I once wrote that since its renovation, Virra Mall seems to have lost its edge as a place to find really great, hard-to-find toys. I thought I had happened upon the "new" Virra Mall when I walked into Makati Cinema Square a week ago, only to find out that there was only one collectibles shop there. There are still some pretty good places at the new Virra Mall, like the one behind A Different Bookstore (the name of which escapes me), Best Toys, and Special Toy Center (which sells mostly military stuff but occasionally good die casts, at a very high premium).
Well, last week I also joined a die cast collectors' forum (where I found out that contrary to my initial belief, they really are nice guys and not a bunch of one-upping, hoarding e-bay scalpers like I feared they might be) and well, they pointed me to a nook I had missed, near the Giordano store in Shoppesville.
Apparently, Shoppesville is the new Virra Mall (and for all I know, they might have been even better than Virra Mall all along). I counted FOUR diecast stores all in one spot brimming with Hot Wheels, Jada, and even AutoArt stuff. I almost swooned at the sight of all of them. I didn't really have time to look through everything, but...WOW. I ended up buying the black Hot Wheels Shelby GR-1 I had passed up last December, sadly for a bit more than I would have paid for it had I bought it the first time. I didn't want to have to pay even more for it down the line, obviously.
I will have to resist the urge to go back there for at least another three weeks because I've spent a bit too much on diecast this last week alone. (Any more and I might end up at some meeting saying: Hello, my name is Jim and I'm a collector...) but at least I know WHERE to go, besides Ram's in Festival Mall and RNC in Market! Market!, when I want good diecast stuff.
All things considered, though, I was still more impressed by the stuff available at Ram's Festival Mall (even moreso than the stuff at Ram's in Greenhills).
2 comments:
Hehe I'd call you an addict... but you basically described how I feel as a book collector.
Still, I don't begrudge if a certain far-flung mall has only one bookshop (i.e. 2nd-hand books) and rather, congratulate myself even for finding the shop even though it was hidden at the very depths of the mall.
Fortunately also, books are a more subjective thing as opposed to collectables.
Have you talked to rhoch and joel about your addiction? ;-)
Just AA. He's into tanks, and possibly other military hardware as well. He says Ching is into collecting too, though he didn't mention what exactly.
Theia is supportive, bless her, but the frequency of my buys is starting to get on her nerves...
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