HobbyLink Japan Reviews 

I've been into Gunpla since a few months. Naturally I ran into HobbyLink Japan.

At first their prices seem amazing, especially when compared to my local (Dutch) prices. Of course, there's shipping and customs fees to take into account.

Especially the shipping fees are pretty hefty, 18 euros for standard untracked and 22 for standard tracked shipping to the Netherlands (with far more expensive shipping options available). Add to that a 15 euro customs fees and my 28 euro Full Mechanics Aerial suddently wasn't that cheap anymore.

That said their website is pretty good, they offer the option to store items in a private warehouse for later shipping and communication about the delivery is good overall. My item took 7 days to arrive and was well packaged.

It could be worth it for some of the rarer models but, they usually only have very few gunpla models in actual stock with the rest in backorder without a definitive delivery date.

All in all it's a hard website to recommend.

I recently made 2 purchase orders last Dec 2024 and 3 purchase orders last Jan 2025. No problems encountered whatsoever with all of these. Items were new (as it should be), packed preperly and securely, priced reasonably, and shipped as advertised on the shipping method used (if not earlier). Handled all my queries professionally. Highly recommended seller.

Pre-ordered items half a year ago. End up they dont have enough stock to distribute when the item releases. Why accepting pre-orders then? They say you're in queue but restock time is unknown. And you never know where you are in the queue. Thought it is a big company and was reliable. End up worst experience I have with toy shop ever.

When everything is fine, business is good for you and HobbyLink Japan. But as soon as something goes wrong, don't expect much help from HobbyLink Japan. As I learn from my experience.

Been ordering from them for over 3 years, some small issues with package arriving super late but overall serious.

My last package arrived really bent and I know it isn't shipped that way but I contacted them for further instructions since the look of the package I know something is going to be wrong and I didn't want to open it. They told me to go ahead and do so and check the product and inform them if anything is wrong and they will work with me to fixed it. Well, something was wrong, a piece was really bent out of shaped and I informed them of it and their responds was too bad. That would be my very last order from them.

Didn't deliver pre-order I placed in March of 2024. It's now September, 6 months later, the item is released and...nothing. Suddenly it's out of stock, and it's like I never pre-ordered it. Why even pre-order anything?? I could have ordered from a reputable store instead but I wasted SIX MONTHS on HLJ!!

This is scammy behavior and it's sad to see from a company that used to be so good. HLJ is garbage now and I'll never trust them again.

Take my advice and order from a real store. HLJ won't deliver.

The store offers a wide selection of goods not available in my country, at reasonable prices. The customer service is also good, with quick response times.

I've only ordered one thing, and $11 item.
They don't ship it at purchase time. They have this genius (and below board) method of adding things to a 'private warehouse' -- which takes a few days for in-stock items.

And you pay for the item.
THEN, once things are in your 'private warehouse' you can ship it, AT THREE TIMES, MINIMUM, MORE THAN THE PRICE OF THE ITEM.

So, you paid them. Then you have to pay a useless shipping price to get the item.

Here's how that looks to me:
Many people, myself included initially, will have to decide to eat the cost of the item and just not ship it. And they get to KEEP the merchandise.

Scam, scam, scam. It just is. If people think the 'private warehouse' is a good idea, they're naive. This is a business practice; otherwise, you could opt-in to such a thing and have everyone else pay and ship at one time.

Ugh.

I even tried to ship it since my son really wants the (now horribly overpriced) item.
Well, submitting the shipping form brought up a little web spinner and then stopped. No feedback for whether it went through.

I waited for a confirmation email for a while and then tried the purchase again.

Same thing.

At this point I don't actually expect a confirmation email, but I DO expect to be charged twice for shipping and MAYBE get one item. Maybe. I could see getting charged twice and never getting anything for $70.

It feels like a scam all around. Have some pride. Goodness.

EDIT/Addition: This is even better: they STORED my credit card and there's not way to remove it from their site. You can switch to another one, but in that case you're still giving them a valid account to charge against.

I think the company is in THAT business. Not the hobby business, no matter how they 'used' to be, if indeed they were.

Addition: I'm now getting notified that they are going to 'autoship' my purchase. Hmm... I wonder which shipping service out of the 11 or so they offer they'll pick? The cheapest?

Since they have my credit card on file (that I can't delete) then they can pick anything they want.

Tried to order it shipped again using several web browsers, but the submit button doesn't do anything, so I guess it's going to default to THEM auto shipping using whichever shipping service THEY choose.

Nah. Sucks to have to cancel a credit card to prevent a dodgy business from theft but since they're thieves I guess that's what I'll do.

I would have give a 0 if allowed.
1. They had sent me a used and broken kit.
2. They had close my support ticket 3 times without resolving anything, and have the cheek to show resolved on the status.
3. They push all responsibilities to manufacturer, forgetting that they are the ones that customers deal with.
4. Their respond time is extremely slow, and half-hearted.

I have all the screenshots and pictures to support how they treat their customers.

Friends, there are many alternatives with better prices out there. Just stay away from HobbyLink Japan.

Had I been writing this review 5-6 years ago it would have been 5-stars. HLJ used to be my go-to site to order Bandai model kits so I could get them as soon as they released in Japan. Sure, shipping to the US was expensive but it was also super fast and was the best way to get new products ASAP.

