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Post by mecha-mania on Nov 11, 2010 8:53:17 GMT -5
Sorry to have asked this and you would have answered it a thousand times. But any nice toy stores in Hong Kong to recommend? I am going there end of the month and hope to grab something from there.
i am especially keen to go to a area with a cluster of toy shops, i am targeting vintage popy/godaikin, SOCs and hot toys.
i have checked the Hong Kong shops under the "Toy stores around the World: Update Feb 07" thread. Can anyone confirm the toy shops listed in there are still current?
In addition, i am also hoping to check out the official Hot Toys stall in Mongkok, is it worth visiting? are the prices offered competitive?
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Post by gt3ian on Nov 11, 2010 9:53:38 GMT -5
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Post by kitsir on Nov 11, 2010 10:02:09 GMT -5
I Recommend toy shops in HK
toyzonehk 16/F Causeway Bay Commercial Building, No.3 Sugar Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. --- opening hours 12:00-21:00
toyforest shopB109 CTMA Centre In Sai Yeung Choi Street South. Mong Kok --- opening hours 17:00-21:00
Heroclubs 105-101 Mong Kuk Argyle street 2/F Richmond Commercial Building --- opening hours 16:00-21:00(MTR E2)
Toy Shop Flat 507, 5/F, Sino Centre, 582-592 Nathan Rd, Mong Kok, Kowloon. (852 9456 7543) if not open call him (Mr Wong)
whykukok 302-303 Wan Chai Hennessy Rd, 2/F C.C.Wu Building
Hope the information can help you~
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Post by mecha-mania on Nov 11, 2010 20:43:40 GMT -5
sweet! many thanks to gt3ian and kitsir
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Post by mojacko on Nov 11, 2010 22:04:07 GMT -5
good luck finding them ive had the hardest time when i was there last feb but it was fun at the same time exhausting. too many people and mind you not to drink too much water while toy searching coz public toilet is a bit hard to find, the safest you can go to this list is the CTMA center in Mongkok, its one building full of toys if you go a block or two you can also find more toy shops but i forgot the street name, in front of it is also a toyshop on the second floor, be sure to have a map of the mongkok area it will be very usefull for you toy hunting. i didnt manage to find the toy shops in the WanChai area, let me know if found them. and also check out toywave i think they have a physical shop in HK where you can go to. Happy Toy Hunting!!!
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Post by coldiron on Nov 11, 2010 23:14:52 GMT -5
I loved toy shipping in HK. There are LOTS of places to go. I can not remember them off the top of my head, but if you google around there a blog with a map of all the major toy shops. God, I hope to go back again. Still pissed it was right before the fewture getter repaint releases.
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Post by mojacko on Nov 12, 2010 9:12:36 GMT -5
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Post by mecha-mania on Nov 16, 2010 11:11:49 GMT -5
Thanks for all the tips guys, really looking forward to my trip. Been to HK a couple of times, but this would be the first time I will be visiting their toy hub in mongkok. Thanks for the article mojacko, I am so going to find that place, man, you'll never see that kinda places from where I come from
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Post by mecha-mania on Nov 26, 2010 10:18:37 GMT -5
just came back from my visit to CTMA centre, and boy! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! There are more than a dozen shops, 2 dozens mabbe! selling an assortment of toys, ranging from SOC to SIC. There's even a shop in the basement selling vintage stuff and slightly older SOC stuff.
Grab quite a few pieces a fair reasonable prices, including SOC Godmars reissue, GX-47N, GFF Unicorn Gundam, GFFMC Unicorn Gundam Prism Paintwork.
Managed to visit Hot Toys retail shop as well, lotsa nice pieces on display, Barny Ross and Falconer Predator are stunning pieces. As suspected, prices are also cheaper than Singapore and most parts of the world. Unfortunately, not many latest pieces are available, either sold out or only available on preorder.
