Shopping Guide for People Stuck in Tahoe

Living in Tahoe is not easy for the common otaku, because there isn't even a single card or comic shop in town, let alone a place that sells anime. I can't even get an issue of Animerica here, let alone manga. That's where this handy guide of nearby shops and online stores comes in handy. Also, check the E-bay Guide too.

Locally (Reno, Nevada & Sacramento, California)

Local shops are nice because even though you spend money on gas, you usually have to get to Reno or Sac sometime anyhow. It saves money on shipping charges (trust me, gasoline is still cheaper) and you don't have to worry about it coming in time for birthdays, holidays, or anime night.

Suncoast - Suncoast is very cool. While their collection of subtitled videos decreases each time I walk in, they have a lot of anime DVDs. They also sell novelty items from popular series like Pokemon, Sailormoon, Digimon, and probably (god help us) Cardcaptors (gag...). Suncoast does have an online store, but if you're gonna shop online, there are better stores. Also sells Animerica magazine.

Sam Goody - same company as Suncoast, same type of stuff. Also sells domestic anime soundtracks.

Tower Records/Virgin Records/Best Buy - usually sells only dubbed tapes and DVDs, and domestic soundtracks. Also sells Animerica, Smile, and others.

Borders/Barnes & Noble - Both sell selected translated manga in the young adults sections (including Sailormoon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Pokemon, and a few others). They also sell Newtype, Animerica, and other anime magazines.

Hot Topic - *sigh* This used to be one of my favorite stores.. now it's awful. They do sell novelty items, tee shirts, and posters for Sailormoon, Dragonball Z, and a few others. I've also found Magic Knight Rayearth, and lots of stuff from Serial Experiments Lain (Hot Topic is were I heard of Lain). They also sell bootleg tee shirts from The Slayers and one skater shirt with a picture ripped off from Rurouni Kenshin.

Online

Animecastle.com (http://www.animecastle.com) - They sell DVDs, VHS, wallscrolls, posters, novelty items, Taiwanese bootlegged anime CDs, some tee shirts (usually out of stock), and POCKY!

Animenation.com (http://www.animenation.com) - Original Japanese CDs! No bootlegs! Along with a huge collection of tee shirts, wallscrolls, DVDs, VHS, keychains, toys, books, and all sorts of anime goodies.

Vengence of Exclalibur Anime (http://www.voe.com) - Ah, the memories. VOE used to sell orignal Japanese CDs (this is where I bought my Sailormoon Songbox), and I think they plan to again, but right now they only have the Taiwan bootlegs. They also sell manga (Japanese & English), but it's a little pricey. They do sell Code Name Sailor V! Also, posters, wallscrolls, artbooks, and some novelty items.

E-Bay Guide - Ack! E-bay is both good and bad all at once. You have to be so careful on E-bay, sometimes it's not worth the discount.