After a very filling lunch of Korean BBQ at Han Jang Chon, we headed out to check out a toy shop in Burbank. After looking at Funko Pop toys we then headed over to a shop that I’ve read about on CC’s blog called Whimsic Alley as well as a cookie shop called Milk Jar Cookies and a kooky little shop called Wacko Soap Plant. Let’s start off with Whimsic Alley!
I’ve been wanting to visit Whimsic Alley for quite some time as it as tons of Harry Potter stuff!
Though the shop also caters to other fandoms, such as Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Doctor Who, and Game of Thrones.
When you walk into the store, it very much feels like Diagon Alley from Harry Potter. You feel like you’re “outdoors” and there are different rooms that look like small shops catering to different fandoms. There are windows high above in the main area to make you feel like you’re outside in London. The shop was still all dressed up from the holidays.
The first room we popped into was a Harry Potter room. They used to sell fan made goods but we were sued and now only offer properly licensed products. There’s lots of stuff available here for any cosplay. They also had a number of various t-shirts in this room for all fandoms.
Another room was the wand shop/room! There were boxes of wands behind the counter plus wands on display.
Here’s the Game of Thrones room with the Iron Throne in the center. I geeked out over the christmas tree which was an all “geeky” tree with ornaments featuring Sherlock, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and more. It even had Funko Pops in the tree!
Here’s the Doctor Who/Sherlock room which I was pretty excited for since I’m a big fan of both.
I loved seeing the cardboard cutouts of the different companions. I also dug all of the Sherlock stuff.
They even have a replica of Captain Mal’s coat from Firefly!
In front of the TARDIS!
Candy area!
And broomsticks!
Over to the side there was a long hallway with lots of artwork.
The majority of it was Harry Potter fan art but really it encompassed all varieties of pop culture in the artwork.
Halfway down the hallway I peeked in and saw a replica of the Great Hall from Harry Potter. It’s a room available for rent for parties, meetings, etc. HOW COOL!
Going to the very end of the hallway towards the bathrooms, you can see Sherlock’s door at 221 B Baker Street.
This sign also amused me.
Whimsic Alley
5464 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(310) 453-2370
Milk Jar Cookies
Right next door to Whimsic Alley was a cookie shop called Milk Jar Cookies. Like I could resist going in there! I wasn’t even hungry but I knew a few cookies for later would be very welcome by all three of us (especially me).
Milk Jar Cookies is a damn cute shop. The light fixtures are filled with empty milk bottles. It’s got a very crafty chic feel to the place.
Cookie menu.
The cookies were all displayed on cute cake plates. I loved the handwritten tags that showed the names of the cookies.
[chocolate peanut butter cookie / $3]
The first cookie I choose was the Chocolate Peanut Butter cookie. Chocolate and peanut butter is one of my all-time favorite combinations so it was an easy one to pick out. I took photos of the cookies while we were at the shop though we didn’t enjoy them until we got home later in the evening (it was the only other thing we ate that day besides the Korean BBQ).
When you slice or bite into the cookies, there are big pockets of peanut butter which had a similar creamy texture like the inside of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. The cookies are soft on the inside and have a sturdy, slightly crisp bottom. The texture was excellent – chewy, not crumbly at all, and a slight crispness. The cookies are quite thick and fairly rich. I cut the cookies into fourths and 1/4 was a nice amount to chew on.
[chocolate pecan caramel cookie / $3]
The second cookie we decided to get was the Chocolate Pecan Caramel cookie. The oozing caramel was what got us for this cookie since it looked so good with the caramel ooze. I have to admit I wasn’t too impressed by this one – I didn’t get a lot of pecan in the piece I sampled and it was just “okay” to me. Texture was great but it wasn’t quite as good as the chocolate peanut butter. I wished for a little sea salt to offset the sweetness of the caramel.
[white chocolate raspberry cookie / $3]
Jake choose the last cookie and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I cut it in a way to make sure the raspberry was in everyone’s piece as the raspberry was the star of the cookie in my opinion. It had a really nice, tart flavor that went well with the sweet white chocolate. The cookie base was like a regular sugar cookie but I really enjoyed the contrast of the tart raspberry and sweet white chocolate. The chocolate peanut butter was still my #1 but this was a very close to me. I loved that the cookies were also a bit puffy and soft but still had that nice crisp bottom. I’d definitely be willing to make another trip here to sample more cookies!
