Off Topic: Car Toys at SpeedLounge

Okay, I’ll admit it. I still collect car toys. I briefly wanted to touch on some gifts and toys we recently picked up in Japan. If you’re a toy car collector, there is a store in tokyo called “Mr. Craft” that you might like. As my good friend Antonio says, ” Chris, your head will explode when you walk in there”. To put it mildly, yes my head exploded as soon as I walked in.

This place was so tantalizing I forgot to take photos of it. As soon as I walked in, it was a sensory overload of everything car related. They have model toys, books, and team gear. It is four floors of this stuff. You can only imagine how much time can be spent at a place like this especially if you’re from the US where many of these items are not readily available. Many of the cars are race cars and normal production cars. This varies from the American Hot Wheels and Matchbox which often have wild and crazy cars that are likely imagined.

I walked in hell-bent on finding some Silver Lancer Evos. To my dissappointment, they were not as plentiful as I thought they were going to be. I searched floor after floor and did not find any until the 4th floor. This is more of the consignment floor. Owners can rent cases and display their items for sale.

This is the only one that I purchased. It’s still in the wrapper because I would like to preserve it. This is a silver Evo 7 Tokyo Motor Show edition. There were some other WRC championship cars they had there that I now regret not purchasing. Luckily our good friend Antonio Alvendia from www.speedhunters.com is still there and will make an attempt to pick these up for me.

This is a model 7-11 we purchased at Mr. Craft for my brother in law. Once we opened it up I was like , “DAMN this is F**Kin Sick”. Some assembly was required but I feel it was worth it.

The attention to detail that they place on these is almost mind boggling. They even have the special recycle friendly waste cans that are found all over Japan. It even has an operating sliding door for the front entrance.

You may ask, why is this guy sooooo in love w/ 7-11 ? In the US, 7-11 is pretty whack. Other than slurpees, cigarettes, and candy I feel I have no real purpose in visiting any local 7-11s. But in Japan it’s a completely different story. They have a wide assortment of drinks, snacks, and cool magazines. Everything down to the food is different. No 28 hour old hot dogs here. They have everything from sushi to ready made beef bowls that they will heat up for you.