Mongkok is on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. It is 4 MTR stops from the upscale district of Tsim Sha Tsui. As with any type of shopping to be done in Mongkok, one needs to be prepared to spend a good part of the day just hopping from one shop to another. Allocate at least half a day to really sweep through the many shops in this area.
This write-up will focus on just 2 main toy-shopping areas in Mongkok – CTMA Centre and Sino Centre. These 2 buildings house several levels of individual toy shops carrying different ranges of toys. And don’t think that 2 buildings is that easy to cover. I have personally found it impossible to look through both building’s every nook & cranny. There’s always something you’ll miss and have to go back there for.
CTMA Centre is located along Sai Yeung Choi Street South. Take MTR exit E2 and you’ll already find yourself facing Sai Yeung Choi Street South. Just turn right and walk until you’re almost at the end of the street. CTMA is on the right side and simply cannot be missed.
There are toy shops in the upper floors as well as in the 2 basement levels. Shops are usually open from 2PM onwards. The safest time to go visit is around past 4PM – this is the time when most of the shops are already open but not yet full of people.
By my personal estimate, one can easily while away a couple of hours just browsing through the different shops within CTMA Centre. Stores carry vintage as well as modern toys.
As soon as you’re done with CTMA, just exit the building and right in front is a huge toy shop called ANIMATE. It’s on the second level of the building immediately across the street. The shop carries mostly Japanese toys but there are some Western brands as well.
If you still have some energy left, just walk along Sai Yeung Choi Street South (same direction you took going to CTMA) until you hit the end of the street. You are now in Dundas Street – trun right and walk towards the highway – which is Nathan Road. Turn right again and walk a little more until you reach Sino Centre.
Sino Centre, similar to CTMA, houses several toy shops on the upper levels as well as in their basement floors. Be prepared to spend another couple of hours (probably even more) just perusing through the different toy shops in this building. And when you’re done with the basement and the upper levels, take the elevator to the 9th floor and find Action Toys – hidden from public view but is worth checking out.
There are several more buildings within Mongkok district that are worth visiting for toy hunting. But I’ll try to cover those another time. For now, enjoy focusing on just CTMA and Sino Centres – I guarantee that they are enough to confuse even the most organized of toy shoppers. And by the way, it’s alright to bring along your girlfriend or wife to Mongkok. The one nice thing about toy shopping in this area is that they will never be bored because there are trendy clothes and shoes shops all over the place.
Links to other similar resources:
- http://www.afhub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=166
- http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6686
- http://testicular-fortitude.blogspot.com/search/label/…
