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San Francisco Toy Shopping 2012 part 3 - Boss Robot

As I do in every new city I visit, I look online for local toy stores. Yelp is a great resource for this. While looking for stores in the Bay Area, I came across a promising place called Boss Robot Hobby. With a name like that, I thought, this was right up my alley.

But why hadn't I heard of it before?

I asked Ken about it and he said "don't bother". It was small with some Gundam kits but mostly RC car stuff. I took Ken's advice to heart and really didn't think much more of it. 

However, when the group of us were done with Kimono My House, we had time to kill, and I suggested we go check it out. We were in Emeryville, and the store was only a few minutes away in Berkeley.


People lined up across the street for Ice Cream

The store is located on a beautiful shopping street full of niche boutiques and restaraunts. Traffic on this Saturday afternoon was a nightmare, and parking was no place to be found. We ended up parking on a residential side street several blocks away.

The weather was amazing. Everything was green and beautiful. This was how I imagined California to be.
The shop is easy to spot due to the a-frame sign on the sidewalk. The thing had Boss Borot on it, how could this shop be bad? What was Ken thinking?

As we entered, sure enough, it was mostly RC cars and parts. There was the aformentioned wall of Gundam kits, but right in the center was a glass case full of Vintage Japanese toys.

Score.

I didn't take any pictures of the inside. I was on that high you get when you discover something cool. There were vintage Machine Robos, Takatoku Valkyries, Joke Machines, even a DX Voltes V. But my enthusiasm started to cool once I talked to the owner.

The items in the case were a mix of items from his personal collection (Voltes) to items he had recently bought in a collection. While the shop focused on RC stuff, he was a Japanese toy collector. He told me his big thing was Speed Racer.

So some items were for sale and some weren't. None had specific prices on them, and I got the impression that he was in no hurry to sell. I started to work on him, throwing prices and questions out at him. We talked a bit and bonded a little and eventually he agreed to sell a set of 3 Macross Joke Machine Valkyries. However, some of the parts were in the attic and he couldn't get them right now.

I told him that I was leaving town tonight and would be unable to return. Finally, he gave in and went up into the attic and came down with a bag of parts.

He then mentioned that he had an Elintseeker valkyrie as well, but he wasn't interested in selling it right now.
In the end, I'm glad I went. I scored a boxed Machine Robo and 2 of the Joke Machines - with Jeremy getting the third.

All in all, a good score.

2953 College Ave
Berkeley, CA 94705
(510) 841-1680

http://bossrobot.com

Posted 20 March, 2012 - 15:25 by JoshB