Palace of playthings

COLLECTORS SINCE their teenage years, Somporn and Panin Poyu finally ran out of room at home to keep the almost 100,000 toys, model cars and Disney cartoon characters they have accumulated over the years.

Rather than throw even one precious item away, they invested their cash into converting a former restaurant near their Nonthaburi home into an exhibition space, naming it the Tooney Toy Museum and promoting it as an ideal hangout for mums and dads wanting to spend quality time with the kids.

The museum on Soi Si Saman 8 is now home to an amazing collection of items ranging from Somporn’s die-cast classic car models by Tomica and Coca-Cola cans from around the world to Panin’s Barbie and Disney figures and the couple’s three sons’ superheroes and Japanese manga characters.

“I’ve never regretted spending lots of money buying all these toys,” says Somporn who admits laying out some Bt30 million on his hobby,

“My wife and I are convinced that toys stimulate the imagination and promote creativity so we feel our investment is more than worthwhile. I started with the Tomica cars, then expanded to Coke products and models of Mask Rider and Tiger Mask that were very popular when I was growing up. Now these same toys will entertain and inspire a whole new generation of kids.”

It took workmen the best part of two years to transform the former 800-square-metre restaurant into the two-storey museum, which comes complete with an old-style outdoor playground that’s home to a Ferris wheel and vintage cars. 

The interior is divided into three zones. Our guide for the visit is 17-year-old Ramarin, the couple’s middle son, who leads us straight to the Gundam room on the second floor. 

The lighting is dim and the atmosphere rather like outer space, all the better for Gundam, The Super Sentai, Mask Rider and Tiger Mask who are apparently on a top-secret mission. At the other end, Hollywood superstars Captain America, Spiderman, Hulk, Batman, Wolverine and Thor are fighting devils threatening to swallow the world. 

“Our parents always gave us the freedom to collect our personal favourite,” Ramarin tells us. “My younger brother is a hardcore Gundam fan while I prefer the movies and have amassed models from the ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. Right now, I’m collecting figures from ‘One Piece’, a manga series that’s very popular with young Thais.”

We take a shortcut to the ground floor atrium and enter the home of Disney Land. Mickey Mouse greets us at the door while his little friends get busy attracting young guests who demand photos.

We spot Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan and Hector Barbossa hunting treasure in the Caribbean and wave farewell to hobbit Frodo Baggins and his pals as they set off on their journey to the Middle-Earth.

Somporn’s favourite collectibles are scattered around with bright red shelves housing such rare items as Coca-Cola restaurant miniatures, trucks, transistors and Coke cans from around the world as well as his collection of Tomica cars – too many of them for us to count.

Barbie and Blythe live in the next room, which is done out as a dressing room and decorated with a nod to such popular cartoons as “Toy Story”, “Nightmare before Christmas”, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast”. “Peanuts” fans will be delighted to find Snoopy there too.

The biggest space is devoted to a collection of dolls fashioned in the likeness of Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe as well as a 1989 figurine of Ariel, the Little Mermaid. 

Boys can leave the dolls to the girls and explore the collection of toy weaponry and gadgets, which includes Thor’s hammer, Harry Potter’s wands, Captain America’s shield and Wolverine’s claws.

Icons from such movies as “The Terminator, “Resident Evil”, “Men in Black”, “Ironman”, “Real Steel”, “Ghost Rider”, “Avatar”, “Star Wars”, “GI Joe”, “Transformer” and “The Matrix” make up the Hot Toys zone while toys from animations “Despicable Me”, “The Incredibles”, “101 Dalmatian”, “Bugs”, “Ratatouille” and “Cars” strike a more peaceful note. 

Like any good museum, Tooney boasts both a refreshment area and souvenir shop, the former offering macaroons, coffee, green tea, smoothies and soft drinks and the latter encouraging young visitors to start their own collections of talking Bubbled Head Dolls, stationery, POP vinyl figures and Monster High Fashion Dolls.

 

FAMILY DAY OUT

>>Tooney Toy Museum is at 69/275, Soi Si Saman 8, Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi. 

>>It’s open Friday to Sunday, 10am to 8pm. 

n Admission is Bt100 for children, free for kids less than 90 centimetres in height and Bt150 for adults. 

>>Find out more by calling (086) 626 9521 and (080) 289 6055 or visit www.TooneyMuseum.com and Facebook/TooneyMuseum.

  More toys for the boys

 

Million Toy Museum 

Krirk Yoonpun, noted writer and illustrator of children’s books, is the owner of the Million Toy Museum in Ayutthaya. Now in its sixth year of operation, the two-storey building is home to thousands of toys from all around the world and is an ideal place to relive your childhood memories and for children to discover the history behind the vintage toys.

You can peer through glass cabinets and admire dolls, tin wind-up toys, action figures, battery-operated robots along with Micky Mouse, Hello Kitty and Doraemon or linger on the ground floor and take in the old photographs, radios, Buddha images, stamps and glassware. 

Admission is Bt50 for adults and Bt20 for children. It’s on U-Thong Road (next to Wat Banomyong), Ayutthaya. It’s open daily except Monday, from 9am to 4pm. Call (035) 328 949 or (081) 890 5782 or visit www.MillionToyMuseum.com.

 

Batcat Museum & Toys Thailand

Located in the bustling suburb of Bang Kapi and run by Somchai Nitimongkolchai, Batcat is home to 50,000 Batman figurines, superhero models, toys and collectibles from the 1960s to present.

The 400sqm space is easily identifiable by its colourful graphics and behind the towering hydraulic gate. Gotham City is laid in three zones under dim lights with a map pointing the way to the museum’s 10 highlights.

They include the Hot Toys Batman 1989 Sideshow Collection featuring Batmobiles, weapons and the Caped Crusader's iconic cowl and the “Top 10 Batman Vintage Toys”, which include a Utility Belt valued at Bt700,000.

But Batcat isn’t just devoted to the Caped Crusader. Visitors can also enjoy die-cast models of the cars from “Thunder Birds”, “Knight Rider”, “Ghostbusters” and “The Fast and the Furious”.

Admission is Bt100 for local folk and Bt250 for foreigners. Batcat is near the Lam Salee intersection, Ramkhamhaeng Road. It’s open weekdays from 10am to 7pm and weekends from 9am to 8pm. Call (02) 375 9006 or visit |Facebook/batcat.museum.