Report From The Road: Archie McPhee is Alive and Well and Living in Seattle

This past weekend I was tooling around various Seattle neighborhoods with a cousin of mine.

It's been many years since I've visited Seattle, and so it'd been just as many years since visiting
Archie McPhee, the retail outlet for the Accoutrements line of novelties and the Archie McPhee catalog.

It had turned into a lovely and warm sunny Sunday afternoon as my cousin drove me around.

First we went to Seattle's Fremont District ('The center of the universe; set your watch back five minutes'), saw the Lenin statue, the Fremont Rocket, and looked at the constant stream of people going to look at the
Fremont Troll residing under the Aurora Bridge and Highway 99.

I was surprised - - but not shocked - - to see how the neighborhood had grown since I was there in the '90's.

(click on images to ENLARGE in a new window)

From Fremont we headed over to Ballard (and the inevitable burgeoning 'FreeBall' district) and Archie McPhee's - - home of assorted plastic animals, the Edgar Allan Poe action figure, bacon-scented air freshener and flavorless 'Nihilist' chewing gum.

I knew that I was a little concerned about what I'd see this time around.

Back in the day, the stuff from Archie McPhee's was ever-so-slightly 'outside', their catalog and store even more so, and so a trip to that original store was a unique experience - - not just for the shopping, but simply to witness all those oddities under one roof.

Since then, all across the U.S. it seems like inside any gift shop or card store or kooky boutique you can't swing a rubber chicken without hitting a few of their products.

Upon entering the store, my worries dissipated.

Yes, absolutely, you'll see an abundance of all the boxing nuns, pig launchers and devil duckies that you can see anywhere - - but it's their festive and random presentation of those items alongside all sorts of other oddball 'surplus' goods that make for a fascinating retail experience. (In their neighboring annex, too. So many decorating ideas!)

Glass urinals. Motorcycle chains. Mailbox slots. Metal casters. Plastic letters. Different sizes of traffic light lenses. British Royal Mail jackets. Ball bearings.

Seeing that stuff right alongside bins of super balls, plastic moose, pez dispensers and other novelties did my heart good.

Yes, it may be hard to imagine some of the situations where a person might need some of these things, but you can say that about many retail establishments, and that may not necessarily be the point of visiting the Archie McPhee store.

Next time you're in Seattle, Washington and in need of a 'retail-outlet-as-museum' experience, I urge you to visit and see for yourself.

A Sunday afternoon pilgrimage to Kimono My House

Located in Emeryville, California, for over 20 years, Kimono My House is a very special store specializing in Anime & Sci-Fi Toys.

Though I am someone intrigued by the vast world of Japanese animation and fantasy culture, I remain largely ignorant of many of the details of that world.

- - And so for me, a trip to Kimono My House is like going to an odd museum full of fascinating and cryptic curiosities.

It had been a good long while since I last visited.
Mid-'90's, maybe?

The intrigue begins as you climb a couple of flights of stairs until you emerge outside onto the roof of the nondescript warehouse building where you'll find the store perched.



The sensory overload begins as you enter the door.

Speaking personally, my lack of knowledge regarding most of the items within only serves to enhance the experience.

If I understood all of what I was seeing would it hold the same wonder?



































































































































An Ultraman soap dish and Ultraman bathroom air freshener, a glimpse of McDonald's employee dolls and the mysterious 'Boyfriend Tom', a truly spooky and incongruous
George Burns, a shelf load of Gameras, and SO much more.

What does it all mean?






















































































































































































































































































































































































































































And finally, after much searching and wonderment, a few small choice bits of swag that needed to come home with me.

Essential items, all. ▼

The Yuk Yuk Clown Doll versus Big Loo: Pure Evil ??

The other day, 'I'm Learning To Share' visitor Joshua Turner sent these photos along to share with you.

He postulates that the doll is 'pure evil', and says, "I couldnt tell you what year this is from, but it's good stuff. You press his belly, you get a maniacal laugh... good stuff."

I replied to Josh that the *vibe* I received from the Yuk-Yuk doll (not it's design) reminded me of the 'Big Loo' toy that my next-door neighbors had when I was a little kid.

My older sister was best-friends with their daughter. I'd tag along on her visits and ask to see 'The Witch Robot' again, even though the thing kind of terrified me.


It was creepy but fascinating, especially in the array of functions it had.

Now, as is often the way, I discover that when Marx Toys released it back in 1963 it was in a limited run of only 5000.
Creepy, fascinating, and very rare.

The neighbors would dress it up on Halloween and set it out by the front door with their jack o'lanterns.

See also:
Big Loo at The Marx Museum

Big Loo, with box and instructions at a RobotNut gallery

A vintage Big Loo TV commercial over at YouTube

(click for links)

The Yuk-Yuk clown is actually probably the more evil of the two.

Big Loo the Moon Robot can't help his appearance, but he's your friend. Even ready to 'fight for you'.

Yuk-Yuk's agenda is a bit more mysterious. Is he laughing with you or at you...?

(link:) 1969 Corgi Toys Catalogue

The memories come flooding back; The fetish objects of my youth.

Funny, since I 'grew up', I've never been particularly interested in fancy cars. Too much hassle, and ultimately it's just a car.
A tool, like a hammer.

(Besides, clearly I have plenty of fetish objects)

But still, just like as a kid, I'll drool over those old Corgis. I remember the big display case at the toy store, yep, sure, my breath steaming up the glass...

The images come courtesy of the Corgi & Dinky Toy page, an adjunct to the blog, The Cartoonist. Be sure to check it out as well. There's lots to see...

...BUT FOR NOW, go check out that Corgi Toys 1969 Catalogue! (click on link)

So cool! I had that one, an' that one... Oooh, I remember that one...!

- - and at the bottom of the page you can navigate to other Corgi & Dinky catalogues from a few other years.

Yeah, I remember the Dinky cars, too. I don't think I had any. As a kid, they seemed more elegant, too exotic. Perhaps a bit staid? Matchbox cars were beautiful and sturdy, but a little sedate.

Hot Wheels were groovy, and as sexy as anyone could want, but for me they didn't offer the play that a good Corgi did. Too small. No opening doors & stuff. No rubbery tires you could remove. No James Bond car, no Monkeemobile. Corgi's had a good weight, too. A nice heft to them. Solid.

It'd be easy enough to start examining the reasons behind wanting to hang onto the things of our past, why those things give us comfort, how we make time for our obsessions... but not now. Not here...

Oh! There's that Benz - - the one where the only features were passenger windows that lowered, and working windshield wipers. How exciting was that? Whoa! Look, it's the orange bubble car!!!

I still have just a very few of my old Corgis. Most of them are showing their age, as am I...








Man, I Ioved that souped-up Mustang. Whatever happened to it?

Deceptive Packaging

(Click on image to see inside the box)

I don't know its origins, but I came upon this little wind-up toy probably around the first half of the '90's, sitting by itself on a shelf at the astonishing Kimono My House in Emeryville, CA.

I haven't been there in several years (I recommend you make the pilgrimage, if you haven't been), but it used to be that along with all their fabulous anime- and kaiju-related toys you'd occasionally find such oddball items. My guess was that amidst the usual stuff on buying trips to Japan there would be bits and pieces of old warehouse stock that'd been languishing for some time.

I have to think that there was some repackaging involved in whatever marketing had gone into this toy. It had been one idea, it became another. It makes me wonder what was motivating the choices, who made them, and why.

It doesn't keep me up at night, but it's kinda - - y'know - - curious.