http://hobbyworld.aoshima-bk.co.jp/eindex.asp
http://www.luckymodel.com
http://www.hobbyeasy.com
http://www.hlj.com

hmm.

if you want to see what's inside the box of kits you're buying.. i usually will go to here..

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng


the rest..
Rainbow Ten

kuman

Great. Thanks

Hope other forumers will add the list of hobby shops that they find in the internet to this thread

As you know, hobby shops are hard to find in Malaysia ...

http://www.squadron.com
http://starshipmodeler.com/cfstore/index.cfm (for sci-fi related stuff)

http://www.hobby888.com/

http://www.hobby88.com/

Tristar

Dust game

Metal Troops

www.e-toyz.com

This site has some good pics for reference

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/gal-fea.htm

http://www.coloradominiatures.com
http://www.redlancers.com
http://www.fantization.com
www.darkswordminiatures.com
http://www.shenandoahmin.com
http://www.historexagents.com

anyone bought kits from here

http://www.greatmodels.com/

For my case, I usually go direct to the manufacturer's site. Some non-mainstream manufacturers for 1/72 armour are below. Some has 1/32 or 1/35 as well. Some are resin kits though.

Atlantis Alliance - 1/72, 1/87. 1/120, 1/160 scale - armour only

Cromwell Models - 1/76 & 1/35 armour

Fine Scale Factory - 1/72 armour. This site's in German only so anyone able to translate ? This is because previously they had their whole catalog online but now its gone so I suspect they are only selling via their dealers only. The others sells driect as well.

Milicast - 1/72 armour.

Monday Knights Production - 1/72 and smaller scales

Vac U Cast - 1/76, 1/285, 1/48 Armour

Of the lot, I only purchased from Vac U Cast before. Some diorama accessories (heavy machine gun emplacements, etc). They are easy and very friendly to deal with. Daniel Levy will directly communicate with you if necessary.

One word of warning. I have a friend who works for a forwarding agent. He tells me that plastic model kits are classified as plastic toys and will incur 30 or 35% tax (if I remember correctly). When I bought the Vac U Cast items, I did not kena tax but that's because they are small pieces and got shipped in with a very small box (5" X 5" X 5" box). For proper kits, their boxes can be big. Or if you buy a few kits in order to take advantage of bulk shipping, they can be very bulky. I am pretty sure customs will hold your package. If so, you'll have to drive all the way to KLIA to clear it.

Also shipping as usual is the real killer. I think if you ship from the US or UK, you will probably incur at least RM60 shipping. Sometimes more. That's via airmail. You can try seamail but that takes like 3 months to arrive and you'll probably get crushed boxes and maybe even broken parts. For shipping, as usual they charge by volume or weight, whichever is MORE EXPENSIVE (they always win !). So we are shipping basically empty air most of the time since model kits are seldom packed tightly in their boxes. This gets worse if you are like me, planning to buy one of those battlesets which comes with a moulded piece of diorama base, like the Italeri Battlesets. Those boxes are huge so the shipping cost willl be equally huge as well.

Anyone has more internet purchasing experiences to share ?

i bought from them twice before... they're ok... IMO for american or european online shops i'll say GMW has a lot of items in stock and they are relatively cheap for a non-far east model shop.

... about the only thing that pisses me is that their web layout are poor and messy... doesn't even have thumbnails... just terrible web design. <_<

yeah .. seems like the online stores from Japan and Hong Kong have a better interface ...

which one is the most nearest to malaysia...??

Hong Kong and Japan..cheap shipping cost :)

personally, i prefer HLJ from japan, and LuckyModel from HK my 2nd preference

is the shipping price reasonable?? which is the cheapst??

Hi all, I assume that we will use EMS for shipping if we were to order from HLJ, rite? I guess this is taxable, how many percent do we have to pay?

Thanks.

most of the time, i request shipping for max. 2 items at a time. so far, haven't kena taxed before ...

That's great! What about the shipping fees, does HLJ use EMS to ship to us?

Thanks.

You have two options for the shipping. One is using EMS and another is using SAL. I always use SAL since it's a lot cheaper.

Although there is no tracking options and longer waiting time, I have never faced any problems with my items being missing. Usually using SAL, my items reached the doorstep in ten or latest by 12 days.

Yup. SAL is good enough and I've no problems with it.

As for Kastams, it's going to be a hit or miss affair. You may or may not get hit. The bigger the box, the higher the chance of getting taxed.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I thought SAL is not available based on my reading in the HLJ's statement, I guess I got it all wrong then.

I assume two boxes of a 1/48 modern fighter jet shouldn't be too eye catching for the custom. Thanks again, guys.

Depending which 1/48 you are bringing in ...

say, if its a C130 or the B52 ... its gonna be very visible .....

SO far i don't have any luck with HLJ - about 90% casualty rate with the customs. I blame it on the box with has HLJ JAPAN written all over it. No experienced custom officer will miss it!

Tax is 15% in total. If your package is by way of SAL, then max value to clear custom is about RM200.00. But if EMS max value is RM500.00 i think.

try www.rainbowten.co.jp which i prefer. They have better shipping 'option'. The drawback is that the website don't have any pictures.

