I especially miss the Toys R Us of the 1980s, when if you collected GI Joe or Transformers, there were entire aisles full of those, rather than the few pegs that became common later
The wall of Hasbro goodness. I was a Transformers freak (guess I still am) and the surface area they were allowed would never fail to leave me frozen in awe. I miss that, even now. My wallet probably doesn't 🤣
yup, just like going through the hordes of GI Joe characters looking for the 1 we were allowed to get, reading their bios etc...when they had like 6 rows wide by 5 high you could spend a day looking
Kay-Bee (where I got most of my toys... TRU was too expensive) was smaller by a wide margin, but they always had a seemingly never ending stock of... well, everything. I specifically remember walking inside many, many times to see that they had so much stock that they ran out of room on the shelves, and had stuff stacked on the floor in front of the display shelves, on top of them, out in the main hallway of the mall in which they were located, and even hanging from the frigging ceiling! Kay-Bee is where I got literally every Ninja Turtle, Ghostbusters, He-Man, and WWF action figure I ever owned (all lost in a basement flood... RIP). Same with my NES, SNES and all the games... but luckily they weren't in the basement when it flooded. I went to Wal-Mart for my N64, and all others... Toy Stores became too expensive in the shadow of Wally World...
you know i was just thinking this the other day... i was digging through some old stuff in box's and found my old gi-joes from like the 90s.... and i remember as a kid going into Toys R us and there just being a massive row of just Gi Joe and Gi Joe stuff and just got a sad feeling cause there really are no toy stores that do that anymore and just the crazy feeling it gave you when you walked in and just saw massive rows of stuff like that.... the Lego rows always blew me away too and back then its not like you could easily see every lego set that was made or that is coming out so going into toys r us and seeing all these sets you have never seen before.... it really was something special lol...
I worked at Toys R Us here in Canada throughout high school and university. To this day it’s still my all-time favourite retail job! When Toys R Us was shutting down in the U.S., the Canadian subsidiary was bought out by a Canadian investment firm and became an independent Canadian owned toy store which is still thriving and expanding more locations throughout the country. I’m so happy they were able to become Canadian and avoid the fate of Blockbuster and Sears, whose profitable Canadian subsidiaries were bled dry by their U.S. parent companies to save themselves at the Canadian businesses’ detriment. To this day I still shop at Toys R Us Canada, especially now that I have young nieces and nephews to shop for!
The hege fund that destroyed Toys R Us, loaded it up with debt and rook all the money. The company was always profitable. It was murdered by Wall Street.
Can't forget the nostalgic song, "I wanna be a Toys R Us kid" still can hear it like it was yesterday. Maybe it'll make a comeback with the new pop up locations, kids today should be able to enjoy it like my generation did.
The one that I always think of, and can still completely recite now is the "Its a magical place / we're on our way there / with toys in the millions / all under one roof / its called Toys R Us" 🙂 Loved that advert (and the sales pitch in the middle of the latest toys)!
I'll be 58 next weekend and I miss Toys R Us. No other store, toy department or retail outlet was like it. You could always go there an find something fun. Even just to see what the new shiny toys are. I wish I still could be a Toys R Us kid. 😣😢😢
It was probably mentioned before, but Toys R Us didn't die in Canada, it was kept alive and the stores remained open. I'm glad to hear that other stores are opening up again, too :)
I think some have close, like the smaller ones, I have seen one being close, but larger one were still opens. I think it was somethings different about the law in Canada that help them to be still there even with the bankrupcy in the US.
Being a kid in the 80s, I would sometimes imagine how great it would be to one day work for the "biggest toy store there is." In the fall of 1996, that fantasy came true. I worked for the company until spring of 1999, leaving just before the floorplan redesign. (fyi: the floorplan redesign was done in large part to eliminate a lot of the storage space of the stores, the logic being, of course, why keep product in a storeroom when it can be on the salesfloor.) I worked in the "big ticket" department, that is the department responsible for bicycles, cribs, swing sets, and all other large bulky items. At one time I even got to wear the Geoffrey Giraffe costume for a promotional event at the store. Overall, I really had a fun time working there, even getting to do something most kids only dream of: riding a bicycle through the empty aisles of the store after hours.
TRU was the institution for a lot of children growing up including myself. This was our go to store for a lot of the latest toys, games, etc. Thanks Minty for this iconic stroll down the proverbial memory lane.
I've got fond memories of the old Toys R Us in the US. Shelves stacked with toys and board games, reaching all the way up to the high ceiling. Toys I've seen from the commercials, as well as toys I've never even heard of. It was a mind-boggling, fascinating universe of toys.
