CHAMPION -チャンピオン- 京都本店 — Local services in Kyoto

Before anything, know that if you’ve ever purchased cards from Japan on eBay, you’ve most likely bought Pokemon cards from these guys before! Takuma and Ibuki (sorry if I misspelt your name!) are the two guys behind the awesome shop that is the Samurai420 eBay account! I had no idea that was the case prior to going here, and only realized when I noticed their classic Gengar shop logo on the back of Ibuki’s phone during my first visit to their shop. They only recently opened up this shop in Kyoto, and I joked around that it was partially thanks to me (due to spending a LOT of money on their shop over the years, haha). If you’ve had the pleasure of dealing with them online, you’ll know that both Ibuki and Takuma are incredibly nice guys, speak great English, and more importantly, have an amazing collection of Pokémon cards available for purchase. Their prices are similar to those found on their online store (or sometimes better), which means very well/competitively priced. Other than Pokémon cards, their shop is also filled with tons of figurines and merchandise from other anime franchises. Seeing as I only focused on the cards, I can’t attest to anything about the figurines. Overall, I went to their store a few times during my stay in Kyoto, culminating with the purchase of two chase cards that were in amazing condition. I also dealt with an employee named Kimu on the last day, who was also really nice to deal with too (but Takuma and Ibuki came in a short while later to finalize a purchase). If you are a serious card collector, looking for that special chase card (or many other vintage and new rare cards), know that this is THE card shop to visit in Kyoto (and I would even say one of the top ones to stop by in Japan!) It was great meeting these guys, and I will definitely continue purchasing from them both online, and during future visits to...

I visited this shop and was very satisfied. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful, always ready to assist and guide you to exactly what you’re looking for. The selection of cards is impressive – from common ones to rarer finds – so both collectors and players will enjoy it here. I also appreciate that the shop doesn’t feel overly touristy, which makes the atmosphere calmer and more welcoming.

I personally bought a Raichu card here, and the whole purchase went perfectly – fair deal, no issues, and the card was in excellent condition. I can definitely recommend this place to all Pokémon...

My impression is that this is a store run by scalpers. When asking them basic questions about cards, they acted as if they did not even know what they had in stock. They also have a huge amount of new products at 5x the MSRP. Most of these have to be bought via lottery by the general public for example and they have 10+ of each. I understand you need to make money, but a sealed pokemon booster box for 24,000 yen? There is no math or economics model in the world you can use to justify this price. The only reason this does not get a 1 star is because they have a very nice collection...