I had a blast from the past this week.
I visited Wakefield city centre and saw the location of an old toy shop I used to visit as a thirty something.
Here it is, the top half of Westmoreland House.
Alas the toy shop is no more. I went in the early to mid 1990's so I've no idea when it packed up. It was in fact more like a arge showroom of toys stacked up rather than your average toy shop. Everything was for sale though.
This view is no more either as now all of this building is part of the huge Trinity Walk shopping mall.
One of the toys stacked up in boxes was the Thundercop.
Basically it was a knockoff Thunderbird 2 from China.
Even so, I wish I'd bought a few!
Similarly these Space Alien Hunters by Trendmasters were stacked up. I've no idea why I didn't get a single one never mind one of each, I was a collector and toy 'dealer' then after all!
I'd love to go back in time to this shop as well as a few others and spend some money on these cool toys!
Are there shops you'd like to go back to readers?
I bought both of those Aliens for 5 dollars American a few years ago.I didn't expect them to work,but they did.I will send a video of them in action if I come across them soon.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff Brian. I think they were part of the ID4 film craze.
DeleteI went back to that small corner store in Barnes where I famously didn't get a SpaceX moon buggy as a kid -but it had been demolished and a petrol station built on the site.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be Hayer's Toy Shop in Melbourne that was lost in a time warp. It felt like it hadn't changed since the 50's, dark wooden shelves stocked with mint in box Yoneya Wonder Bunny toys! -Of course, all gone now!
I'll see if I have any photos of another time-warp toy shop I visited in Torquay about five years ago. I got a used Corgi Monkeemobile and gold 007 Aston Martin for unbelievably good prices!
Right, I'm off to Torquay Looey! ha ha No, seriously, what a great find. What is it about seaside toyshops and the time-warp factor? It happenened to me a few years back in Borth in Mid-Wales. Not as spectacular as your finds but lots of old hong kong plastic. I wuz chuffed!
DeleteMy favourite seaside newsagents and toy shop just closed down. I frequently went there as a kid, and until about a year ago could still visit, and have a pie in the cafe that the owner also ran. It is now to be a private house, leaving the village with very few shops.- deeply depressing,
ReplyDeletedammit Andy, that's sad. Were they an old couple running it?
DeleteThere were three independent toy shops in my home city, as well as the big store toy departments and tiny market stalls. I remember getting specific toys from each. They're all gone now, along with virtually all of the shops I remember as a kid. These days, wandering around the city center is like one of those peculiar dreams where you're in a place you know, but it's unfamiliar and different, and you know you're somehow out of place and out of pace.
ReplyDeleteThat description of a changing home-town is bang on Tone. Just how I feel as well.
DeleteYou touch upon a significant childhood memory... Two of them, actually. There was a large toy store on Market Street in San Francisco when I was about 7-9 years old (1965-68ish). I don't recall the exterior and I may be combining memories of a few visits but it contained all my childhood fantasies. I remember the two foot long Greek or Roman warship with oars that moved as you roll it along the floor... Endless warriors and soldiers of all times and nations in the 1" and 2" sizes... The weapons of the contemporary spy craze from the "six finger" gun to a briefcase full of spy stuff. Carded and boxed golden astronauts and similar assorted 1" tall spacemen and vehicles (Usually not to scale).
ReplyDeleteBut there was a tiny storefront in my neighborhood for a while around the same time with just tables set up round a small room... And this place had the Palmer monsters and bag on bag of Giant (1" from Hong Kong) figures- Romans, Knights, Cowboy and Indian, Chinese Warrior (These had a modified castle with "oriental" tower caps and double doors in place of the drawbridge + an ornate cannon in place of the catapult.
Talk about treasure trove.