I've been dealing with HobbyLink Japan for a while now, both as a customer and as a business. They've always been really great to work with and the staff has always been courteous and friendly.
During this latest trip to Tokyo the opportunity came up to visit HLJ and of course I could not refuse.
Unfortunately, like all good things, there was a catch - HLJ isn't exactly in Tokyo. In fact, HLJ is located almost two hours out of the city in a small town called Sano, in the Tochigi Prefecture of Japan. It's not a trip that you take on a whim - it's an all day affair. If you are staying in Tokyo, it's a 90 minute bus ride to the outlet malls in Sano, and then you have to take a cab from the bus station to HLJ. The HLJ Warehouse is generally not open to the public, so it is best to contact them via their website if you want to visit.
My first impression of the HobbyLink Japan warehouse is that it is well.. huge! The business is much larger than it seems like from the website. There's ample parking, a beautiful sign, and the striking modern warehouse contrasts starkly with the Japanese countryside.
I entered the building through a large automatic sliding glass door where I was greeted by Joseph, an employee and my main man at HLJ. We went up to the lobby where I was introduced to the man himself, Scott Hards.
Scott is the founder and owner of HLJ, and we got to sit down and chat about the origins and direction of HobbyLink Japan. You can listen to the 30 minute interview here.
Click here for the audio interview
Following that, I got a tour of the facilities. On the top floor is the business offices. Here is where all the orders are processed, items are cataloged, and customer service issues dealt with. I was surprised to see that a good portion of the staff here were western. In this area were shelves filled with the latest items, waiting to be weighed, photographed and cataloged.
From there we went to a room that I can only describe as heaven. It is the main warehouse of HobbyLink Japan.
On your right are the new items, some still in their shipping boxes - that are currently in high demand. These items will stay here until sales die down a bit and then they are moved over to the left side of the warehouse.
It is here that most of the live stock is held. The shelves are stocked by category - Gundam kits, pvc figures, chogokin and super robots etc line the walls. It is essentially the best toy store ever. I mean, they have a whole Macross aisle!
Check out the video tour!
In the next section of the warehouse are the plastic kits and prize items. HLJ was founded on plastic model kits, and their commitment to them remains strong.
It is up here on this floor that the initial orders are picked. Workers fill bins up with items from order sheets - scanning both the shelf and the item requested. These bins are then placed on small elevators and sent downstairs to be organized by customer order.
Downstairs the warehouse feels more like a warehouse. Pallets of flat cardboard shipping boxes and packing materials are stacked high.
Items that have just come off the truck are here, as well as unopened cases of items that are on the shelves upstairs.
You know those cool air-filled bags that cushion your order? Those are filled right here in the factory. Open one up, and you are breathing Japanese air from the HLJ warehouse. From here your orders are collated, packed and shipped out twice a day.
There's also a shelf with damaged goods - either items that have been returned from customers or damaged from the factory. These items are kept here in case replacement parts are needed on future orders.
From the shipping and receiving area we go into an area that looks like it could be a showroom, with polished wood floors and ambient lighting. This room leads to the dining area. Here employees can eat lunch brought from home or bento that's delivered from a meal service. There are a few vending machines here, one of them free! A widescreen TV is also in here so staff can keep abreast of the latest baseball scores (as everyone was fixated on the day I was there).
Scott really spared no expense in making the new HLJ warehouse a really fantastic building. In addition to the great work environment, there is a climate-controlled data center, backup generators, and the building even has a water reservoir in the foundation.
I was also really impressed with just how nice everyone was. Everyone bent over backward to give me all access, and show me the inner workings of the business. And after the tour was over, I got to go SHOPPING!
All in all, it was a great trip, and well worth it to meet everyone and see where all of these wonderful packages come from. Special thanks to Scott and Joseph for taking the time and showing me around.
Of course, make sure to visit http://www.hlj.com and tell them CollectionDX sent you!
Comments
23 comments postedDamn it.......I WANT GO THERE TOOOOOOO ;_; !!!!!
Oh a silly question: can you buy anything if you were inside:) ?
*insert crying school boy*
...that place is so beautiful.
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Rob
The Gundam Model Guy
I love the design of the building, it looks like the bridge to some super dimensional space fortress secretly beneath the ground.
Or like something out of a Tokusatsu series.
Like something out of Ultraman or Kamen Rider.
Bah, those are cheap imitations of Thunderbirds.
Wow that is EXACTLY how I imagine paradise to be.
Keep up the good work, Josh.
Thanks.
Does anime-export have a warehouse like this too?
If it does then JOSH I ORDER YOU TO GOT THERE NOW!!!!
I actually hung out with someone from Anime-Export, but we were not able to make it to their secret lair...
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CollectionDX Admin
It's got its own food and water supply, lockable doors, isolated location, and A GIGANTIC MULTI-LEVEL WAREHOUSE FULL OF TOYS.
This is the place where I want to go when the zombie apocalypse starts.
I'm sure that the nostalgic feeling of walking into a regular toy store comes back full-force as an adult when you walk in there- so many endless shelves of awesomeness that you don't know where to start!
If I'd had my head on straight, I would have told you to say "Hi!" for my Dad- he and Scott are e-mail buddies through a modeling site (I forget the name)... or they were several years ago.
Awesome posting, Josh. I envy you all the more!
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CollectionDX Staff
Wow thats so awesome to see the HLJ warehouse. It all looks so neat and tidy.
Gah....still in awe. freaking awesome coverage Josh. I remember back in the 90's on Nickelodeon they'd have this yearly contest where you had x number of mins to go on a shopping spree at a toys r us filling as many shopping carts as you could...Can you imagine doing that at hlj?
Oh, yeah- I remember those contests! Those were awesomeness indeed. You're right on the money in that, Jerilock.
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CollectionDX Staff
So glad I wasn't the only one thinking exactly that!!
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Sanjeev
REQUEST DENIED most likely
I love these type of behind-the-scenes tours... this is an instant classic post, Josh. Classic! Excellent!
Great little detail here:
"You know those cool air filled bags that cushion your order? Those are filled right here in the factory. Open one up, and you are breathing Japanese air from the HLJ warehouse."
...next HLJ order, I'm huffing HLJ air bags, so I can get some more of that Japanese air!
I bet you were all giddy when you saw all those SOC Reideen's.
I know I wouldn't have contained my excitement if I were there.
The video was great too.
What a blog post! I already love HobbyLink Japan,
but to see so much behind the scenes reinforces
my love so much more. Thank you for doing this
post. I love these "peeks behind the curtain".
I had two favorite parts - the shelves full of
toys and getting to see the people who do such
a good job making HobbyLink Japan run so well.
If any HobbyLink Japan employees are reading
this -- you all are Awesome!!!
One thing that I found interesting is that being a small-ish outfit you get the side benefit that every piece they ship out is more or less handled by a human being, not run down a massive conveyor belt and scanned by an automated computer so in that you get a lot more care and "love" put into your shipping box..
That was a great article. I always wondered how my orders were filled at HLJ. Very insightful and I loved that video. If only I could have reached into my monitor and grabbed some stuff when you were down the Chogokin aisle.
That place is spotless too! Incredibly tidy.
Thank you for that outstanding post.
Cheers!
It was amusing to see the Garland proudly displayed on the spare parts shelf... :)
Wow you are soo lucky to visit HLJ and still keep your sanity. I would've gone mad walking thru those aisles :D
Mathai