Hong Kong Toystore Guide

From this permanent webpage link. (AS OF OCTOBER 2018)

Hong Kong is like toy heaven to toy collectors, with dozens of toys stores and several buildings filled with hundreds of "cubicles" of individual sellers, for a country that has a population and land mass that is only a little more than Sydney. From several trips to Hong Kong, this is a top 20-ish list of best locations to find toys when visiting Hong Kong, with maps and details. (rankings are purely subjective)
This guide covers locations closest to the harbour, on both sides, and the airport. (maps copied from google maps)
There may be other stores in other parts of Hong Kong, including ones that deserve to be on this toy guide, and will be added when they are known or visited.

First up, the list of the best places to visit.
The MUST GO TO places for toy fans.
1 - Wan Chai "Toy Street" (about 7 toy stores all next to each other, with some of the best, competative prices in HK)
2 - Toyzone, Shau Kei Wan (was at Taikoo - HUGE store that sells other people's toys as an agent)
3 - ToysRUs Ocean Terminal, Kowloon (one of the biggest TRU stores I have seen, and always with a HUGE range of Transformers toys)
4 - Ins Point, Yau Ma Tei (about 3 floors of cubicles of toy/game/collectable sellers)
5 - Sino Centre, Mongkok (first four floors of cubicles of toy/game/collectable sellers, plus toy stores in 3 or 4 of the floors above, including HobbyBase)
6 - Whampoa (Wonderland, Aeon)
7 - Play N Go, Terminal 2 Airport (expensive, but always has rarities)
8 - Action Robo, Yau Ma Tei (mostly unlicensed 3rd party toys)


The lesser priority locations, but still worth checking if you have the time.
9 - Causeway Bay (Sogo, ToysRUs)
10 - Richmond Arcade, Mongkok (about 3 floors of cubicle sellers - not as good as it used to be)
11 - Tiakoo (Apita, ToysRUs)
12 - Oriental 188 Centre, Wanchai (a few cubicle sellers of toys and collectables)
13 - CTMA, Mong Kok (used to have several toy stores, but now just one left)


HOW TO FIND THEM (two main maps of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, plus smaller maps showing exactly where the stores are).


KOWLOON (Mongkok, Yau Ma Tei, Whampoa, Ocean Terminal)
From the top..
- Richmond Arcade (east of the Mong Kok station)
- Olympian City ToysRUs (next to Olympic station - I've never been to it, but looks convenient to get to)
- Sino Centre (first circle south of Mong Kok station on Nathan Road)
- CTMA building (east of Sino Centre)
- Action Robo (south of Sino Centre)
- Ins Point (next to Yau Ma Tei station)
- Whampoa stores (south east corner of map - Wonderland, Aeon)
- Ocean Terminal ToysRUs (bottom of map - the biggest store and range of Transformers toys I've seen outside of America)
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f034.jpg

A closer look at the Nathan Road stores.
- Sino Centre, mostly 2pm to 10pm (lower floors have cubicle sellers - HobbyBase on 3rd floor (Mon-Sat) - Toy Clearance Outlet on 11th floor - Secret Base licensed models showroom on 20th floor)
- CTMA, mostly 2pm to 10pm (remaining toy store is on second floor I think)
- Action Robo, opens 4pm Mon-Sat (Bonds Mansion)
- Ins Point, mostly 2pm-10pm (lower floors have cubicle sellers)
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f038.jpg


Whampoa stores.
- Wonderland (a decent sized toystore - used to have a store at Northpoint as well)
- Aeon (department store with a toy section)
- ToysRUs (average sized store) CLOSED in 2020
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f037.jpg


HONG KONG ISLAND (Central, WanChai, Causeway Bay, Taikoo, Shau Kei Wan)
From the left/west...
- Central ToysRUs (a very small store, but very convenient when using the Airport "Hong Kong" station and Central station) CLOSED in 2019.
- Wan Chai "Toy Street" (south of Wan Chai station - actually Tai Yuen Street, with 6-7 toy stores, mostly 10am to 8pm)
- Oriental 188 centre (east of Wan Chai station - several cubicle sellers - not sure of opening times)
- Sogo, Causeway Bay (on top of Causeway Bay station - a big department store, with a small, expensive toy section)
- Causeway Bay ToysRUs (east of Causeway Bay station - a lot smaller than Ocean Terminal store, but often hosts promotions and stocks exclusive items)
- Taikoo ToysRUs and Apita (both fairly small, but a little out of the way, so might find some older oddities at both)
- Toyzone, Shau Kei Wan (2nd floor - unknown hours - HUGE store - rest of floor looks to be hosting other toy stores when renovations are finished)
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f035.jpg


