Showing posts with label toys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toys. Show all posts

Monday, November 10, 2014

FAQ's

Where do you find all the toys to fill the toy store?
 We look at a lot of catalogs.....
We talk to other toy store owners.....
We have an amazing group of people who come to see us that represent  toy companies....
We play with toys at toy shows....
We listen to you when you come into the store!

Monday, July 14, 2014

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I pick a toy for a one year old?

Here's a few things to remember when choosing a gift!

One-year-olds are on the go! Typically they can walk steadily and even climb stairs. They enjoy stories, say their first words, and can play next to other children (but not yet with). They like to experiment—but need adults to keep them safe.
Good toys for 1-year-olds can include:
  • Board books with simple illustrations or photographs of real objects
  • Things to create with—wide non-toxic, washable markers, crayons, and large paper
  • Things to pretend with—toy phones, dolls and doll beds, baby carriages and strollers, dress-up accessories (scarves, purses), puppets, stuffed toys, wooden chunky animals, and wooden “realistic” vehicles
  • Things to build with—cardboard and wood blocks
  • Things for using their large and small muscles—puzzles, toys with parts that do things (dials, switches, knobs, lids), and large and small balls
  • Pull toys, push toys, & bath squirties!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Flashback Friday

There's a pallet of toys outside the front door just 
waiting to be unwrapped and brought into the store. 
 Just waiting patiently, soakin up some sun, listening to the people walking by speculating and guessing what could be in all the boxes. Oh yeah! There's some brand new products involved that will hit the shelves soon enough along with their cohorts that we have proven they belong here on Main Street. Seriously, what could be out there? Here's a hint.....


Friday, August 2, 2013

Flashback Friday

Quotable Quotes from kids in our store!

"This place is like toy heaven!"

"How are you today sir?"
"I'm awesome cuz I'm finally here, and you guys rock!"

"How do the toys get in here?"

6 year old girl to Mom, "I've waited all my life to be here!"

"Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom,"

"I had one of these when I was a kid!" From a 5 year old....








Monday, July 15, 2013

Frequently Asked Questions

What do the toys do when the store is closed?

Well, we like to think that all the toys play as much as we do! All the Breyer Horses gallop around the store like its the Kentucky derby and all the puppets host a Karaoke contest. The poppers have an all out battle against each other while the Calico Critters cheer on their favorite teams. The Harmonicas like to play catchy tunes and the airplanes loop-da-loop to the music. There are magic tricks and cars underfoot; nanoblocks building themselves and blinking light shows from the bike brightz. The dinosaur train rumbles across the floor and the conductor yells "ALL ABOARD!!"

 It really is quite exciting here once we lock the doors and the toys play and play until they are just too tired. Then they head back to their homes in the store and snuggle up. The stuffed animals will read a bed time story to everyone, then the toys will drift into sleep where they will have the sweetest dreams and rest up for the next day.


Come in today to see our toys and just imagine what all they can do when you're not looking!

Friday, June 14, 2013

Flashback Friday!

 Wow! 
This is our 3rd summer in downtown Durango.....
wonder what this will bring??
I remember our first day.....
 We received our first shipment of toys that arrived in 4 little boxes!
At the time, we started freaking out.... really? 
We're opening a toy store?
This is where we began to get nervous because 
we wanted everything to be perfect.....
 Then the boxes would not quit coming!!!!
 We thought we were so organized and hooty tooty too.....
So we unpacked box after box after box until there were no more to unpack. We swept, we mopped, we invited all our friends to see the new store....



Of yeah, Ashleigh.....
 our first customer.....
I think we relaxed a little...

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Did ya know?


The drinking bird was invented by Miles V. Sullivan. Part physics, part chemistry. Mr. Sullivan was a Ph.D. inventor-scientist at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey.  The patent was titled "Activated Amusement Device." This device remains one of the top teaching "toys" today. You decide, physics or chemistry?

Aerobie Orbiter Boomerang
Aerobie was founded in 1984 by Stanford University engineer Alan Adler, when he invented the Aerobie Pro Ring. Mr. Adler still owns the company and continues to invent new Aerobie products, like the Aerobie Orbiter - "The World's Best Boomerang."

Monday, February 18, 2013

Toy store or Pet Store?

