Gee, Whiz: Kidrobot Invades Dallas Next Week

This is Huck Gee's "Golden Ticket Dunny," free to the first 200 folks to the Kidrobot opening next Thursday.

Had no idea till receiving the press release moments ago that Paul Budnitz's Kidrobot was opening an outpost in Mockingbird Station on Thursday. The Melrose Avenue joint in Los Angeles is quite the kidult nerdboy hang; during a handful of visits there over the years, I don't think I've ever seen a kid in there, come to think of it. (Hence its rep as the go-to joint for adults who collect kiddie objet d'art. Because who'd ever play with a toy? Please.) Dallas is just the 7-year-old shoppe's fifth market, including L.A., Manhattan, San Francisco and Miami.

The company's NYC publicist says Thursday's grand opening officially kicks off at 6 p.m. -- which is when doors open, though no telling when folks'll start lining up. Why come? Well, see, not only will there be the requisite "music and refreshments" to all comers, but 200 early adapters will receive, absotively gratis, a made-for-Dallas three-inch-tall Huck Gee creation called "Golden Ticket Dunny." (That's it at top, but of course.) Says the company rep, "There will only be 200 available, so we are expecting a long line"; Gee will be on hand to give 'em out personally -- and sign 'em too. For those in need of a sneak peek of what to expect, here's Gee's Flickr set from the Miami opening last year. The 6-year-old who lives in my house is already in line. Is that wrong?