update on the AKBHK site~ looks like its time to learn those dance moves, cuz the official akb impersonation contest is gna start to be held soon! anyone interested? if u r, il come support u *edit* if anyone wants, we can form a team and join as well XD tho i gta warn ppl, i suk at singing XD
Returned from visiting the AKB museum today and, quite frankly, it was disappointing as well just like the HK store. I could only manage to take pictures of the outside sign and window then a picture of the sign inside but that's it as the lone cashier was also looking at the entrance and had monitors of the inside at her desk. No photos allowed inside! WTF is their policy against photos of either places? There really isn't much to see! Both locations are relatively small locations with limited merchandise which appears to only be meant for the HK store. Why have a store and museum without the Actual group merchandise from Japan? Sorry for the rant but it was ridiculous as I had my hopes up for some Actual group swag from Japan!! The only good merchandise available were med and lg sized shirts signed by Rie Kitahara when she and Sayaka were there during the museum's opening. No XL available, which wasn't surprising! Remember that these are Asian clothing sizes which mean they're "smaller" than the American/Euro sizes. For example, in HK, size 44 is an XL whereas in the USA, it's a large size. Japanese clothing sizes are very similar to sizes in HK/China. Sayaka did sign a shirt but was only for display. The member who'se spotlighted this month is Rie Kitahara as there's a small hallway and room with her pictures shown. The museum will highlighting certain members, generally on a monthly basis unless management decides to do so differently and will not let you know who's next! It's good to know the group is doing well but it's too bad management doesn't have a friggin' clue on how to sell their merchandise outside of Japan! I'll just my memories and limited photos of my experience with NO swag to take home. Only the Chance no Juban CDs were on sale. Whatever limited selection CDs were available for $25 USD and up which is very pricey! I can order the CD+DVD versions on eBay or Amazon JP for slightly more! Same merchandise at both locations.
@mr mojo Sorry to hear that you didn't like the experience tbh, lots of us would hav preffered for them to hav the actual merchandise from japan too, but wt can we do~ anyways, if ur still here on the 18th, y dun u try lining up (relli early, id recommend u be there at 7-8 am to be somewhat safe....) and buying the official photos with hk fans? the trading atmosphere isn't too bad here, and when the staff joins in on trading, it gets pretti interestingXD
^ agreed. I think most fans in Hong Kong would have preferred imported products but at the same time if we don't buy the Hong Kong stuff then it's simply sending the message back to Japan that we're not interested in AKB48 - though we are! Buying this stuff is (for me at least) just saying "I want AKB in HK". :/ Hm... I want to go buy photos on the 18th but I'm really bad at waking up in the morning. LOL. Guess we'll see if I'm not [sleep] and staying under the covers since it's finally gotten colder! ←I know, that's terrible, sleep and fear of cold over AKB? Pft!
Thanks for the news about the 18th event. Haven't read anything about it locally. What exactly is it and where? Store or museum? It's not that I had a bad experience but I just had a high expectation of the 2 places. If I can't go to Japan, then let AKB bring their stuff to HK! Sadly, the available merchandise wasn't what I'd expected Seriously, if the HK store had the JP items, I'd have a second luggage when returning home and may have to declare some goods Would've loved some team tshirts esp. Team K and K6 CD. The PSP game "may" be coming to the museum (or at least that's what I was told from the cashier). Can't pre-order it though.
The photos sale is gna be at the shop, but ur gna hafta come early cuz theres onli 154 for sale, and each person can only buy 2pacs . and im not sure when u went, but the both the museum and the AKB store announced they are taking preorders for the PSP game, so there might have been a bit of a mix up and jus for the record, there were team shirts, but all sold out straight away XD
Thanks for the info as I'll try to wake up early. I guess it's cash only? I went yesterday, 12/16. The female cashier looked a bit bored and probably got her info jumbled up or something re: PSP game. I was told it was not for delivery so pick ups only.
lol, if u do go tmr, drop and say hi XD i'l be easy to spot, jeans, gelled hair, and two rings on my right hand XD if u by some miracle get there in time to get some and u get miichan, tomochin or myao, leave it for me if ur gna trade them
i see... care to elaborate on that? The onli reasons that come to my 17 yr old mind is either price, or promotion. Do they want hk fans to go all the way to japan to buy their stuff? is producing in china cheaper? or is it cuz they're afraid china ppl will jus make fakes of it?
