So here we go with My third & final part of My
Woolworth journey which you can see both
locations in Parts 1 & 2 and if you have been reading & following Me since then you know that
location #1 was on
Grand and
location #2 was on
Cherokee Street and you know how great & special this was for Me as a youngster
I'll be back to talk more about
location #2 in a while because right now I will be talking a bit about what other great stores was on
Cherokee Street. There was the cool
Walgreens down there. Unfortunately they went out of business sometime ago and I have no idea when cause I haven't been down on
Cherokee Street in well over twenty years and I will explain that in time. Now Me & Grandma only went there a handful of times and I have previously showcased within this very topic of some of the stuff that I recalled that I got from there and that was My
Tonka Super Naturals. You can search throughout the topic cause I made a few showcases of them and had them cameo others such as My great
Hasbro Visionaries one. I will never forget that
Walgreens and what it looked like inside and seeing those
Super Naturals there on the pegs
Now here we go with a very special figure that I got from a newer store on the block cause I always considered them newer compared to
Woolworth, Walgreens, Globes & Judy's cause I believe they moved in around
1988 or so cause even as a youngster I had established that whole block by at least a year before hand. This store was simply called
The Bazaar It was a large store and had a ton of great rare things that you couldn't find anywhere else, only
Judy's Superstore could compare
They specialized in imported international items and bootlegs of all sorts of kids toys and even stuff for adults like novelties, apparel and room accessories. Their toys and kids area was actually a big part of their store. It was a bit darker in light & nature and I really liked it. It was kinda a like had a setting a Halloween costume shop like
Johnny Brocks's has which you can see him greatly in My
Odds & Ends which is arguably My most crucial topic, even more so than than this one
It was spooky and since I was a young horror freak it was right up My alley
It was such a different store, I was quite excited to go there all the time, almost as much as the other stores if you can believe that
Unfortunately
The Bazaar went out of business I believe in
1990 which they had a short business run sadly and I hope I'm not the only one that remembers that great store that once was. I know I got quite a bit over there but there is only one thing that I can muster up right now and that was a huge
Dor Mei Kaiju Now as you saw I got two
Dor Mei Kaijus from
Woolworth on Grand seen in Part 1, well I got a massive one from the
Bazaar and I'm sure any of the members of the small classic
Kaiju community will immediately recognize him. However I was a foolish child and not happy with stuff the way they were so I wanted My Grandma to paint him a goldish color as he was nearly all black but over time I really loved this and realized that My decision as a youngster wasn't as dense as it seemed
Now like the others he was never named as he was basically a bootleg. There you see My great
Checkerboard Press Coloring Books seen in Part 2 from
Cherokee's Woolworth as the background
First there is My
Three Stooges Meet Hercules VHS from
Woolworth Location #1 on Grand. Now as a very odd feature for the time, this
Kaiju has many
points of articulation which predates
NECA's Godzilla by nearly 2 decades as he has
a neck swivel, 2 shoulder & 2 wrist cuts, 2 hip cuts, 2 ankle cuts and 2 tail cuts... that's
11 POA for a
Kaiju, not even
Bandai made that many then in the
80s which really is quite remarkable
Here is his
size comparison with My
Dor Mei Kaiju from
The Bazaar compared with fellow
Dor Mei Wooworth Kaiju from Woolworth on Grand, Imperial King Kong 1933 from Ben Franklin's on Grand & Godzilla 1985 from an uncertain location. There you see how huge he is...
