Ax-Man Surplus Stores

Yeah, this is basically my new favorite store. It reminds me of American Science and Surplus in Milwaukee but with more fun novelty stuff. My hands quickly became full with all of the awesome stuff I wanted, no, NEEDED. Just then a friendly worker offered to bring me a basket!
Staff were friendly and fair when I asked for a discount on the chipped gold bar I was buying for my nephew. He’s really happy with it. And rich.
I walked away a happy camper with some weird fake tattoos, a Miss Cleo tarot deck, a Survival Handbook, glow-​in-​the-​dark star stickers for my ceiling, and a zipper pouch in the shape of a ghetto blaster. NEEDED.
Dan also found lots of good containers of various sizes for storing little things like game pieces.

i really love this place dont come here often enough. my only complaint is that there is so much stuff every where. but it is my go to place for projects

Worth checking out once
for a couple of chuckles.
Merch is mostly junk.
Driven by Ax-​Man on University for years and years. Finally stopped in for the first time last evening. I had no idea what to expect. While it was somewhat amusing browsing the aisles and reading the signs on the bins pitching their wares, I did not make any purchases. Can definitely see this place being cool as shit for many — the vast majority of what they are selling is just not for my tastes.
Borrowing from the language on the Ax-​Man website: it is full of thing-​a-​ma-​jigs, whatz-​its, and doo-​dads. Most of it is dirt cheap because it is worthless garbage. Buy 12 pieces of one type of crap, and you get the 13^th one for free. I could easily see a hoarder going bankrupt shopping at Ax-​Man.
The only items that interested me were some of the statues that they had on display, but I did not see any price tags on them. Guessing they would be negotiable if you were seriously interested. I could see putting hip-​hop Jeezy in my place of abode as a gag. I’ll give you $ 20 bucks for him — what do you say, Ax-​Man?

Who can build a steampunk automaton
in their mother’s basement until dawn?
Ax-​Man can.
Who can execute ennui
on a Midwestern rainy day
The Ax-​Man can.
The Ax-​Man is a masked man
Who will kill all of your paycheck
With one swipe of his enchanted axe
He has smitten you with dreck.
If you want to ask the Ax-​Man
Where does this junk come from
All the wires, bed pans and motors
My friend you will be struck dumb
If by will or legerdemain
You cannot stop your crazy train
If you must keep buying crap
Like an outdated army map
The Ax-​Man understands!
Ax-​Man takes you by the hand
And you hear a lovely band
The mystic music in your head
Cacophonous and grand.
He takes off your broken glasses
Fixed with glue and cheap molasses
The real spectacle is you
and the junk that sticks to you
Whether an antiquarian or hoarder
Or a wealthy group home boarder
Whether a mechanical engineer
A soothsayer or a seer,
A lass with ADD
or a locksmith without keys
A lengthy white-​robed pope
or a long-​haired lad who takes the dope…
There’s something here for all
In this imaginarium, this hall
To correct every ill
At this junkopolous on the hill.
Whether you’ve a vision or a plan
That no one understands
Be you a woman or a man
Or a convict on the lam
If you listen to your voices
and you ride here in Rolls Royces
If you cry alone at night
For lost flotsam and its plight
If you succumb to siren’s song
Though you’ve been told it’s wrong
If every disembodied artifact
Seems like something that you lack
When you’ve smoking crack
and you need some bric-​à-​brac
Or you’re delirious with flu
and your heart demands a knick knacky-​poo
If your solemn solitary pursuits
Do so place you in cahoots
With a strange and sad compulsion
That in others inspires revulsion
If you you sometimes lose composure
When faced with surplus junk ambrosia
If from these feelings you should have ran
The Ax-​Man caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

Ax-​Man is so great! This is my favorite location for several reasons. It’s very, very close to my favorite bookstore, Midway Books, which is probably the biggest reason, but there is something extra magical about this location that I’m still trying to figure out. I think the ceilings may be higher and the creatively covered entrance is covered with all sorts of memorabilia. It feels like a majestic Mad Max cathedral. It was also the first Ax-​Man I got to explore so it definitely had the highest impact, as I had nooooo idea what to expect.
Last time I was there, my favorite things I came across were:
Giant glass bell jars– You can use them to cover vegetables like kale when frosts start happening and it keeps them happy. You can also use them in the creation of beautiful dried flower installation lands. I hope them still have them when I go back!!!
Bead/​craft organizer boxes– I love collecting tiny things and it’s great that they sell handy organizers of all sizes for only a couple bucks. Lowest prices I’ve ever seen.
Glass medicine bottles with built-​in droppers– My favorite winter potion is sesame oil plus a few drops of eucalyptus oil which you drop in your nose. If you have a cold, it gives you something nice that you can actually smell AND it keeps your nasal passage nice and moisturized so you can avoid nosebleeds. The bottles are PERFECT for storing and administering «potions».
Lacing beads– Remember those colorful beads you got to lace on shoe laces to practice coordination when you where in kindergarten? THEY HAVE BARRELS FULL!!! I love using them in jewelry because they make me feel like I’m 4 again, but without the confusion that usually comes with being 4! That’s a great feeling.
Go to Axe-​Man if you want to have FUN.

