Last night, I was surrounded by robots. Sure they were tiny toy robots, and most of them were still in their packaging, but their cold, mechanical eyes stared up at me from everywhere. That's because I was at the grand opening of AC Gears in New York City's Greenwich Village, where a robotic welcoming committee greets all visitors.

The store has actually been around for five years online under the name AudioCubes, selling high-end headphones. Owner Kohn Liu (the bewildered-looking guy in the top row of pics below) found that Japanese tech toys had an even larger appeal, and they take up half the space in the new non-virtual store.

On opening night, the best customer was probably Boris Rabinovich (bottom row, middle), a software engineer who dropped over $120 on a remote-control helicopter, a face bank (think piggy bank, minus the piggy but +1 face), a bathpalatte light that changes color floating in water, and a pair of headphones. We couldn't resist the pull of the toys either, picking up a Cam-10 robot and a bobble-head figure made by botmaker Tomy.

If you're in NYC, you can find this tech playground at 69 8th Street. That's East 8th Street.

Via AC Gears