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marked a monumental day in local toy/figurine retailing scene. Just as loyal customers who seen their establishment back in 29th February
2004, had been anticipating a 4th anniversary (or perhaps their 1st since it was
a leap year back); the La Tendo crew surprised the figure-collecting scene in
Singapore with their relocation from
Sunshine Plaza, Bencoolen Street to Kallang
Leisure Park.
Located beside the Indoor Stadium, the mall can be accessed by SBS Bus no. 16 from town or Bus no. 11 from Kallang MRT station. There was shuttle service from Bedok MRT station as well on weekends which favored the East-based population. Personally I felt taking Bus no. 16 was the most convenient because you may travel from Orchard Road within 20 minutes or so under good traffic conditions.
La Tendo is located on the 2nd storey with the store number 02-01. It is not hard to locate the shop which is steps away from the escalator.
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The first sight that will captured your attention will be the new signage which really exudes that "Heaven of Fun" feeling as the name implies. |
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On the left of the shop is the foodcourt, "Koufu" which is always the epicenter for crowd during meal-time and there's the lavatory sandwiched just between them which is yet another vital strategic advantage. On the right, currently there is the Watsons personal care store but a kid's gym is scheduled to take over the huge spot beside La Tendo, surely is a great target to solicit business from. However just not those Orchid Seed's 1/8 PVC female figurines with removable clothing. |
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On the left side of the entrance, we see an army of prized toys plushies. Although it looks impressive, but we still felt they was still a void vertically. |
On the right, a temporary display to attract any unsuspecting customers. Although the Final Fantasy Advent Children statues and Haruhi figurines serve that purpose, the entire set-up seem like clash of themes. |
Entering the shop, one will notice that the new shop is around 1.5 times the original one, so how's the new setup like? Let's take a peak...
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The effective "new arrival" corner surely serves it purpose and has a strong Akihabara feel to it. |
One of my favorite feature of this new store is this rows of pillar display cabinet. |
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Marvel meets DC...Generally nice figurines to entice random customers who had grown up with these spandex-wearing superheroes or at least caught the recent movies. |
On top, display of miniature figurines which had just arrived. At the bottom, a mini Kamen Rider shrine...HENSHIN!! |
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4 of the million Revoltechs released thus far while it's hard to ignore the presence Rei, Asuka and the whole Evangelion set up in this shop. I really like the fluorescent lighting from the corners which really illuminate the figurines. |
Sometime it is wise to unravel the sweet PVC figurines from their nice packaging, perhaps will increase the probability of selling a few more. |
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The Medicom Toys' Real Action Heroes had been covering such array of characters from Spiderman to Bruce Lee to Kamen Rider to Darth Vader but none come cheap but the quality shows. Jin Roh at the back is from another company (supposedly) Takara. |
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Not every piece of furniture here is new, some are actually recycled from the previous place such as the long, classy cabinet used to be on the platform.
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It's always been my dream to have the luxury of space like this to display my miniatures, it will not happen anytime soon; so perhaps La Tendo will help fulfill on my behalf. |
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Top: Two classic Shounen Jump titles with plenty of figurines produced for sure...Dragonball & Naruto.
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Top: Gundam SEED & sequel Destiny surely spawned many figurines for their trademark characters.
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The "Fate/" series have been a big commodity to Type Moon and it is evident here, while collectors who have no interest in anime figurines will dig miniature weapons, Buddha statues, planes, paintings and ships. |
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Top: Popular series like Kotobukiya One Coin Figures, Bleach Characters, One Piece Styling and Xenosaga Episodes.
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Top: Some risqué-themed figurines from the likes of exhaust & Millenium.
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Unlike the chronic clustering of stock due to space constraint previously, this new joint surely offered them plenty of storage space to alleviate that problem.
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PVC figurines of popular female anime characters will continue to be out of the factories of almost all major hobby companies in Japan and its affordability see a stark increase in collectors here which is why La Tendo is fast to establish a haven of this genre of figurines. |
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Jun's Planning's Pullip dolls as well as Sekiguchi's Momoko dolls are Reedy's expertise and slowly gathering more interest with this new strategic location. |
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The 3 left sided shelves provide adequate display space for action figures, trading figures, plastic models, prized items and even loose blind box figurines. |
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Re-ment's & Megahouse's miniatures which are quite popular with the ladies collectors. |
Of course plush toys are meant for all ages and cross the genders... |
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Don't feel like getting a full set, there are plenty of loose figurines to select, with or without packaging boxes. |
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Just above the counter the prized collectibles which include the above-mentioned RAH from Medicom and Saint Seiya Mythical Clothing series. |
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So what you waiting for?
La Tendo, Kallang Leisure Park Unit No. 02-01, Opening Hours: 11 am to 10pm, Monday to Sunday
Tel. No.: 6440-6171
Webpage: http://www.latendoshop.com/home