However, he is way more in scale with
Imperial's much larger
Godzilla 1985 that My Grandpa got Me on his Kansas City MO business trip at a special comic shop. This is an awesome
Vintage 80s Kaiju at it's finest
Cherokee Street!So here is the magical, one of a kind street that is
Cherokee Street where I been too many times and have tons of memories at. Now even though I'm bragging how wonderful it was, it really wasn't a good neighborhood, in fact it was far from it. My Grandma was never afraid to go there but she was always cautious and always wanted Me to stay by her at all times and I listened to her. There was crimes with Black & Vietnamese among other cultures. To a young Brandon's eyes & knowing, it was so cool seeing the diversity of all of these different looking people cause I only saw them types in movies and such at the time but I knew what crime was, I loved
Bruce Lee films, Death Wish 3 and saw other movies like that not to mention
NES games like
Double Dragon but still times like this was really rad to Me. Our
Doctors were there so really we didn't have a choice most of the time so We just got used to it and did Our fun stuff afterward
So when you enter
Cherokee Street at the far East end you are greeted by a greatly sculpted
Cherokee Indian Statue that is way older than Myself. When We used to live at the old house, My Grandma usually went the other from the South entrance from [b[Grand[/b] turning left where
Paramount Drugs & Woolworth #1 was. It was always a busy place when We'd go but after Our
Doctors left and after everybody went out of business literally almost at the same time around
1991, Woolworths, Judy & the Bazaar which were Our main stores were all gone, We just didn't go there anymore
I have no clue when that location of
Walgreens went under and
Globes closed their doors period in
2010 so that basically ended everybody We knew from My Childhood cause so much was already gone years & years before, it's so sad
Again, I haven't been down to
Cherokee in so long. On the web it says how wonderful the place is with such a great cultural touch...I know that sounds exciting but don't believe what they say, it was bad then and I'm sure it's way, way worse now especially since the PlamDemic
Most if not all of the people there sadly don't even know about how fun it was then with all of these great stores, now it's an International immigrant haven with no personality
So here is Our Doctors,
Dr. Viloria & Dr. Chang. Viloria was Our main physician, I knew a lot of health stuff when I was little but when
1994 happen I knew a heck of a lot more than that cause it changed My life forever when I got bad sick which
Viloria told My Grandma that I wouldn't inherit My Dad's disease but sadly he was wrong
So during this time I kinda liked going to him cause he was nice and I like how he spoke, he was Filipino and his Filipina wife was his receptionist but really she was his boss, she drove him nuts I mean really, he was mental later on during his personal life, My Grandma found that out cause she was good at knowing things. I liked that he was Asian cause it was cool watching
Bruce Lee & Godzilla films then actually seeing these types of people in person for a young curious Brandon
Across the hall was
Dr. Chang, he shared the building with
Dr. Alberto Viloria and he was Our Dentist. We didn't go to him as often. I don't recall a whole lot about him but I sure do his office as he had an aquarium filled with
Goldfish. He was a nice guy and he may have been the first Chinese man I ever knew just like
Viloria was the first
Filipino I knew
I don't know what happen to
Dr. Chang if he moved away or retired or what, I hope he's still around
I do know what happen to
Dr. Viloria and in fact in recent times no less
It was in the
mid 2000s and We were needing a new doctor and there wasn't many options for Us. My Grandma wasn't sure what to do but she saw that
Dr. Viloria was still around and he was on
Jefferson which is a bad neighborhood and it's kinda in the middle were
Cherokee Street is and where My great
K-Mart used to be so I knew that part of town. I told her let's do it, We know him and he knows us and it will be like round 2 so she agreed and We went to him a few times but things were different. Our neighbor down the alley was his receptionist which it was like what a small world
We never really talked to her, it was a pathetic hello & bye scenario like it's always been with most of Our neighbors and nothing good & serious cause this day & age sucks of how people have become so cryptic and just weird, it's just so disappointing how society is
He was older and We just weren't pleased with his practices and as I said he was mental about his wife which I believe they were divorced by this time and it really changed him for the worse. I don't recall what his reaction was when he found out that I got sick and that he was wrong
Very recently I checked to see if he is still around and sure enough he is and still in the same building on
Jefferson I mean he's gotta be knockin' on 80s door even past 80 cause he was around My Grandma's age. Oh and by the way he liked My Grandma, there was very few men than didn't even when she was older
Since at least
2010, this truly is the age of the old man and never at retiring at anything. Here is his building on
Jefferson, it looked pretty nice over there with a usual look for a
St. Louis clinic area.
