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The Nacelle Company will debut A Toy Store Near You, a docuseries filmed and released during the COVID 19 Pandemic that takes viewers inside independent toy stores across the country and the world, starting on May 29th via Amazon Prime, YouTube, and many other content destinations. New episodes will be released as they are ready in a release pattern designed to prioritize speed over designated seasons.
The Toys That Made Us creator, Brian Volk-Wess, joins us this week on the Temple of Geek Podcast to discuss his new project A Toy Store Near You. A deep dive into one of the quirkiest and tightest-knit parts of the pop culture community, its 50 episodes are as much a snapshot of small businesses in America during one of the hardest times in the history of the country as it is a look at the wonder and joy of the toy stores and people behind them.
Created with self-filmed footage from toy store owners and employees from across the globe (US, The Netherlands, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, and The UK), the show is a compelling look at the nostalgia-and-plastic world of each individual shop, the stores’ histories, the unique personalities that run them, the resurgence in the indie toy community, and how these stores are trying to survive while closed due to the pandemic. A Toy Store Near You will feature stores that are still operating under legal guidelines during the health crisis- some running under an online storefront and others that have opted to provide curbside delivery only. The first episode will feature Billy Galaxy Toys in Portland, Oregon, one of the premier toy stores in the country. The majority of the proceeds from the show will go back to each store that is featured. Nacelle conceived of and began production on the series early in the crisis to provide vital relief for this hard-hit segment of America’s small business community.
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About Our Guest – Brian Volk-Wess
A Toy Store Near You was created by Brian Volk-Wess. He also created and produced Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us, and The Movies That Made Us, as well as Disney +’s Behind The Attraction and Netflix’s Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History.
Brian Volk-Weiss said: “When I heard that my two local toy stores were closing due to the quarantine, I knew we had to do something to raise money and awareness for the stores all over the world that were struggling. Hopefully we can be of some help.”
About Our Host
Monica Duarte is a blogger and cosplay photographer from Southern California! She can usually be found around the comic book convention scene. Either behind the camera lens or hosting cosplay meetups. Among her other geek passions is the world of Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones!
Toy Stores to be Featured in ‘A Toy Store Near You’
1313 Mocking Bird LN – Lawrence, KS
Andy’s Toys– St. Louis, MO
Atomic Age Artifacts: Antique & Collectible Mall- Wildwood, FL
Big Redhead Vintage Toys- Tampa, FL
Billy Galaxy- Portland, OR
Black Cat Comics and Toys- Burbank, CA
Blast From The Past Toys and Collectibles– Burbank, CA
BobaKhan Toys – Everett, Washington
Bric-A-Brac Records and Collectables- Chicago, IL
Cherry Bomb Toys- Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Chicaca 2.0- Taipei, Taiwan
Dr. Tongue’s I Had That Shoppe- Portland, OR
Empire Toys- Keller, TX
Eternia Dreams- Taneytown, MD
The Fan Fortress- Tulsa, OK
Farpoint Toys and Collectable- Mays Landing, NJ
House of Plastik – Cincinnati, OH
I&S Vintage- Los Angeles, CA
Imperial Castle Toy Shop- Pawling, NY
Jayden’s Toys- Lewisville, TX
Kelly’s Toy Stop- Huntington Beach, CA
Kokomo Toys and Collectables- Kokomo, IN
Leicester Vintage & Old Toy Shop -Leicester, United Kingdom
Paul’s Toy Room- Parlin, NJ
RetroTV Toys -St. Louis, MO
ROBOTROBOT -Nakano City,Tokyo, Japan
Rogue Toys- Las Vegas, NV
South Louisville Antique & Toy Mall- Louisville, KY
Spiral Toys- Shibuya City, Tokyo, Japan
Super7 (Promotional Sponsor)- San Francisco, CA
?Super Happy Incredible Toys- Houston, TX
The Batcave Comics and Toys- Santa Rosa, CA
The Gnarly Toy Box- Lakewood, CO
Tardys Collectors Corner- Grand Rapids, MI
Totally Rad Toy House- Nashville, TN
The Toy Box- Glendale, AZ
The Toy Department- Cincinnati, OH
Time Capsule Toys- Girard, OH
Toy and Comic Heaven- Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
the Toyboys- Haarlem, Netherlands
The Toy Drop- Indianapolis, IN
Toy de Jour- Chicago, IL
Toy Fusion- Sacramento, CA
Toy Stable- Tacoma, WA
Toys From The Past- Lincoln, NE
We Can Be Heroes – Chatsworth, CA
For more toys news and discussion checkout:
Godzilla: King of the Monsters – Temple of Geek’s Toy Chest
Temple of Geek’s Toy Chest – Star Wars Black Archive Boba Fett
5 Points of Articulation Episode 003: SDCC Toy Announcements
