Mr. Big Toyland Commercial
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2024
- This is a commercial from the early '80's for the amazing 'Mr. Big Toyland' in Waltham Mass. It was on Moody street and was legendary due to the fact that it's owners, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur, would go to Japan and bring back rare die cast metal Japanese Toys, such as Godaikins, Shogun Warriors, Space Ship Yamato related toys, Force 5 related toys and on and on and on. They had it all. This was no ordinary toy store, and anybody who remembers going there as a kid knows what I am talking about. Enjoy! Sorry it's low quality, but I did my very best to clean it up in QT Pro.
Greatest store ever! I saw this commercial every day watching Force Five and Starblazers. One of the first things I did when I got my license was drive there. But before that I would call the store, find out a price and send them a letter and a check in the mail and have them ship items to me. It was an amazing time waiting the two weeks it took for something to arrive. Not like today
I wish I could travel back in time and go to this store...
You and me both.
We drove by this store hundreds of times and not once would my dad ever let us stop and go inside....I still roll my eyes about that years later lol
When I was a kid in the early 80s in Worcester, MA, this was the one place I wanted to go more than any other. Never did get there, though. But I remember these ads from when they ran during Force 5 and Star Blazers.
OMG! I remember the day I got to go there. i begged my dad forever. He finally took me and I about peed my pants. he let me buy (he bought lol) the gai king space dragon die cast toy. I had it forever. I seriously loved that thing.
My Grand Dad Took me There although I was a Big Grandizer Fan there were no more in stock so I ended up with Danguard Ace. A very exiting Toy Store. Shot Out To All My Fellow Bostonians who Faithfully Watched Force Five!
Like clock work everyday!
I bought my model of the Argo from Mr Big's. They also had the Star Blazers anime comics for sale as well.Good times indeed!
The best toy store of All Time! Force 5 and starblazers! Awesome memories...miss those days.
I cannot thank you enough.....I use to see this commercial EVERY WEEK, whilst watching the Force Five :)
dude,....
seriously,....I have a lump in my throat right now. I grew up in Boston and was raised on Starblazers,Force Five and Robotech. Channels 56,25 and 38 and I thought this Mr. Big Toyland commercial was only a memory. My best friend and I made monthly pilgramages to Mr. Bigsto talk to Leon.
You just made my thirties. Thank you SO much. GOD I miss home and my childhood. Rock on, man. Thank you SO much.
My parents got me my first Star Wars toys there back in 1977. What an amazing store that was and what an amazing time to be a kid.
Ah, memories! I saw these ads in the early 80s. I begged and begged my parents to take me there (we lived in RI at the time). We went and I bought a Sun Vulcan robot and, secretly, my parents bought me a Combattra which they kept in my dad's car trunk all year until my birthday! I still have both! Good memories...
Thank you for posting this. Amazing memories!
went there a few times in the 80's... there was also a great comic book store a few doors down.....
Holy sweet bejeebus, I can NOT believe this is on TH-cam. I grew up in Northboro MA... only actually made it out to "the Moody Street Store" (as we called it) a couple of times, but I definitely remember this commercial.
I think it's official now, my entire childhood is up on TH-cam if I look hard enough.
There wasn't a board game or matchbox car that Mr. Big didn't have. Best toy store in New England in it's day!
OH MY GOD!!! I remember that commercial. I was waaay too young to drive there, everytime I saw the commercial all I could do was agonize over the fact I couldn't get there.
Now I work 15 minutes away from where the store use to be located!!!!
I always begged my parents to take me to this place as Mr.Bigs TL had the largest inventory of Japanese exports..many of the kits were from the television programs (All of the Force Five, Go Nagai created robots) as well as many others. I never got the chance to visit this store as I was too young to drive myself there...thx for uploading this Lectricworker, such great memories.
I can remember making the pilgrimage once to mr bigs as a child after months of begging and pleading and the young dark-haired woman in the picture helping me to look at the Starblazer toys. Sweet sort of person she was.
I'm always amazed when I find pieces of mecha-related history, whether they be in toy or anime form, that came out of the Boston area. I'm an MA native but unfortunately, I'm a bit too young to have been around for this.
Shout out to ALL my fellow New England, Gen-X, StarBlazers, and Force Five childhoods!
It's WFXT, Channel 25. I remember watching Force Five and Starblazers on that channel too!!!
I used to love going in there in 1984-1987! Loved Outer Limits as well!
P.S. thanks for posting this, lectricworker. I always appreciate people who take the time to post old, obscure stuff from their video tape collections
I remember going there when Star Wars first came out in '77 & they were the first to have the figs! Good memories...thanks lectric!
When I was a kid my father took me here and I bought lots of these toys, especially Space Battleship Yamato (Star Blazer) toys. I wish I still had them, good times. RIP dad thanks and I love you ❤.
Man oh man, do I remember this from when I was a kid! Pure unadulterated nostalia! My brother and I begged our parents to take us there numerous times. They never did. However, they did drive all the way up from the Cape on two occasions to purchase a bunch of import toys from Mr Big Toyland. I remember, at least two Christmas mornings receiving a bunch of Shogun warriors and Bandai toys.