Every once in a while I go into this store and browse through each and every aisle just to see what they’ve got in stock at that moment. I find the activity rather fun and inspiring.
This last time, I left with my purchase of a new roll of clear packing tape and a small metal spring.
I’m always tempted by the wide variety of jars and bottles.

A really interesting store. There is never anything in there that I truly need, yet I just can’t ever leave empty handed. Half of the fun is never knowing what is around the corner or on the next shelf. The employees are a lot of fun to talk to, if you have an hour or so to kill go check it out.

I love Axman, I have been shopping here my entire life (I’m 38). It is *the* place to check out first if you need fuses, relays, resisters, capacitors, etc. They also carry a myriad of AC transformers and just general electronic stuff. But then there’s a random assortment of paper, labels, envelopes, tape, ball-​bearings, test tubes, petri dishes, brown jars with lids, vials with cork stoppers. Another aisle has bins of screws of various sizes. Just all kinds of stuff to get your creative mind into overdrive. A very fun store. They usually are playing awesome music, too, thanks to the cool people that work there.

Ax-​Man has a whole bunch of crazy stuff. Random stuff. Things that you haven’t seen since the 80s. There’s a couple of Teddy Ruxpins flying around. It’s basically a museum of cheap items. It’s really hard to explain what they sell because… well, you really just have to see it for yourself. I loved looking at everything, but most of it I didn’t want to take home with me. Depending on what you’re looking for, Ax-​Man just might have it.
The one thing I did buy was a bungee cord! Yay.

YA grl, check it.
This surplus store is one of the best I’ve been to. They have aisles and aisles of stuff you didn’t know you needed, like tiny blue mugs and dirty coasters and plastic boxes with ten thousand compartments. They also have leather scraps, 3D maps and ELECTRONIC PARTS. I bought this ceramic electric resistor that’s now my favorite necklace. If you want to spend two hours looking at things, this is the place to go. Ax-​man is an eye maze. (!!!)

I’m a tinkerer. I love to fix computers and cars and electronic stuff. I’ve built working radios out of scrap wire, wood and an occasional diode.
If you’re that kind of tinkerer and want to build stuff on the super-​cheap, you’ll find everything you need here. Ax-​Man has stuff that Radio Shack stopped selling a long time ago. I give Ax-​Man credit for my soldering capabilities, since they sell scrap circuit boards and random parts for so cheap that $ 5.00 spent here, combined with a decent soldering iron, equals a self-​taught soldering course.
Want an analog oscilloscope so you can test your creations? They have them here. You’ll need a strong back to carry ‘em out.
Ax-​Man sells Erlenmeyer flasks and beakers for measuring stuff… they work as well as measuring cups.
Do you need a crucible or a mortal and pestle? I don’t, but Ax-​Man sells them. They work well for herb-​crushing cooks.
I am not quite sure about the disembodied doll heads/​bodies, random plastic animals, or c. 1980s key chains advertising insurance agencies in Nebraska, but whatever. «Make your own fun» seems to be the motto here.
This store sells pretty much everything a tinkerer needs, and pretty much everything you have no idea what to do with even if you’re a tinkerer. My artist friends love this place. To appreciate it, you just have to visit and give yourself at least an hour to browse the aisles; most everyone will find something they can use at Ax-​Man even if you’re not a tinkerer or artist. This is also a great place to visit if you’re bored on a Saturday afternoon. I’m pretty sure you’ll walk out with something cool. The stock changes all the time.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this before. Excellent, top of the pops, wunderbar, bueno! Ax-​Man is a one-​of-​a-​kind joint with all kinds of random throwaway/​freebie/​miscellaneous surplus stuff that you can’t get anywhere else (and often for good reason!).
I’ve found it’s good for odd x-​mas gifts but it’s absolutely phenomenal for Secret Santa stuff. While thrift stores are also great at supplementing Secret Santa, I like to get downright bizarre with Secret Santa gifts and this is the place to do that. You never quite know what kind of crap/​treasure you’ll find but it’s all pretty reasonably priced (50 cents-​a few bucks mostly). I’ve found stuff here I bought for myself and others that they still have and enjoy years later. For example, I recently found a Bill Clinton corkscrew (they also have a Hillary nutcracker), which was a truly nice piece of kitchenware for only $ 5. I also got a large variety of X-​Men magnets for only 45 cents a piece. Score! If nothing else, wandering around in the store for a half-​hour is guaranteed to bring more than a few chuckles, and perhaps some serious guffaws.