So... What's the reason for selling non-Japanese AKB items in HK? Sure, many Non-Japanese fans don't know (much) Japanese but who cares?! The music is terrific and we all suppoert the girls and the group Business wise, it's stupid to create a separate business line for Non-Japanese fans since it's an added expense for different merchandise and rent space not located in Japan. Maybe management wants to focus on their home base of Japan BUT... then why create a branch location in HK? It makes NO sense at all. Considering some things that Aki-p and management has done in the past, nothing makes sense as some of their bus. methods IMHO are half assed! I guess money plays a major role but they're spending more money with a foreign location with diff. merchandise. What makes sense? Management KNOWS about their foreign fan who WANTS the actual JAPANESE merchandise but they Refuse to sell it overseas!! Why?? Sorry for the somewhat off-topic rant but this issue re-appears many times.
sure, its not managed by akb.... but how does that stop them from importing from existing Japan product lines? :S sure, era-bee can be designing its own stuff, and then getting it manufactured, but does it really need to? at the very least, they should have an option for us to order from the akb store in japan even if it means paying a premium.... thts my opinion anyways, srry if its too naive to be practical in the real world~
I guess it's not profitable or at least not profitable enough for them. Shipping in the stuff would cost a lot of money and they might see it as competition to their own goods.
^ This is just a guess but I'm guessing that Era-Bee has gotten the Hong Kong distribution rights of AKB products so they are an "Authorised seller", however unlike the stores that operate directly under the Japanese AKB management, they probably have to pay more for Japanese products as they are going factory→AKB management→HK store. Japanese stores probably only have to pay factory price. However, they've probably licensed the "Official Hong Kong Store" products themselves, manufacture them cheap in China = profit! So in the end, the only imported items you will see are things that cannot be easily produced such as the photobooks and then occasionally singles for whatever reason.
Basically, it comes down to the licensing agreement. If the Era-bee or whoever had the "Authorized reseller" title, the company should've had the rights to sell the JP products. It would Not jeopardize sales in JP since the HK unit Would've been authorized as part of the licensing agreement to sell the JP products anyway. Since the only JP products available are CDs and some posters, it would mean either the HK company didn't or couldn't get rights to sell the JP products and/or AKB management wants to limit the distribution of their products within JP. That does Not make any sense since 1) AKB knows there's a foreign fan base, 2) that base wants the actual JP stuff and, most importantly, 3) it's bus. so the company wants to make money. The market is there but unfortunately the company refuses to sell to that Non-JP base which defeats the purpose, really, of NOT licensing their "official" products outside of JP. The company will still make the products to sell but it'll sell More if it allows overseas sales! The foreign sales should offset the "minor" costs in manufacturing the products as those items will probably sit in a warehouse anyway. Avid fans like ourselves would "prefer" JP products and "would" pay a (slight) premium for them. Both parties are to blame for this confusing bus. venture while the public are the bystanders. I digress on my rant and apologize. AKB management decisions are hot topic discussions. Anyway, we all support the girls and do pay a premium by ordering overseas orders for whatever products we can buy (i.e. CDs, books) but wish we could order the rest of the merchandise that's ONLY available in JP.
They have the rights to sell JP goods, as shown by the sales of things like the PBs, it is just that they are at a disadvantage when it comes to stocking. Therefore it is easier to 'create their own stock' so to say. The HK store must go through (and pay) a middleman that the Japanese do not have to. It's not something I agree with but at the same time it makes sense too. In my opinion, it's not that the Japanese side doesn't want to sell. It's Era-bee being cheap and not paying the extra amount to stock more Japanese items. :/ Pretty much like how Hong Kong Disneyland will stock localised items because it's cheaper with very few exceptions-- they prefer getting cheap stock close by! u_u In Disney's case though, it's probably both preferred AND in the contract.
Oh my... from what I read, the shop in Hong Kong is not that good? I live in Hong Kong but I'm also attending university overseas right now and I totally missed the opening for the shop when I was on holidays last summer... I thought they would have Japanese products and maybe a few localized products.. but from what I see it seems like it's mostly localized. I don't really like that :/ I was looking forward to going to it next summer holidays T_T Do they have at least trading cards? I want to get my hands on some of them...
last time i asked, it was about HKD $980 for a big pack ( i think its about 10 normal packs) of trading cards? but dun get ur hopes up too much, since its a hot item, and normalli out of stock~ btw, nobody cares but il put it here anyways trading photos was awesome today~ full set of Tomochin and Myao~ i can die happy~