So as I did in My
ToyBiz DC 89 Batman & DCSH showcase with My
ToyBiz Marvel Topic I showed what I think My childhood friends
Timmy & Jenny look like now and I believe this may start a trend for important purposes like this so here goes some more
What did these doctors look like
OK,
Dr. Viloria looked like
Keiju Kobayashi who was the
Prime Minister in
Godzilla 1985. Ever since I first knew
Dr. Viloria I thought that and I may have even said something to him about that which I cannot be sure about that. The last time I saw him he still looked like that with the grayish hair and glasses. Now
Dr. Chang is tricky cause I haven't seen him in over 30 years but the only person I can say that he looks like is
Donald Li who played
Eddie in
1986's Big Trouble in Little China and that's all I can say so here they are
Now even tough I was a patient kid and a good patient too I was quite anxious to get the appointments done and over with cause We'd go to
Woolworth, Judy's, Globes & The Bazaar and I'd be at those windows of the building looking out at
Woolworth right down the street. Now look at the pic and the building on the right with the windows and Me looking out of them patiently holding My horses to get down there and have a ton of fun
So here is
Woolworth on Cherokee, arguably the main attraction on the whole street back then which many people around town or even that wasn't in
St. Louis would visit just to go to this location
This is the one that I got My goodies from seen in Part 2. It was a large long building and it was really one of a kind. It had two levels, the first floor had your big time stuff like electronics, clothing, housewares & utilities, automotive and even a big pet shop that sold exotic animals that were illegal
My Mom had a great time there during her childhood as well
Now second & lower level/basement was where the real fun was cause that was their Toy Department and it was huge, arguably the biggest one you could ever go to. Even though it's been over 30 years since I step foot there, I clearly recall how it was. To put this in perspective, it was almost the size of a
TRU down there, you could fit in all of My local
K-B & K&K Toys from
Crestwood, South & West County, that's five stores there
I'm not joking, it was a toy haven down there, I loved them as much as either of My 3
Venture locations, that's how darn exciting, fun, cool & rad it was to be there and that's one of the reasons why I miss it so darn much
I mean they had an insane stock of
G.I. Joes and their
MOTU and the like such as
REMCO'S DC Warrior Beasts & SOMA's Monster Man was so heavy duty on the shelves, it was so darn euphoric to see all of this together in one of the best decades ever known. There's a lot more that My young eyes saw that I'm not thinking about at the moment but believe Me when I say it was one of the most engaging toy experiences one could ever have and I'm quite thankful that I got to experience it many times during My years as a youngster until they couldn't be open anymore
Now it's some Mexican/Spanish store which is a dime a dozen over there now, no variety, creativeness, no fun, no history anymore there, it really sucks that it has come to this, surely
Woolworth hasn't fallen to oblivion
Now we're going to
Judy's Superstore on Cherokee. I have talked & showcased about her many times within the topic as well as others and I hope My limited amount of followers have paid attention here cause this stuff is important to Me as well as for history's sake
So as I showed in Part 1, her original store was on
Grand around the corner of
Woolworth #1 & Paramount Drugs. I was a wee-bit young to really grasp the importance about her and the whole situation itself then but I sure remember it though and thank goodness about that
She moved down to
Cherokee which really wasn't that far away I mean We drove from that area to Cherokee in just minutes. That was the beauty of the matter where I used to live cause We had so much within the area, most of everything We needed and wanted to go to was all in one big general area within several miles from each other then unfortunately We moved in
1990 and most of everybody was gone soon after, only a handful of stores & people survived and many times for countless years I wonder if We didn't move would things had been different, well I'll never know
So driving down
Cherokee was cool but knowing that We were going to
Judy's Superstore was arguably the funnest part of all. Just seeing her store gave Me a bit of a rush cause I knew what her store was all about to behold and there's never been a store like her's since that even comes remotely close to her's
Judy was Korean and she was the first Korean person I ever knew. I knew the Chinese & Filipinos in person thanks to
Dr. Chang & Dr. Viloria seen above but I really didn't know Korea all that well back then when I was a youngster. This was a time when I was learning culture and the diversity of human-beings (I already revealed how I first knew Black People within this topic as well as others with
Billy Dee Williams' Lando, Carl Weathers' Apollo & + Michael Jackson) and I thought that seeing & knowing these different types of people were really cool and interesting and I had no probs them being different and even more so the same goes now.
