VinMag: very much worth a visit
Here’s lookin’ at you, kid: Bogie welcomes you in…
If you live in, nearby or happen to be visiting London, then I very much recommend you give the wunderbar VinMag shop in Soho a visit. It’s a true haven for fans of retro culture – and no mistake.
Selling everything from vintage movie posters to film tie-in collector’s pieces/ toys and retro-design-bearing mousepads to retro-design-bearing keyrings, its stock is as varied, rare and individual as Colin Baker’s costume in Doctor Who. Also, the entirety of the downstairs is given over to its collection of vintage magazine, newspaper and comic back issues, many of which date back decades – take your pick from Vogue to Playboy, The Times to The Dandy.
Moreover, on occasions, down in the basement, the shop holds autograph signings with actors and – sometimes – directors from the worlds of retro film and TV. Uncool it may be, but I must confess to being lucky enough to having met half a dozen former Bond actors and come away with their autographs thanks to VinMag’s efforts. Autograph signings usually take place on Saturday mornings and afternoons.
Street scene: now that’s what you call a window display
Just a few minutes’ walk from Piccadilly Circus, as it is, the shop is a real tourist trap, but also certainly one of London’s best kept secrets. And a quick check of the VinMag website informs me they have an outlet in Brighton, down on England’s Sussex coast, as well. I can’t vouch for this part of the company’s empire, having never visited it, but if it’s half as impressive as the London establishment then it’s no doubt worth a visit if you’re down that way.
VinMag’s website is well worth taking a look at too, as it seems a good deal of what’s physically for sale in their London store is available to order from the business’s web home.
Seriously, if you’re into retro film, TV, music or advertising aesthetics, then this is the place that really could furnish your needs. In addition to the autographs, it’s also helped furnish my walls in years past with full-sized, framed movie posters of Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and Ocean’s Eleven (the original version). As Sinatra might say, that’s swell, pally…
George
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VinMag Shop London, 39-43 Brewer Street, London W1F 9UD/ Tel: +44 020 7439 8525
VinMag Shop Brighton, 37 Kensington Gardens, Brighton BN1 4AL/ Tel: +44 01273 671 812
George's Journal 
VinMag is certainly a fine establishment, Georgey, and I’ve often found myself browsing its shelves.
Indeed, my signed George Lazenby picture is from there – although it was Mrs. Dublo and not myself that got to meet the legend.
Nice review, too.
Dublo.
Cheers, dubster.
Yep, it’s a great place, all right.
For those interested, I found the link below on youtube; it gives you a good idea of the atmosphere – listen out for the Bond music in the background. They play kooky retro stuff in VinMag usually, but it’s often suitably specific at the signings. In actual fact, I went to this signing, and the friend I went along with got a snap of me with the big guy too… 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmcqmtzkpno