The Thousands

There’s nothing wrong with the matchbox car per se, but it doesn’t quite have the design aesthetic of the vinyl toy. Which leads me to wonder how children in Japan, spiritual home of the vinyl toy, played when they were little. While we were pushing our cars around an especially made mat making "vroom" sounds they were probably having imaginary intergalactic wars with stylised mythical creatures.

**If you want to get a slice of that intergalactic action then Ruban Rat is the place to go. In addition to having the most limited-of-edition designer vinyl toys straight from the motherland, they carry designer plush, clothes, prints and an in-store gallery.