Musings By Joschik Christian obsesses over collectibles, antiques and toys more than the average person, but (he believes) in a productive way. Documenting collectibles has been a passion since working on a book about his favorite childhood toys from Timpo 38 years ago.
There is nothing more enjoyable than to go to a good swapmeet (we wrote earlier about how different those are in Europe and the US here) or is there? Some stores manage to rival the excitement. I wrote earlier about Sinclair’s Auto Miniatures, an amazing store in Erie, Pennsylvania in the 1970s and about Mile High Comics, the biggest comic store just down the road from us in Denver and now came across a book announcement that fascinated me.
Vladimir Antaki’s book on amazing stores is just a must have when it hits the US later this year. Since 2012 he has been seeking out unusual shops around the world and then photographing them. This, his first picture book will feature the most intriguing 45 store owners and their stores. Here are two of them –
Henri Launay does doll repairs out of his store in Paris
Marie Gagné used to run an amazing collectible store in Montréal
If like me you adore this kind of book add it to your wishlist here (we will try to get some for sale on our Marketplace). And if you have or had your own favorite shop please share your experience and if you can a photo in the comments!
Very cool subject. It would be great to get the book and see posted follow up stories/pictures from hobbydb collectors/sellers.
Thanks for sharing this! I am a big fan of store displays and collect images of them like this one from an old toy store which I assume would have been in Paris, NY or another big city.
Wow, nice!
It was always my dream to make it one of the Mint & Boxed stores (I think there was one in London and another one in New York). I found some images online and am adding one for your enjoyment.
After writing the article I found this amazing photo of a vintage travel gear shop in Paris (near the Marché Dauphin). It seems that the store is no more but if you know differently please let me know so I can put it on my bucket list.
Besides the largest comic shop also used to have the biggest model train shop in the world here in Denver! Caboose Hobbies was enormous before it down-sized a few years back with thousands of locos in display.
And this was their famous mural on the wall
Enter your email address if you like to receive notifications of new posts by email.
Email Address
Subscribe
hobbyDB is a participant in Amazon, eBay, Entertainment Earth, and other affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to other websites. While we also accept consideration from Brands or Retailers (which is then clearly marked as Sponsored Content) all editorial opinions are our own.