Toy Store Guide was started to help the toy collecting community. To help the toy hunters, to help the Toy Stores and to help bring them together.
“We believe that that going to a store, walking down the aisles and picking out a toy is an awesome feeling and want to help you relive that feeling again and again.” This is our creed, and now it is under attack, for lack of a better word…
COVID-19 is devastating small businesses throughout the country and Toy Stores are no exception. But if anything, Toy Sellers are resilient…
So many Toy Stores are taking to Instagram and Facebook and have started live sales. Live sales or “Claim Sales” usually occur on social media where a seller posts an item and the first to reply “Claim” commits to buying that item.
Claim and Live Sales are not a new practice but they can be an integral tool in helping these Toy Stores, OUR toy stores continue functioning so when this is over we can get back to “going to a store, walking down the aisles and picking out a toy”
Other options include buying toys from a store store’s website, buying gift cards if your favorite store offers them, and checking to see if a store has an eBay account.
Rogue Toys in Las Vegas is hosting its first live sale on Facebook this Tuesday (3/24) at 6PM Pacific time. They also sell toys on their website and offer curbside pick-up. Hasttel Toys in New York just finished a “Claim Sale” on Instagram while I am writing this, I hope he continues them. They’re Action Figures in Delaware will start live sales on Facebook. Same with Time Capsule Toys in Ohio.
Toy de Jour in Chicago will keep their Instagram updated and will ship any item they post, if you are local they can hold whatever you buy till we get through this. You can also buy gift certificates from their website. BobaKhan Toys in Everett, Washington is still doing curbside pick-ups of toy, comics and maybe most importantly Board Games to help people from getting cabin fever. Many other stores were offering the same but it has a lot to do with the local area and rules.
Totally RAD Toyhouse in Nashville and Kokomo Toys in Indiana are both adding a bunch of stuff to their eBay stores.
Do your part!!!
Ordering toys or collectibles and having them shipped is not nearly as much fun as visiting a shop but we all have to do our part, and our part is as easy as staying inside and buying toys. I think we can handle that!
I for one will be taking part in as many live sales as I can (as many as my hectic, working from home schedule will allow). I am also planning on visiting as many toy stores as I can as soon as the COVID-19 threat as passed. Until then, I am using any free time to update and expand this site as much as possible, with the hope that the list of stores for all of us to visit can grow.
Links to every toy store’s Facebook, Instagram and Website are listed on the store’s profile. You can also check our Instagram @toystoreguide for easy access to every store’s Instagram Account.
Sorry to any store I wasn’t able to mention while throwing this article together. Keep up the fight!!!
Stay home, stay safe, stay sane! See you all on the other side!
Article by: @toydelorean on Instagram