Man From Atlantis Boldly Goes Where No Harvard Square Store Has Gone Before

"Godzilla Invades Harvard Square!"

No, it's not the title of a bad Japanese movie. It's the center piece for a new science-fiction store located in the Garage.

Guarding the shop--Man from Atlantis--is a five-foot inflatable Godzilla, which can be purchased to protect one's home for about $25.

The shop, however, is not only a mecca for Godzilla memorabilia. Fans of Star Trek, Star Wars and numerous other sci-fi movies and television series can beam in and mutate to their hearts content.

Hanging against one wall are Star Trek, Lost in Space and Avengers T-shirts. In display cases in the middle of the store sit Star Wars action figures.

And for the true sci-fi fan, there are Starfleet uniforms and a lifesize, moveable hand from a Terminator.

Store owner Aliya Wali conceived of the idea for the shop while selling science toys from a pushcart in Downtown Crossing. She says she ventured into the market because interest in sci-fi memorabilia and collectibles has exploded.

Since the release of Star Wars and the resurrection of Star Trek, the popularity of science fiction has grown beyond hard-core sci-fi groups into the mainstream.

Characters like Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Chewbacca and Dr. Who have become well-known pop culture figures.

And Wali is cashing in on the craze. "At first, I shared one-half of the store with Tropics Jewelry. I did so well that I took over the whole store," she says.

Wali named the store Man from Atlantis after a long-ago television series. The astronaut outside the store represents the "science fiction pioneer of the future."

Since its opening several months ago, the store has become a haven for science-fiction fans in the College and from Harvard's numerous graduate schools.

Irene Munro, a doctoral student at the Divinity School and long-time Trekker, says that she was excited when a friend told her of this store.

"My friend told me about this--I thought she was pulling my leg," Munro says. "I like going to stores like this because I can just go into fantasy."

"This store is spectacular. It's the outer limits," Munro adds.

Harvard student Matthew J. Duhan '95, a member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association (HRSFA), agreed.

"I really love going. If you want anything having to do with science fiction, go to that store. If I had $1,000 I could spend it all in there and not make a dent--I got tons of stuff already," he says.

Since the store's opening several months ago, business has been brisk, with college and younger adults making up a majority of the customer base, says Wali.

"Teenagers aren't the really big crowd. It's the college students, 20-something crowd," she says.

Wali says she believes customers are trying to "buy their childhood memories. They come in and say, `Oh, boy, R2-D2.'"

Science fiction is also popular among college students because 'they have a broader view of the future and possibilities," says Wali.

To draw shoppers in, Wali has Star Trek and Star War collectibles showcased in the outside display window. These figures are investments as well as playthings--one large model of Han Solo sells for $225.

Once inside, customers can buy a genuine Empire Strikes Back lunchbox, or a cast-metal Millenium Falcon. If shoppers finds the some of the merchandise a bit expensive, they have a wide selection of cheaper goods to choose from, including a Darth Vader mask, Star Trek squeeze bottles and Japanese animation posters.

According to Wali, "the Star Trek communicator pins have been selling really well. People put them on their sweaters and their coasts."

And, of course, customers can find replicas of the scary, green lizard from Tokyo. The store is stocked with wind-up Godzillas, a mechanistic MechaGodzilla and Godzilla versus Charles Barkley posters.

"Young, old, everyone loves Godzilla," says Wali.

For the sci-fi fans who want something more out of the ordinary, there is Lost in Space, Aliens and Avengers memorabilia. The only problem with the less-known items, says Wali, is that the merchandise is sometimes out of stock.

"We can't enough of the Blade Runner stuff," Wali says. "They don't make it any more. They also don't make Buckaroo Bonzai stuff, which lots of people want."

She says, however, that the popularity of the Enterprise and Luke Skywalker hasn't been the only cause for the shop's brisk business. As real estate brokers say, the secret is location, location, location.

"I think Harvard Square helps. When I was in Downtown Crossing, they were more conservative," Wali says. "They didn't like the weird stuff. Here, they like the weird stuff."

Having Newbury Comics as a neighbor has helped as well, Wali says. Many avid comic book readers, who are usually also sci-fi fans, make a bee-line straight to Man from Atlantis, Spider-Mans and Batmans in hand.

Few people can say they enjoy their jobs, but Wali says that she opened up the store because she has "an appreciation" for the science fiction.

But she says that she sometimes need to get away from her job.

"You've got to keep grounded, or you start to lose it," says Wali.

Although science fiction memorabilia is sold in many shops nationally, Man from Atlantis is Cambridge's first such shop.

"There are many places like this in California and New York, but not many in Boston yet," Wali says.

Just wait until they make "Godzilla: The Day Cambridge Fell."