I spent almost half of September '19 in a foreign land for some work matter. Evidently there were also zero postings on the blog for the first half of the month due to demanding work schedules. An excellent broadband connection does not necessarily equate consistent blog posts because I was simply too knackered by the time I got back to my hotel room at the end of each day.
Being a pop culture enthusiast and a toy collector I will almost certain try to make time to visit toy/action figure hot spots every and each time I travel to foreign countries. I know I've said it many times before that I use my blog to hone my writing skills but today's gonna be one of those exception because I just have to show you how cool this discovery of mine was when I was in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this month.
Yup, expect tonnes of pictures in today's post (60+ pictures to be exact).
Of course I made a point to google the places of interests....*ehmm*...i.e. places that sell action figures in bus load in Bangkok even right before I boarded the plane from my home country.
As a Malaysian, I am compelled to tell you that collectors over here go to our very own Amcorp Mall to get their weekly (or daily?) fix of collector toys/action figures. Amcorp Mall has a perfect blend of collector toy stores and endless flea market traders that'll make youse collectors drool from the moment you step into the mall area.
I've also been to China Square Central (CSC) in Singapore to experience their famous flea market and the famous Nakano Broadway in Tokyo, Japan to see what's the fuss all about. But I can tell you this, Mega Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand is by far the craziest collector toys/action figure hot spot I've seen in recent times! I mean, the smorgasbord of stores with all sorts of stuff on sale.....is just CRAZY! I actually think this place is better than Nakano Broadway (sorry, Mandarake fans!).
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Around the fourth or fifth day in Bangkok, I managed to coax or con my boss and my accompanying work colleagues (depending on how you see it) to follow me to visit this promised land them collectors call Mega Plaza. Having the afternoon off after an eventful morning meeting meant that there ain't no better way to de-stress than to see some action figures on sale, well at least for me. My boss was some sort of a collector himself so he kinda jumped into the suggestion to visit this fabled venue.
This was my inaugural first hand view of Mega Plaza from the tuk-tuk we took (darn that rhymed!) from center Bangkok. Mega Plaza is actually located in the depths of Bangkok's China Town.
I literally jumped through the entrance of Mega Plaza and was just...'meh' by the common sight of some stores selling stuff I've seen before even in my home country.
Uhm....yeah. Still not very impressed of what I've seen thus far.
Try again....
Then, things finally get interesting. There we go, finally some Hot Toys in sight. Still a common sight to me....because I've actually moved on from collecting 1/6th figures.....
Ah ok, finally some Marvel Legends. Now we're talking. You might be turned on by the sight of other toys by now that piqued your interests. Your mileage may vary. Some of these were priced quite reasonable indeed (lower than what I've seen back home in Malaysia) especially when they come without their respective BAF parts.
Was pretty tempted to pick this 1000Toys Hellboy figure up but my intentions quickly dampened as this was was close to 5000BHT....or USD150 dollars or so. I later found a bootleg version of the same exact figure with the same exact packaging for about 1/4th of the 1000Toys' price and all but I decided to skip it due to lack of accessories (stupidest decision ever!)
This was the view from the middle part of the building, or concourse if you will. By this point everyone in my entourage was just so bloody hungry nobody was really interested to climb up before they get some grub into their bellies! So okay, let's come back after we got some food shall we?
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*30 minutes passed since we decided to gobble up some Indian vegetarian food from a nearby food court*
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Aaaand we're back in Mega Plaza to continue our foray into this geeky trove. We quickly made our way up to the 1st floor and found.....
MORE GUNDAMS! Ok, let's hasten our pace and visit other stores then.
Even MORE GUNDAMS!
Ah yes, back to some Hot Toys.
More Hot Toys....
What's cool here is that there's also a store that sells plastic acrylic cases and acrylic stairs. I was terirbly close to picking up a few to bring back home but it quickly dampened down when I think of the trip back to the hotel later (not gonna lug those with me as I make my way around town later).
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Then things got a bit spicier! Muy caliente!
Here's something not very commonly seen back home in Malaysia or in Singapore!
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BB GUNS!!!
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And not just your ordinary BB Guns, but the ones that'll make you get pulled out of the airport line and straight into the police/immigration detention room if you're happen to be caught with one in your luggage!
Apparently these are a common sight here in Thailand. Carrying a realistic fire arm will not get you in jail just as long as they're not the real thing.
As an enthusiast of the aesthetics of World War II and the Vietnam War, I was obviously giddy as a school girl when I saw replicas of the rifles used in both of the great war. By no means am I advocating of conflicts nor endorsing the negativity of war here but I'm just a sucker to the different types of firearms and uniforms used during both era.