When my husband & I were first dating he worked for Toys “R” Us in their IT area. It was great because if there was a hard to find toy that someone needed he was usually able to get it for them back in the 90s.🦒
Yea, one of my uncles' worked at our local TRU and wore that same hat. Sadly I wasn't allowed in TRU as a kid because my mom was paranoid about stranger danger in a costume. But they did have the best selection. 1st time I remember actually going inside was with my favorite uncle around age 14, who promptly told me (this is our secret). Also TRU wasn't cheaper then our local toy stores usually, but If it was rare or super popular then they could nearly always get it. ;-)
I grew up with TRU. Now in my fifties I have fond memories of entering that magical place. Thank you, Minty, for covering that story and for the fine work you do sharing interesting facts unknown about your topics!
That Haunted Toys R Us was my local Toys R Us. I remember learning about the ghost on the 80s show “That’s Incredible”. I never saw or experienced anything paranormal there, but the toys were awesome.
If I ever get my hands on a time machine, going to a mid 90s Toys R Us will be one of my first destinations. I miss going to Toys R Us as a kid. It really was a magical place.
you can experience the magic again in the american dream mall, which has the biggest modern toys r us, unless you count the macy's herald square location
I've been to the "haunted" Sunnyvale store....nothing weird happened. And we all know how reliable Sylvia Brown was with her "psychic" predictions. My first job was at Toys R Us in 1984. We had these ridiculous uniform shirts that were orange and white stripes but looking back it was innocently charming.
I miss getting new Sega games from toys r us. I loved the display where youd have to pull a ticket and show it to the clerk at the front and they'd go in the back and fetch your game. That was an experience.
I hated that system, it made if feel like you weren’t buying anything- I want my game not a piece of paper, kind of like getting a check instead of cash. Lame from a kids point of view.
Being a Toys R Us kid in the 1980’s was amazing and the prices were good. But by the time I had children in the 2000’s they’re pricing was generally higher than most other big box stores
This hit me right in my gut. We had a massive store in my town where I always spent my Fridays after school. I still remember buying toys from TMNT, Batman, MMPR, wrestling like WCW and WWF, the bikes, toy cars, NES and SNES games so many happy memories. After the company closed, the building was used as the main local Spirit Halloween store location. The huge building made it seem epic with many Halloween supplies and animatronics. Sadly, now it is a giant Bargain store which I have yet to visit. These videos of stores like Toys R Us, Blockbuster, and any major 90s store always make me feel as if my world has been erased by the big tech companies and feel as if it was all for nothing. But I am so happy you do these videos as I hpe it inspires people to relive the past when things were more fun and exciting.
The one near me in Hixson, Tennessee, became a bargain store too. It was also said to be haunted by the college kids working in the Books-a-Million next door.
When Toys R Us closed down in 2017, it hit me like a punch to the stomach. An important element of my childhood was gone. Now I’m glad they are returning. But will it really be the same, battling the big box stores and Amazon? It’s an entirely different world from the one I grew up in. I wish them good luck in their partnership with Macy’s.
When me and and my husband found out that it was going out of business we rush over to the one near us when we live in Colorado. I knew my husband wanted a star wars star destory Lego set. Well once we got there. All the Legos were sold out. Every single Lego was gone. The last toy I got from toy r us. Was a the avengers loki figure. Still in the box. The last thing my husband got. Was a tie fighter Lego set. A week before the store closed. He wanted the star destroyer at the time. I told him let's wait till payday to get it. We'll neither of us knew that toy r us was gonna closed. So yeah..If we knew. I would let him get a star destroyer Lego set
Thanks Minty. I love when you do totally different episodes like this. This one was so heartfelt. I'm glad that Toys R Us hung in there just long enough for my kids to experience. Thanks again friend!
Sadly, future generation’s childhoods will never have the same excitement and thrill when visiting a toy store. All they’ll have is watching them on videos or on a phone o tablet screen, and I mean actually touching a toy you found amazing, even if it was for half an hour playing with it and ending not going home with it, we felt like we owned the world.
I remember going through the isles when i was 5, seeing all the stuffed animals that were 4 to 5 feet tall hanging on the shelves. They had Disney characters, Looney Toons, Snoopy, Pink Panther, Garfield, Dr Seuss characters, Padington, Corduroy, Babar, name it. And some non brand name stuffed animals. But years later they didn't have those anymore. Toys R Us was at it's best in the 80's and early 90's. I noticed a decline as the years went on. It's sad how it went out. Btw, does anyone remember Kids R Us? That was a fun store.