Hi fren,
How much for the shipping fee to order from Japan?
And also custom there, will they charge us????
And they will damage our model kits?
Thanks

Shipping fee is charged according to weightage and size of parcel. May be around rm 40-60 for SAL, more for speedpost.

Customs, depending on your luck. Sometimes no charge but if there is charges, normally abt 30% of ur total cost including shipping. Even the customs are ripping us off... no wonder they got BMW as patrol cars..

Abt damage, that too depends on ur luck and the grace of the handlers and customs..

hi there...
\
well for starters... can browse over the HLJ site and they have an extimated shipping cost for every item to malaysia in both options (IIRC) SAL & EMS in RM somemore.. Click Me

my experience with HLJ... so far so good.. the max shipment in 1 order = 2 x 1/72 Macross Veritech...

hope this helps..

kuman

So far I've been lucky...my shipments got in tax-free!

okay..

let me give my ideas/opinion/etc/etc

guide to get free tax make sure it's declared below RM500 ..in some cases EMS can lepas even exceed Rm500.. SAL must be below RM500 to get exempted from TAX...

and for question between HLJ and others .. i still prefer rainbow10 in japan much better then HLJ and other japanese shops... HLJ service is relatively poor and so far i only order twice from them and both were delivered more than 14 days
rainbow10 however were excellent..they replied ur email almost immidietly and they will quote u the shipping before u place it..simply email them and ask for shippign quotation ..
the only drawbacks they didnt have online transaction yet..and they didnt have pcitures..nto a big problem though

What kind of transactions do they accept?

all major credit card..but u can have it online..
u must email the number (separate email of course) or fax it to them..

I definitely agree with Sil on this one. Personally i think rainbow ten (www.rainbowten.co.jp) has the best service. Personally i hate to deal with HLJ they got attitude issues.

I've received my first online order with luckymodel yesterday, I was delighted that the order was in perfect condition. The kit itself was in showroom condition and precaution has been taken to ensure that the kit is cushioned inside the brown box itself. What amazed me was the brown box was also in perfect condition! Not even a single dent or tear.

I get to know that I can order the kit from luckymodel and request them to send to my address in HK. Likewise, whoever is traveling to HK in the future, you can place order for stocks that are available in the inventory and your order will be delivered to your hotel room for free.

Some months ago I posted about my experience buying from Alanger USA (read it here). That was back in March 2006.

In December 2006, I decided to make another order. They were having 70% discount so I added 3 kits into my order:
1) Eastern Express Gaz 66
2) ICM Grads Rocket launcher with 4 crews
3) ICM Historical Miniature - Board Battle (consists of T-28 + Flammpanzer II + 4 figures)

Total cost was USD30.38 which entitled me to a free kit. I chose the "Anti-terror forces on Balkans" kit (4 modern US troops + 4 modern russian troops). Shipping cost was USD24.00. I happily submitted my order and waited for it to arrive.

I wasn't expecting speedy shipping as my first order took almost 1 month to arrive. One and a half months passed and still nothing. I started searching modelling forums for info and found some posts on Armorama dated September 2006 regarding unfulfilled orders and poor customer service from Alanger USA. It didn't look good so I emailed Max Tereshenkov, the proprietor. I didn't get a reply. 2 more emails and still no reply. I've read a lot of mixed reviews about Alanger USA and Max. Some buyers complain that he may not have the items in stock which is why orders can take up to months to be processed. Others have complain about Max not replying to emails, etc. Yet others have commented that they have received bonus kits as compensation.

I sent Max another email on Feb 28. I explained to him that I wasn't in a hurry to get my kits and I'm not upset if the order is late. I just wanted an update from him. Max replied the next day. He apologised for the delay stating he was out of stock of some items and said that my order was on its way. On Sat 10 March, my order arrived! It was dated 28 Feb, which meant it took less than 2 weeks. Furthermore, the postage cost was USD36.00, more than what I paid for!



Oh! It appears that the free kit was the one that was out of stock so I didn't get my figures. Instead, Max compensated me with this!!!



Would I recommend Alanger USA? Yes, but only if you are patient and in no hurry to get the kits. Their selection may be limited but their prices are cheap especially when they are having their sale. Customer service may be lacking but he sure knows how to compensate for it.

Adrian,
at the rate and working ethics that Max is handling his business, he might run into serious problems. But the bridge layer kit is a wonderful kit. Built mine a few years back. Only the T-28 still remains in the box.

For HLJ and rainbowten, anyone can give an idea of the exchange rate I need to use in order to get a good estimate of the price in RM ? For e.g. how much would 400yen work out to ? How much is shipping usually ? Thanks in advance.

I think this site might be useful.

Click here

It all depends what the your local bank use as the exchange rate. HLJ and R10 will bill you in Japanese Yen.

Talk abt HLJ, my order from HLJ have been detained by Custom. I think I will probably buy from luckymodel in the future although the price is a bit high, but least the trouble since luckymodel can declare lower value for me... :lol: