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| - I finally wandered into Red Hot Robot after another wandering session in Stinkweeds (adios, hard-earned cash, I'll miss you) and I'll tell you that I enjoyed walking and looking around this joint. Full of random toys, vinyl or otherwise (including these funky UglyDolls http://www.uglydolls.com/ , which may have 3 eyes or one), collectible figures - robot or otherwise (many with a Japanese design bent), books on graffiti (Bansky, etc.), t-shirts, hip and non-cheesy greeting cards, candy (including those chocolate Kinder Eggs with the BRAND NEW! 2008 collection of little toys that American kids would swallow but European kids apparently wouldn't), and more.
Red Hot Robot could easily be located somewhere in San Francisco, where there definitely is a huge market of people who'd buy stuff like these collectibles and toys for themselves or other people; which makes the fact that it's here in uptown Phoenix instead all the greater. That's because I would never have expected Phoenix to have a store like this (but I'll be first to readily admit to underestimating this city now and then).
The downside to Red Hot Robot for me personally is as much as I thought everything in there was pretty cool, I still didn't buy a single thing. However, that probably has more to do with my aversion to "stuff" in general than anything else.
So 4 stars. Even though I didn't buy anything, I hope enough people do. Great little independent businesses like this one are what's going to keep rapidly developing-and-redeveloping Phoenix from becoming "Anywhere, USA". Definitely worth checking out next time you're around this part of town.
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