Acquiring Doujinshi

[usamimi]

I've had luck finding more "common" doujinshi for series that aren't terribly old and/or popular stuff, but if it's rare? Chances are slim. Doujinshi sellers at cons generally stock up on either stuff that's cheap and they can sell a lot of, or stuff that's tied to new/hip shows/games/whatever that will sell with the younger crowd.

Of course, there's always a CHANCE...one year, I found a booth selling doujinshi ran buy--of all things--a little old lady who seemed to have NO IDEA what she was doing (I think the booth must've been owned by her husband or son & they couldn't make it, so she was stuck selling it all on her own)...there was a box of doujinshi on her table, none with prices, and when I asked how much they were, she just shrugged and said "I dunno--$5?" And I ended up finding a book by the artist of Dragon Half in there (it was a FF7 one). I've never seen it for sale anywhere, so I'm assuming it's fairly rare, but that was really a FLUKE and I've never had anything like that really happen since. I had to laugh, too--before I bought the book, the old lady took me aside and said, "Are you SURE you want to buy that, hon? I've seen some of those books and some of them are...PORNOGRAPHIC." (She whispered really aggressively, as if it was SO SHOCKING, lol.)

And you can always ask vendors about specific artists or series you might be looking for--some vendors do mail order or shopping services for specific stuff, so it never hurts to see.

[Animusubi]

Hmm...looks like it's going to be a bit difficult to find Toyble's doujinshi work. Still, I enjoy a challenge.

On the subject of finding doujinshi at conventions: do you typically have luck finding them at conventions or is it kind of hit-and-miss? Any luck with older titles or is it usually current material?

It's almost always YAOI and CURRENT POPULAR STUFF. I very rarely find older stuff, and sometimes you get those vendors that won't let you open it. I bought a friggin $20 doujinshi once that was just a promotional item showing the doujinshi circle, it was 90% text and almost no comics or pictures. Seller wouldn't refund me. I learned my lesson, if they won't let me look in it, I won't buy it if it's not something I know about. That was pretty rare though, and probably wouldn't happen again. XD;

Though if you DO find older stuff, it's cheaper. So that's a plus.

[Heero]

I recently found the "Urusei Yatsura - 30th Anniversary Book" that I got at Comiket a few years back. It's basically an anthology doujinshi with what appear to be various short (a few pages at most) Lum tribute comics by a wide variety of fans. I'll try to take some pics or scan a few pages sometime soon.

[Kame-Sen'nin]

I recently found the "Urusei Yatsura - 30th Anniversary Book" that I got at Comiket a few years back. It's basically an anthology doujinshi with what appear to be various short (a few pages at most) Lum tribute comics by a wide variety of fans. I'll try to take some pics or scan a few pages sometime soon.

Sounds interesting Heero, I'd love to see that!

Quick update (for anyone who may be interested): I actually managed to get several of the Dragon Ball doujinshi by Toyble that I have been searching for! I came across them for a reasonable price on eBay and couldn't resist.

I'll try to post some pictures of the set soon!

[Kame-Sen'nin]

It's later than I intended, but here's a picture of the five Toyble doujinshi I acquired. I had originally only been able to find DBAF, but managed to find a copy of DB Zero for a great price as well!