In 1979, I met DeForest Kelley and George Takei at a store here in Illinois when they were on a publicity tour for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". I was 9 and had only seen them on TV, so it was quite a memorable moment. :)
Being an 80s Child, I’ll always have a soft spot for the _Toys “R” Us_ jingle. Particularly the version where we see adults from an earlier version of the infamous commercial singing the lyrics alongside their childhood selves: I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys “R” Us Kid There’s a million toys at Toys “R” Us that I can play with I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys “R” Us Kid They’ve got the best for so much less You’ll really flip your lid From bikes to trains to video games, it’s the biggest toy store there is (Gee wiz!) I don’t wanna grow up, cuz maybe if I did I couldn’t be a Toys “R” Us Kid More games! More toys! Oh, boy! I wanna be a Toys “R” Us Kid!
I worked at a Toys R Us store on the run up to Christmas in 1996. I saw countless parents fail in their attempts to buy a Buzz Lightyear or Tickle Me Elmo. The waiting list was so long there are are probably still people on the list to this day! Very sad day when they closed up in the U.K. I visited the store I worked at before it finally closed. Seeing the bare shelves, “everything must go” signs and aisles closed off with hazard tape was heartbreaking. 😢 Great episode Minty. 👍
God, I loved going there as a kid, even to just look around. So many good memories like getting "Yoshi" for Gameboy, looking at the huge TMNT shelves, and getting excited over getting a coupon for Nickelodeon slime. Had no idea it was around for so many decades.
I loved toys R us. I would get all my video games there and play the console kiosks for the systems I never played before. Then as an adult I would get all my collectibles there too. I miss toys R us. I hope they return.
19 1/2 year Toys R Us veteran here. We had our own Mr. Johnson in our store. I never saw him, but two of my managers did ... well, OK, they never saw anything but they each told me something weird happened to them. One manager said that he was putting bikes (in boxes) on deep shelves in our back room. When the task was done, he walked away. When he reached the corner, he heard a noise. He turned around, and one of the bike boxes was on the ground. The other manager told me that one night, she had just finished re-arranging the collector's Barbie showcase. It consisted of two locked, glass-fronted cases, individually locked with their own key. She had the only key. She came back in the morning and nothing was re-arranged in there, except one doll was laying down, and one shoe had "magically" gone from one case to the other. Now, I do not believe in ghosts. I am just relaying what they told me. However, I know that I often straightened up the same aisles day after day. More than a few times, I saw one of our odd items moved from its normal peg or shelf, to somewhere else, the exact same place three or more days in a row. I found that weird. That's all I'm saying. Now I work in another retail place. I still have the habit of jokingly admonishing "Mr. Johnson" when something falls off a shelf without someone visibly knocking it down, for example.
I remember an episode from Tiny Toons when they had this little song saying I don't want to grow up because I'm a Toy R Miser brat. I'll be running through the store screaming give me this and that.
I remembered hearing that as a kid when I was at Robinsons Galleria on the weekends!! There's a Toys R Us too, but the iconic Geoffrey the Giraffe isn't there sadly ._.
Maybe it's the xanax talking but this made me break down an cry wit how vivid our childhoods were... I'm glad I was able to purchase an ouija board from them in 2017.. rip Toys R' us
I used to go to the haunted TRU in Sunnyvale, CA all the time in the 80's. We were poor so we always shopped the orange clearance tags. It was a reliable place to get a great toy for under $10. Once they did their "boutique" redesign in the 90's it was the end. They dropped all the affordable toys and tried to focus on expensive name-brand items. We shopped at KayBee Toys and another store called Kiddie World equally as much as TRU though. KayBee had better deals on videogames and Kiddie World was the best place to go for Halloween costumes.
Cool. We had Kaybee's Toys here, too. Wow, do you ever remember hearing about the place supposedly being haunted, back when you were going there, as a kid?
I shopped at the Sunnyvale location all the time. I never saw anything but did hear the stories about toys being moved and played with. I for some reason when I first heard the stories thought it was the one that was close to the Winchester Mystery House. Kaybee was good and did kiddie world a few times but I'm a toys r us kid still.
I’m glad you were able to experience a little of the Toys R Us magic before it was gone. It was heaven for me as a kid back in the 70’s and 80’s. Nice jacket btw Minty. 👍
that picture of Geoffrey in the empty store, and the final message form Toy's R Us, get's me every time. the last thing I ever bought from the store was a stuffed Geoffrey. Loved this video.