Ok, so I'm leaning more towards the rifles of WW2 and the sight of both M1 Garande and M1 Carbine rifles made me all tingly inside. At this point my colleagues have moved on to the next store next door but I stayed on for another good 10 minutes or so just standing and imagining how cool it would be if I could just have both of these mounted on the wall in my man-cave. One can just imagine. I would never have made it pass customs anyway.
The selection of BB pistols (is there such a thing?) is pretty impressive too. Fancy being a cowboy? Then your cosplay will surely be the envy of everyone for these BB guns...err, pistols are too darn realistic for anyone's liking. Once again, wishful thinking if you're thinking of getting past your home country's customs check without being arrested or thrown into the holding room.
For the record, I really dig that WW2 German Luger pistol because yeah, I'm such a sucker for all sorts of WW2 stuff. Told you before did I?
Springfield M1A, the weapon of choice by the Americans during WW1 aka the Trench War in Europe.
Yet another beauty. The WW2 German KAR 98 rifle.....short for Karabiner, Nazi Germany's carbine rifle used by most of their infantry troopers.
At the top, there is a glimpse of the M14, the weapon that American GIs used before the infamous M16 made their way into the Vietnam War.
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Alright, enough about guns. Let's get back to TOYS shall we?!
So going up to the 2nd floor quickly puts us in view of more toys and action figures.
This particular floor actually has more BOOTLEGS than original action figures!
I can clearly see that there are demands for 1/6th scale action figures here in Bangkok as there are always collectors flocking into stores with 12-inch action figures.
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Here's a familiar concept I've seen again and again from Japan, right to my home country in Malaysia.....'Collector Boxes'. This is a place where individuals can put up their own personal stuff for sale in rented spaces, usually within the confinement of a small cubical box-like shelf or according to the display sizes/spaces that one desire.
It's pretty fun to see collectors selling all sorts of random greeblies in one display area.
While some sell their collection by the genre, like this 'horror' one above.
Endless rows of specialty toy stores can only mean trouble for anyone's wallet!
I found 'God'...sort of.
Seriously, someone might've gotten lost in these maze-like pathways before. At one time, I too got disoriented and was separated from the rest of my colleagues.
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Alright, I lost track of the floors. Can't remember which floor is this now.
Alright, now we're talking! A sea of Marvel Legends for my viewing pleasure. They don't seem to have anything that really really captured my eyes but seeing so many MLs in one place warms my heart! And yeah, there are quite a selection of Star Wars toys here too
They even have stuff from this year's SDCC. Impressive! Truth be told, I actually made plans to come back for the Episode 1 Obi Wan Kenobi but that thought actually disappear by the time I made my way to the next level. Shucks.
DC characters getting some love too!
The sight of this 1/4th scale Bat-Keaton stopped me right in my tracks.
Rows and rows of endless collector boxes.....I was getting vertigo at this point. I think a good tip to go by with is to actually know what you're looking for. If not you'd be staring endlessly at random things without an end. Seriously, I had vertigo after a stroll through these parts of the complex (old man syndrome, I know.... haha).
One store even sold their own custom helmets. They're not perfect by all means but I'd give them A+ for the effort. These are perfecr if you're on a tight budget but still wanna look cool anyway. Please bear in mind that you'd still have to pick and choose for the good ones because despite the great aesthetics and all, some of them are still a bit disproportioned and can look rather odd.
I actually spent quite some time here at this Star Wars section but again I didn't get any from here because I couldn't find the dude who supposedly has the keys to all of the display units. What a bummer.
Next up is this shop selling Magic The Gathering stuff. I was never into it but a friend of mine stopped by to look for Dungeons & Dragons dice sets but the store didn't have any full sets, only loose random ones.
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We finally made it to the top level and it was full of shops telling 1/6th scale action figures with most of them focusing on Hot Toys. I was really tired by this point so I didn't snap much pictures at this level. But you know, Hot Toys and stuff....pretty common sight even in Malaysia so i didn't really make the effort to extensively snap pictures at this point of the visit.
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Okay, maybe an exception here. Hahah....
So one final look at a store up at the top level and we began our descend down to lower ground.
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I also noticed that once outside, there are also a few complexes that sell toys as well alongside Mega Plaza but I was already too knackered to give them a visit. Perhaps next time.
So that's it from me. Mega Plaza Bangkok has been a truly wonderful experience indeed. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think this place is far better than Nakano Broadway, Tokyo and the places in Singapore combined. It's that good, with a perfect blend of everything. I shall return to this promised land one day and until then I can only dream of walking down the mazy aisle again for now.
In case you're wondering if I actually bought anything from the place, the answer is an astonishingly 'NO'. I did not get anything from Mega Plaza because a) I was too stunned by this promised land ...and b) time just wasn't on my side. And with that note, here's to me coming back in the near future. Excelsior!
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