Anyway, if i find the time within the next few days, i might make a trip to wan chai, heard they have a toy street there, selling mostly vintage stuff ;D
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Post by mojacko on Nov 26, 2010 19:42:53 GMT -5
Good to hear you found the toy shop in CTMA...its a toy heaven for us collectors....hehehe...defenitely HK price is way cheaper than Singapore...thats why shop all you can in Hk....happy toy shopping!!!
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Post by mecha-mania on Nov 28, 2010 10:23:56 GMT -5
thanks mojacko finally, get to visit the toy shops in wan chai today. although i might say the place looks more like a wet market than toy streets, most of the shops there sells local produce and there are only 3 to 4 toy shops in that area. most toy shops there are sells non-collectors grade toys. however, there is a shop (situated near the main road) that really stands out. They carry quite a huge collection of gundam model kits in addition to GFFs, die-cast cars, SOCs and very good quality gashapons/capsule toys (and boy, my kids really grab a load full of them ). i even managed to nicked myself a second piece of GFFMC #1008 which is 60HKD cheaper than the one i bought at CTMA centre. but i do highly recommend this shop to collectors as the prices are pretty reasonable.
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Post by locidm on Nov 30, 2010 3:56:45 GMT -5
I just came back from HK as well! I think I've hit most of the hot spots for toys. Unfortunately I didn't score much as I'm trying to slow down. I'll compile a list later on when i have more time.
that large shop you refer to on the toy street in Wan Chai is Hung Hing toys, they are the bandai distributor in HK. They also made their own 12" diecast gold lightan chogokin (freaking huge). From what i've heard, toys shop in HK have to go through Hung Hing to get bandai products. Due to their position in the HK toy arena, they don't worry about having no business and as a result, their customer service is absolutely horrible. Fun fact: Hung Hing's nickname among HK toy collectors is "mafia" in Chinese, because there was a hit movie 10 yrs + ago that features a mafia of the same name.
There is also another place in Wan Chai in a building named Wanchai 188 that have a number of toy store. Check it out if you are in the area. Couple buildings next to 188 there is a vintage toy store on the upper level, I forget the building's name now.
Oh, across CTMA center in Mong Kok, be sure to check out Animate, its on the second floor and they have an awesome display case bigger than any other I've seen in any stores. Behind CTMA, in Sino Center, take the elevator up to 3rd, 5th, and 9th floor for more vintage stores.
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Post by mecha-mania on Nov 30, 2010 9:58:26 GMT -5
Cool! Hong Kong is really a toy heaven (outside Japan that is) Yea! I think thats the one! their prices are real good tho, none of the shops in CTMA can beat them, i am currently banging my head on my study table for not buying more from them! "mafia"? figures, the sales people are generally expressionless, much like hitmen lol, but yea, they get the job done, reach out and grab the toy that i wanted ;D luckily, better judgement told me their prices are good and deters me from bargaining, only God will know what they will do to me should i attempt to bargain On the other hand, Animate's service is service is great, the sales assistant spent a great deal of time explaining the difference between japanese vs HK SOC versions to me ;D bought more then half of my stash from them but the worst "toy shop" i have been in hong kong is called "extravaganza", recomended by some toy forum i goggled, its situated in langham place at 8 argyle street (why i bother typing down the address in the first place lol), all it shows for is a single ikea cabinet of blythe dolls and thats it! the rest of the shop sells hang bags! more like a boutique than a toy shop! added: oh, btw, forgot to mentioned, for those of you who are still there or are planning to go there, try to drop by toys r us in harbour city in tsim sha tsui, they are having a big x'mas sale at the moment.
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Post by mecha-mania on Nov 30, 2010 10:02:00 GMT -5
Behind CTMA, in Sino Center, take the elevator up to 3rd, 5th, and 9th floor for more vintage stores. Just behind CTMA centre is Sino Centre??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I have been spending hours finding that place! and more vintage stores!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! LOL I gotta get back to Hong Kong lol thanks mate, will check out that place the next time i go there
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Post by mecha-mania on Nov 30, 2010 11:03:53 GMT -5
here's my haul from Hong Kong: toy shops in Hong Kong not only sell toys....they also sell smiles....
