Mint Kanda is one of three card shops conveniently close together in Jinbocho (the other two being Biblio and Wrappers). According to their blog they've been at that location for 20 years. I've been to the store twice (first in 2013 and again in 2019) and liked it quite a bit although I felt like I had already done my big set building purchases elsewhere so I didn't really take advantage of what they had for sale as much as I could have.
The store is moving to Nihonbashi Bakurocho which I think is about a mile and half east of its present location. Its new name will be Mint Lab Tokyo and it will specialize in boxes and cartons. It will have tables to do box breaks at. They will no longer carry packs and single cards - they direct you to go to Mints Ikebukuro and Urawa for those (they don't mention Wrappers which is much closer than either of those other stores since it's not run by Mint). The new store will open on September 10th.
I wish the owner luck in his new endeavor but I'll miss the old store. And the new one doesn't sound like one that I'll be all that interested in visiting.
6 comments:
Oh that sucks. Mint Kanda was the first card store I ever went to in Japan IIRC, like 15 years ago or so. It really has been there forever. I'm a big fan of the Jimbocho neighborhood and they were always one of my stops around there, and I could always find good stuff in their bins. Bakurocho would actually have been more convenient to me once upon a time, but I agree, my usual thing is to hunt for individual cards, so boxes aren't really going to be my thing either. Mint Ikebukuro is pretty good too though. I've never been to Wrappers, should I go there someday when I can get back to Japan?
Never have been to Mint Kanda, but glad they are not shutting down and just moving. I’m a big unopened box guy, not so much individual cards.
@Deanna - I like Wrappers a lot. They probably have the most eclectic selection of cards of any shop I've been to in Japan. I like Mint Ikebukuro but my favorite shop is Quad Sports in Takadanobaba.
Card shop with no packs or singles... just boxes? Interesting concept.
Ah that is too bad, its nice to have several stores in the same neighborhood. Can't say that the new business model sounds attractive to me either.
@Sean - It was especially nice because both Kanda and Wrappers are good stores (Wrappers is among the top three in Japan IMHO) and Biblio is interesting although potentially overpriced. I guess now the most convenient train station for card shopping is Ikebukuro now with Mint Ikebukuro and Coletre both there and Quad Sports not TOO far away (although I've always taken the train there).
Damn, I guess I mean now that Kanda WAS a good store...
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