Monsters In Motion Retail Gallery

After perusing their online website, I decided to go there in person since I was going to be in the area. The store front is a little difficult to find. It’s the building facing the street so be sure to look in that area. They do have a sign out front with their name and an arrow pointing to the store and that does help. The store itself is like a treasure trove of the coolest items. Lots of models and figurines on display like Godzilla, aliens from different movies, Trekkie stuff, etc. I was there for a hard to find CD and Terrance helped me. Took me upstairs to even more cool stuff and helped me find the CD I was looking for. Also found a Ned Stark figurine from Game of Thrones and had to have that! John helped me check out and I was happily on my way. The service was great and I love the store. Will have to bring my spouse back to check it out! I thought the prices were reasonable and the selection was very good. The CD I got is one that I could not find anywhere else except on Ebay and from Germany no less at twice the price excluding shipping. It really made my day as I drove back to San Diego listening to my new CD.
I did see the previous bad reviews but did not have any of those problems. I was at the store on a Wednesday at around 2pm and they were open and well staffed. Staff was friendly and answered all my questions. If you want something in particular, they will look it up for you. Based on my experience, would highly recommend them!
Side note-​Kids would love this store, so much to see but be careful they don’t touch or break any of the high expense items on display.

I normally don’t chime in on Unilocal reviews, because it appears they’re based on people that have nothing better to do but to badmouth a small businessman struggling just to survive, but in this instance the reviews that I read regarding monsters in motion, we’re so few, and so biased, that I had to speak up. I have had nothing but great service and a wonderfully unique experience with Terry and the staff. They have been in business 25 years, and offer the most unique and wide range of items, some of them available only from them.
OK, after reading the review about driving from San Diego to visit the place on a Saturday, I can see how someone may be upset that no one was there. Personally, I wouldn’t drive any where near that distance to go somewhere unless I knew exactly for sure that someone would be there. I know in fact that 90% of their business is done through mail order, and they ship to places like Australia to Japan to Alaska, and the Philippines. With just about anything available on the Internet, from China, I think it’s a testament to the folks at monsters in motion, to sustain and grow their business. Go to their website and check out the almost hundred thousand items that they have, call them up, and as for Terry, the owner. I have called and he is spoken to me for a half hour on the phone just about a small little item. Remember, we are dealing with a staff of 10 and there may be times that require leaving a message into getting a call back, but that is not unusual in the business world. I have been told that they are completely revamping their website, adding new products, which are added all the time. If you’re looking for a most unique experience check this place out… they have movie props, memorabilia, rare posters, movies, soundtracks, action figures, model kits, and of course one of a kind props readily available.

Avoid. I dont know which of their «artists» built my godzilla kit, but its already falling apart. lack of putty. Another kit, the tail on another godzilla kit was built up wrong, now i need to get it fixed. never going back there again. they are rude, curt and condescending. Advice: try to hire an artist freelance. one that works there. cut out the middleman.

The review is based upon a trip in October 2013.
I called to make sure they were open, and to get an answer to that may as well been me asking the guy what his social security number was. Paranoid much? I didn’t know your company hours were such a secret.
Very strange person, and not the cool strange, just I am an asshole deal with it strange, but not a pleasant funny asshole, just an ASSHOLE.
All the stuff is upstairs, its small and way overpriced. I price match on eBay before I buy any collectibles. Most of the in store items had a price tag 3x the amount of eBay and Amazon. They did however have Frankenhooker DVD for sale, which I thought was pretty awesome, but not for the price tag ($ 40). You can get it on eBay for $ 13.
We talked to maybe the manager (?) to ask if he had anything else horror related in the back. He went on and on about how they have a huge warehouse just loaded with things, so many things that they don’t know what is in it. We asked if we could peek around and he just went into excuses why not. I think he was just lying and trying to boost how «cool» the place was. IDK. We didn’t buy anything, and even if I did see something I wanted, I wouldn’t buy it from that jerk.

Bad customer service from Jamie @ MIM — Found two items in their online catalog for $ 0.00 price. Yup. Online the price showing $ 59.99 had been lined out and $ 0.00 displayed.
Who wouldn’t place an order?
I ordered one of each and several other items.
Email confirm came back showing $ 0.00 price on those two items.
Items arrived couple weeks later, I’d been billed $ 59.99 each for the two advertised @ $ 0.00.
Emailed store asking for refund on the charges. Email came back telling me to stick it up my biskit, if I didn’t like the answer or the price, send items back. Jamie was being kind of a dick about it, sort of like I was a 15 year old trying to pull a fast one.
Yes, I have screen shots to support my side. Items have since been updated on line.
I replied send call tag. All items went back, case closed.
My take: if you’re going to advertise items at any price, honor that price no matter what. If you as a retailer make a mistake, negotiate and keep even a semi regular customer (especially in a line of business selling hobby non need items) happy.
Not for nothing, at least be professional in your communications, don’t reply talking down to a customer.
End state: I put them in the rear view, there are other retailers selling collectible stuff. I didn’t like the snotty answer I got from them and frankly they aren’t very organized in keeping track of order status — tons of automated emails before i finally got product.
You most likely won’t have similar experience, but you have insight as to how MIM as a business resolves customer issues. The vibe I get is they run it from parent’s basement and don’t really care about customer service because they don’t have to.

Unlike the one other review this spot has, I did manage to get in here on a Saturday. I even called to make sure they were, indeed, open. And someone answered. If you’re driving from far away, this should probably be common sense.
The store has a bottom level which houses some display pieces in a few cases. There is some really cool stuff in here — like a killer set of Godzilla busts featuring many of the his different suits — but they’re going to be cost-​prohibitive for most casual shoppers.
Upstairs houses the goods, of which there aren’t many. There are a few short aisles of various action figures and model kits, some books & collector’s magazines, a number of big ticket items that could woo serious collector’s. But it’s all so packed in and limited that most people who go out of their way to drive over here will likely leave disappointed. Nothing is any cheaper than it is online, so there isn’t a great deal of incentive to make the drive. I made a few decent finds, but you’re not likely to find much that isn’t readily available in other similar stores.

Their website states they’re open on Saturdays, drove twice from San Diego on different Saturdays and they were CLOSED! No explanation, no sigh at door, no message left at their answering machine. Awful customer service. Stay away! Several customers were there and were upset as well.