First off, Kidrobot is an awesome store. I've been buying toys there since I've been interested in "urban vinyl." They carry a very wide selection of toys and even have their own lines of toys. The... More

First off, Kidrobot is an awesome store. I've been buying toys there since I've been interested in "urban vinyl." They carry a very wide selection of toys and even have their own lines of toys. The employees at the store are helpful and knowledgeable, and are always able to provide an answer to any question. The only thing is some of their items are marked up slightly higher than it should be, but hey, business is business. Great store. Visit it and you won't regret it.
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Located in Soho, they started out as an online only seller, but after finding success they launched stores in San Fransisco & New York. They carry various urban vinyl figurines, Kubrick figures,... More

Located in Soho, they started out as an online only seller, but after finding success they launched stores in San Fransisco & New York. They carry various urban vinyl figurines, Kubrick figures, plush toys, Stikfas action figures, t-shirts, and more. Their selection is more teenager or just pre-teens friendly, but even adults may find something to their liking. With wall to wall display toys and helpful staff this store won't disappoint.
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Ok, so I'm late to the plastic joy bandwagon, but better late than never. So hip is the urban Asian aesthetic, probably helped by the weak dollar abroad, who knows!, that even the Americans and... More

Ok, so I'm late to the plastic joy bandwagon, but better late than never. So hip is the urban Asian aesthetic, probably helped by the weak dollar abroad, who knows!, that even the Americans and Brits are doing their thing. The side-hobby of some of the world's industrial designers have turned to making these little plastic cartoon-like creatures, not reliant on stale uninspired brands like Barbie & GI Joe, nor on dominant media of Star Wars/Trek, not even on the more creative, but old Asian aethetic currency of the robot or superhero/antihero/bug/mechanical, obsessive, detailed, with a sort of the fetish of a super-realistic space age. No, this store sells creations slightly more abstract and expressive... a odd-shapped man that looks like he's made of wood and glass though it's actually plastic (by Michael Lau) is found among hundreds of creatures encased in the shelves of this little store. There's a piece that's simply a couch with a large over-sized cat head (separate piece). It's both disturbing and evokative. It seems to express something about the depressing nature of the TV set (though there is no TV); and at the same time, is fun to look at, a joke. Super fake but hyper real, good modern art, challenging, and leaving you with a lot of questions and even more to say. The color palatte these artists use are subtle, sophisticated, and really have an aesthetic impact. Sure some of the stuff is more juvenille or mawkishly dark a la Spike-and-Mike's Twisted Animation... but then again, much of the audience for this stuff IS FOR the pre-high school grad, so why not. There's much more to say about this place (like how you buy these things like baseball cards, without knowing which figure you're going to get; or like the following that a particular artist has among the crowd), but why not check it out yourself. It started as a website, then a store in SF, last year one in NY, and another in LA. Go. Before it gets stale and old or hyped and over, while the raw life is still beating in it & while you can still see it not through comment and category, but with your own eyes...
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