Toymaker Super7 has joined the production of ‘A Toy Store Near You’, the new docuseries from The Nacelle Company, the same folks that brought viewers Netflix’s ‘The Toys That Made Us’ and ‘The Movies That Made Us’. ‘A Toy Store Near You’ is set to arrive on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and Vimeo in mid-April, and will shine the spotlight on independent purveyors of vintage playthings and how they are adapting to doing business during the COVID-19 crisis which has forced many of them to close up shop (some forever) as they are considered “non-essential.” The majority of the proceeds from ‘A Toy Store Near You’ will go to help these businesses.
Super7 produces a wide range of toys aimed squarely at adult collectors, including their ever-growing lines based on ‘Masters of the Universe’, ‘Princess of Power’, and ‘ThunderCats’ and their ReActivated line of ‘Star Wars’-style 3¾” action figures based on brands such as ‘MotU’, ‘PoP’, and ‘ThunderCats’, plus ‘Alien’, ‘Transformers’, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, Universal Monsters, Heavy Metal musicians, sports stars and many more.
Super7 actually has two brick and mortar stores located in San Francisco and San Diego. Super7 has stepped in as a promotional sponsor for ‘A Toy Story Near You’. The company’s founder, Brian Flynn states:
“At Super7’s core, we are collectors making the kinds of toys we always wanted. In that spirit, when we opened the first Super7 store in 2003, it was about building the kind of toys tore we wanted to shop at. Over the years, anytime we travel to a new town, one of the first destinations is always the local toy store, to not only look for toys, but to meet the collectors and people running the actual stores. To have a docuseries focusing on these amazing personalities and places in this time of uncertainty for many of these shops is an amazing gift from the people of Nacelle. We could not be more excited to help support this effort in every way possible.”
The Nacelle Company CEO Brian Volk-Weiss stated:
“All of us at Nacelle have collected toys (if not dozens of them) from Super7 over the years and we’re ecstatic that they’ve come on board to join our exciting new project.”
When we first brought you the news of this series, it didn’t have a name, and only ten stores were expected to be featured. Now, that has ballooned to a whopping 40+ stores including some in other countries! (Plus one that’s like 5 miles from my apartment.) You can find the complete list below, complete with links, if you’d like to throw a little business their way during this shut-down.
There are expected to be 10 30-minute episodes of ‘A Toy Store Near You’, and once again, they will be available on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and Vimeo in mid-April, with one or two episodes per week. Volk-Weiss states that more outlets will begin offering the show after its debut.
Below are the stores that will be showcased:
- 1313 Mocking Bird LN | Lawrence, KS
- Andy’s Toys | St. Louis
- Billy Galaxy Vintage Toys | Portland, Oregon
- Black Cat Comics and Toys | Burbank, California
- Bric-A-Brac Records and Collectibles | Chicago
- Chicaca 2.0 | Taipei, Taiwan
- Cherry Bomb Toys | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (Behind-the-Scenes)
- Dr. Tongue’s I Had That Shoppe | Portland, Oregon
- Empire Toys | Keller, Texas
- Eternia Dreams | Taneytown, Maryland
- The Fan Fortress | Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Farpoint Toys and Collectibles | Mays Landing, New Jersey
- House of Plastik | Cincinnati
- I&S Vintage | Los Angeles
- Imperial Castle Toy Shop | Pawling, New York
- Jayden’s Toys | Lewisville, Texas
- Kelly’s Toy Stop | Huntington Beach, California
- Kokomo Toys and Collectibles | Kokomo, Indiana (Behind-the-Scenes)
- Paul’s Toy Room | Parlin, New Jersey
- RetroTV Toys | Las Vegas
- Robot Robot | Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan
- Rogue Toys | Las Vegas
- Smash Toys | Chicago
- South Louisville Toy Mall | Louisville, Kentucky
- Spiral Toys | Shibuya City, Tokyo, Japan
- Super7 | San Francisco
- Super Happy Incredible Toys | Houston
- The Batcave Comics and Toys | Santa Rosa, California
- The Gnarly Toy Box | Lakewood, Colorado
- The Toy Box | Glendale, Arizona
- Time Capsule Toys | Girard, Ohio
- Toy and Comic Heaven | Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
- The Toyboys | Haarlem, Netherlands
- The Toy Drop | Indianapolis
- Toy de Jour | Chicago
- Toy Fusion | Sacramento, California
- Toy Stable | Tacoma, Washington
- Toys From The Past | Lincoln, Nebraska
- We Can Be Heroes | Chatsworth, California
Source: Toy Book