How to find rare anime figures (and how I got my grail!)

I got my holy grail anime figure hooray! It took 3 years but little old Lord Grim / Ye Xiu from The King's Avatar is finally in my hands.
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#nendoroid #animefigures #mandarake

[@TheAndoExperience]

I went on a whole tangent about how preowned grading and Mandarake works and but decided to cut it since it wasn't super relevant to the main topic. Anyone interested in that as a topic for a separate video?

[@chib6801]

I would love a video on this topic. I haven't ordered from mandarake yet, but would like to know how it works when it comes to pre-owned figures

[@lidu6363]

Yes please, it will benefit greatly our future grail-hunting 🙏

[@LadyLauboZ]

Yes please. :)

[@yunhopshii1446]

absolutely !!

[@nihili4196]

Holy Grail is just common expression for something rare that is very sought after. You know, like Holy Grail in Arthurian legends. Or Nendoroid of Sneko in affordable price, in my instance. Shipping costs sometimes are atrocious.

[@LiahsFigures]

Congrats on getting a grail! Mandarake sometimes comes in clutch with alerts, I wish the few that I'm still waiting for came up cheaper though. One example is the Scathach lounge wear ver by alter that keeps going for 30k yen for such a simple figure, it's ridiculous how much some figures go up in price...

[@TheAndoExperience]

HAHA The few I've been waiting for to get cheaper have only gone up in price. I'm dumb for not buying them sooner.

[@DandyCrocodile]

Yay Lord Grim! I'm so glad I caught him when he went up for preorder. His design alone got me into the entire series.

[@JoseDLegaspi]

Grail in sneaker/streetwear culture is the item most people would want in their collection. I agree with your call, people should have the freedom to call it whatever they you want: Magnum opus, monument piece, jewel, grail, whatever. Props to you to callout needs vs wants and that not everyone has the opportunity to overpay for plastic figurines. That being said, congrats on your grail 💖 you must be stoked.

[@TheAndoExperience]

Damn dude, hitting me with the drip facts

[@ShiningBulbasaur]

Thank you so much for this information! I had no idea about alerts in Mandarake.

[@TheAndoExperience]

They're pretty handy ^_^

[@aubrey2720]

I've only gotten one grail. Its the Super Sonico future waitress green dress ver. She's a prize figure in a collection of scales and I paid $115 for her but she is my all time fav figure. The feeling of recieving her after over a year of hunting was unreal. Now if I could just find Momotaru...

[@christmasblast09]

It took me 5 months to find Asuna Titania version nendoroid Back in Box it was a lot of searching and prayers

[@silvaglaze]

I'm so glad I preordered Lord Grim when he was available he's the only nendoroid worth it in the series that's available

[@VK-DNA]

Happy for you that you finally got (one of) your grail(s)^^

[@pakuccino]

Here I thought how to use Mandarake and there you come and blow my mind! XD Thanks for that.

[@shemage5932]

I get that the figure community refers to "grail" as "rare figure", but for me personally, a grail will always be a term I use for my favorite figure(s). Like the ones that, if you had 15 minutes to pack your shit and leave your place before it gets detonated by C4 or something, you'd grab them and only them. Another definition of grail for me is the first of a specific type of figures, like your first nendoroid/scale/figma. You never forget your first. Example, you can collect 150 different nendoroids, but you will always cherish the one that started it all.

[@clariscollection]

That’s a very nice grail I love the king’s avatar it’s such a great show! Can’t wait for the next series and I completely agree I don’t understand why they don’t do the in game avatar figures they are much better!

[@ladyellington6572]

Congrats on the grail!

[@TheAndoExperience]

Thanks!

[@meganliz2240]

A top grail of mine is the nendoroid of Hanako from Toilet Bound Hanako-kun. I know he's not that old of a release but he's kinda pricey now. Here's hoping for a rerelease!🤞

[@yaoiloverstudio]

My holy grail is definitely Kagari Atsuko (Little Witch Academia) Nendoroid. She's not old but freaking expensive and I can't get my hands on her, sold out everywhere or a price to make you faint. Other than that, Aoba (Dramatical Murder), the one with the chains. Otherwise everything from Touken Ranbu and most of Kantai Collection but it's not difficult to find.

