SATURDAY SCOOPS
Specialty stores in Kaimuki full of comics, video games

Advertiser Staff and News Services

The bins at Toys n' Joys in Kaimuki are packed with video games — recent, vintage and imported. It is one of several stores along Wai'alae Avenue that specializes in such collectibles. The kids dominate, but the shops also attract some older folks. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Find it all Kaimuki has a handful of shops that specialize in collectibles, comics and other stuff: Toys n' Joys, 6320 Wai'alae Ave. 735-4546. Collector Maniacs, 3571 Wai'alae Ave., Suite 102A. 739-3912. Gecko Books & Comics, 3613 Wai'alae Ave. 732-1292.

Oh, sure, you'd never guess it from the dearth of parking stalls, folks lining up for a lunch table at Big City Diner, or ticketholders waiting for their number to be called for pork hash and manapua at Kwong On. But the kids are there.

They scoot by on skateboards like bats out of heck, a blur of message shirts and backward ball caps. They gather on benches, studying colorful anime artbooks chronicling the adventures of "Sayuki: Salty Dog," "Gundam" and "Evangelion."

They insist on passing a basketball precariously close to your noggin and triple latte while you take notes outside Coffee Talk.

Mostly, though, they're crowding the smallish interiors of Kaimuki videogame/anime/toy mecca Toys n' Joys looking for ... stuff.

"Saturdays and Sundays are our busiest days, obviously, because the kids are out of school and there are other functions and activities in Kaimuki — like Little League and Boy Scouts and other events — for kids," said Alex Le, whose family has owned Toys n' Joys since G.I. Joes and Transformers were the epitome of toy cool. (Translation: About 15 mortal years). "We work the whole week for Saturdays and Sundays."

On weekend afternoons, you'll find a handful of kids among the adults perusing comics, trading cards, anime books and action hero minutiae at other Kaimuki-area collector stores like Collector Maniacs and Gecko Books. But at Toys n' Joys on this Saturday afternoon, the adults seem more befuddled than kids who basically rule the place.

Mits Hanashiro informs his grandson Jaron that he'll have "a $20 limit this week" on what he's allowed to spend. Jaron makes a beeline for the store's used videogame bins. Toys n' Joys carries everything from Totoro plushes and Zoids model kits to Kikaida action figures and anime DVDs. But its biggest selling items are video games.

"Sometimes its hard to even just stand in there with all the kids," says Hanashiro, chilling outside Toy n' Joys and eyeing the crowd in Kwong On.

"There's old people in there, too, Grandpa!" insists Jaron, correctly.

A twenty-something couple squeals in unison after finally caving in to weeks of temptation and purchasing an expensive Japan-imported Playstation2 game they've wanted. A young mother gazes longingly at Smurf figurines enclosed in a locked glass case while her daughter eyes a mini-Totoro.

Even a reporter suddenly off the clock proves true the dangerous formula: leftover childhood + adult income = woefully unnecessary consumerism. A complete "Kill Bill" action figure set — The Bride, Go-Go Yubari and three of the Crazy 88s including Johnny Mo — is now mine.

Oh, joy!

Here, kitty kitty lovers, is a deal for you all month long

And if you buy the new feline T-shirt at Crazy Shirts at Ala Moana Center or Pearlridge, you get a coupon for a free microchip ID from the humane society. Crazy Shirts makes a donation to the organization with every cat T-shirt it sells.

Swap meet for, by keiki

The Children's Discovery Center is presenting a Keiki Swap Meet at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park today. Expect to find used toys and books. Children's Discovery Center

This is your chance (or maybe your parents' chance) to recycle those gently used toys, games, books, things you might have outgrown.

And kids can learn about the value of money, too. Buyers, of course, are welcome.

It's hosted by the Children's Discovery Center. There's a $3 registration fee for each participating young seller. 524-5437.

Exotic cars drive into Blaisdell this weekend

It's the stuff dreams are made of, if you dream in horsepower, that is. You can see some of that dreamy machinery — of the Maserati, Ferrari, Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki, Honda, Buell and Aprilia kind — at the Exotic Car and Cycle Show this weekend at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

Other attractions to get your motor running: tricked-out bikes by local owners will be on display, The Advertiser's "Big Boys Toys" element features electronics and sports stuff for Dad and Mom and everyone else.

Show hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. tomorrow. Admission is $6 general, $4 seniors 62 and older and military, $2 kids 7-12, free for those 6 and younger. Tomorrow is Kid's Day: The first 500 children 11 and younger will receive a free children's admission ticket to Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park and a free Dave & Buster's Powercard. www.exoticcarshow.com.

The Honolulu Advertiser is a sponsor.

It's all happening in Waikiki, all the time, this weekend ...

It's a huge weekend in Waikiki, with parades, festivals and Sunset on the Beach:

• The 88th annual King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade is a spectacle of floats, pa'u riders, marching bands and little kids and adults alike getting a big kick out of it. Bring your camera, lots of film and sunscreen. It begins at 9:30 a.m. today at King and Richards streets downtown, wending its way to Punchbowl, along Ala Moana and Kalakaua and ending at Kapi'olani Park, where a folk arts festival takes place.
• The other big event in town is the Pan-Pacific Festival Matsuri in Hawai'i, which has been promoting cross-cultural friendship for 25 years. Besides cultural performances at Ala Moana Center and the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, there's the grand parade, 5-7 p.m. tomorrow beginning at Fort DeRussy and ending at Kapi'olani Park. Expect colorful floats and performers from Japan, high school bands and more.
• Sunset on the Beach, featuring food booths, entertainment and movies on that 30-foot screen at Queen's Surf Beach, has a special attraction this weekend: the screening of the first episode of the new Hawai'i-based Fox television series "North Shore" tomorrow night. It hits the screen at 7:30 p.m., just before the feature film, "Along Came Polly," the Ben Stiller comedy that was partly filmed in Hawai'i.

Tonight's movie is the grand drama "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," starring Russell Crowe.

Sunset on the Beach begins at 4 p.m. With the later sunsets, the films generally begin at 7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. tomorrow night).

Admission is free.