Wan Chai stores
- Tai Yuen "Toy Street" with a KFC at the entrance (mostly 10am to 8pm - best ones are Hung Hing toys (left side of store), Freeway toys, Gifts & Toys (both sides) - not so good is Yat Sing toys)
- Oriental 188 Centre (on Wan Chai Road to the east of the Wan Chai station - I can't remember details).
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f036.jpg


Causeway Bay stores.
- Sogo (the toys department is on the 6th floor - a more expensive, up-market store so only buy here if you can't find your items elsewhere)
- ToysRUs (on the 7th floor - this shopping centre often has seasonal and feature promotions)
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f039.jpg


Toyzone - on the second floor of the building on this map (possibly other toy stores opening up on that floor soon as well)
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f040.jpg


Taikoo stores
- Apita (department store with a small toy section)
- ToysRUs (a small store)
(Toyzone used to be in this area as well, which used to make this a much better stop on the train line for toy hunting)
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f042.jpg


Airport stores (last resort because of their prices, but there are always rarities, and the latest Transformers)
- Play N Go, Terminal 2 store (this store is a must visit if you want to find rarities like SDCC exclusives, but expect hefty prices... which probably isn't a big deal if you can't find them anywhere else)
- Terminal 1 stores (two toy stores are located in the area between the check-in desks and the customs processing area - the blue line on the airport map is the customs divider that requires a ticket and passport)
- Toys & Games store (very small store near gate 27 - only able to access when flying out)
- Toys & Games store (another very small store near gate 62 - only able to access when flying out)
Yes... there are five toy stores in this one airport (plus a Disney store in Terminal 2)... that's just how numerous toy stores are in Hong Kong, and yet they have 30% of the population of Australia.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/f382.jpg
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Okay, so this isn't the best time to be travelling to Hong Kong (because of the Corona Virus), but the recent attention of HK reminded me to finally post up a copy this info webpage onto here.... so now it is here for others to use, eventually.

Just note that the ToysRUs store at Central closed in the last year, and it is still included on the original webpage at this time (when I next go over there, I am likely to update it with anything that has changed since my last visit in 2018).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffin

Okay, so this isn't the best time to be travelling to Hong Kong (because of the Corona Virus).

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You got that right, was supposed to fly out last Friday but luckily Cathay allowed us to delay it till October so hopefully it will be a lot better there.

I went there last year when the riots/protests were on, the airport was so quiet, we went to Disneyland and didn't have to line up for anything, we had a great time overall, I did a toy run to Toyzone, I hadn't yet been to the new store, it is way better than the old place. Not much for me in the way of Transformers that I needed but I did buy a lot of Neon Genesis and Yamato figures. There were definite areas that I saw fires and rioting had been happening but it didn't have any bearing on my trip which was a nice surprise, some major train stations were closed due to damage along some of the Nathan Rd ones, but I stayed on the island and at Disneyland. Once this virus gets under control I hope HK picks back up, those riots/protests hit their tourism very hard.

Just a quick update:
Toys'R'Us Whampoa is closing down on the 20th September 2020. Whilst it was a smallish store because it was "out of the way" it often had limited numbers of rare/exclusive stuff a little longer than the main stores. It looks like Toys'R'Us are focussing their efforts on their flagship store in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST).

On the positive side, Cathay Pacific have just announced they are now allowed to put air mail in the cabin for their HK - AU flights which may mean HK Post has allowed air mail to be sent once again and opens up options to use the HK stores that sell online (eg Robot Kingdom) although I would strongly encourage you to check with individual stores on the postal situation before purchasing for now.

It's not good to see one of the few countries still with TRU, closing down stores instead of opening more.
This one might be more due to the downturn in sales and tourists this year, but even when the virus is over, there will be a major downturn of western tourists to HK, who may not be a significant amount of sales, but are more likely to shop at stores they recognise (like TRU).

These two recent closures (Central and Whampoa) is more annoying for visiting toy hunters, as they are the more centrally located to where most tourists stay or play while in HK. If they had closed any of the regional ones (that are too far out to even be included on my reference maps in the first post), it wouldn't have been something to care much about... but the Whampoa store is located close to two other toy sources, so it makes it a good one-stop-toy-hunt spot. Central wasn't near any other toy stores, but it was near two main transport lines, making it convenient for me to visit to and from the airport.

I don't shop at RK anymore, but if they are opening up airmail from HK again, it might give us more options for exclusives by other online stores or ebay sellers who may be able to list more items to foreigners.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but I do enjoy your toy maps, I always use Heroic Decepticon as a personal guide, but I like having your (& his) maps as a back up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fatbot

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but I do enjoy your toy maps, I always use Heroic Decepticon as a personal guide, but I like having your (& his) maps as a back up.

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Does love being out and about doesn't he and when he knows the people, its even better.