Anyway, money's good now and I finally got my first Rickenbacker, a 330 FG! It looks and sounds amazing.
I live in Tokyo, and in Tokyo there's a district for almost every hobby or niche. There's a book district, a sporting goods district, electronics, motorcycles, shoes...you name it. There's a musical instrument district in a place called Ochanomizu(a lot of you might already be familiar with it) which consists mostly of guitar shops, and this is where I've been window shopping for years. Prices on Rics are usually quite high here, but very recently many of these shops have some heavily discounted and I was able to get a new one at an amazing price. It's an '11, so I'm not sure if they're trying to move old stock, or if it's the crazy exchange rate, or what. There are always some nice used ones too at reasonable prices too, so now that I have my pristine, brand spankin' new 330, I feel a little better about getting a scuffed or scratched used Ric. In the same store there was a beautiful used 620FG and a 381. Actually, Tokyo is a great place to buy guitars, and I'm happy to say, you can get new, used and vintage Rickenbackers quite easily.
Well, I just wanted to come on here and share the experience and say that, as a new member, this forum is much appreciated.
.........It's an amazing feeling to eventually get your hands on one and you just want to share the good news! 