[@himeko_nya6812]

I’m so jelly T w T , lord Grim was one of my holy grail figures that made me wish I was born earlier to be able to buy him.

[@NotAquaRelated]

Congratulations! I'm glad you were able to get him after wanting him for so long. I've tried to keep myself to only collecting nendoroids, so my top grail is probably the 2017 Snow Miku nendoroid. She's not insanely difficult to find, but finding her for under $200 isn't an easy task.

[@TheAndoExperience]

She's cute! I like the little scarf the rabbit fella has. Wish I had more of the snow mikus myself TBH

[@SpiderLantern]

I have a hard time defining what a grail is to me. Considering I have been collecting seriously for less then a year, I have many figures of beloved characters that I simply was not aware of when they were released let alone able to buy. However, a figure that is often not far from my thoughts is the One Piece Nico Robin Portrait of Pirates "Playback Memories" 1/8 Miss All Sunday by Megahouse. As a big fan of Robin this is indeed a grail for me. She retailed for $110 USD. The one place I have seen her available is ebay sitting close to $600 USD or higher.

[@mmmahh9056]

I started getting into figure collecting and this really helps! I would love to know more about aftermarket prices and whether or not its better to sell or buy a particular figure?

[@TheAndoExperience]

Once aftermarket prices start going up its unlikely they'll drop without a re-release. Some figures will just naturally sit around (or below) retail cost anyway though if they're not super popular. It's always kind of a gamble if you're overpaying for something on the aftermarket since re-releases do happen.

[@BrianRevy]

After watching this video ... I kinda wish I pre-ordered a couple more of Lord Grim 😅 Forever #1 Anime/Series for me. 😍

[@inugirlz4474]

I’ve been looking for Lord Grim forever 😭😭😭

[@Venerac]

i know sneakerheads also use the term "grail" so it didnt necessarily start from an anime reference.

[@TheAndoExperience]

Ah didn't realise it was used in other collecting circles.

[@ghostbyun]

Congrats on the grail nendoroid! I was able to pick up my holy grail scale figure (Yuki Juudai 1/7th) at the beginning of this year for under 400AUD! He's sitting in buyee storage until Australia's shipping costs aren't so nasty though haha.

[@TheAndoExperience]

Nice! Japan Post better open up again soon... pleAASSEEE

[@PennyQuill]

I actually own a LOT of these King's Avatar nendos... 'cause they're perfect for my OC's. XD With a couple of changes, either color of hair or swiping clothes, but still. XD Kinda relieved, that I didn't miss anything, like checking the game and realizing I'd much rather have them untouched. XD But yeah, GSC is a freakin MYSTERY when it comes to their choices of making new nendos. XD There are so many cool characters still missing their nendo form, but it still seems so random what we actually get.

[@TheAndoExperience]

Mucheng is actually kinda cute and Ye Xiu's nendo cigarette is pretty funny

[@HazukiSama]

And now I know who the person that bought the LG on manda was, I kept alerts up to see if manda ever got him and for how much out of curiosity. I actually got mine through a China flagship store(still waiting on him to get shipped out since I bought him through a group order, though I don't think he'd be more than 100 or shipped on his own). I figured that China may have more of him on taobao and they sure do! Along with the Lord Grim and Ye Xiu statue/scale. I looked for him in JP but he was at the 120-140 range+ and I didn't want to pay more than 100 for him. Probably the most I'll ever pay personally for a nendo as well, he's 100% worth it though! I'm pretty upset at the lack of ingame avatars x'D I'd like to at least get Mr. PKPKPKPKPK and Ye Xiu, but they can wait. Then the scale we get from GSC isn't of Lord Grim, but the avatar that one jerk stole osijdasoasdoj His nendoroid is perfection though with the accessories and the expressions! Also that 1080 number.~ It makes me happy to see that I'm not the only one that considers this specific nendo a grail, he was a definite must have for me too!

