Card Shops In Japan: Kinkys

Please check my "Card Shops in Japan" page before planning a trip to this store to verify that it's still where it was when I visited.

While I've been working on posts about the card shops I visited on my trip to Japan in May, I've realized that most of the new posts are for shops that I really didn't like very much (Mint Shinjuku, Mint Tachikawa) while I'm only updating existing posts for stores that I really liked (Quad Sports, Mint Ikebukuro, etc).  I've been doing the new posts in the order that I visited the shops and next on the list was one of my least favorite stores.  I decided to switch things up a little and instead write about a shop that I really enjoyed instead - Kinkys in Osaka.

With a name like "Kinkys", you might get the wrong idea when I describe it as an antique toy store.  Let me be clear, they don't sell THOSE kind of toys.  What they do sell are vintage toys from the 1950's and later, kids magazines, record albums and 45s and lots of trading cards, especially baseball cards.  They stock a lot of Calbee cards and I also saw Yamakatsu and menko cards there.  Sean had discovered this store on line (although I don't think he's made it there in person yet) and Ryan has been here several times.

I visited the store the afternoon of the day I had arrived in Osaka.  The store is located about a quarter mile from Neyagawashi Station on the Keihan Main Line.  It takes around a half hour to get there from Umeda Station and about 40 minutes from Dotonbori.  It's on the second floor of a small building with an udon restaurant on the ground floor:

You get to the shop by going into the doorway on the right and climbing the stairs.  The stairwell is decorated with picture sleeves from vintage 45s - I was amused that there were a number of singles from the Kinks:

The store is packed with stuff - enough that it can be a little difficult to maneuver.  I took a bunch of photos although I don't know if they really capture the store well (the store's website does a better job of it):

There was a big pile of Calbee albums for various sets (not just baseball):

While I found Calbee cards in several different locations in the store, the most valuable ones (either due to rarity or being in really good condition) were in binders up near the cash register:

While the Calbees in the rest of the store are basically in random groups, the cards in the binders are organized in order so it's easy to find a particular card you're looking for.

I ended up buying a handful of Calbee cards here.  I saw the Yamakatsu and menko cards but I didn't really look into them too much since there weren't any specific cards of those that I was looking for.  Here's what I bought:

I also bought a 45 of the Young Rascals "People Got To Be Free" for a friend of mine who's a huge record collector.  I knew he liked the Young Rascals (we went to see them in Baltimore way back when) and I (correctly) figured he'd get a kick out of it:

I spent 4000 yen here which wasn't too bad considering the Lions multi-player card was 2000 yen and the 45 was 1280.  My total was actually 4120 yen but the shopkeeper (who I assume is the owner) rounded it down to 4000 yen since he didn't take credit cards.  I had enough cash with me to pay the full price but he insisted on the lower price. 

I didn't talk to him much as he was on the phone for a bit when I arrived at the store but the owner seemed friendly.  He did insist that I leave my shoulder bag and the shopping bag from the Godzilla store I had visited earlier that day on a shelf while I was in the store (you can see them in one of the photos I took in the shop).  With so much stuff I'm sure he's worried about shoplifting.  Customers wearing backpacks are likely to knock stuff over as well.

If I haven't been clear, I'd go back here in a heartbeat despite it being a little out of the way.  It was a very fun store.

Here's a map with the store's location: