VIP Toys in Santafe' Shopping Center, Medellin Colombia

One of my stops in Colombia was a new mall that was recently constructed. It is a big mall even by USA standards, loaded to the brim with really cool stores and a big food court. One of the stores which happened to grab my attention was VIP Toys. I knew I'd like it the second I saw a jumbo Mazinger Z vinyl in the entrance. They were kind enough to let me take photos. Let's take a look at what they offer.

This is what you see as you walk by. Who wouldn't want to go in and check it out? It's very inviting.

Hot Toys 1/6 figures were present and just as pricey as anywhere else. My friend fell in love with the Hellboy.

The mix of stuff offered in this shop is mind boggling. There is something for everyone.

I didn't pack my polarizing lens which would have helped tons in reducing the glare on the cases. Never leave home without it now.

From horror baddies to the king of pop. It;s all here.

This is the Mazinger that greets all that come in. It's machinder size, maybe bigger. Not sure who makes this huge sucker.

If monsters and robots aren't your thing, maybe a bit of Smurf or Super Mario figures will do you some good. Some pretty neat vinyl and PVC here.

There is a whole case dedicated to animals and some miscellaneous vehicles here. How do they pull off getting these things in the same case without looking out of place?

Crave diecast vehicles? There's a wall of that too. From motorcycles to construction equipment.

To the right of the diecast are the cases full of figures. From Saint Cloth Myth to Transformers and Revoltech.

The checkout area looks like the entrance to a Batman ride. Cool.

This wall had a wide range of stuff too. Wall E figs, Tech Deck, South Park, Simpsons and more.

I wonder if Robocop was for sale.

Rockstars and movie figs took up this case.

This case had what I like most, Star Wars and robots with a little bit of superhero stuff thrown in.

Doraemon and Bobbleheads.

Not sure if this was a finished display piece or a model kit, but it was huge.

My wife and I have been on a Mario kick lately having just acquired a Wii. I would have loved to get my hands on Wario.

Smurfs and M&Ms

I sware I almost bought this. Its a 1/6 Honda CBR diecast. I had the money out ready to go.

They also had smaller 1/12 scale which happens to make up most of my motorcycle collection.

I need my car seats wrapped in Vader

More diecast.

The red #24 Ferrari had some really nice weathering.

This was my view on the way out.

I have to say this was one of the nicest high end toy stores I've had the pleasure of visiting. The passion they have for these toys shows. I mean, even little toys we normally take for granted here were important enough to display. And speaking of displays, I want display cases just like these! They were all well-lit and organized. Did you notice the comic sound effect words on the bottom of some of them? Awesome. If for some reason you find yourself in Medellin, make sure you check em out. VIP Toys.

Charlie Brown and Baby Super Mario vinyls

During my vacation to Colombia, I hit up a store called "Importados" that sells mostly Japanese themed stuff mixed in with other pop culture stuff. Sometimes they have some nice vinyls. I noticed they has a 2 for 1 sale so I grabbed a questionably licensed Ben 10 PVC figure for a little cousin of mine and that in turn set me up to pick something out for myself. My favorite of the lot was this Charle brown. I loved the sculpt and it was a nice size so it was to be mine. I also managed to pick up a small baby Super Mario vinyl from a little shop called Kimango which also sold imported toys.

It stands about 7-8" tall although I'm eyeballing it. It wasn't until I got home that I realized that this was a Medicom vinyl figure. There were no retail tags but the bottom of the feet revealed it's origin. I also discovered that it is articulated! The head rocks on a ball joint as do the shoulders. Not bad. You can see some sloppy gluing around the waist.

The nice sculpt continues to the back.

This is a small baby Mario. My wife has been on a Mario kick and with us having a baby girl and all, we figured it would be cool to pick it up. I wasn't down to buy the baby Luigi and baby princess during this visit. I planned to save it for a another day which unfortunately never came. Baby Mario was to be alone. The cool part of this figure is that the head and arms are articulated. The legs however, remain in a seated position. I always thought Mario was born with a moustache.

I will have to get someone in my family to pick up baby Luigi for me since I am back in the states now. I don't know the manufacturer of this little vinyl, but it is licensed by Nintendo. This little $5 figure paved the way towards a purchase of a brand new black Super Mario Nintendo Wii for my wife for Christmas... only to later find out a new Wii lurks near with HD capability. Hopefully she won't notice the non HD gaming.