Milk Jar Cookies
5466 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 634-9800
Wacko Soap Plant
I had one more stop for our list and it was another toy shop over in Hollywood called Wacko Soap Plant.
The name alone intrigues me and would make me want to stop in and check it out.
It’s a bit hard to describe this store as they seemed to have just a little bit of… well, everything. There were rows and rows of various pop culture books and lots of little knick knacks, toys, funny kitchen gadgets, and even an art gallery in the back (though there was so much I didn’t even wander in the gallery part).
Rows of skulls. These were near the front next to a bunch of Kidrobot stuff.
More lunch boxes than I’ve ever seen. This is just a small section.
These made me laugh because I’m a juvenile who looks like an adult.
A bunch of tiki stuff!
As well as kooky prayer candles featuring some interesting people as saints. Praying to Saint Dorothy of Oz will perhaps help you get rid of any wicked witches in your life?
I didn’t take too many other photos since there were a lot of people milling about but it’s a store chock full of kooky, kitschy stuff!
Wacko Soap Plant
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 741-4540
You and your harry potter obsession. I need that with Star Wars at the moment. Been trying to get into it (the original episodes – well, more like all of the episodes minus the current one) so need you tenacity. Those cookies look so good. I want that chocolate caramel one. What’s your favorite cookie shop here in SD at the moment?
I lubs Harry Potter! And Star Wars, too, if you must know. I’m a certified geek 😀 I won’t say how many times I’ve seen the new Star Wars… or any of them, really. Let’s just say for the original trilogy the answer is a lot! Hmmm, I think my current favorite cookie place in SD is the Cravory. I’ve only been to Uncle Biff’s a couple of times and I can’t think of too many other cookie shops… though I still really love the ones at Specialty’s! What’s yours?
Cool shops, especially the cookie store! If you are a Harry Potter fan, you MUST go to the Harry Potter Studio Tour that is just outside of London. It’s the studios where the movies where filmed; they have many of the sets on display along with lots of info on how scenes were filmed. I’m a casual HP fan, but I spent hours looking at everything.
Hi Sandy! Jake and I are working on getting our passports actually with the hopes of visiting London one day. I’d love to tour the Harry Potter studio!! The only Harry Potter thing I’ve been to is in Orlando so it’d be fun to actually see it in London. One day…! Thanks for your comments!
Yay! I’m so glad u got to check out Whimsic Alley and Milk Jar. Whimsical Alley has changed over the years…when Twilight was big they had a lot of that in there back in 2011 (it was kind of phasing out by that time). I loved that they decorated their tree with Funko Pops. That throne replica is awesome too!
As for non licensed Harry Potter s to ff…I was so glad I bought all my crap before they were told to cease and desist, haha. That is where I bought my earrings such as the Deathly Hallows symbol, along with my wood laser cut Dark Mark earrings, Luna Lovegood radish earrings and my Snape wand. My favorite pair of bootleg earrings were the Quidditch ones (has the ring, the blidger, the Quaffles and the Golden Snitch. Heh heh. Yeah. Obsession. These were all on etsy but they were sold at the store back then.
I have to check out that soap place. That is totally what I live for, pop culture galore!
If you ever go to LA’a Chinatown, don’t forget the Velveteria, the museum of Black Velvet Paintings and the Bruce Lee statue! Philippe the Original sandwiches is just a block away from Velveteria too.
Hi CC! Thanks for writing about initially – even though it took me forever to finally go! I would have never known about it if it hadn’t been for your posts! Too bad I missed out on seeing the bootleg stuff, but that’s okay – that’s what Etsy is for if I really want to buy anything like that. I’m certain you would dig the Wacko Soap Plant – it’s a really eccentric and kitschy shop with tons of pop culture stuff! I know I didn’t even get to see everything in there, there was just so much to look at! Oh yes, I want to hit up Philippe one of these as well as the Velveteria. It’s on my list!