I’ve often thought about loading the kids into the family Truckster wagon and hitting the road in an attempt to visit some of the great vintage toy shops and flea markets I read about online. The problem is that I just don’t know where they are! Sure, the big ones are on my radar, but I don’t really have a concept of their physical locations, so I thought we might be able to crowdsource a map to make the ultimate pop culture road trip a reality.
I’ve put together a Google map starting with the locations around me, here in the D.C. area, and I also included many of the links from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers’ road trip stopping points. This is just the beginning of what I hope will become a valuable resource for all of us.
If you have a favorite local comic book shop or toy store — not the big box stores, but the smaller mom and pop kind — I’d love to hear about them and add them to the map. Here’s both the map and a form where you can send me the info. (I considered opening this up so that everyone could add locations on their own, but then I realized where that might lead, so opted against it.)
If you want to access the map easily, I’ve added a handy link in the menu bar at the top of the site. Just click on “DESTINATIONS” and you’ll get there, and if you run a website, you can even embed the map right on your site!
Please help me spread the word and let’s see if we can make this an awesome resource for us collectors!
This is a great idea! I can’t believe I live so close to Kokomo Toys and still haven’t made a trip up there yet.
This is awesome. I’ve been toying with the idea myself of making a Google map of pop culture movie locations but your one is fantastic that it has toy shops and museums and everything else. I’ve already spotted several things I must have literally driven past, not knowing they were there, when we drove Route 66 on our honeymoon! Great work!
Brian, I don’t get how you and I can live so close to the nation’s capitol, and yet there is nothing around us. It sucks. There are so many weekends that I want to do something like a road trip to a massive toy haven, yet there’s just nothing around. No conventions, no arcades – This form of entertainment is so limited around this area, and I just don’t understand why.
I’m with you 100%. Every time I go to the Big Flea, the few toy booths are always hopping with browsers and buyers. There should definitely be a venue for collectors like us. It looks like AwesomeCon is becoming a viable convention, but I’d really like to see a good-sized toy show within an hour’s drive of DC.
Ooo … AZ is empty. Time to start posting.