[@EvaUnit1301]

You finally convinced me to set up an account. I've been perusing mandarake periodically, but never set an account for alerts. Probably my biggest grails are the Max Factory Dramatical Murder Aoba, MegaHouse G.E.M series L and Light, and Alter Psychedelic Izaya Orihara. The aftermarket on the first two is especially ridiculous.

[@TheAndoExperience]

You just reminded me that I watched Dramatical Murder x_x Really cool figure though!

[@EvaUnit1301]

@@TheAndoExperience haha sorry to bring up the memories 😆 it's just such a dynamic figure and the details and pose are so well done.

[@LadyLauboZ]

Thanks for the tips!!., some of My holy grails are the tamako market anko & dera scale figure & mai sakurajima nendo I have a few tho hehe I really love how manda has real old stuff too would love to buy a tonde burin figure or samurai pizza cats one one day. The alter kotori was my grail I just got her this year & her white day ver too For awesome prices from a local Facebook fandom tradeing group one new one like new.

[@TheAndoExperience]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT ALTER MADE TAMAKO MARKET FIGURES?????? This is crazy, how did I not know.

[@LadyLauboZ]

@@TheAndoExperience year sadly she was the only figure the anime ever got, only reason I knew bout her Is I'm one of those people who after finishing a anime I really like I'll immediately search for figures from it hehe.

[@moonflower1616]

Grail figure: That one figure of Lain from Serial Experiments Lain. I really wish they would have made more of her. DX

[@TheAndoExperience]

Honestly surprised the number of Lain figures is above zero

[@xKumajirou]

OMG! I'M SO JEALOUS! I was SO INCREDIBLE DUMB not ordering him when he was released and now I'm dying

[@mentalone302]

My Holy Grail will forever and always be Lavi from D. Gray-Man

[@mmmahh9056]

A android or a figure, because I believe a nendoroid version will be coming out soon.

[@iotaku]

Got my holy grail zero two nendoroid quite a while back when she rereleased (thank god, before that her price was in in the $300s) and now I got a new grail. (Shirase Kobuchizawa nendoroid from a place further than the universe) It's practically non existent

[@TheAndoExperience]

geez Zero Two is that much? I skipped her because I preferred Ichigo loooooooool

[@iotaku]

@@TheAndoExperience Ichigo is a cool waifu but man if i was a ichigo enjoyer i would have saved so much timelooking for her lol (her highest reached price was $75 and it was so much more available

[@lidu6363]

My grails are the Aniplex Godoka and Devil Homura figures. I think that once Solaris starts reselling a 15k figure for 80k+ it's really about time for a rerelease 🥺 (*praying to my gods... and demons 🙏)

[@Glitcher2000]

I thought your grail was those two Xenoblade girls.

[@HotZenny]

The term "Holy👏Grail👏" is thrown around too loosely these days. It has to be more than a favorite character, there has to be some sort of emotional connection to it, something that defines your, as well as your collection!

[@TheAndoExperience]

Thomas the Tank Engine nendo is my new grail :)

[@HotZenny]

@@TheAndoExperience 😎🚂

[@Remkx]

I thought this was going to be a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 video

[@TheAndoExperience]

Pyra and Mythra are more of a trauma than a grail at this point HAHA

[@sleepyass8769]

Omg I’ve been trying to find this nendoroid😭 I saw it on Aliexpress but it’s crazy ex

[@TheAndoExperience]

It seems like there's still another one available on Mandarake but he's about a 2x markup from the original price. Depends how much you want him haha.

[@aurska4061]

Just got my grail figure yesterday on yahoo auction Japan finally…still 3 times the figures retail price but, better than the 1000$ on eBay 😒

[@wanchuponatime]

Mandarake is the real deal!

[@TheAndoExperience]

I LOVE Mandarake

[@JoseDLegaspi]

I love you

[@TheAndoExperience]

Still waiting for Kinley senpai to notice me

[@JoseDLegaspi]

@@TheAndoExperience I think a Maolin figure would make my life

[@mercy7364]

Congrats on getting your grail nendo, I’m trying to get the korra nendoroid without destroying my wallet😅

[@TheAndoExperience]

Whoa she looks pretty! Hope you can get her one day.