Toy Hunting in Tokyo

[samurainoir]

I've been having a blast travelling around with Ed, but man my feet are getting tired!

I can't wait to tell you the crazy stuff the wife and I got into in the maze of those little side streets after we dropped you off at the train station tonight. This is like a block away from where we had that drink before she met up with us.

[samurainoir]

Wow that looks like a fun time! Did you ride the Back to the Future ride? I miss that so much I wished the U.S. Universal's would have left it running.

Yeah, I had done it in Florida a few years ago just before they took it down. As Chris said, this seems to be where they stick all the old Universal features. We caught one of the final Waterworld shows I believe, before they switch it into a show about the Japanese anime show One Piece in a week or so. Backdraft is still a feature there... featuring Ron Howard dubbed into Japanese.











Although the real highlight was the Studio Ghibli Musuem... Chris' kids really enjoyed it, perfect hands on stuff for both adults and children in that place.

[cjefferys]

Lots of vintage Henshin Cyborg stuff, but it's pricey! And that incomplete Mattel 12" Cylon at the left in that last pic was priced at around $175! That's just crazy!

I can't wait to tell you the crazy stuff the wife and I got into in the maze of those little side streets after we dropped you off at the train station tonight. This is like a block away from where we had that drink before she met up with us.

You didn't stumble into a "soapland" did you? Turns out that place we were at, Pronto, is pretty famous. My wife and sister-in-law both knew of it. But they said that the time we were there is usually it's busiest, so that's probably why the service was so slow. They should hire more waiters!

[cjefferys]

Yeah, the Studio Ghibli museum was fantastic. I'm so glad you suggested it, my kids loved it! I'd highly recommend it to anyone going to Japan, especially if you have kids. But if you decide to eat at their cafe, I hope you like hot dogs, with relish only, because that's all your gonna get to eat (or ice cream)! Very odd, limited menu.

[samurainoir]

more photos from Nakano Broadway.

[samurainoir]

You didn't stumble into a "soapland" did you? Turns out that place we were at, Pronto, is pretty famous. My wife and sister-in-law both knew of it. But they said that the time we were there is usually it's busiest, so that's probably why the service was so slow. They should hire more waiters!

Yeah, Jen mentioned that Pronto was a chain.

[samurainoir]

But if you decide to eat at their cafe, I hope you like hot dogs, with relish only, because that's all your gonna get to eat

We were saying, it would amuse us to no end to see Brian/Palitoy trying to make sense of the Hot Dog culture here... it's a bit like a Monkey Paw wish of the fact that you can get them everywhere, but they are... not quite right. Bizarro World Hot Dogs.

[PNGwynne]

Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhh!!!!

[drquest]

Cool stuff!

[samurainoir]

Mandarake Shibuya

[Gorn Captain]

That UFO book looks cool!

[jwyblejr]

We were saying, it would amuse us to no end to see Brian/Palitoy trying to make sense of the Hot Dog culture here... it's a bit like a Monkey Paw wish of the fact that you can get them everywhere, but they are... not quite right. Bizarro World Hot Dogs.

Not going to say much about that hot dog dude. Don't want to get into trouble. Like the chick on the beer bottle. She's got a Miyazaki vibe to her.

[samurainoir]

Like the chick on the beer bottle. She's got a Miyazaki vibe to her.

That is because it's the exclusive beer of the Studio Ghibli Museum... where hot dogs only come with relish!

[samurainoir]

the universe aligned and I got to go to a toy show on Sunday! it was awesome.

[Starroid Raiders Dagon]

I would have loved to grab those Bee Man and ??? Henshin suits under the Medicom Devilman.
Yeah, the hot-dog thing is weird. Although, I haven't seen any as fancy as the ones listed on that board (I wasn't really looking). But, the Japanese hot-dog stand here in Vancouver does great business. The business hotel we stayed at had breakfast included and it was two options and one was hot-dog, so I went with that and it was basic but didn't seem quite right as you said. Then again, I had pizza in Japan as well and that didn't seem quite right, either. I expect that when I'm in another country so I do understand. I think for me, I try to get stuff that has a bit of familiarity but then you taste it and it throws you a curve ball (freaking green tea and red bean paste!). I was happy that McDonalds still had shaker bags for the fries! It is great to see the pictures from your trips!