Kapow Collectibles — a Chicago destination for rare vintage toys — relocates to Skokie

Romeo Magdaluyo remembers living out of a suitcase, constantly traveling for work to the point of burnout. That’s when he decided to start a new hobby: collecting tiny robots. 

A fraud investigator then, he spent 21 years flying all over the country to scrutinize claims and testify in court. But handling figurines of Japanese robots reminded him of a simpler time — growing up in the Philippines in the 1970s, he said. 

So Magdaluyo flew to Japan every year between 1999 and 2010 to reacquire the plastic robots of his childhood and spent his last year as an investigator answering Craigslist advertisements in every state he traveled to, scooping up bundles of vintage figurines. 

Now, after first opening a vintage toy store in 2011 in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, Magdaluyo has relocated Kapow Collectibles to downtown Skokie, 4921 Oakton St. 

“When you’re in a stressful job, you try to think back to a time where things are less stressful and, nostalgia wise, I gravitated towards that. It helped me relax,” Magdaluyo said of how he got into the vintage toy business. “Some people smoke, drink, you know; I collect toys.”

The shop, which is open 1-5 p.m. every day but Mondays, offers a colorful array of boxed and unboxed toys, playsets, collectible novelties and paraphernalia from nearly every possible franchise. 

Nostalgia-seeking shoppers can acquire G.I. Joe soldiers from the 1980s, Star Wars jedis from the 1970s, one of the first ever brunette Barbie dolls from the 1960s, a Bozo the Clown set from the 1950s and even a wind-up tin Popeye figure from the 1930s. 

A $300 Japanese Ultraman kaiju sits on a shelf above the register, while a tub of 50-cent Hot Wheels cars sits beneath it. Elsewhere, Marvel superheroes, DC villains, WWE wrestlers, Masters of the Universe Skeletor figures and Power Rangers hang from shelves, all preserved in their original packaging. 

“It’ll be hard for someone to walk in here and not see their old toy. We’ve had several senior citizens come in and see their old toys,” Magdaluyo said. “We offer unique products that you probably won’t see in stores today.”

Magdaluyo recalled watching the Japanese anime series Voltes V while growing up in the Philippines and playing with toy versions of the show’s robot protagonist. But he also remembers how Ferdinand Marcos, Philippine’s then-dictator banned the show in 1979, claiming its negative effects on children. The show featured themes of liberation from oppression, Magdaluyo said, and Voltes V toys quickly disappeared from local stores. 

When Magdaluyo moved to the United States to be with his family, he was 11 years old and immediately taken with the colorful superheroes sold in Toys ‘R’ Us stores, he said. 

It wasn’t until he was an adult and working as a fraud investigator, he said, that he began recreating his childhood toy collection, visiting toy stores and individual collectors all over Japan. 

The hobby was already starting to become more mainstream when Magdaluyo was gearing up to launch his store in Chicago, but he knew people who were less vocal about their collections.

Now, he said, professional athletes, musicians and rappers are common customers. He knows Chicago DJs who have spent more than $10,000 at his store. Much of his clientele are 20 and older, perhaps because the younger generation has grown up playing on digital devices, he said.

“It’s a lot more accepted now, especially with the Marvel movies and all the IPs that are out there. It opened up the hobby to everybody,” Magdaluyo said. 

“I never considered myself a nerd but I liked the stuff. I never hid it. My girlfriends at the time thought it was kind of funny but I didn’t care. I didn’t hide behind it — I like what I like.”

Since KaPow Collectibles has already been in business for 15 years, Magdaluyo said he doesn’t have to do much advertising. Awareness of his shop tends to spread by word of mouth.

Everyday people come in to sell him something from their personal or inherited collections, he said. He otherwise gains inventory from estate sales, buys out shops that are closing, and keeps in touch with a runner in Japan. 

A few times, a divorcee has come in with their half of an ex-husband’s collection, “looking to hurt him,” Magdaluyo said.

But his former location at 711 W Belmont Ave. in Chicago was in a busy, congested area, which made it difficult for his customers who drive in from all over to reach the store, he said. 

Moving to Skokie has made his collection more accessible, and provided more square footage to display his ever-increasing lot of vintage toys. He officially opened on Friday, March 13.

“It’s something that some people gravitate towards, nostalgia,” Magdaluyo reiterated on what brings people in. “It makes you kind of feel better about looking at stuff, at a less stressful and happier time.”

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