The Black Gears Policy

MISSION: GETTING THE TOYS YOU WANT

Black Gears was founded to serve a purpose: getting you the Japanese toys you need for your collection, be they run-of-the-mill items or ultra-rare holy grails. Do you have a piece that has confounded your attempts to find it, despite doing everything in your power to track it down? Perhaps just some toys that you regret passing up, and would like to have all shipped to you in one batch to avoid exorbitant shipping fees? Unusual merchandise items not normally handled by online vendors? Black Gears can do it. Instead of waiting and waiting for a toy to become available to you, let us find it for you. Black Gears is located in the heart of Tokyo, and makes methodical patrols of the best vintage toy retailers in the city. Not only that, we make regular visits to little-known stores all across Japan, providing the best probability of locating the item you request. Black Gears would love the opportunity to assist you, and contacting us with your want list won’t cost you a penny.

FOUNDING: 2006

Black Gears was officially founded by toy collector Hydra in February 2006: “As a collector of Transformers and other robot toys for many years, I attended conventions year after year hoping to fill in the gaps of my collection, but was continually frustrated by the absence of the pieces I needed. Instead of passively waiting for slight chance that a handful of international dealers would bring the pieces I needed, I wished there were someone who would address my needs as a collector, and search for the pieces that I want. I managed to fill in some gaps in my collection by making several prohibitively expensive toy-hunting trips to Japan, but realized that most collectors can’t spare the time or money for such a gamble.

However, it was in late 2004 when I finally relocated to Japan that many of the pieces I had long searched for came into my possession, and more easily than I could have imagined. By simply using contacts and making regular searches of toy shops, I managed to obtain some pieces I might have searched for forever in the states. Suddenly understanding how this strategy could be beneficial to worldwide collectors, I expanded my search to new regions and began accepting want lists. With the idea of a toy detective serving other collectors, Black Gears was born.”

Hydra in his office