 Toy Store or Pet Shop?
Sometimes it's hard to tell if we have a toy store or a pet shop. 
We watch all the critters play and tussle in the toy box,
 we hear them scurrying about when they think we aren't
 watching, and we talk to them just like our friends.
We try not to name the animals so that it's easier for us 
when people adopt them.
 Curious George and my little Lambchop have become BFF's in the short time they have known each other. These guys crack me up too because they sit on the counter and tell jokes to each other all day long! They really know how to have a good time!


Don't worry! We even have our own in-house Pet Doctor. Dr. Su
has been known to put a bandage or two on an owie and even put the little guys in Intensive Care for a day or two to help them recuperate. Sometimes they just play too hard and skin an elbow or bonk their head. Once in awhile, someone goes to Dr. Su for stitches and a few days rest.

All in all, we have a great time with all our animal friends and wonder if we're really a Toy Store or a Pet Shop?





Wednesday, February 13, 2013

A day in the Life...



Working in a Toy Store.....
Silly Kaelin.....

I remember walking through a Toy Store as a kid and looking in awe at the walls that were covered in toys and games.  My parents would have to drag me out of the store because I would want to stay and play with everything.  As I got older, not much changed and now I find myself working at 
Durango Toy Depot and having a great time whenever I’m here.
Toy Stores have a certain type of magic that easily enchants anyone who walks through the door. There is something that brings a person of any age back to their childhood as soon as they take that first step through the door.
Today I find myself lucky enough to experience this when I go to work. 
An average workday for me usually consists of unpacking new toys. I like to use this time to test them out. Just the other day, I tested two whole boxes of new Folkmanis Puppets! Needless to say, they were very happy to be out of the box and going on new adventures with each other!
Working at a toy store means that I get to bring smiles to people every day and 
I couldn’t be happier!

Monday, February 11, 2013

How Many toys do we have?


How many toys do we have?
That's a tough question to answer!

We think that all depends on your perspective.
If you're 3 years old and cruising around the store, it must look like we have a kazillion trillion toys because toys are everywhere go almost to the ceiling.
If you're 8, we have a hundred gags and bad jokes, lots of airplanes, cool Klutz books,  Nanoblocks, Breyer horses, and thousands of little Japanese erasers!
We could tell you how many toys we have  in our database, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate because some of those toys may only be Christmas items, some may only be Summer toys, and some we, well, we decided they didn't belong here. 
We could nail the number of toys for you by running some fancy reports and by doing alot of reading. That almost sounds grown up.... instead, we think it would be way more fun to imagine how many toys we have and  try to guess the number!!


Sunday, February 10, 2013

Did ya know?

Did ya know? Qwirky Toy Facts.....

The Magic 8 Ball
 
Sometime in the 1940s, Albert Carter 
created the Syco-Seer, a fortune
telling "crystal ball" inspired 
by a device used by his mother Mary,
 a professional psychic.
 

 In 1932, a company added a line of socks whose red heels assured their customers that they were indeed purchasing original "Rockfords." When worn out, the socks were then made into toys by American mothers who made stuffed monkeys out of them, using the red heel as a mouth. Hearing about these enterprising moms and seeing great promotional opportunity, the Nelson Knitting Co. began including a sock-monkey pattern with every pair of socks.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Boredom Busters

  Boredom Busters
Learn how science can be used to give people around the world access to clean water ! Build a water filter tower, test water quality with pH and carbon dioxide analysis, and experiment with water purification by evaporation. I think it would be interesting to conduct dual experiments one with tap waterf rom my house and one with bottles water..... hmmmmm.....

One of our time favorites!
Buck, Buck, Moose! The dealer turns over one card at a time to reveal either a Buck (the ranger)  or a moose card. If a Moose card appears you try to be the first one to place your hand on that color moose card! Be careful, you could lose a moose or even win an extra moose card. The player with the most Moose cards at the end of the game wins!
SQUIGGLE ON THE GO
This little gem has received rave reviews from parents and players alike! In this version you spin the spinner to start then you draw the animal selected beginning with the squiggle on the page! Doodle art at its finest perhaps? Just think of the creativity that could be unleashed on a long car trip, on a plane trip, on a bus, on a scooter, or even on a skateboard! WOW! A great activity while waiting for a meal in a restaurant or after a meal when all the grown ups are talking and having coffee and no electronics are allowed!
I'm thinkin some of DaVinci's greatest inventions started this way! It just takes a little spark!

Friday, February 8, 2013

How many Hats?

Thatza Luigi! He brings us inspiration! 
Well, food too!

