I was back in Fukuoka for a few days for some work related stuff a couple weeks ago. I love that city so much, I can't believe its been 6 years since I left. They added a Godzilla to Canal City since I left:
Of course I had to check out good old Mandarake, which is located in a trendy neighborhood near Akasaka Station:
I got there at about 11:50AM, which is 10 minutes before they open so I had to wait outside the entrance for a bit. I've never understood Mandarake's ridiculously short operating hours, they are only open 8 hours a day (12 to 8), which rules out both morning visits and late evening visits. Its not like they are a little mom and pop shop, they are a huge chain with lots of employees! Open up more!
I couldn't take any pictures inside but it was basically the same layout as I've detailed in previous
posts here, which was nice. The prices, as everywhere, have creeped up to levels much higher than they used to be, which was expected. I was able to score one game I needed off my Famicom want list though: Star Wars! Not the
Namco version, which is one of my all time favorite Famicom games, but the
other one put out by Victor. Though not quite as quirky as the Namco version, I have wanted the Victor one for years. I got their version of the Empire Strikes Back at Omocha Souko very early in my collecting days and I loved the game play on it. But for some reason it took me a very long time to get the Star Wars version. This is simply because it is a hard to find game (way rarer than the Namco version, which itself isn't super easy to find either) and I couldn't find any good deals.
So when I saw it on Mandarake's shelf for only 2700 Yen (with tax) I jumped all over it!
That would be my only game purchase in Fukuoka on this trip, but I also went to check out the Book Off in front of Hakata Station.
This was actually an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. In 2011 I wrote a post about that location in which I basically
savaged it for having bad games badly priced. So my expectations were low going in.
Much to my surprise I found that they had completely changed the layout of the place and significantly expanded their toy/game section. They have a decent little pile of Famicom carts in there, which is increasingly rare to find in Book Offs these days:
There weren't any particular bargain finds in there (oh how I looked) but the prices weren't outrageous either. And they did have one Famicom bargain, a boxed AV Famicom for only 6300 Yen, which is a really good deal (I didn't buy it so if you are in Fukuoka and looking for one, get over there if its still available).
Anyway, I would add this as a place to check out if you are in Fukuoka since they might update their game pile every now and then and you might catch a deal. They are right in front of Hakata Station so its pretty easy to hit (which is why I went there)!
Unfortunately I wasn't able to check out any of my other old haunts in Fukuoka to see if they were still in business. Mainly this is due to my being public transport bound when visiting and a lot of those places need to be reached either by car or bicycle. Maybe some day!