Getting a Christmas stocking full of curated Ax-​Man wares is like a peek into the psyche of your boyfriend’s family members.
A slide whistle and waterproof IPhone case from your boyfriend’s mom.
Three porcelain balloon molds (?!) and two wooden, hand-​carved «NOT!“s from your boyfriend’s dad. The top of my bookshelf now says, «NOT! NOT!» like an agitated bird.
A gas mask, vegetable magnets, and glow sticks from your boyfriend’s sister.
And from the boyfriend, two dozen gumball-​sized white marbles.
«WHAT ARE THESE THINGS FOR?!» you may ask. Wrong question. You have to accept that this is a store for wild imaginations, half-​finished projects, grand inspirations, and breaking a guffaw out of your brother’s girlfriend on Christmas.

If ever you need scraps of lambs’ wool backed in leather, at under a quarter per pound, Ax-​Man has you covered.
Perhaps you’re entertaining, and don’t mind some mismatched champagne flutes with mysteriously spelled names etched into them — Ax-​Man can accommodate hundreds of your guests.
Buckles? Zipper pulls? «Peanuts» posters? X-​Men magnets? You know where to go.
Stocking your bomb shelter? Ax-​Man is the obvious one-​stop shop.
If I had any knowledge on electronics repair, I bet I could testify as to Ax-Man’s eccentric but extensive selection of spare parts.
But, without a doubt, the reason I can spend hours every time I go to Ax-​Man and still pine for more as I walk out the door: the signs. If you need some free entertainment and also might be looking for a bulk package of graduated cylinders of a specific volume, there is nowhere else on Earth you should try first.

I love Ax-​Man. It’s bizarre, entertaining, and full of completely random shit.
If you’re any sort of assemblage artist or into collecting off-​the-​wall items… this place is certainly for you. The prices are cheap as hell and you never know what you’re going to find or walk out with.
They have huge bins of leather scraps and sides, old military helmets, chemistry beakers, gas masks and urine sample jars.
Is there really anything else you need???

It’s a great place for finding random project stuff. They have all kinds of things… it’s kind of like your eccentric uncle’s friends cousins hoarder mother who gave birth to batboy’s sort of junk from the attic.
On the other hand, if you need say a specific resistor or capacitor for a project (in my case I was rebuilding a power supply) and a specific gauge or wire, you might be out of luck. It’s all random stuff and in random quanties.
Another aside, I’ve noticed that some of the older heavy duty yet quality «junk» is starting to give way to cheapy chinese dollar store stuff like mini-​fans and poor quality tools. I hope this trend doesn’t continue!

When I was a kid, my dad took me here to roam the aisles and look at the collected oddness. Yesterday, I took my kids for the first time. My daughter loved looking at the funny signs, and my son found his very own bowling pin to take home and call his own.
The stock changes constantly, but you can almost always find things like quality speaker wire, A/​V interconnects ($ 6 HDMI cables!), fuses, and the like.
A visit to the Ax-​Man will change your life. But don’t take my word for it… go see for yourself!

I’m coming at this from a mom’s point of view.
Ya know that 100 days of school project where your kids have to bring in 100 «something’s»? This Is the place to stock up my friends.
Marbles, bolts, wires, doll arms you name it.
Ya know the last minute project your 2^nd grader announces Sat. Night? Head on over for inspiration and supplies.
I also like the music they play.

This place is a teacher’s dream store, especially if you bribe your students with cheap crap for a job well done. There are bouncy balls, race cars, pens, office supplies, shiny rocks, weird toys from the 90’s and a giant bin of those fake babies that they use in high schools to demonstrate how hard it is to rear a child. There is also a lot of science related stuff: beakers, empty chemical vials with Polish labels and tubes.
The best part? IT’S CHEAP. As I waited in line with a brush for my cat, a magnifying glass and an ice-​cream scoop, I listened to the totals of all of the transactions in front of me. They were as follows: 89 cents and $ 1.25.
This place is fun, has a lot of really weird stuff (including an iron-​lung, at least 10 oscilloscopes, gas masks, post-​apocalyptic art) and is cheap. Check it out!

Love this place.
Inexpensive place to find bits and baubles that you might need for a project.
The signs are fun and the selection of stuff is just bizarre, which makes the experience entertaining.