Getting to know Imperial Studio, a new toy shop

Blogging has its privileges :)

I was privileged and honored to be invited to the opening of a new toy shop in Singapore. Imperial Studio is located at 111 North Bridge Road #04-32 Peninsula Plaza right in the heart of the city (open from 12noon till 8pm). Besides selling toys (and collectibles), the owners wanted a place "where toys and people come together". One of their specialties is that they are able to specialise in original customs and work with collectors' desired customs as well. And I was blown away by the customs I saw. Not only are they of the highest quality, the customised figures are innovative, creative and most affordable. The customised figures are sturdy as award winning customiser Reeve has lots of experience and won numerous accolades for his custom work. We local collectors have been waiting for this to happen for the longest time and now, Imperial Studio is finally here to make it all come true!

The picture above is the store front and right in the centre is the main display which has a 12-inch figure of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) standing. Holographic images of the various Iron Man suits are then superimposed onto Stark's body / figure and you see him being suited up in the different Iron Man armor suits we all know too well from the Iron Man films. See if you can identify the various suits that appear on the screen when you drop by the shop. Very cool display indeed and definitely worth a visit.

Go check out their facebook page HERE and LIKE it to stay updated with all the latest news.

Scroll down to see the rest of the pictures, especially of the different customised figures I took. You won't be disappointed. Click on them for bigger and better views.

The picture above gives an idea what I was mentioning about regarding the main display. Most impressive indeed. And the shop interior has a very cosy setting for collectors to meet and chat.

Now, on with the show! This is one of the customised Iron Man figures I saw at the shop and he's simply called "Commando!" You won't get to see most of these figures again as these customised figures will be picked up or delivered to its owner once the product is ready so every time you go the shop, there'll be something different to look out for.

Check out the nice details and the mask Reeve designed and customised. Each custom job is unique and you won't see the same figure twice. These figures reminded me of the time when Hot Toys held the Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum in 2010 and many of the Iron Man figures were customised jobs by various artists. You can check out my post HERE, HERE and HERE for the Iron Man pictures.

As the saying goes "A picture tells a thousand words". Scroll down and let the pictures speak!

Another Iron Man custom figure on show at the shop opening is "Sapphire Blue" Iron Man

This customised Iron Man figure is perhaps the coolest. "Old Boy" is an ageing Tony Stark still fighting evil in his armor suit but this is set in a different future where steampunk exists. Steampunk refers to a subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.

Check out the amazing details including battle damage found on this Steampunk "Old Boy" Iron Man. Wow!

Check out the customised head sculpt. Tony is much older now and is blind in one eye. Imagine the stories he could tell if he was real, including how he got blinded.

And here's the special steampunk Iron Man helmet Tony wears. CoOL

This is the customised Hot Toys Iron Man 3: 1/6th scale Igor (Mark XXXVIII) 43 cm tall Collectible Figure on display as well at Imperial Studio. He's not clean like the way Hot Toys released him but weathered and battle-damaged as he was seen in the epic final battle scene. For the clean version to use as comparison, you can see my earlier toy blog post HERE.

We finally have a correctly painted 1:6 scale RoboCop, all thanks to Imperial Studio and Reeve. This is RoboCop at his best, in his true colors as he was meant to be. I had lamented how Hot Toys had failed to produce RoboCop in the right colors in my post HERE and my review HERE, HERE and HERE plus the comparison pictures HERE clearly showed just how "off" the colors were. Reeve's repainted version is "perfectomondo" and this is how RoboCop's supposed to look. LOVE iT!

Just in case you're wondering if Imperial Studio also customises human figures, the answer is YES! Here's World War II Captain America (The First Avenger) in a customised battle worn outfit after his fight with Hydra and the Nazis. He may be invulnerable but his fabric clothes aren't and he's sure to get a few knocks and bruises in his fights. He can't look all spick and span coming off the battlefield and that's what Reeve has done here by giving good old Cap the real deal. His shield and ride aren't spared either. Check out the last picture for the nicely weathered realistic look done to the shield (with blast marks where it's done it's job shielding Captain America) and motorcycle (with rust and dirt marks plus battle damage). Very nice job by Reeve!

It was a pleasure to visit Imperial Studio and everyone should drop by at least once!

Go check out their facebook page HERE and LIKE it to stay updated with all the latest news.