To those of you who actually care about my toy-related jaunt to the “Big Apple”, you will definitely receive your fair share of information (and pictures from my handy Casio Watch Camera). So the basic premise of my trip is that my friend, Bryan, and I had planned on catching 2 out of the 4 games of the Phillies-Mets series at Shea. Since I took off Friday, I decided I would check out some of New York City’s finest toy stores while my friend was still at work.

Well the bus trip up was simply amazing. I got stuck next to some smelly old guy who was wearing a leather jacket in July and almost fell asleep on me. Somehow the trip lasted about 45 minutes longer than it should have after the bus driver thought he would take a “short” cut. I finally arrived almost 2 and a half hours after we had set out.

Crazy guy on the subway

I met my friend (after my first trip alone on the NYC subway system) and dropped off my “luggage”. We decided to meet up for lunch and then go to Brooklyn to get ready for the game. Since I had about 3 hours until lunch, I set out on my toy search.

Some big lady on the street

I first hit Toy Tokyo. Unfortunately, the store was closed. I was a little upset, since I had planned this trip for a while. So I set out next for Kid Robot. After being lost in a crowd of hipsters, I came upon the store. I was pretty shocked by the size of Kid Robot. It was a tiny little store, but there were tons of great toys inside. (I guess size really doesn’t matter….yes!)

Saturday at Toy Tokyo: Any Dominatrix...50% off

At the end of this article, I will review all of the toys I bought, but let’s say that I was given a budget of $100 (per my wife). So I was able to find my way back on the subway, after getting lost and crying to some street people. We went out to eat some Thai food for lunch and then it was off to my friend’s apartment in Brooklyn.

The lighting in the Thai place wasn't good...the food was good

Since you probably don’t want to know every detail of the evening…we made it to Shea on the 7 train. (The stuff John Rocker said became a little more evident after listening to this big lady continuously dropping the F-bomb in front of her 7 smelly kids) The Phillies ended up winning the game.

Photos from the baseball game. Hot dogs and orange soda.Yum!

There was nothing too exciting about the game except when Orange Soda began pouring out of the sky on this guy three rows back. We did get the seats in front of these annoying people with their annoying kids. “Go ahead, call the ice cream man over here. Mr. Ice Cream! Ice Cream Man!”

Mets fans...these two need help

Saturday was much the same routine. Bryan and I went to eat breakfast and there was a couple there making out like crazy. Just what you want to see while you are eating. We also played some basketball. Yeah I was horrible. Bryan hit 9 of 10 free throws and I hit 1 of 10. No joke!

I hate this camera. This was the two people making out over breakfast

It was off to a day game between the Phillies and Mets. This time we got stuck in the sun behind this disgusting couple that was making out. Luckily we were sitting in the wrong seats, so we didn’t have to put up with that long. The game was good. The Phillies won again. But we left early so we could avoid some of the traffic…and avoid the afternoon rush on White Castle.

Darryl Strawberry signing autographs

Mmm…White Castle Burgers! They had a special sampler package with 6 different style burgers. It’s a shame that there are no White Castles in Pennsylvania. So back on the 7 train and we finally ended up in Brooklyn after finally getting a chance to check out Toy Tokyo (and going back to Kid Robot again).

Mmm...White Castle is even better fresh!

Bryan and I had planned on just hanging out at a local bar, until he got a call to come to a house warming party. We got to the place and were greeted to a puking guy on the front porch and an apartment that felt like it was 100 degrees inside. The party ended short so we all made our way to the local bar down the street.

This guy was outside White Castle...covered in his own vomit

I think I might have taken advantage of my friend, Bryan, since he had a little more to drink than I did. I kept telling him that this girl was really into him (Let’s just say that she was a little on the “large” side). So his beer goggles were on and he made me follow them to another bar. It was actually really nice…I’m sure all of the 2 other people there enjoyed the waterfall going down the wall. After begging and pleading to go...and the bartender telling us to get the hell out…we ended up heading for home. That’s when my friend told me “Dude, she was pretty nasty”. Umm…really?

Here's a picture of those nasty people at the baseball game. Lay your head on my shoulder....

So there’s the whole story. Now it’s time to check out the toys I bought. (I know that’s what you’ve been waiting for!)

David Horvath's NOUPA characters. I really like the style of these little figures. It's too bad that they are not vinyl. They were a little expensive at $40+, considering that this 4 figure set is made out of hollow plastic. Still, I really like everything David Horvath does so this collection of NOUPA figures receives an 8/10.

I bought two funny looking "Back to the Future" Kubricks. This is Marty McFly in his Enchantment Under the Sea Dance attire. Also, I bought Einstein...the dog. I thought this was a blind box edition, so I didn't actually want Einstein. I would have rather had a Biff character, but Einstein is sorta funny. (Why would they make a toy out of the dog?) I was never a fan of Kubricks, but I actually like these. About $6 each. 7.5/10 rating.

O my! Four different toys here. From left to right: Evirob, Cardboy, Scary Girl and a Dalek Space Monkey. O my...where to begin. These were all in the $6-7 price range...I think.

I've seen the Evirob characters before and thought that they were just...ok. I really like this little guy though. 7.5/10

Cardboy's head is made out of cardboard and his body is plastic. This is put out by Pete Fowler's Playbeast. Better than I thought it would be. Although, if you get a little water on him....he's dead. 7.5/10

The third from the left is from Scary Girl. It was a blind assortment of mini treehouse figures. I'm not sure of this guy's name and I am too lazy to actually look it up. It's an OK figure I guess. Some of the other Scary Girl figures look better than this one though. 6/10.

The last one is a Dalek Space Monkey from the Vanimal Zoo Capsule Toys. I like a lot of these Vanimal toys. Kevin Lyons' Mighty Uprock Animals are amazing and Gary Baseman's Dunces are fun too. This figure is OK, but I am looking more forward to Dalek's Dunnys being released. 6.5/10.

The last three toys all retail in the $6-7 range again. These include two Qees and a Gary Baseman's Dunce from the Vanimal Zoo. Well I will rate the Qees separately. I own a couple Qees and think that they are OK. All three of these figures were in blind boxes, so I had no clue what I was buying.

I like the first Qee. He has a good look. 7/10.

The second Qee, I'm not really sure what's going on there. I like the Qees that they actually try to make look like a bear, cat, etc. rather than turning the toy into an advertisement. 5.5/10.

I really enjoy the Baseman Dunce line and this toy, named Lil' Copy Cat is really fun! I rate this little guy an 8.5/10.

Well that's it! It's tough rating 20 toys in one article. You'll probably see some more in depth reviews of several of these lines of toys. But I've already written the longest Toytoons article here, so I don't think you need any more information to digest.