Ponies Galore! "Thrifting" in Tokyo (with lots of pictures)

[dannahbanana]

In the past couple of months I have found an abundance of ponies in the wild in Tokyo! I'd like to share the locations in case you ever find yourself in Tokyo and want to purchase a pony (or window shop).

The reason I put "thrifting" in quotes is because these shops are less like thrift stores and more like vintage toy stores. I associate the word "thrifting" with finding a good deal, but unfortunately these ponies are not cheap! They are on the upper end of what you would find them for on Ebay. For example, a fairly common pony like Posey will put you back about $15-$35 USD. A mermaid pony about $80 USD. However, these stores have a large variety of amazing vintage toys---much much more than just ponies! Polly Pocket, Barbie, Sky Dancers, Nosey Bears...you name it! I mostly found G1 and G3 ponies, but there were some G2 and G4 as well! They display their merchandise so beautifully, so it is fun to just to look around the stores even if you do not buy anything.

The first place I visited was Knot a Toy: 2 Chome-24-13 Koenjikita, Suginami City, Tokyo 166-0002

This was my favorite store of them all! The shop keepers were so friendly and there were so many wonderful toys displayed nicely. The prices were a tad bit lower than other stores as well. I found tons of G1s, a few G2s, many G3s, some G3.5s, and G4s. I purchased a beautiful Bubbles and an exclusive Chuck-E-Cheese baby (her mane was cut, so I got her for a cheap price) here.

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The second is 2000 Toys: 〒166-0003 Tokyo, Suginami City, Koenjiminami, 2 Chome-43-9 Sugita Building 1F

This store was the largest, and had many narrow rows of display cases full of amazing vintage toys. I think it had the biggest selection of G1s overall. Here I purchased a lovely Wigwam.

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Next is Nakano Broadway: 5 Chome-52 Nakano, Nakano City, Tokyo 164-0001

This is a mall full of vintage toy stores! Most carry vintage Japanese toys, but you can find international ones (such as MLP) as well hidden among them. It’s like a scavenger hunt. I found a beautiful 1982 Butterscotch in the back of a top shelf at one small shop for about $15 USD.

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Finally, there's Spiral Toy: 〒150-0001 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Jingumae, 3 Chome-27-17, Nagata Building A-1

This lovely little shop in Harajuku had many classic vintage toys! I found many G1s and G3s here. There were some very sought-after ponies as well, such as Fancy Mermaid, Glow n' Show, Rollerskates, and Colorswirl ponies. Here I bought the mail-in order white Valentines twin.

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I hope you find this post helpful or interesting! If you are ever in Tokyo and want a shopping buddy, send me a DM! 

What sort of ponies have you found in the wild?

[Griffin]

That's amazing! Thanks for the interesting thread, I had no idea vintage toy shops were so common in Tokyo. The prices sound pretty steep but I guess the ease of finding something you might be looking for makes up for it? In comparison with actual thrifting, I mean.

I've never had much luck finding G1 ponies in the wild but part of it is my own fault, one should really visit the same places actively to be able to catch the ponies before other collectors or scalpers (and I could never do those 8 am parking lot sales or whatever you sometimes have here, haha... it's just regular flea markets for me). Recently I've been able to find some Monster High dolls, though, which has been amazing! And upon my last visit (in the summer) I caught a G2 baby pony. My best find over the years is probably the WW pony Whirly with her original wings, albeit a little damaged. Still waiting for that crazy Nirvana luck... like finding a piggy pony labelled as fake and sold for 50 c! One can hope...

[Zapper]

Dayum. Super cool stores, I have never seen anything like that. You must have had lots of fun! I would freak out

[LadyAmalthea]

Wow, how fun that must have been to see them like that! What's interesting is how they are displayed; they are sorted by type, and even that one place has the newborn twins bagged up together. So somebody is in the know about the ponies, and likely knows what prices they fetch, which is probably why they're so expensive!

Wish it were in the cards for me to go there to browse around, but I'll probably never make it to Tokyo!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Those prices would turn me right off   I like secondhand, used pricing, not "avoiding my mailbox but paying the same price as ebay".

But nice to know that there ARE g1's to be found in Japan....

[banditpony]

Ooh cool. I love going into vintage toy stores.

There was someone from Japan who bought a MIB fairy tails bird from me off of ebay.. and then I found it for sale on a Japanese site, with a huuuge mark up. I always wondered how big the market was for vintage american toys. I figured it was just the same as me liking Japanese toys lol

We used to have a nice vintage toy store near me. There would always be ponies, and every now and then there was a good price on a pony. haha. They closed a few years back though...

[Barnacle_lady]

Those are really nice pictures and something to keep in mind if you go on vacation to Japan.

[Leave a Whisper]

Oh man! So many. I'd have a hard time choosing what to take home. Congrats

[Mewtwofan1]

Oh I’m keeping this in mind if I ever visit Tokyo! My Japanese teacher said if I ever visit to try looking around and exploring, see what I can find. Looks like I now have a place or two to scout out!
Congrats on finding them and your new ponies.

[goddessofpeep]

Ooooo, those look like fun stores to visit!  Thank you for all the pics!

I’m not surprised by the prices.  I’m not knowledgeable about the distribution of G1s during the 80s, but since they had their own line from Takara, I doubt many of the ponies we know and love made it over there.  I also get the impression that cheap sources of used items(flea markets, goodwill type thrift stores, garage sales, etc) are less common over there.  Most of those ponies were probably imported from elsewhere(likely the USA).  I know a local vintage toy store often gets at least one regular Japanese buyer who comes in and cleans the place out of ponies. He’ll buy up every pony in the store when he comes through.  I’ve unfortunately been in after one of his visits, and there’s nothing left.  I’m happy to see where those ponies end up! 

[Ponybookworm]

Wow!!! I'd love to just walk round those shops & see the delights within tbh. I'd window-shop the places to death!!!

[Carrehz]

[Marshie]

This post and all the pictures gave me a serious serotonin boost!!
So beautiful! I wish I was anywhere near these shops so I could visit them!

[SaraMari]

Ah nostalgia, I was in Tokyo on my 14th visit there in 2017. I'd hope to go back in 2021 (stupid work interrupting my travel schedule) so it's nice to see these shops still going strong!

[pinkkittywinks]

What a dream, it would be wonderful just to see them all never mind take a few home.

Love pkw xxx