Toying Around Metro Manila: Wow Toy Museum

What started as a sad tragedy has given rise to a concept that has been bringing joy to kids and kids at heart at a non-descript area of Quezon City. When Jimmy Madarang lost his father to a heart attack, the then sixteen-year old consoled himself by seeking solace with his toys. His widowed mother supported him in his endeavor as well as his seven other siblings that almost forty years later, their private toy collection has grown to tens of thousands occupying five rooms and a storage area in their residence which is now known as Wow Toy Museum.

As of this writing, if you are not careful, you will easily miss the museum as Typhoon Glenda blew away the outdoor signage. Good thing that was the only damage to the museum which houses authentic toys from the 1950s up to the present. If you’re planning a visit, don’t have anything else on your agenda. Prepare to spend hours oohing and aahing as I did.

This is Jimmy, the nice and humble owner.

This is just one of the five rooms showcasing his collection. I think he has had more on display than Toys R Us and Toy Kingdom combined! I asked Jimmy about the maintenance and he said that he has three people doing the cleaning and organizing. I pity the three…. (Why did I just hear Mr. T's voice?)

Anyway, if you’re lucky, Jimmy can give you a guided tour with personal stories to boot. Some of the toys are his, way back when he was a kid; others were donated by his family and relatives from here and abroad. If you have any cherished toy that you want to be provided with a good home, you may either donate it to Wow or let the museum give it a temporary shelter for other people to enjoy as well. Jimmy also keeps broken toys so he can either repair them or use the parts to fix other toys.

“There is something for every age here,” he explains. If you’re an adult, there will be toys that will bring you back or will introduce you to the toys of today.

“Tatanatananatata…” The ultimate robot….

…and the rest of the robots through the years.

It’s not always play and games here but there are toys that can be used in class as visual aids. Although the kids might remember the toys more than the lesson…

No, this is not the MTV Award statue.

“Nanananana…”

Whoyou’re gonna call? (Although it really should be “Whom you’re….”)

Someonewants to hold your hand…

These are miniatures. Do you see the toothpaste there? Jimmy made it himself!

He also made the Bible and the glasses.

This is how intricate his works are. The helicopter actually lights up!

This is where the magic happens---his workshop where he also naps, eats and surfs for more toys, tools and accessories.

No toy collection can be complete without planes….

…helicopters….

…trains that run….

….and more trains. Jimmy is setting up the train to circle the room. The light you see on the toy train is a video camera so you can watch from a monitor what it captures---if you can take your eyes off the moving train, that is!

Of course, there has to be cars, more of the same model in all sizes, please!

Too bad Jimmy doesn’t have the real thing.

That’s Jimmy when he was a kid and that’s his actual Go Kart as shown in the photo. This is a family who really knows how to take care of their stuff!

I love this cute business card Jimmy once planned on using. It’s a fold-out card that transforms into a bus.

As mentioned, Wow Toy Museum is not all about play but some items can be used to demonstrate the laws of science. This is why it is popular among schools for field trips. Do you see the UFO floating? Jimmy explained how it works but I was never really into science so don’t ask me anything about it.

What kid will forget about his science lesson on magnetism when he sees this?

Wish my science teacher used this back then!

In almost every display of the miniatures, one would notice coins amongst them as well as the Philippine flag.

This signs explains why---and I love the answer! Mabuhay ka, Jimmy! (Kind of reminds me of Denzel Washington's film, "The Bone Collector.")

When Jimmy introduced himself to us, he immediately informed us that he had only finished high school but look at his achievement of putting up the country’s first and only toy bona fide museum that has found its way on to Trip Advisor. His alma mater took notice of it too.

It is not unusual to see school buses, media vans and tour buses lining up at the museum’s gate.

This is how big the collection is---the kid throws in the towel from sheer exhaustion. And we were only half-way done!

I only spent two hours at the museum and ended up with close to 800 photos of only those that interested me. My camera would conk out if I photographed each and every item there. As I cannot possibly upload all the photos here, just click here to see more of the collection as taken by other guests.

Wow Toy Museum is located at 99-101 Sgt. Rivera St., Quezon City. Please call first for an appointment as walk-ins are seldom entertained; tour groups and field trips are preferred. Tickets are at P100 pax. For more details, call (02) 363-6247 or 0919-4696987.

-The Paranoid Traveler

Toying Around Metro Manila: Wow Toy Museum

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