X-Nico

3 unusual facts about Best Products


Best Products

In the 1970s, Best Products contracted with James Wines’ "Sculpture in the Environment" (SITE) architecture firm to design nine highly unorthodox retail facilities, notably a tongue-in-cheek structure called the "Indeterminate Facade" in Houston, Texas with a severely distressed facade.

In 1982, Best acquired catalog competitors: Basco, a chain with 19 catalog showrooms in the Northeast and Ohio; and Modern Merchandising, headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota with 76 showroom under the names LaBelle's, Dolgin's, Jafco, Miller Sales, Rogers and Great Western.

Their Parham Road headquarters, built in 1981 and designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, was notable for an American Institute of Architects award and the use of Art Deco eagles rescued from a New York building.



see also

Didi Seven

In February 2003, it was selected for The Best Products on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Model robot

Other manufacturers, such as Hasegawa, Wave, and Kotobukiya, have in recent years offered products from other series, such as Macross, Votoms, Five Star Stories, Armored Core, Virtual-On, Zoids, and Maschinen Krieger, with results rivaling Bandai's best products.