The hat of the day today was a Chef's hat because
 I was cooking up fun all day long!
Most of the toy companies, their peeps, their toys, and their Instigators (if they have any) are on the way to New York for an event called TOY FAIR which is held every year about this time in the Big Apple. This is the most humongous of toy shows all year where toys show off and strut their stuff.
How did we cook up fun if we're not on our way to TOY FAIR? Bonus! We stayed in beautiful Durango and met with our favorite Rep (we call her "Reppy") who showed me some new toys that have just come out! 
It's pretty luxurious to do this with our Reppy because we don't have to fight any crowds, we don't have to wait in line, and we don't have to turn on our best behavior either! She even took us to dinner last night!
 In cooking up fun today, I am pleased to announce that we're gonna have some gorgeous "Special" releases from Breyer horses come our way, A new line of infant and toddler toys, plus a new game that will make a think! This isn't all we did today but I don't want to give away too many secrets.... shhhhhhhh!
I wore some other hats today and am wondering if a Tiara counts as a het?


Friday, February 1, 2013

How Many Hats?



 There are days when I can wear fun hats that help me throughout the day. Truth be told, I wear my thinking cap everyday! Sometimes it looks like the one here, sometimes it looks like my favorite baseball cap, sometimes, my thinking cap is very small and nearly invisible to the naked eye!
The most important part of wearing my thinking cap is that it helps me gather my thoughts because this hat helps me focus my brain waves, helps me to concentrate on my head, and this one helps redirect my thoughts back into my head so they don't wander off somewhere else! At any rate, there are lots of things to think about in a day besides what toys I should play with. 
A day at the toy store usually starts with an hour or two of grown up stuff like checking emails, looking around the store to be sure all the toys are where they belong after they have played all night, posting important pictures on Facebook, returning phone calls, making sure all our paperwork is in order, going to the bank, checking on orders, stocking the shelves, and doing what I didn't do the day before. We try very hard to get all this done before the store opens so that we can give all our attention to the guests who come in to look and shop. Then
that's when I get to wear one of my favorite hats! 
That's  right, let the magic begin! We watch eyes light up, we can hear laughter, and I can focus on giving everyone in our store a 3D, hands on, kinda happenin experience!

Friday, January 25, 2013

How many hats?

Well 'ello there matey! 
At the end of the day, when the door gets locked this is the hat I wear to swab the decks! Why? Because it is far more fun for me to swab the deck than it is to mop the floor! I wear this one too on sloppy days to try to keep the floor a little drier and cleaner during the day.

How many hats did you wear today? I think I started today with my I-think-I'll-have-coffee-and-play-with-the dog (Rowdy) hat, followed by my I'll go meet the new Director of BID hat, followed by my errand hat, followed by my "let's open the store" hat, followed by my let's do paperwork (the most boring hat) hat, followed by my Guest services hat, my cleaning hat, my data entry hat, my PR hat, my shopping hat, my cashier hat, my gift wrapper hat, and finally the best hat of all.... my let's play hat!

I'm really excited about wearing my shopping hat today because that means new toys and games are gonna show up here in a week or so. I began the process by looking through some new product catalogs that have been delivered to us from some companies that we have never featured before.
Sure, you may be familiar with some of these things but we've searched long and hard to be able to offer these in Historic Downtown Durango. At reasonable prices too! Alas, I must keep some secrets and I am not very good at it!

I got to talk to some of my favorite people today too, people who know toys, love toys, and breathe toys. The people who help us select and purchase toys that work for some really cool toy companies. Sure, it's their job but they actually do the fact-finding for us and then present us with the latest and greatest.

All the new toy catalogs are arriving daily! It's a tough job but someone has to do it! What's more, Toy Fair is coming up real soon in New York and it's the biggest toy show of the year. We won't be attending but some of our companies will be unveiling their hottest coolest toys and games for the year. It is an exciting time to wear all the hats of a toy store owner.

When I get home I'll be able to wear my cook's hat! How about you?

Monday, January 21, 2013

                   Frequently Asked Questions....
Are we there yet?

Do you have any dark chocolate?

Where's a good place to eat?

I have a 5 year old Grandson, do you have any toys for him?

Who is Barry Manilow?

Why is there an airplane hanging from the ceiling?

Is that dog real? Did he really poop on the floor?

Do you have ugly teeth? 

How come?

Why?
Tee- hee! we didn't say we were gonna answer the questions!!! That's just funny. Aren't you surprised when you go to a FAQ page and there are answers?

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Toys and WW II

These 2 toys all have something in common with WW II.... do ya know this part of history?

