Frankie's Apartment

Thursday, March 1, 2012

99¢ and Beyond: A Series

The problem with 99¢ Stores these days is that hardly anything costs 99¢ anymore. As it says in the photo below, everything costs 99¢ or more. Mostly, everything costs $1.29, but when you find a really good 99¢ store - all bets are off. You might find that special Bok Choy Lamp you were looking for. $29.99? Here you go. A giant lighter at $1.99 is totally reasonable. And 6 multi-colored tiger-print padded bras for $20.99 is a tremendously good deal. Anyhow, the next 10 or so posts are about a production mission that spanned almost every 99¢ Store along the 7 train in Queens - from Queensborough Plaza all the way to Junction Blvd.

Next time: MAIN STREET, FLUSHING.

Inside's Jing's 99¢ Paradise - Can You Find Mr. Jing?

Giant Lighter Gif

$1.99 at Jing!

We Have The Best Price

Bok Choy Lamp

I know it's ugly, but.

Beach Ball Drawing

The Most Interesting Part From Some Old Beach Ball Packaging

Super Skerple

Watch out Sharpie...

Logo for a Cheap Plastic Horn

This logo is more like the logo for Horn: The Movie, like, after this crappy Horn Toy gets really popular.

Here are the horns.

And here are some samples so you can make your own hip hop song - using the mighty sound of the cheapest toy horns ever made.

Horn Talk by Frankie's Apartment

Electronics Mayhem

Check the Sound

Electronic Mayhem Audio Helper by Frankie's Apartment

Cute Bug Slippers

In Anthropomorphic Disorder, one of the main signs you have a problem is when you buy something like these slippers - a steal at $2.99. While everyone has the right to rock cute bug feet, one has to ask oneself a few questions. Like - can I fit my size twelves into these little girl slippers? And - what kind of bug is this anyway? And lastly - where the hell did these slippers come from and what were they like at the concept level? Who was the designer? Who gave the go ahead on production? Without satisfactory answers to these questions, you've got no business making a purchase, especially if you have a problem with putting sticky eyes on all your bathroom products.

Bras (6-pack)

$9.99 Bape Knock-off

I choked when my intern, Luca, told me that the kids are basically down with Bape and that "old pieces" (like from '07) go for $$$ on eBay. Regardless of how I feel about it, this is the proof of the popularity. A $9.99 Bape bootleg hoodie with camo hood and the cheapest iron-on letters I've ever seen. I shot this in deep Woodside - outside of a 99¢ Store - where there is absolutely nothing cool going on. To the left - a 5 dollar barber shop, to the right - a 6 dollar chicken shack. Even the graffiti in the area is all from the late 90's. The bike shop across the street, Bill's Cycles is still full of Huffy's.

Fart Cloud

Printer Paper and Colored Pencils
Left behind the butt of a sexy robot poster in 2011 by J. Roberts

Woks Chinese Cuisine

79-21 37th Avenue Jackson Heights, NY

From Yelp:

Alpha Donuts

45-16 Queens Blvd.

Alligator in Tuxedo

The rest of the guys in A.A. (Anthropomorphics Anonymous) are gonna love this. While I'm a big fan of quarter-rides, and am actually quite familiar with this alligator, I've never seen him in a tux. This one was sitting out on the corner of Queens Blvd. in front of a Chinese Take-Out.