05 April 2010

43 Toy Stores with Punny, Cute, and Allusive Names

I was cataloging some collectible toy magazines from the 1990s when I noticed a lot of ads for toy stores with incredibly silly, punny, or allusive names. So of course I had to make a list.

These toy magazines came from the collection of my dad,
Peter H. Foss, who is letting me sell off a large chunk his book and ephemera collection. (My brother John is helping him sell off some of his toy collection.)

My dad is fairly well known among toy car collectors as the founder of at least three clubs for collectors: Toy Car Collectors Club, Model Car Collectors Association, Michigan Model Car Collectors. And, along with Herb Jackson, who owned a toy and hobby store in Farmington Hills, Michigan, my dad was co-founder of the biggest and longest-running series of toy shows in the Detroit area. Well, Dad's retired from running shows now but he still occasionally acquires a new toy.

Some of these toy shops may have changed their names, or moved, or gone out of business. I don't know. I just think they have interesting names.


The Allusive Names

1. Acme Rocket Company : Tempe AZ
2. Amok Time Toys : East Meadow NY
3. Emerald City Comics & Collectibles : Seminole FL
4. Buy Buy Birdie : Miami FL
5. Go Figure! : Lancaster NY
6. Monolith Toys : Newhall CA
7. Puff N' Stuff : Jeannette PA
8. Soitenly Stooges : Skokie IL
9. Toon Town : Champaign IL
10. Trekibles : Plainfield IN
11. Valhalla Collectibles : Stony Plain, Alberta
12. Wayback Machine : Hope RI

The Bad Puns

13. Fun Damental : Bloomingdale IN
14. Grafik XS : Clifton NJ
15. Kimono My House : Emeryville CA
16. Land of Ooh's and Oz : Farmingdale NY
17. # Won Collectibles : Somerville NJ
18. Oh! Zone : Lancaster PA
19. Playing Mantis : Cassopolis MI
20. Witcraft : Glen Ellyn IL

The Gawd-Awful Rhymes

21. Funk and Junk for All Generations : Alexandria VA
22. Joy Toy Man : Wilmington NC
23. Mad Stasher's Delectable Collectables : Belfast NY
24. Spastic over Plastic : Clifton NJ

The Monstrous Names

25. Fantasmagorical : Los Angeles CA
26. Halloween Queen : Winchester NH
27. House of Horror : Chandler AZ
28. Monsters in Motion : Anaheim CA
29. Rotten Corpse : Upland CA
30. Toys from the Crypt : Garland TX

Seriously, Would You Go Into This Store?

31. Atomic Candy : Boston MA
32. Freakie Magnet : Arlington VA
33. Village Idiot : Billings MT
34. W.A.F. : Kingston NY ("We Are Fun")
35. Whatsits Galore : Yatesville PA
36. Whiz Bang! : Casselberry FL

Torturing the English Language

37. Boomerbilia : Lambertville NJ
38. Comitoyz : Lindenwold NJ
39. Ifitzgot Wheels : Mc Kinney TX
40. Imajico : Jenkintown PA
41. Toiz-N-Morr : Dyersville IA
42. Toyrareum : Ocean City NJ
43. Toyzlvania Collectibles : Anaheim CA

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Browse the stacks at TomFolio.com

Books on Toy cars

Books and ephemera on Automotive history

All of my dad's books for sale

Dad's toys for sale

Visit my website for used books on all topics.

Thanks for stopping by.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Toys From the Crypt was a great store. It was mainly for collectors so it wasn't really made to cater to sensitive soccer mom types.