Back then HLJ would put order stops on preorder items after they knew they wouldn't be able to fulfil any further ones in the initial batch of the model kit, so if you got your preorder in you knew that you would actually receive it upon release. However, sometime over the past few years they decided to keep accepting preorders up until the items release. As a result, if you place a preorder you have NO way of knowing if you'll get it when it comes out, or have to wait for a second batch to come in. The reissues usually take up to 6 months, and the Bandai kits in question almost always show up at my local hobby store before then, rendering HLJ's advantage of getting the kit on release completely moot.

I can't remember the last time HLJ actually fulfilled one of my orders for a Bandai kit on release. Even when I'm constantly checking their social media and go and place a preorder on their site as soon as I see that they're up, I get no luck. And I don't KNOW that my preorder won't be fulfilled until the kit comes out, at which point it's far too late to order from another site.

This just happened again with Bandai's newest Armored Core model kits and it was the last straw. I'm cancelling all future orders and finding another site. For less high-demand products or currently in-stock items, HLJ is generally fine, but for the reasons I became a customer for, it's completely useless now.

Not made many orders
/po at retailers for figures but hlj is my favourite over amiami for single purchases (at least) as their shipping is much more affordable with the same standard for packaging. My parcels arrived very quickly! Their prices are normally retail exactly which makes them usually the cheapest and their whole website is very trustworthy and easy to navigate definitely my fav very little error unlike amiami who is regarded the best i find an unpleasant experience. Notes I would find to make it perfect would be allowing me to complete the purchase myself for more options when preorder are finally released and layout options for product images on the site for browsing as its inconvenient to have to first click on the product if i want to see it properly i would like the option to enlarge the browsing products image in exchange for reducing the frequency i can see at a time etc! Very minor issue but their product uploading can be slower than other site so it makes me tempted to order elsewhere while waiting for hlj to finally upload but i will have patience!

Gastar en la tienda 145 euros y cobrar 25 euros por un envio en barco que puede tardar desde 1 hasta 6 o 7 MESES me parece totalmente fuera de lugar. Y efectivamente tardo 3 meses. Es el tipo de envio que tenian en china hace 15 años de forma gratuita y para enviarte si querias, 5 euros de compra. Que te llegue y te encuentres encima con 37 euros extra de aduanas, ya es el colmo. Hago pedidos en aliexpres hoy en dia de poco mas de 10 euros y los ponen en tu casa en 8 dias, gratis, sin recargos, y con cupon de un par de euros si llega tarde. No se si Japon o la propia tienda, necesita revisar sus metodos de envio.

I will admit I was reluctant to buy after reading the reviews but they were the best price so I took a chance. I bought the mk1 Titanic DX detail kit which they had priced at 242 Euro v 360 from the ka models. I bit the bullet and ordered. I chose 9 day delivery which was shipped from Japan, the other side of the world and it arrived early. The who experience was exceptional for me because this kit is very specialist and difficult to get for me due to my location. You order, it works out the best dispatch location based on where you are if they have the item in stock. They they display a number of delivery options which are live calculations and you select. The prices and couriers are depending on you're location. The kit was well packed, dispatched quickly and arrived quickly. I can only assume the other reviews misunderstood the way the site works and stock is depending on you're location and courier pricing. Prices were displayed in my currency and you get an invoices when the amount is taken. Prices do change daily on the site which can be confusing for some. My experience was really good and I would order again.

Company sent the wrong item. Wished to returned the unopened box. They gave a ridiculously short time to return and now refuse to take the item back.
I have been a customer for over 16 years. Will never use them again.

I ordered kingdom hearts 3 play arts kai dx edition Sora. Hobby link had the best price! Item was received very quickly too! It did arrive with the hair piece damaged (since heard that this was quite common with the dx version) HL were very helpful and sent me a replacement hair piece. Very easy to contact via the support section in My account. I would definitely use HL again :D

I ordered a model plane from hlj, and the prices are extremely cheap for model planes here, the shipping is cheap and it is packaged very well, this is such a great website and I 100% recommend using this there is no better website.

They used to be OK. Now after updating their website, they have hidden costs in poor foreign exchange rates, that's some 15% worse than your average 5% margins. This is very deceptive practice. Stick with companies that are honest, not HLJ.

I have ordered and preorderd a few figures from,Hobbylink and never had a problem.
Most definitely one of my favourite shops. I will keep coming back.

The shopping is fine, and the products arrive relatively quick, but the pre order is a scam.

If you pre order anything get ready to be pushed back to the 2nd or 3rd wave of releases and wait over 4 months. They accept more orders than the actual units they will have and will most likely give priority to local orders over international ones.

He hecho mi primera compra y todo ha ido perfectamente. Figuras a precio adecuado, los cuales se ha de sumarse el envío, las aduanas y los cobros de gestiones de los caraduras de Correos.

They shipped my package of over $300 to the wrong address. I contacted them as soon as I put the shipping order in and they said they couldn't change the address even before it shipped out. Their Private warehouse is bugged. If you have different shipping and billing addresses, don't use it. I will never see those items I paid for and all they said was to contact the post office. Post office said they cannot intercept the package and to contact the shipper. I was a long time customer but I won't be dealing with them again.