Where to buy models.

Updated on 9/22/10, 22/9/10, 10/9/22.

Figured I'd get this out of the way but here are the places I have bought from.

State side:

Gundamstoreandmore
Nice selection of kits, can be a bit on the pricier side but they have decent shipping prices and tend to keep older kits in stock. I've ordered from them three times and all three times the items arrived within 10 days of ordering and where packed well and had no damaged boxes or missing pieces. I've begun to noticed that GSAM stocks around three times a year so unless they have something you want, I would tell you to avoid them.

Hobbywave
Again a nice selection of kits but their new items tend to sell out quickly and take a while to restock. Prices are on par with gundamstoreandmore, however they ship through FedEx if that is a bother to you (it is to me), and the shipping is a flat $10 no matter the size of the order. I've only ordered once but it did arrive fairly quickly. They have a point system but I'm not entirely sure how it works. Recently increased their prices slightly and seem to still have the flat shipping fee. If you know when a model is coming out, expect Hobbywave to have in about two weeks after its Japanese release.

Japan based:

HLJ
Also known as Hobby Link Japan, they have the best selection of kits from the three Japanese retailers I've used. They regularly restock items (but not old ones as those are generally out of production) and respond to questions within a day or so. I've ordered from them twice and both orders went smoothly, although I used SAL shipping once and EMS the other time. Generally speaking, HLJ is the most expensive retailer, charging Bandai's MSRP. Even when they run sales, they still tend to be more expensive than AmiAmi or 1999.

Hobbysearch
Known as 1999 in Japan, they have a point system and have a nice enough selection leaning more towards newer kits and re-releases. I have one item coming from them that should be here tomorrow or the next day (May 12th or May 13th) and two items preordered 1/144 HG 1.5 Gundam (00) and HGUC 1/144 ZZ Gundam. They where a bit slow to respond to an email I sent and took four days to process an order I made Sunday night. So far so good with them however. Slow to ship, but not as slow as I am with updating.

AmiAmi
My favorite Japanese retailer as they tend to have the lowest prices, but the selection is basically just things released within the last year and a half so unless you're getting a newish item or preordering steer clear. I have had the best experience with AmiAmi with four orders, all of which where processed in about two days and arrived within the week of the ship date.

eBay
So you can't find that kit anywhere and you've found on eBay. Great find bro, buy it. Seriously, don't be afraid of eBay, or PayPal for that matter (I LOVE PayPal, makes my shopping experiences really easy). I know lots of people who avoid eBay for a multitude of reasons, be they knock offs bad experiences, or warinesses of PayPal. To be honest, the knock offs exist, and two of my friends have experienced it (both buying DVDs however). Seriously though, if you get a knock off from a seller, go to eBay and tell them that you got a knock off, unless it was actually in the sellers post, which case you're screwed. I actually bought my 1/144 HGUC Unicorn Destroy Mode from a guy: Animezing. Visit his store, he keeps it pretty well stocked and I'll probably be buying from him in the future.

A few terms:
EMS - Express Mail Service - Fastest international shipping, but also the most expensive at about 18 USD for an item weighing 400 grams (about the weight of the average 1/144 sized kit).

SAL - Surface Air Lifted - Slowest shipping possible but also the cheapest at about 4 USD for 1/144 sized kits. When I say slow I mean I preordered two kits through HLJ with SAL and forgot that I had ordered them by the time they had arrived. Update: Due to a lack of funds recently, I've been using SAL more often and for whatever reason, the orders are taking about 10 or 15 days to arrive at my house (on the east coast of the US).

Registered SAL - Not as fast as EMS nor as ridiculously slow as SAL but is only about 10 USD for a 1/144 sized kit. It seems AmiAmi now has this available and I tend to pick this over anything now.