There’s a saying that ‘There’s a child inside all of us’. And whenever we see an old toy, this ‘inner child’ will conjure up good childhood memories. Like other kids, I was fond of toys too. I had an opportunity to visit Penang with my two boys late last year. I stumbled upon this local attraction on the web and needless to say, my kids were super excited about going there. Here are some pics of our visit to the Penang Toy Museum.
(Original date was 12 Dec 2013. Pics taken with Canon 550D with Sigma 30mm f1.4 and Tokina 12-24mm lens)
The Penang Toy Museum is located at 1370, Mk 2, Teluk Bahang, Penang. It’s one of its kind in Malaysia and is reputed to have the largest toy collection in the world with more than 100,000 toys! This current location is relatively new as the previous location was at Tanjung Bungah. As a newbie to the area around Teluk Bahang, it took me a while to find the museum. As you can see the entrance and ticket booth looks pretty drab. But when we stepped in through the white door, it was like we went through another wonderful dimension! 🙂
One of the main attraction of this place is the huge selection life size figures. The toy museum is divided into sections, notably Chamber of Horrors, Chamber of Monsters, Chamber of Comic Book Heroes, Hall of Rock Legends, Hall of Cartoons, Hall of Celebrities and also Star Wars Collection!
It’s a huge place to begin with and fully air conditioned. For a low entrance fee (I think it’s RM 10 for adults, RM 6 for kids), we get to see lots of stuffs being displayed. Really value for money here.
We really enjoyed looking at the toys and life size figures. I think I can spend hours here just viewing the various sections and collections! But one thing I don’t really like is that they use transparent plastic (or perhaps acrylic or fibre glass) and cheap looking steel frames (like the ones you can buy at a local hardware store) to house and showcase the toys and figures. I guess they are trying to keep the operating cost down, hence the cheap entrance fee.
At the Chamber of Comic Book Heroes, there is a huge collection of action figures being displayed. Due to the reflective nature of the plastic showcase, I find it difficult to take a photograph without getting light reflected from the florescent lamps. I took loads of pictures but many of them were spoiled due to the reflections from the plastic showcase. 😦
Kids love comic book heroes, including me. Lol! I grew up reading lots of comics, especially DC and Marvel. I felt like I was a kid again here!
Yikes! One of the most talked about collection here is the ‘Chucky’ Dolls from the ‘Child’s Play’ series at the Chamber of Horror section. Cool.
I was really glad I got a pic with my favourite Vulcan! (my son Kiran took this shot)
Ooo…my favourite Borg (liberated) ‘Seven of Nine’ from Star Trek Voyager. Super Cool!
The toy museum also house a good collection of new and vintage Star Wars toys. Here is the Star Wars’ Millennium Falcon (looked vintage to me)
Like many Sci-Fi buffs, I’m a big Trekkie fan too, albeit a latecomer. I only got interested in Star Trek from ‘The Next Generation’ (re-runs) series onwards and I still have much to learn about the Trek universe.
More Trekkie stuffs here. “To boldly go where no man has gone before”.
Freddie, John and Kurt. You can find these at the ‘Hall of Rock Legends’ section.
Fans of Elvis would not be disappointed. Looks like grandpa can come along too.
Hey I grew up watching The Muppets. Awesome!
Cult Sci-Fi movie by Tim Burton.
Austin Powers collection… Groovy Baby!
Wow…they even have Gremlins!
The Matrix action figures are also featured.
Hellboy collection for fans of the movie and Dark Horse comics.
Aliens movie series (pic taken by my son Roushan)
If you happen to be at Penang for a holiday, Penang Toy Museum will be a great place to hang out with your kids and you’d be at home too if you’re a big fan of collectibles and toys! Well I don’t mind going there again to take some more pics. Next time I will bring my Olympus E-M5 instead! 🙂
Penang Toy Museum,
1370, MK2, Teluk Bahang,
11050 Penang, Malaysia.
(Beside SJK (C) Eok Hua School)
Operating Hours: 9am to 6pm, Daily
Phone: 012 460 2096