Our Most Excellent Genre Adventure, Part 1

On Friday, Sept. 20, Trinitytwo and I headed into New York City for Our Most Excellent Genre Adventure. The goal was to visit genre related stores.

Outside of Forbidden Planet

Our adventure began at the doors of Forbidden Planet. Speaking for myself, Trinitytwo, I hopped out of the car and was immediately excited by the window dressing. Gremlins, Terminators, and Hellboy, Oh my! I knew this was my kind of place. We entered this store of enchanting treasures with smiles from ear to ear; there was just so much see. I think we both wandered about aimlessly for some time just drinking in all the new and intriguing wonders around each nook and cranny. I was especially drawn to the myriad of T-shirts from immensely popular subjects to the obscure. There truly was something for every genre fan. Another area of interest was the action figure section. Gremlins, X-Men, Aliens, and even Freddy Krueger adorned the shelves. I was like the proverbial kid in a candy shop, I even took the opportunity for a photo op with Princess Leia. I bought myself a couple of goodies (Wonder Woman T-shirt and Pins, Star Wars Pins) but the majority was for my son, a lover of horror and sci fi. Forbidden Planet has genre games, books, journals, comics, collectibles, including magnets, mugs, earbuds, and adorable statuettes. I can't begin to describe the fabulous Marvel and DC character statues or even try to cover the contents of my fantastic journey through Forbidden Planet. Let's just say, like the Terminator, "I'll be back."

Qwill and Trinitytwo are happy to be at Forbidden Planet!

I (Qwill) wasn’t sure what to expect at Forbidden Planet. I knew that they have comics and genre items, but I was almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of wonderful plushes, statues, Doctor Who items, T-shirts and more. I think I could spend hours (and a lot of money) there. One of the highlights for me was the wonderful and knowledgeable staff. Special thank to Saskia and Pam. Forbidden Planet has something for every genre lover and even if you didn’t know you were looking for something you will find it here. I bought a few things that were not on my must buy list. In addition to many comics, trade paperbacks and books, there is an incredible amount of collectibles from Avatar to Portal and more. I picked up some gorgeous Totoro plushes for my kids and wished I had bought a few more. I’ll use that as an excuse to visit Forbidden Planet again. In addition, I got my son a box of Portal Turrets, Series II (fortunately they are small and unarmed) and a cute little Android vinyl figure. I did get myself a superb Gojira (Godzilla) T-shirt and restrained myself from buying much more as New York Comic Con is next month and I'm sure there will be a lot of genre items I will want to get there.

 Some of the stuff at Forbidden Planet

Just to clear up a misconception that I had, Forbidden Planet in NYC is not affiliated with Forbidden Planet in London, UK though both stores are genre hubs.

Forbidden Planet is located at 832 Broadway in New York City. We both recommend it!



After Forbidden Planet, we made a very quick stop at The Strand bookstore (next door to Forbidden Planet) which has over 18 miles of new and used books. I picked up a very fun carry bag featuring a retro SF book cover.

In Part 2, we’ll tell you all about the fabulous time we had at the Jekyll and Hyde Club - food, horror, and a palm reader that blew our minds! And in Part 3, we’ll share our visit to the wonderful Enigma Bookstore in Astoria, Queens.




Note: We've only shared a few pictures of Forbidden Planet and as soon as I decide whether I like Flickr or Picasa web albums better, there will be many more photos for you to see (should you so desire).