All right I’ll come out and say it: I’m one big nerd! Throughout my high school and later years I was always on the look out for Japanese animation series and movies. Throughout the years I enjoyed discovering many of the classics and suffering through many not so classics.
It’s after having moved to Montreal and frequenting on a semi regular basis the now defunct Marche Clandestin (an anime rental store at the time. It`s name translated to “Clandestine Market”) that I slowly discovered I also enjoyed geek toys. At the time the shop shared it’s space with “Camion de Pompier” who imports various custom toys from all around. They also sell custom art pieces and this is where I snagged a piece of work by the local Montreal graffiti artist “Astro”.
What are geek toys you might ask? That’s a pretty vague statement so the question is understandable: What I mean by geek toys are figurines of almost any imaginable kind and made of several different materials. From designer to limited edition to vinyl to dinky 5$ key chain monster toys: my fascination and admiration of them has only grown over the years.
My Korean girlfriend in Montreal at the time had bought me an excellent book introducing one to Tokyo’s toy culture. Tokyo underground – from Super 7. The book in itself is a ‘who’s who’ of toy design and shops in and around the Tokyo Metropolis. It’s not so much an introduction to the culture of ‘geek toys’ as it is a secret map to some of the shops in Tokyo that you’d other wise struggle to find.
This book, along with the Camion de Pompier shop did a lot to fuel my interest in these toys. I picked up a few small items while in Japan but couldn’t spend as much as I would have liked on them. It took all the will power I had not to splurge an buy several that I could hear “calling my name” while I wandered through the endless rows of various shops.
As I mentioned in a previous post I had stumbled upon one such toy store called Kinki Robot in the Gangnam neighborhood but had been unable to find it’s entrance. I was later informed by my Korean friend that you have to reach the store by first entering the ground floor of another store called “Accessories”. Once in the “Accessories” store you can walk up to the second floor to check out the Gangnam Kinki Robot location.
Now back onto the topic at hand. I was wandering Dongdaemun shopping district with my Korean friend going through the countless floors of clothes when we decided to make one last stop in the basement of one of the buildings. I was looking for one specific t shirt that I still had not been able to find. The floors aren’t countless but if you’ve ever been there you know it certainly feels that way! It was while walking past one of the many clothe stalls that I saw it! There it was like a lighthouse beacon shining from a distance over a dark sea: A Kinki Robot sign dangled from the ceiling. I grabbed my Korean friends hand and apologized ahead of time for what I was about to drag her through!
Although the shop was small it had a nice collection of toys. The large Bearbrick “Spock” goes for around 670 Canadian dollars ;-) :
I don’t pretend to know the differences between a lot of toys and materials. I simply tend to choose the toys I collect based on their general look and feel. That being said I do like the “Ugly Dolls” dolls included in the set above. There’s just something about an ugly doll that makes me smile.
I inquired about the price of the above toys; bearbricks as their are called. They come in a variety of sizes and colors but for the most part always maintain their shape. When the cashier checked the prices she went online to their website which I thought was nice. At least I knew the prices I was being quoted were the same as the ones on their site with no mark up added.
They were going for around 160$ Canadian. I’ve been thinking about purchasing one of these for months now but I still couldn’t justify it at the time. That didn’t stop me from drooling over them!
I saw a couple of toys which really caught my eye and peeked my curiosity. On the off chance that they were at a reasonable price or on sale I had my Korean friend inquire about the prices for these beauties:
All approximately 600+ Canadian dollars. As is often the case in life: my personal taste and wallet we’re not speaking the language ;-) I couldn’t just walk away from the store without having purchased something from it and I’m also a sucker for a tshirt. It’s probably the only sense of style I have! I found a couple that I really like and grabbed those as well as a few gifts for my Korean friend. She’s a design nut and they had these miniature chair toys that she’s been wanting to collect for a while. I thought I’d start off her habit by buying her one. Because you know, the first time is always free…. ;-)
I don’t regularly visit their blog but it looks like the Super 7 site is updated regularly so check them out!
You can also find the Montreal Camion de Pompier blog here.