*sheds tear* God, those childhood memories just raced through my head.
"..WLVI is part of living, Livin' fifty-six.." [now that jingle is stuck in my head.] It's crazy what makes you remember things from the good-ol days.... now that I'm thinkin' of jingles... "We're the one for you New Englaaand.. New Englaaand Teeeleeephoooone. [Part of the NYNEX family]"
Dang, I grew up watching Force Five and would always see this commercial. Not once did my parents ever take me there. Now that I think of it, none of my friend’s parents never took them either…wtf
I loved Arthur. He and his wife used to give me and my sister plastic dinosaurs when we would shop there in the 70's.
+Greg theodore Mr. Big Toyland owner Arthur Sandberg and his wife must have been nicer back then in the '70s when the store had no TV publicity. When he advertised the anime stuff on TV in the early 1980s and his store became the go-to place for that, he and all the employees were less than nice to customers. I didn't go there, but a lot of my grade-school classmates did and their experience there was more than 50% negative. BTW I just learned that Arthur passed away in 2013. Not sure if his wife is still alive, as I don't know her first name...
I'm from Leominster. I used to watch Stablazers and Force Five when I was a kid. Never missed an episode unless I was stuck at school.
I wish I'd been able to get to this store, but honestly, I couldn't have afforded anything.
I moved to Leominster from Waltham in 1982 and got my first Star Wars toys at Mr. Big Toyland. Also remember the Child World and...there was another toy store in Leominster that I can't recall. Nevertheless, awesome memories.
Yup I took my son there and he sent me this video, and told me how happy he was that we took him there once. But i remember taking him few times but who am I arguing with cause now I am 62 and forget things easily.. what a walk on the memory lane.......
My god I remember this! I use to go to my grandparents place in Middletown R.I.- watch Star Blazers, Force Five and I do remember this commercial!
I don't know about anyone else, but I remember that there used to be a small "Gift shop" store inside the Japan/Chinese restaurant named Kowloon's on Route 1 in Saugus. I remember getting the smaller-sized toys similar to the ones that were sold at Mr. Big Toyland store.
Moody Street was so great back then. These days, if you open a business on that street, you'll be lucky if it lasts more than a year (unless it's a restaurant or bar, which normally survive longer).
It was awesome back then. I remember there was a musical instrument store on the corner of Moody and Walnut, a Grover Cronin, and an uncle of mine used to work at that Italian deli on Moody which has since been sold to another owner some years ago. Good times.
Nice nostalgic post. I remember seeing this commercial but had no idea where Waltham was (I lived 30 miles away in Boston). I ended up going to college there. But by then, it was a fast food joint.
I grew up in Waltham in the early 80's, and was very familiar with this store. It was awesome, I went there for Force Five, Starblazers and eventually Robotech toys. It was great because they had a ton of inventory, but the problem was the incredibly annoying woman who worked there that used a cane. She would stalk you up and down the aisles and keep asking you what you wanted. I would try to hide from her. Regardless, great to see the vid, nostalgia is great.
We need to have a store like this again!
We had Toys R Us and we turned out backs on Geoffrey and now it's gone
I made it there once around '85 seemed like all the Force Five/Starblazers stuff was gone by then. Now as an adult I'm obsessed with Soul of Chogokin.
I rember this place. They always followed us around, we were like 5 and 9. They even accused my sister of stealing once-but God we loved that place....they had these 50 cent mystery boxes we would always get....
Wow..I lived in wilmington vermont..and we got this commercial..I always wanted to go..but mom wouldnt have it. :( Wish i could go back in time!
God I missed that store! That where I got my Star Blazers models from!
This ad was exclusive to Channel 25 during their weekday afternoon anime shows-way before the American anime craze!
does this bring me back, I talked my mother into driving way out here (we live in RI) and I picked up the Japanese versions of Megatron and Optimus Prime. Gods wish I had kept those.
Heh heh. I clearly remember this ad being drilled into my head on TV-56 in between episodes of "Force Five". Sadly, I never got to go there. Though my friends said the store was disappointly small. Thanks for the memories! By the way, voice-over Dana Hersey (host of "The Movie Loft") was once parodied by David Cross on the HBO sketch comedy series "Mr. Show".
I remember that place. My dad used to take us there a couple times a month when I was a kid. I also used to stare at the cabinet full of expensive diecast toys and wish I could own at least one of them. I did end up getting one, which I lost a long time ago. At least Outer Limits is still around, I used to go there a lot as a kid too.
So many memories! My dad took me there three times. We lived in Jamaica Plain and Waltham seemed so far away (and it was actually). Sadly, I bought stuff I could've purchased at Toys R Us or Child World (remember that?). I remember getting a G.I. Joe Cobra 3 pack with Golobulous, Nemesis Enforcer and a Cobra La guard. I think my dad bought me Micro Machines on the 2nd trip. Both times I was followed by the owner in the video. On the 3rd visit, it had already closed down :'(
oh dear god that place looks so cool. There used to be a shop in Manhattan like that, too, in the 70s and 80s. Everything was so super expensive, it was beyond my means at the time! (at least I can get 'em now)
Just purchased a 20” popy SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO that the owner purchased there in 1985.. Had to come look this up! We had Pony Toys in little Tokyo Los Angeles where we bought our toys
I grew up in Sherborn and would literally beg my parents to take me to Mr Big probably every weekend. They must have been so sick of it! In the end, they figured out it was a good way to get me to do things I really did not want to do, without complaining. Violin recitals come to mind...
