lineol, I see you like quality and excellence. Congratulation.
Since the UDH's disparition, life is difficult for Kaiyodos or Colorata collectors. I try to go on Rinkiya but they asked me so much questions about my credit card that I abandoned.

Christophe

[bmknj17]

Hey Christophe.

Ha ha, thank you. I do tend to only be interested in the absolute best--the most beautiful and realistic in this case--of things, to my eye anyway. And I do think that Lineol and Kaiyodo are both just that.

If there are any Kaiyodo figures or sets or complete Colorata sets you might want, let me know via e-mail [e-mail] and include names and photos if they are individual figures--and quickly if you can. I don't know if I could help, but right now I am talking to someone in Asia and I might be able to do something.

Rinkya, to me, is far too expensive to use for inexpensive purchases. But I used to have and am always looking for sources in Asia so I might get lucky again.

I had a larger collection of Lineol animals but decided to sell it and just keep my favorites. I might like to rebuy just a few more that I miss. Ha ha. Do you collect them??

I also collect wildlife prints. They are quite expensive and framing them is extremely expensive. I have about 12.

Here are photos of my old Lineol collection and of my prints. I only took the print pictures for insurance so they're not great.

Thanks again.
Brett

[sbell]

Jan 7, 2009 22:44:12 GMT bmknj17 said:

I bought some figures from Clawmark, but Animatales, I think. And though I didn't get the Miracle Planet set (though I like and have that little primitive primate), I was able to get a lot of complete sets for my buyers at the time.

Brett

To be honest, I sold more figures to Clawmark than I bought from them--at times I curse selling all but the Pteranodon from Series 4 to them--but they gave me a good chunk of cash, plus some trades on some other rare Japanese figures.

[bmknj17]

I sold some of my own Dinotales years ago and yeah, there are just a very few that I regret losing...including that ammonite type guy from series 4.

I'm trying to get them again from my current potential source .

He, btw, contacted me today and said that he was definitely helping and for me to just sit tight and wait to hear from him after he's collected a good number of my wants.

So, fingers are crossed...

[kikimalou]

hello Brett,
Yes I used to collect lineol and others composition's animals makers. Some tipple-topple, Elastolin and even Beligum's durso. I will do pictures as soon as I can (I haven' t taken the time to do it yet). I've stopped to buy them because my banker doesn't agree with me to buy everything I want. I have good ones but I see that you are lucky enough to live with the sable antelope and the kudu. I've often missed them because they were expensive and sold on eBay each time I had already spent my money on other toys. I've missed the pangolin too. Perhaps one day...
I hope the Schleich musk ox was happy to be on the picture with his grandparents.
Your prints collection is impressive too, I'm sure you know what means : I need more walls in this house. That's one of my problems too.
I also have got some wild animals prints, some from modern artists and others from old encyclopedias like D'Orbigny or the Instructive picture booK.
I also bought Kaiyodo's at a time when they were less expensive.
I also have got old aluminium or hollowcast animals and plastic ones from the fifties to the seventies.
I must take some pictures next week.
Finally I also collect bottles of good wines, (filled in, of course)
For the Colorata, I would appreciate if you can help me, I will email you tomorrow.

Thank you,

Christophe

[bmknj17]

Hey Christophe.

Yes, I was lucky to have the sable and kudu and they are among the two I miss now...especially since I am considering making an African diorama. But yes, they were quite expensive and they needed to go if I was going to be able to sell my whole collection at once, which I did.

I also had all of the red deer and all of the cows, but I displayed them separately. And I had many of the small animals but I'd already sold them individually when I took the photo. I miss the sea lion pair, the reindeer. I could go on...the anteater, yak, and others. I could go on and on... I'm not sure if I'll buy more at some point. I'm looking at the Tipple Topple okapi on eBay now. It looks very much like a Lineol.

Ha ha regarding the musk ox! I love them and had to slide him in there, partially because I am so surprised Lineol never made one and partially because I thought it was kinda funny.

And thanks regarding the prints too. Which modern artists' works do you have? And yes, more walls and more space would help a lot. And more money...

I'm still waiting to hear if my contact can get me Colorata sets. I'll let you know as soon as I do.

Brett

[kikimalou]

Hello Brett, here are the modern artists prints I've got on my walls. I've got more Henderson's giclee but they aren't framed yet.picasaweb.google.com/Kikimalou59/Prints3101091105?authkey=sOd6470xpws&pli=1#

Voilà,

Christophe