Pasar Pagi in Jakarta 2010 (Flea Market Hunts & Toys Loot)
WHAT: I was in Jakarta last year in late-September, as a Special Invited Guest by Plastic Culture for Munny World Festival Indonesia. I did not manage to finish my coverage. There are loads more to be shared. This is one such post…
"Pasar Pagi" literally means "Morning Market", and was one of the key venues in my adventures in Jakarta, somewhen late-September 2010. What Pasar Pagi held, were "flea market" styled shops for toys! I sincerely do heart my night market experience in Thailand, and even local haunts, so this trip was an excellent treat, especially with a chance to check out the scene along with like-minded folks (aka my self-coined "Toy Mafia" of Jakarta!). First stop: A shophouse space surrounded by factories and tall buildings!
What the shop essentially showcased were action figures to miniature figurines, from predominant Japanese anime themed to American-styled foggers. Be it bided, blistered or loose, I reckon in my mind, not many of the figures on show were "legit & licensed" ones, but of course I exaggerate a tad … spotted were 400% Jack Sparrow BE@RBRICK, a uncomfortable amount of large Michael Jackson figures, and various large-scaled Japanese anime statuettes in vinyl. A prop-masters' dream, I dare say!
Frankly, not my regular cuppa, but I had to make my choice, I had to make my purchase .. and I walked away with my first ever chibi series: The Girls from Evangelion! It wasn't until much later that I realized some of the coloring had gone wrong/smudged with a coupla figs …. but tis cool :)
The trick being, the figs were held in place to the plastic base, with metal screws...
ANd I HAD to get this coupla vinyl figures! I have no idea what they were (the logos in the feet should give a clue, but I couldn't give a toss haha) and they were dripping vinyl-oil, which somehow made me laugh (maybe tis the effects of the drip?). Yes, I think I was going toy-mad then…
At another compound a short drive away (apparently still within the Pasir Pagi arena) found us wandering within an obvious shopping mall from years ago, compound littered and building crumbling. But there were "Liang Teh" mobiles nearby, so life was decent good! ("Liang Teh" literally means "Cooling Tea" in Cantonese, if which this is the sweetened cooling category, rather than "healing beverage" of traditional Chinese, wording being exactly the same).
Within the space laid a various amount of small shops, not all of which were opened. Upstairs included various beauty accessories shops, as well a military-based shop. This particular shop (posted above) was the main store on the ground floor we were looking. A lot of figures/toys looked the same as the previous shop though, with a larger variety of novelty items, as well bootleg lamps we might find in Singapore's "Action City". I walked away empty handed at this shop …
One of the final destinations in my whirlwind-tour (after a prior dismal trip to another shop that felt like a distributer's store of Made-in-China toys), was a store cross the street, under a bridge! Filled with action figures galore (probably factory rejects, as I found quite a few figures with their hands backwards) particularly of the blister-carded super heroes and fantasy warriors you'd find at malls. As well there was an interesting few Mez-Itz figures (Hellboy looked great!) and kaiju vinyls (which to me, were the best products of the store) ,,, and after all that, what did I get for myself in the end? Vinylmation "bootlegs"! Two sets, no less!
They were so relatively weird, I somehow HAD to get them!
The rationale being I would custom the extras, hitting into brand
new ground in toys! But alas, that was the plan then anyways…
Would I go back to Pasar Pagi? iI guess the answer is "No", unless it is with likeminded company ~ for in this instance ~ it is the "hunt" that was indefinitely more interesting than the "find", and I am always own for a good hunt! LOL
Cheers for the experience Joshua, David, Jeff, Joseph and Bowo!
"Pasar Pagi" literally means "Morning Market", and was one of the key venues in my adventures in Jakarta, somewhen late-September 2010. What Pasar Pagi held, were "flea market" styled shops for toys! I sincerely do heart my night market experience in Thailand, and even local haunts, so this trip was an excellent treat, especially with a chance to check out the scene along with like-minded folks (aka my self-coined "Toy Mafia" of Jakarta!). First stop: A shophouse space surrounded by factories and tall buildings!
What the shop essentially showcased were action figures to miniature figurines, from predominant Japanese anime themed to American-styled foggers. Be it bided, blistered or loose, I reckon in my mind, not many of the figures on show were "legit & licensed" ones, but of course I exaggerate a tad … spotted were 400% Jack Sparrow BE@RBRICK, a uncomfortable amount of large Michael Jackson figures, and various large-scaled Japanese anime statuettes in vinyl. A prop-masters' dream, I dare say!
Frankly, not my regular cuppa, but I had to make my choice, I had to make my purchase .. and I walked away with my first ever chibi series: The Girls from Evangelion! It wasn't until much later that I realized some of the coloring had gone wrong/smudged with a coupla figs …. but tis cool :)
The trick being, the figs were held in place to the plastic base, with metal screws...
ANd I HAD to get this coupla vinyl figures! I have no idea what they were (the logos in the feet should give a clue, but I couldn't give a toss haha) and they were dripping vinyl-oil, which somehow made me laugh (maybe tis the effects of the drip?). Yes, I think I was going toy-mad then…
At another compound a short drive away (apparently still within the Pasir Pagi arena) found us wandering within an obvious shopping mall from years ago, compound littered and building crumbling. But there were "Liang Teh" mobiles nearby, so life was decent good! ("Liang Teh" literally means "Cooling Tea" in Cantonese, if which this is the sweetened cooling category, rather than "healing beverage" of traditional Chinese, wording being exactly the same).
Within the space laid a various amount of small shops, not all of which were opened. Upstairs included various beauty accessories shops, as well a military-based shop. This particular shop (posted above) was the main store on the ground floor we were looking. A lot of figures/toys looked the same as the previous shop though, with a larger variety of novelty items, as well bootleg lamps we might find in Singapore's "Action City". I walked away empty handed at this shop …
One of the final destinations in my whirlwind-tour (after a prior dismal trip to another shop that felt like a distributer's store of Made-in-China toys), was a store cross the street, under a bridge! Filled with action figures galore (probably factory rejects, as I found quite a few figures with their hands backwards) particularly of the blister-carded super heroes and fantasy warriors you'd find at malls. As well there was an interesting few Mez-Itz figures (Hellboy looked great!) and kaiju vinyls (which to me, were the best products of the store) ,,, and after all that, what did I get for myself in the end? Vinylmation "bootlegs"! Two sets, no less!
They were so relatively weird, I somehow HAD to get them!
The rationale being I would custom the extras, hitting into brand
new ground in toys! But alas, that was the plan then anyways…
Would I go back to Pasar Pagi? iI guess the answer is "No", unless it is with likeminded company ~ for in this instance ~ it is the "hunt" that was indefinitely more interesting than the "find", and I am always own for a good hunt! LOL
Cheers for the experience Joshua, David, Jeff, Joseph and Bowo!
