From the outside, No. 6 seems like just another one of the boutiques and galleries that line the narrow Rue de l’Echaudé, in the heart of Paris’s Left Bank. Inside, it is Ali Baba’s cave. The treasures on display are not gold and jewels but tiny metal figurines— thousands of them, set against the backdrop of colorful décors. There are turnof- the-century shopkeepers, Tour de France cyclists, opera singers, film actors, haute couture models, and, especially, popular comicbook heroes. But don’t mistake Pixi & Cie for a toy store: it is a purveyor of dreams, whose fiercely loyal collectors pay hundreds, even thousands, of dollars for these limitededition hand-painted statuettes.
Alexis Poliakoff, the creator of this magical universe, is an avuncular 74-year-old sculptor with thinning white hair, hornrimmed glasses, and…
