A 16'x16' Square Of Hipness in Allentown
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Halloween may be over, but that doesn't mean that Buffalo's truly alternative gift shop is taking a break. Hero Design will soon be celebrating its one-year anniversary. The design and gift studio has been growing steadily, as can be easily seen when browsing the stocked shelves. The merchandise lines that Hero stocks are not for everyone. The people that are into these lines are hardcore collectors, or people who love creativity and design. Most of the gifts are manufactured as limited runs, which means that the characters seen on the shelves are highly sought-after.
I stopped in to talk to the owners about their thirteen-month celebration - in true Hero style. Mark and Beth are two local designers who get into their products like no other retailer does... or not many I should say because they both gave big props to Krudmart on Elmwood. The store is constantly evolving as the products evolve... and there are huge shows that launch creations... shows that attract big producers and stars. This is a different world that collectors rule. It's the perfect store for the person that has everything. How does this industry affect pop culture and Hollywood? What is a platform toy? How does one graduate from 2-D to 3-D? What surprises Mark and Beth... maybe Nurse Flash It? And what on earth is Comicon? Find out on this podcast.
93 Allen St Buffalo , NY 14202 Phone: 716/858-4376
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buffawhat
Congrats to Beth and Mark! As a customer many times over at Hero, these guys really take the shopping experience to the next level. They truly care about the products they sell and really get into watching their customers open their purchases to see what they got. Since a lot of the collectables are blind box, you don't know always know what you will get, which is all the more fun.
Mad props to these guys, don't ever go away.
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flyguy
Looks like a cool store. Wish I could order some of those figurine thingys online. Checked out their site and it seems like you can only order posters. Those Gorrilaz "toys" look awesome. Looks like a great store! Hope to visit when I get back to Buffalo.
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HeroBeth
Thanks Newell, Buffawhat and Flyguy! Flyguy, yes, we only sell the posters online, which in itself takes a significant amount of my time weekly with fulfilling orders and shipping. The market of online vinyl toy stores is quite saturated, and we love the idea of our local customers having exclusivity of our product line. Also, we would have to hire another person just to handle online toy orders, which is not a business we'd like to get into, we carry the toys because we absolutely love them and we feel they are the perfect compliment to our studio and the posters. That being said, if there is something you are looking to purchase that we carry, please don't hesitate to call us, or if you are curious if we carry something in particular you are looking for, I would be more than happy to take an order over the phone and ship anything out to you. 716-858-4376 Thanks again.
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