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Post by locidm on Dec 1, 2010 3:15:00 GMT -5
nice haul man!
I agree with you, animate is really great. That's where I bought my 2nd, 3rd, and fourth SOC! the first SOC I bought was from Tokyo and at the time, I didn't know what it was. I just thought that the Gold lightan was cool and I had to have it! I had no idea what I was getting into......
I hope to go back soon too!
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Post by gt3ian on Dec 6, 2010 12:45:39 GMT -5
I just came back from HK as well! I think I've hit most of the hot spots for toys. Unfortunately I didn't score much as I'm trying to slow down. I'll compile a list later on when i have more time. that large shop you refer to on the toy street in Wan Chai is Hung Hing toys, they are the bandai distributor in HK. They also made their own 12" diecast gold lightan chogokin (freaking huge). From what i've heard, toys shop in HK have to go through Hung Hing to get bandai products. Due to their position in the HK toy arena, they don't worry about having no business and as a result, their customer service is absolutely horrible. Fun fact: Hung Hing's nickname among HK toy collectors is "mafia" in Chinese, because there was a hit movie 10 yrs + ago that features a mafia of the same name. There is also another place in Wan Chai in a building named Wanchai 188 that have a number of toy store. Check it out if you are in the area. Couple buildings next to 188 there is a vintage toy store on the upper level, I forget the building's name now. Oh, across CTMA center in Mong Kok, be sure to check out Animate, its on the second floor and they have an awesome display case bigger than any other I've seen in any stores. Behind CTMA, in Sino Center, take the elevator up to 3rd, 5th, and 9th floor for more vintage stores. Off topic ................... "Hung Hing vs East Star" you know what I mean!! ;D
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Post by gt3ian on Dec 6, 2010 12:54:23 GMT -5
here's my haul from Hong Kong: toy shops in Hong Kong not only sell toys....they also sell smiles.... Nice haul!! Each time when I went back to HK, I will go to CTMA instead of Wan Chai. I don't want to spend too much time to shop around. The price differences may not worth to spend extra time and traffic fee, somehow. Well, it's just my point of view, somebody may enjoy to shop around to get the cheaper toys!!
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Post by hkj711 on Dec 6, 2010 19:03:26 GMT -5
That's a nice haul there! I enjoy going around hong kong to the various toy centers just to see what they have. Usually I can find something I want at a pretty good price! Last year I went there and picked up the GX-44s for a pretty good price.
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Post by mecha-mania on Dec 6, 2010 22:48:47 GMT -5
I just came back from HK as well! I think I've hit most of the hot spots for toys. Unfortunately I didn't score much as I'm trying to slow down. I'll compile a list later on when i have more time. that large shop you refer to on the toy street in Wan Chai is Hung Hing toys, they are the bandai distributor in HK. They also made their own 12" diecast gold lightan chogokin (freaking huge). From what i've heard, toys shop in HK have to go through Hung Hing to get bandai products. Due to their position in the HK toy arena, they don't worry about having no business and as a result, their customer service is absolutely horrible. Fun fact: Hung Hing's nickname among HK toy collectors is "mafia" in Chinese, because there was a hit movie 10 yrs + ago that features a mafia of the same name. There is also another place in Wan Chai in a building named Wanchai 188 that have a number of toy store. Check it out if you are in the area. Couple buildings next to 188 there is a vintage toy store on the upper level, I forget the building's name now. Oh, across CTMA center in Mong Kok, be sure to check out Animate, its on the second floor and they have an awesome display case bigger than any other I've seen in any stores. Behind CTMA, in Sino Center, take the elevator up to 3rd, 5th, and 9th floor for more vintage stores. Off topic ................... "Hung Hing vs East Star" you know what I mean!! ;D yes...i remembered the movie ;D
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