Judy was married to an American Caucasian man. They owned the shop together and they worked alone, there was never an employee nor security guards, they handled their big store all by their-selves which really I don't know how the managed it
So when you open her front doors she's on the right with her big check-out counter. To the left was her huge wall of
custom-iron on made shirts with a ton of
Bruce Lee shirts which I got several of them back then cause I was a huge
Bruce Lee fan, he was one of My most beloved childhood heroes. She had tons of other clothing on racks and many novelties and imported items cause this is what the feature of her Superstore as she had imports and merchandise that you most likely wouldn't find elsewhere. Now as seen within the topic I got some
Transformers from her plus much more. Her toy isle was really cool. It wasn't that big but boy did I love seeing all of those imported Japanese goodies. Now near but always from her toy isle she had some adultish items there. Even as a youngster I had an eye for the female form. I thank goodness that I wasn't like how this generation is being non-binary, gay & trans before becoming a teenager and all of the bum-steer that is being pushed down our throats in almost everything during every minute of every day during this pathetic androgynous day & age
The adultish stuff she had was posters of naked women from either
Playboy or
Hustler or both. I don't know. Is all I knew whenever I had the chance I would gawk at it as much as possible cause I liked it. They were just posing topless with somewhat big boobs from what I recall, I don't think they were that big but the classic babes were hot I know that
Though really I didn't know the real feeling nor understand the purpose of it till I was much more mature and
Judy and My Grandma never knew I did that. I am actually grateful that I discovered this cause I believe it gave Me some kind "learning curve edge" for My future cause latter I would really appreciate & admire the human female, their beauty & physique and so much that can can do. I've always been a very observant & curious fellow and had I not seen this over at
Judy's Superstore I cannot be certain that I would have been the womanizer & admirer that I became
She had adult stuff at her counter as well like cigarette lighters, naughty statues and stuff like that, really I thought the stuff was strange yet they had this unique thing about them that seemed funny yet kinda tabooish
I'd look at'em but act like I was unaware of'em when I was next to My Grandma Mimi & seeing
Judy cash Us out trying to be a good doobie cause I was a youngster and stuff like that just wasn't right for kid that age
So as a special bonus I have included a special entry from
My Odds & Ends Topic, you can check out the topic plus much more here --->
http://www.dctoyrevolution.org/general-toy-discussions/my-odds-ends-insane-keychain-t1176-70.html and this topic is arguably more imperative this this very one
It was on
New Year's Eve & Morning this very year that I came to a very crucial revelation that is so dear to Me, check this
BrandonDaCollector wrote:So it's
NEW YEAR'S DAY and I thought that it was apropos to showcase this which really is quite delayed in a way because last year (dang, can you believe 2022 is over and we're in a new year already...where the heck did the time go
during the the
4th of July I showcased a
flier from
Phantom Fireworks that I got in the mail. I was thinking about doing something else but ultimately it wasn't the right time but come very early
New Years's Eve Morning We came to a conclusion to use My old
Fireworks for
New Year's @ MIDNIGHT In a little
wrapper lo and behold there was some
Black Snakes within it. I attempted to light one but I didn't have the proper lighter to do'em plus it was getting late so I plan on using these guys for
4OJ as well.
Now here is the mysterious part of the
Receipt as well as the
Snakes. I believe I have come to the conclusion of almost certainty that these came from
JUDY'S SUPERSTORE I mean look at the
Receipt, it looks like a local shop would use it and look at those prices, there is no freggin' way that this came from that
Fireworks Tent believe you Me and another factor of this situation is, it looks like it is from an Asian person perhaps from an Asian shop...ever eat Chinese Takeout and look at their receipt...that is KEY RIGHT THERE...
