Since I was in the neighborhood the other day, I took the kids to the Arizona Popular Culture Museum. I had tried to go a couple months ago, but they were in the middle of moving down the street (from City North to Desert Ridge for those of you who know Phoenix) and since it’s not exactly close to me, this is the first chance I’ve had to go in their new home. There are still some signs of the museum not being finished (such as the stairs of doom), but it’s a nice little museum…with some caveats.
The museum is two stories with a stairs of doom connecting them. I call them the stairs of doom, because there is a handrail along the wall and nothing on the other side (where you can fall into the room they are using as a warehouse now). I had to sign a waiver to be allowed up the stairs of doom. The lighting is substandard (which they know and are working on) and their is still a lot of stuff still packed away which needs to be brought out. Having said that, it’s still a cool little museum.
On the bottom floor, they have two Star Wars rooms (one for prequels and expanded universe and one for original trilogy) with the second room also having some related(ish) stuff (Battlestar Galactica, Space 1999, Firefly, etc). Then there is a Star Trek room, a random science fiction room (Aliens, X-Files, Planet of the Apes, etc.). Along one wall is a DC comic display case with a bunch of action figures (these are pretty much the only ones outside their packaging in the museum). Then there is a DC room and a Marvel room (DC room is bigger). So random other toys are at the end of the hallway (LOTR, etc).
Going up the stairs of doom, there is one huge room with a lot of sports, Barbie, GI Joe, Simpsons, Peanuts, etc. Some random Image comic figures. There is then a hallway with some additional figures and then there is an over-18 room. Since I had the kids with me, I didn’t see that one.
Overall, the museum was nice, but also a disappointment. The vast majority of items were fairly recent (within last 20 years) action figures with occasional spaceships, etc. There were little to no posters, animation cels, movie props or anything else besides action figures. On the top floor, a large number of the sports figures were McFarlanes, which are easily seen at McFarlane’s store at Westgate, with a few earlier pieces. I would have loved to see some of the earlier Star Wars/Star Trek toys or even some earlier Barbies and/or GI Joes. I would still recommend it, since the price is reasonable ($5 adults, $3 for teens and seniors and kids are free) and it’s fun to see. The tour guide was knowledgeable and you could tell that she loved her job and the toys (although I did hear a couple slips). If you’re in the area, I recommend you check it out.