Not to say that’s entirely related with the issue at hand, but it’s a similar principle. Violent video games, music with strong language, hell, even lolicon and tentacle rape anime cause no harm whatsoever. Chances are the people who peruse (the latter, anyway) such things aren’t flaunting about, “using” it irresponsibly, so if that’s what they’re into, all the power to them. Attempting to take away the right to view a harmless subject that a person happens to be into is just wrong.

I finally got an email from Toyslogic (though not a response to email I sent them), saying my credit card was charged. Actually, thanking me for my order, there isn’t a mention of a charge, but it has been put on my card. It’s a good thing I decided not to pay some SMJ invoices yet, as I’m dangerously close to my credit limit (would have been entirely my fault if I had gone over, but it has been two weeks since I’ve placed an order.)

As it is, I’ll probably never order from them again, unless they have an amazing price for something I must have (unlikely) or I’ve exhausted all other options (also unlikely), and though I seriously doubt it will be the case, if they end up not having Collet in stock, there is going to be absolute hell to pay.

Yeah, I tend to always buy from Japanese retailers these days … the only American retailer I’ve never had a problem with is Otakufuel, and they don’t stock much stuff. Okay, I guess I never had a problem with Toylet either, but their shipping costs were huge (almost as much as EMS shipping), and besides that they’ve got an absolutely hilarious name that is hard for me to take seriously.

I have two problems with Toyslogic at the moment:

1. Using an outdated inventory system. Granted I don’t know the exact details of their system, but from what I understand, their stock updates every few days, obviously excluding weekends. They have a vague counter on their website, and when I ordered it still showed about 10% stock. Most sites these days will update immediately (going from available to sold out, possibly leaving some room for error), and some even give an exact figure of how many of an item they have in stock, and update as orders are put in.

Not the case here and my order is still processing. Granted they have a banner on their site saying they’re going to conventions so all orders would be delayed to this week, but it has still been eleven days since I put in my order.

2. Touched upon it a bit in point one, but the response time is pretty abysmal, even if these are special circumstances. Order is still processing, and I haven’t received an email reply back yet.

That’s rather annoying. I tend to buy mainly from Japanese sites who can generally guarantee stock, but I always hate it when retailers can’t give you an answer on whether they’ll be able to fulfill an order or not, particularly for items that are strictly limited edition like figures.

It’s definitely a pain, and just increases my hate for Paypal. They both may have different reasons for pulling adult items too, but I’m sure the majority of it stems from Paypal’s policies. I think Hobby Search is just taking absolutely no chances when it comes to those policies, while Amiami is deciding to push it a little.

I’m not all that into loli, either. The loli items I do have had me on edge until they arrived safely at my door. I only own one straight loli book, purely because I couldn’t resist the cover; the actual content is far less appealing. A few of the loliish doujinshi I own, I ordered because I was fond of the characters from whatever series they came (the Needless doujinshi I own for example). Of course some loli also sneaks into a book or doujinshi without you really know it, and I’m sure that some might question my copy of Shoujo Material, but I really don’t have anything past that.

Of course, it only takes once of someone opening up your mail, and seeing something they don’t like. I don’t worry too much about it, as I do try to avoid ordering anything loli, but I decide against myself sometimes, and sit on the edge of my seat until I’m in the clear.

Obscenity laws are an absolute mess, though; I almost wish that someone would challenge them. Of course there is the Christopher Handley case when it comes to our hobby, but as far as recent cases go, there is also that of Max Hardcore. Both leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I lost some of the little respect I still have for our government.

It’s also a bit funny, as it’s based off community standards. I listed to a (old) podcast with an Obscenity lawyer when this was all the rage a few months back, and while his focus was representing the hardcore porn industry, he basically said that the best way to protect yourself, short of abstaining from questionable material, is to find where it’s available in your local community, as whether or not you get in trouble is based upon community standards.

I find this funny, as I think that our lovely friend Ai would make a good case as to what our community standards are. Granted the fifth episode was never brought over, but I do believe the third episode has some loli content; not to mention all the other themes that I’m sure a court would have a fun time watching. Granted it would be a guarantee you walk away, but if I ever find the DVDs available locally, I’m picking them up not just out of my love for Ai.

And actually on topic, I’ve yet to hear back from Toyslogic yet. I attempted to call them up a few days ago, but I was met with a painful static on the other end. Regardless of what happens with my Collet, I probably won’t ever place an order with them again.

The adult good things is sorta annoying, since I’d buy a bunch of manga from Hobby Search if I could, and they curiously don’t list the Kanojo x Kanojo x Kanojo pillowcases on their English site but Amiami does.

I’m starting to be concerned about what might happen if someone does open up one of my packages; fortunately for me, I don’t have a big loli fetish and that seems to be one of those things that trigger a response, so hopefully none of my stuff will cause alarm.

For everything I’ve preordered past April, there isn’t a guarantee that Amiami will still offer a similar deal, and I want to make sure I preorder items with sufficient time. That’s the main reason I went with Hobby Search for all of my other orders.

The figures are generally within 500 yen of each other, with each site being cheaper for a few. If Amiami said that anything preordered now would be eligible for 50% off shipping when it is shipped, then I’d consider going with them, but for similar prices, what’s essentially 5% back, and the ability to cancel a preorder should something happen, I couldn’t see myself not going with Hobby Search for the majority of them. I did preorder a few items with Amiami that were already closed, as well as order a few semi-adult items (shame neither site allows you to purchase the truly R18 material; damn you Paypal!) that Hobby Search considers R18.

As far as customs goes, I don’t really mind if I have to pay some fees every now and then. I’m more worried about a package being delayed, and if some righteous inspector decides something I have is illegal.