Judy was Korean which is Asian...I believe that THESE old vintage babies are from
JUDY'S SUPERSTORE...WOW, you don't know how crucial this is to Me
Ah so there is My
Fireworks from
Fenton & High Ridge Mo and a special bonus possibly but most likely even from
Judy
So there was that special entry, I was really happy about it cause I just loved
Judy, her SuperStore and all the times I had there
Now as I just did with
Dr. Viloria & Dr. Chang above, I have been thinking of it for a long time about who she looked like. Numerous times My Grandma said that
WWE's Asuka reminded her of
Judy and keep in mind this was in the
mid 2010s to around 2020, My Grandma never forgot about
Judy I saw what she meant personality wise but not looks but I could be wrong, it's been known to happen
Now looks wise in the face I think she looked like
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers's Rita Repulsa. Rita is actually a really nice looking Asian character if you ignore the villainess-side of her and the big outfit. When I see her, I see
Judy especially in the first pic that I put together
So here we go with
Walgreens & The Bazaar on Cherokee. I cannot be certain exactly what building they were once in because so much has changed over there since I've been there last. Like I said it's been around 30 years or so. This
Walgreens really didn't look like your typical
Walgreens back then. I knew the one on
Hampton very well during this time that I showcased in My huge
Go-Bots & Rock Lords showcase within the topic. It had little stairs to go up and seemed really snug when you went in there and was kinda dark tinted as well. However they had different toys and stuff that other ones didn't have and even major department stores like
Venture, K-Mart & Target didn't have hence My
Tonka Super Naturals because the line didn't last long thanks to the plebeians
There was so much you could find on this street than any other location. Now like I said about
The Bazaar, it was deceivingly big inside and darn near looked like a Halloween shop the way it was lighted up and set up. I loved the toys area/room as they had tons of spooky toys such as monsters hence My great
Dor Mei Kaiju above. It was so cool to be at. I mean as a young horror freak like I was it was a true haven for dark items and despite I have been to many Halloween costume shops such as
Johnny Brocks seen greatly in My
Odds & Ends there was only one other place that could compare and that was the
St. Louis Carnival Supply Place as they had tons of great stuff too and I have a lot of memories from there as well, they were, I believe on
Jefferson but like the
Bazaar they are gone too and Me talking about that will be for another time. Sadly
The Bazaar's time in existence as a store was too short, it didn't really have enough time to be established.
Judy seemed more cause she was there a bit longer and We went there more too but it was really sad when they went of business because really there was no other place like
The Bazaar. Like the rest I hope there's people out there besides Me that went there, recalls them and actually cares like I do and keeping the memories & good tales alive
Now as a special bonus entry, I have to enter both locations of
Globes. I mean if your talking
Cherokee Street, you gotta mention
Globes because they were THE OLDEST stores on the block and they were THE LAST STORES of the old days too. They were the sole survivor of the originals till
2010 Everybody that I just showcased was already gone by the
early 90s due to people being people not being interested in this fantastic stuff along with hard crime & invading immigrants basically destroying the history that people like Me know
So
Globes was a drug store/pharmacy/discount variety store and both locations was just feet away from each other really. I liked both of'em
Here is a Vintage pic of
Globes from the
1940s. At least there's some people out there that actually cares about history, (I hope they don't fall for the r3$3t,) look at how that is and here is
Globes in it's last days
This was My favorite of the two, like
Woolworth just feet away they had a big second floor/basement. It wasn't toy filled like their's...in fact they didn't have a ton in it at all of anything. I have many
ColorForms including a great
1989/1990 WWF one that My Grandma got for Me from there but unfortunately I cannot locate them now, I hope to find them in time
Here is a look at the second location of
Globes Drug Store Actually here is a great look at the INSIDE of the store because most of these fun stores of the past you can only see the outside but I'm lucky with
Globes Here's where you pick up your prescriptions. I don't think We used them because We mostly used
Paramount Drugs on Grand seen in Part 1 because they were closer and We knew each other and they delivered to Our home and that was only one of the great things that made them the best
Here is the entryway to
Globes' small toy isle from
location #1. It was fun looking around but I really never found what I wanted there like the other stores on
Cherokee however seeing all of these pictures of
Globes really brings the memories back as I was there countless times and while it's a shame I cannot show pics of how it was for the other stores I am thankful that I can with
Globes because they maybe the most historic store that
St. Louis has ever seen, I just hope that the plebeians remember them and will never ever forget
SPECIAL SECTION!!So here is My
Woolworth Location #1 & #2 Collection that you saw in Part 1 & 2, amazing that there is two different
Muck Men from 2 different series' there
Here's a special collective of previously seen
Woolworths, Judy, Walgreens & The Bazaar Special Note that My
Sludge the Prontosaurus/Swoop Hybrid & the SW:ESB Presto Magix came from
Judy, that is so magnificent
Wow, holy cow, that was such an incredible showcase that I just made and I hope you liked it and were surprised at all of it or at least something that I presented here, this huge 3-Parter was such a crucial one for Me to do because it was such a special time in My life
Next will be a double feature of two figures that I just found recently that which one of'em I also got at
Judy's SuperStore, until then I'll see you around