Saikou Ni Happy! ~ Buying Guide

Saikou Ni Happy! ~ Buying GuideBUYING GUIDE

For all you TMM fans who don�t know what to start buying? Where to get the TMM items? How to convert currency? Or you generally want to know more information on TMM items, here is a useful and simple guide.

The history of TMM merchandise ~ The first ever TMM products released in Japan was back in 2001, when TMM made it�s appearance in Nakayosi magazine and as a Manga. Most of the TMM products available are based on the Anime, so many items such as figures, plushes, CD�s, DVD�s, trading cards, toys, stationary and many more were not released until the Anime first hit the screens on Japanese TV in 6th April. Today almost all of the TMM merchandises are slowly getting out of print, excluding the Mangas, DVD�s and CD�s, and the main reason is because the series has ended.

Currency guide and exchange ~ When ordering TMM items from international stores, the thing which we really want to know is how to convert the price into the currency of your country. The exchange rate from Japanese Yen to US dollars is 100 Yen = $1.00, and from US dollars to UK pound sterling is $1.77 = �1.00 in the UK. The exchange rate may vary from time-to-time.

Why are TMM merchandise so expensive? ~ When you look at the prices of most of the Tokyo Mew Mew items, the first impression you might get is that it�s dead expensive, especially the CD's and DVD's, but the big question we are wondering is why are TMM DVD's & CD's from Japan are expensive?. When surfing through the net I found out the reason why they are so expensive is because of the quality of the products. In Japan they spend a lot of time on producing products in the best possible state and quality. You can compare the quality to any US or UK products and you will find a difference in terms of quality. Anyway the prices of Toyko Mew Mew DVD's & CD's are slightly cheaper when you compare it with other Anime DVD's or CD's from Japan. For example the TMM CD sinlges only cost 1050 Yen where as the Sailor Moon CD singles cost 1200 Yen each and the Chobits CD singles cost 1100 Yen each. Also the TMM DVD's with 6 episodes cost 4800 Yen each whereas the Cardcaptor Sakura DVD's with 4 episodes cost 6800 Yen each and the Di Gi Charat DVD's with 6 episodes cost 6000 Yen each.

Prices on TMM items ~ In my opinion, although most of the items on TMM items may seem very expensive, it is still worth the buy as a TMM fan. TMM products does not seem to be as expensive as other anime items because the main reason might be that TMM is not as popular as most Anime�s, of course TMM is popular, but not big like Sailor Moon.

CD prices ~ Did you know the way Japanese retailers determines the price of a CD depends on the number of tracks and total running length of time, so you can basically predict how many tracks there are on a CD just by knowing the price? But soundtracks are mainly priced according to the total length of time and not by the number of tracks.

First Press ~ Most Japanese merchandise has got something special for the first press release, however sometimes can be difficult to get your hands on first press items as there are only limited amounts available, so I will suggest that you pre-order early before the release date to ensure you will get a first press item. Please note that the first press item could be out of print before the release date due to the amount of people pre-ordering. Did you manage to get any first press items from Japan? Usually if you buy other press releases of the same item, the price is usually the same as the first press item, however some items, especially books, cost more for the first press release, because the special items such as bags and artworks cost quite some money to produce.

Here is what you might expect from 1st press items (not all the items are listed, but most of the items)
CD Singles (not including 12cm CD singles) ~ bonus track(s), trading card or sticker(s).
CD albums or mini albums ~ poster, trading card(s), sticker(s), LP cover sleeve, reversible cover sleeve, pictured labelled disc, bonus track(s) or mini booklet.
DVD's ~ pictured labelled disc, extra features, box to hold a certain amount of DVD's, trading card(s), artist's artwork, paper dolls or postcard(s).
Books ~ Bags, extra pages containing messages or art work etc..., trading card(s) or sticker(s).

All of the first press Tokyo Mew Mew items are currently out of print! though you migt find some selling on Ebay If you have got any first press Tokyo Mew Mew items, lucky you! Anyway here are all the special features you can get for all the Tokyo Mew Mew first press items�

CD Singles
My sweet heart; Tokyo Mew Mew opening theme [original character card]
Koi wa a la mode; Tokyo Mew Mew ending theme [original character card]

DVD�s
Tokyo Mew Mew vol.1 [Special Ichigo DVD box]
Tokyo Mew Mew vol.3 [Special Minto DVD box]
Tokyo Mew Mew vol.5 [Special Retasu DVD box]
Tokyo Mew Mew vol.7 [Special Purin DVD box]
Tokyo Mew Mew vol.9 [Special Zakuro DVD box]

And finally hope this guide helps you on your TMM shopping >_^