This thought crossed my mind last night!
So one of my Japanese students is in Japan at the moment visiting his family (Most people who work in Germany are on vacation at the moment); he's about 38 years old mind you and not a collector at all (works in the car industry) but I asked him if he could get me some Star Wars Keshigomu.
Like Eric said; apparently they are not that easy to come by in terms of Gashapon machines being readily available (if they are available, the machines are completely sold out according to my student).
Since the Keshigomu are only available through Gashapon machines and I didnt want to have my student searching all over for a complete set/s...
I decided to use yahoojapan and will have them sent to his home outside Tokyo and he will bring them to me when he comes back at the end of the month (used his help since he has a yahoojapan account in Japan; so that saved me the middle man proxy service)
I won this 24 complete set auction today for 6,000 JPY (circa $53.46 USD): https://page.auction...tion/d263789012
For searches just type (you will find single sculpts or full sets on average for about 6,000 JPY to 8,000 JPY):
フォスケシ 01
フォスケシ 01 全24
I typically use BUYEE TENSO and here is a break down of price differences:
1-(If using a Proxy service like Buyee Tenso): 6,000 JPY (circa $53.46 USD) + 300 JPY Service Fee (circa $2.70 USD) + 200 JPY Payment Fee (circa $1.80) = 6,500 JPY (circa $57.80) + shipping which I estimate at $13-$20 for national and abroad (Buyee holds your package for free for 30 days & AIR SP is the cheapest option) for a total of lets say $80 USD (rounding up the highest shipping rate).
2-(Just using yahoojapan like myself): 6,000 JPY (circa $53.46 USD)
3-(Buying them in person and assuming you get all 24 sculpts at once for 200 yen each): 4,800 JPY (circa $42.77)
So you pay basically double (assuming you get a set under 7,000 JPY) for a complete set of 24 Keshigomu using a proxy service but all things considered its not that bad in my opinion (flight to Japan, finding the Gashapon machines + getting all the sculpts with repeats etc).
Edited by kayfabe1985, 03 January 2018 - 11:55 AM.