I WENT THERE!!!! When I was six we went there and my brother and I got identical Mekanda Robo godaikin toys.
PT2 I'm proud to say that I still have every one of them with the boxes! About eleven years ago when I was the manager of the Kay Bee Toys in Waltham; I had the sincere pleasure of meeting Arthur (Mr Big, himself) the old owner of Mr Bigs Toyland. We had a great conversation, he was incredibly friendly. I felt as though I had just met a celebrity from my childhood.
I grew up a block from Mr. Bigs. Fun times.
I grew up in the south shore and everytime this commercial came on, i'd beg my mom to take me there. She never did, too far she said.....and no, i didn't kill her for it. Loved force five & star blazers, those were the days.
PT4 Arthur thanked me for the stories and left the store. A short time later he returned and gave me (for free) a Raydeen storybook that he still had. He said that he wanted to give it to someone who would enjoy and appreciate it. That was a great experience! I don't know if he's still around, but I hope that he knows that he made a lot of kids happy! Myself included!
I loved this place I still have the force 5 toy my parents got me lol
here in los angeles we would go to little tokyo in a store called pony toy go round. memoriiiieeeessss!!!
Awesome!
i used to shoplift from there all the time :D
On occasion, I meet with clients in Waltham and because it is so far in between visits to area, I make it a point to drive to the original locus and just stare where Mr. Big Toyland use to be...
Whats there Now?
@@kintarri74 A furniture store
Holy crap what a great video! I was a really huge Force Five fan and loved Starblazers as well. I'm heartbroken that I never made it there. My mom didn't want to drive all the way out there. One time I actually mapped out a route to ride my bike there. Turns out it was about 10 miles each way. I was really tempted but probably for the best that I never tried because I probably would've died from exhaustion only being 11 years old :) Love seeing other peoples stories though. I'm jealous.
PT3 I told him how my brother and I fantasized about visiting his store during its' heyday and how my parents made the pilgrimage all the way from Cape Cod to get some of those incredible toys that he sold! (Little bit of trivia: the metal band Mr Big named themselves after the toy store. It turns out that they had the same feelings about the store that we did. Arthur informed me that they had visited him.)
Not true. Mr Big named themselves after a Free song.
My !st Shogun toy was a Varitank, purchased at Hobby Hub in Apache plaza. It was tough, 'cause all the vehicles were there, I could only pick one, and chose the one with big pointy claws.
I always wanted to go there was a kid!!!
Thumbs up if you begged your parents to take you here but they refused because it was to far...... I lived in New Bedford at the time so I know what I'm talking about!!
jptang1701 same.
We lived in Cranston RI. Dad said it was waaay too far. lol
jptang1701 yep I remember asking the same thing nope had to settle for child world north Dartmouth mall
@@SaxonArmamentsCo Hello fellow friend from Cranston
remember the monoseed bike? i SO regret not getting it.
My grandfather brought me there. I was looking for Force Five toys. I went home with Sun Vulcan. I didn’t know what that was then and later found out it was similar to Power Rangers
Channel 56 WLVI during Creature-Double-Feature. Awesome!!
I wanted to go there so bad when I was a kid. I loved Starblazers and Force Five. Fire the wave motion gun and Spin saucers.... But back then you never asked your parents for anything that would inconvenience them unlike today where its the norm.
Those Japanese models used to cost an arm and leg, to this day I don't know anyone who went there to buy them but instead would just fiddle with them until the owner raised hell.
we need a time machine Delorean to get back there at that time... :)
sandbox sent me...very cool
Our Star Blazzers…!
I loved it there....
what year did it close?
ha-"discount prices",they were crazy high, n my grandfather couldn't stand the
"huckster" guy sellin em,lol..force five was the best
Granted, in those days, there were no other options for getting toys in the area imported from Japan. If you went to a sci-fi or comics convention in the 80s, they would not have been any cheaper. We are spoiled with options now.
@boofdfast thats so funny you say that because i remember my grandfather saying "I cant understant why they use this cheap die cast metal today" i gess they used steel when he was a kid.
it was wpix or somthing cause they had a video game played on tv and you would call in and say PIX to fire lol
Totally remember that. No one ever one either. Maybe once
Purchased my first skateboard their
OMG, this commercial was the shit back in the day. It used to always come on, when we were watching Force Five on Ch 25 Boston. I had Space Dragon, my brothers had Space Arrow and Star Poseidon... and we also had Godzilla with shooting fist, and Mazinger and Gaiking.
At least toys were made out of die-cast metal back then, not like the cheap crappy plastic, nowadays. Today's toys SUCKASS. lol
Mr Big Toyland ?
AstrooooooBat
0:07 GAIKING
@exitplan2 Yeah, also toy guns back in his day were actually made out of real metal. Yikes :)