                         Slinky was a spring designed to help stabilize the gauges on Battleships.... then someone discovers how much fun they are to play with!

Whoopee Cushions became very scarce during WW II because the same latex used to make these ghastly toys was needed for war supplies!

Saturday, January 19, 2013


 When I was a little Betty and when Moby Dick was a minnow, we would occasionally mope around the house and tell my Mom we couldn't find anything to do. She would raise an eyebrow, look over the top of her glasses, and suggest we twiddle our thumbs!That seemed boring only because I wanted to do something far more exciting! Like... oh, maybe, make something cool.... Now we offer these suggestions as "boredom busters".
 The Klutz book of Twisted Critters.... THE Pipe Cleaner book which gives you step by step instructions on how to make 20
(YES, 20) different creations using a variety of pipe cleaners that are included with the book. Everything from Crunchy Carrots to an Itty- Bitty Chick to a blazing dragon. The instructions have pictures and it looks like you may need a ruler (I like to "eyeball" measurements), a pair of fingernail clippers, a black marker, and a pencil. If nothing else, it will take a awhile to round these things up around the house. Call it a treasure hunt.....


 Speaking of a treasure hunt.... I may have to buy the fingernail clippers, marker, pencil, and ruler with my gold coins from Captain brother pirate Mikey! He was a swashbuckling kinda guy with Hot Wheels tracks from one end of the house to the other! Or maybe the old Captain would demand a pence or two to cross the bridge? Or maybe there was a map with an "X" that marked the spot where the treasure was buried? Or maybe we went to market for some fresh fixins while sailing the living room on our upside down coffee table? That's a couple hours right there!
EPIC! EXTREME! RADICAL! This isn't an ordinary dot-to-boring-dot book that you can finish in 27 seconds thereby finishing the entire book in 10 minutes! No Sirree Bob! Nuh-uh! Whew! This book of beastly creations takes some serious time, maybe an eraser, and lots of concentration! Watch the numbers as you draw a line from one number to the next, you have to count as high as 1400 so you can learn your numbers too! Then, When you connect the last dot you have to do a happy dance and sit back to admire our accomplishment before you color it!

Powered by imagination, not electronics! That's it!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Dinosaurs 101


 Dinosaurs 101
Or nith o mi mus
: a genus (the type of the family Ornithomimidae) of small slender theropod (having strong hind legs and grasping hands) dinosaurs of the Upper Cretaceous having toothless jaws and a birdlike skeleton.These guys are fast, fast, fast! 


Our friends here in the store have names, Ollie and Oren, they have been known to race around the store and ride the Dinosaur Train. We have to be a little careful because Ollie and Oren aren't too picky about what the eat (we could all learn from this) so we call them Omnivores or say that they are
om·niv·o·rous
[om-niv-er-uh s] 
adjective
1.eating both animal and plant foods.
2. eating all kinds of foods indiscriminately.

These dinosaurs were about 13-foot-long (4-meter),  had large hips, a long tail, and strong hind limbs, and closely resembled ostriches.They lived 144-165 million years ago which is the early to middle Cretaceous period, where the first flowering plants bloomed, it was also the heyday of dinosaurs which led to huge diversity in dinosaur species  , but this time period also led to the huge extinction of the dinosaurs.

Did an Ornithomimus sleep?  That's a really good queston! Yes, but how and for how long? Paleontologists place dinosaurs between crocodiles and birds. Crocodiles do sleep, not in the traditional mammalian sense, but in a way by which they tend to grab short sessions of sleep but without falling into a deep slumber. They sleep with one eye open, so to speak, and are able to be instantly awake at the slightest disturbance.
    
These short sleeping sessions usually occur after bouts of activity and especially after eating. The other thing to take into account with crocodiles is that, if they were to fall into a deep sleep, they would lose control of their body temperature which the animal regulates by moving in and out of the sun and water to adjust its body temperature. Deep sleep could be potentially fatal to any crocodile.
Birds employ a number of strategies when it comes to sleeping which are employed to lessen  the possibility of being attacked when at rest. Some birds sleep on the ground using a combination of camouflage and ground cover for protection some water birds will find refuge on predator free islands or sleep on the water itself. By far the most common strategy, which includes birds that spend the majority of their time on the ground, is to take cover in trees and shrubs. This prevents the vast majority of ground predators from reaching them and, even if they could climb, chances are that vibration and noise would warn the bird of impending danger.
So you decide. Do Ollie and Oren sleep? If they do, how? Where? I'll check Ollie and Oren in the morning!