Toy Stories: Mall Walking with The Geeked Gear Toys

Have you been to your local mall lately? The mall you used to be a regular at when you a kid? The mall that was a busy meeting ground for shoppers and loiterers alike? The mall where your parents would drag you to JC Penny’s for Christmas pictures and you would annoy them to take you to Kay-Bee Toys?

If you went today you would probably walk around a mostly empty space. Malls often have more mall walkers than open stores, with no Kay-Bee Toys in sight. Well last year Brad Riedell, who sold toys through different internet outlets, was walking through his hometown mall with his fiancée when she talked him into finding out how much rent would be on one of the vacant spots.

“It takes a community to be successful, I just have been super lucky to meet enough people along the way to keep me going and keep things fun and interesting!”

– Brad Riedell (Owner of The Geeked Gear Toys)

Brad started his journey to toy store ownership by going to local toy shows then selling his finds on Facebook Marketplace. At the time he maybe belonged to two toy groups on Facebook. Once he had enough inventory a friend convinced him to vend at a small local toy show. He gave it a shot and was hooked after seeing how much he sold and enjoying the experience. “They cleared out my Power Ranger stuff, they cleared out all my ToyBiz stuff.”, Riedell remembers.

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Then Covid hit… During the Covid outbreak Brad was recruited by another seller to stream action figure shows on WhatNot. The online auction platform was growing and trying to expand to include more toys and action figures. Again it was a decision that took Brad, now known as The Geeked Gear Toys, to the next level.

Full disclosure, Brad kept me sane during covid. When the world shut down we were only a few months into creating Toy Store Guide with maybe 50 stores listed. Being stuck at home we had time to add stores at a fast pace and at the same time try to convince people to reach out to stores and try to shop remotely. Small businesses, especially niche ones that do not deal with food were hit the hardest in my view. I did find that many toy stores were starting to sell on WhatNot or Facebook Live and spent many evenings watching to see if any items on my wish list would show up.

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Selling on WhatNot, The Geeked Gear quickly became known for selling ToyBiz and other 90’s era actin figures and I made his streams must watch entertainment. Many streams would end with Brad sending me large boxes with many figures I had been in search of for years. I then followed him for his move to Facebook, where he kept viewers entertained while auctioning off three pieces at once.

Check out SNAP Toys and Collectibles on Facebook.

“I get the benefit of getting cool stuff into super cool people’s hands.”

Riedell sees selling toys as a form of therapy, and a welcomed change from a stressful day job. That is a great way to look at toy collecting, it should be a nice hobby. I often find myself being “pretend stressed” when reorganizing my collection, knowing full well it is possibly the best of part of the day or week.

After a few years of successfully selling online his stock at home kept growing. Then last year while walking through the mall his fiancée mentioned it might be a good idea to rent a space. At first Brad dismissed the idea figuring it would cost too much. Then on another trip to the mall she suggested he call and this time he listened. The rent was way less than he thought it would be Brad jumped all over it.

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Brad got the keys and turned the space into a toy store in a month. A store in the mall helps with his brand’s marketing. The Geeked Gear Toys is in the more dead section of the mall, and being the mall that Brad shopped at as a youth, and he doesn’t want to see it die. His goal is to hopefully bring some new life to mall. The mall where he had his birthday parties at the arcade and would sneak away from his mom at JC Penny’s to later be found by his mom and mall security at KB Toys.

“As a kid I was like One Day Maybe, and here we are.”

The whole nostalgia feel of the mall hit Brad so hard, the Kay-Bee Toys he would buy Toy Biz figures from the 3 for 10 bin was only a few spots away. Now he has his own Toy Store, still selling actions figures from the 90’s just like back then. Riedell is living one of Nick Bartley’s dreams, dreams shared by a lot of collectors or online sellers. Due in large part to his fiancée being so supportive and a major help.

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Visit The Geeked Gear Toys if you ever happen to be in the Quad Cities area (Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois) or feel free to join the almost 3000 members of the Facebook group SNAP Toys and Collectibles.

Final Update: As feared, the city is moving forward with plans to demolish the section of the mall where The Geeked Gear Toys now resides. Riedell has been in contact with the mall managers but it doesn’t seem he will be staying in the mall after his current lease ends in February. Stay tuned as we all wait to see what the future holds for The Geeked Gear Toys.

Article by: Dave at Toy Store Guide
@toydelorean on Instagram

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Toy Stories: Mall Walking with The Geeked Gear Toys

– Brad Riedell (Owner of The Geeked Gear Toys)

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