Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Riverside's Monsters in My Closet: Vintage and Modern Toy and Collectible Store Tour


I was excited when I drove by the beautiful Monsters In My Closet sign on Stockon Street near my house. I knew the inside would be a nostalgic treat and in the end I wasn't disappointed! Come take a look at this beautiful vintage toy store with me!


The colors are perfection and the shelf of kitsch, horror and retro VHS tapes + display case of deliciously blocky generation 1 Transformers made my heart swell. They had some of my favorite horror movies there.


I found out the VHS tapes are actually a rental club! It's funny, I've actually be asked in business consultations more than once if a VHS rental store would be a viable business option as a retro revival. To make a living, probably not, as one part of your business model or out of passion, why not? The owners tell me they're actually out of VHS players because they sell so fast. I of course, adore the Creepshow sign for their VHS rental club and the masks purchased specifically to decorate the store.


The owner's a tattoo artist so the collections are displayed with an artist's eye for balance and composition. Beautiful to behold, like a toy museum.


And the space has a cozy vibe, like hanging out in the living room of a dedicated collector. Actually the wall color makes it a little like my second apartment.


I sold the owner one of my godzilla toys and a megazord and was kindly allowed to roam about taking all the pictures. I learned he also happens to be vegan and there's a vegan hotdog cart the first of the month so I'll definitely be back for that and to absorb the energy from all those beautiful, well-cared-for toys! Our area needed a nerdy pop culture collectible hub. I'm so glad they're here and doing well, bringing nostalgia and happiness to their customers.
For daily updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow me on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram.

17 comments:

  1. This looks like so much fun, does remembering a lot of these things make me old?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course not ;) Generation 1 Transformers lined up on shelves never fail to make me joyful. I felt happy little inklings of recognition from playing with different franchise robot toys I saw in their display boxes, even though I couldn't remember all of their names.

      Delete
  2. Ehrmahgerd! This is just my kind of store, Vanessa. I love everything about it, and the cozy vibe doesn't hurt either:D You know, I held on to my old VHS player and still watch some of my old tapes....bwahaha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I held on to mine until it broke :( I had some awesome VHS tapes for it too but donated them and just kept my ultimate three favorites. I would still be using mine otherwise. It is a beautiful store :D

      Delete
  3. This looks like fun! and is totally go back for the vegan hotdog stand! Haha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who can resist?! :D I've had that vendor once in the next city over and it's delicious. haha.

      Delete
  4. It looks like a really, cool store that I could spend hours inside! (Rob)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed :) I'll definitely be back to enjoy it all again...and sell a couple more toys and things, haha. And; hotdogs.

      Delete
  5. What a super cool shop, Vanessa! There's a similar one over here in the big city and when I'm there occasionally I like to see if they have one of the early Smurf figurines (they look different from how they look now) to add to my collection :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, that's awesome! Smurf stuff used to do really well for me online when I was a reseller. Unique robot toys have my heart, I've narrowed my collection down to one special one though.

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Yep yep :) They're cute lined up. I love the Sailor Moon dolls mixed in there too. I never liked the Ponies as a girl (Transformers girl here) but I will always have a shameful girly soft-spot for Sailor Moon.

      Delete
  7. Actually I read it yesterday but I had some thoughts about it and today I wanted to read it again because it is very well written. How do Vegan CBD Gummies compare to standard gummies?

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments. Thank you for adding to the discussion! I always reply to any and all questions.

Like us on Facebook

Related Posts with Thumbnails