I have fond memories of TRU as a kid in the 80's. It was THE place to go to look at toys but growing up in the Midwest US which was hit hard by the farm financial crisis of the 80's we didn't buy a lot of toys there. They were always the place to go during the NES days to see what new games were out but were also always higher priced on video games than other stores like K-mart, Sears, Venture or Target. Sadly by the end of the 90's after Walmart came to town both the TRU's in the metro area I live in seemed seriously out of touch with prices. It seemed like everything was 10-40% more expensive at TRU than anywhere else. Even Target, which still had somewhat higher prices than Walmart, was still less expensive than TRU. If you wanted video games Best Buy was the place to go along with a couple of local independent game shops as they were always less expensive than TRU. The leveraged buyout in the mid 2000's is what REALLY killed TRU. Saddled them with an incredible amount of debt and all but guaranteed their failure.
I work at TRU in 1992 and it was a living hell. My employees and managers were a bunch of jerks! One particular manager and I went at it too! Glad this store is gone for good! TRU in San Jose CA gets exactly what they deserve!
I'm a truck driver who delivered twice to their distribution center in McDonough, Georgia. They had an enormous amount of open parking space but refused to allow me to park on site when I was on time for delivery but they didn't have an open dock. Then I had a delivery where the first two pallets were pinweeled and required a forklift just to turn them. Rather than letting me slip the forklift operator a 20 and let me pallet jack out the rest, I had to arrange a lumper fee for the entire truckload. The entire operation seemed 15 to 20 years behind what places like Walmart and Target were at. It didn't surprise me when they shut down a couple months after that last load.
My family included TRU in our days out. McDonald’s for lunch, TRU, PC World, watch a movie at the cinema, then pizza for tea. My 3 sons are adults now and they have lovely memories of those days. Great video Minty ♥️👍
I don't think the stores are franchises. I think the international branches of the company were managed differently and in more isolation, keeping them separate enough to avoid the US company imploding. The company survived pretty much everywhere else in the world except in the US.
I worked at the haunted Toys R Us in Sunnyvale during the Christmas season one year. Going into the stockroom creeped me out as there was always an eerie silence and I always got that feeling that I was being watched. Ironically, after it closed, it opened up as a Spirit Halloween store a few times. Today it's a sporting goods and camping store.
The Birmingham, AL store I worked at had a few spooks too. I'd be stocking shelves in the baby food aisle and suddenly random things would fall off the shelf and I'd catch glimpses of shadows darting off.
TRU was a big part of my childhood. Initially it was my second favorite toy store behind Lionel Kiddie City. Kiddie City was a smaller chain that couldn't keep up with the larger TRU chain. So, eventually in the early 90's they closed their doors for good. But, what I loved about both chains were they were grand experiences for all children with wall to walll toys, bikes and games. Stepping into those doors and going down toy isle after isle was like a kids dream come true. Thankfully until just before my daughter's 6th birthday I got to see her experience a little of the youth wonder TRU was able to bring. I'm glad you did this video Minty. I love hearing about that place. It brought me many joys as a kid. I did want to add part of their down fall was the amount of money in the 90's they spent on rebranding all their stores from the original look. Also, Toys "R" Us Canada didn't close. I'm not sure why they were able to continuously make a profit and the stores around the rest of the world weren't.
Lionel was awesome too ! i always loved how they often had demo stuff set up to try and explore, at least they did at our store, fun times ! kb toys , lionel, toyrus, great memories !
I only got to go to a toys r us when I was 28 but I still enjoyed it as I collect my little pony and have a lot of G1s (my little pony from 1983 - 1995 )
Minty, thank you for this wonderful and nostalgic video! I enjoyed visiting Toys "R" Us often as a child to buy toys and video games. The store also bought back some video games for cash (before FuncoLand/GameStop existed). It's rival, KB Toys, was located across the street and sometimes had items that Toys "R" Us lacked, such as the 5-inch and 12-inch Mortal Kombat Trilogy action figures. I miss Toys "R" Us.
I am an actual Toys R Us kid. 🥳 I made two radio commercials for the company. A talent agent saw me with my family at a store. I was super excited about shopping their. He asked me if I would be willing to say what I liked about the store for the radio. I eagerly said yes. The following are MY WORDS! I wasn't given lines. I said these statements in the store. QUOTE FROM COMMERCIAL ONE: "It's big! It's huge! It has everything!" QUOTE FROM COMMERCIAL TWO: "I want lots and lots of toys and lots and lots of money!" I was around 9 when I recorded the commercials. I am now 46-years-old. I still collect toys, but I really, really, really need to work on getting more money. 💸
I work in a department store that used to be a Toys R Us store and opened in late 2018. In the stockroom, way up along some of the walls someone wrote in red paint "Toys R Us forever" and I thought that must've been really sad for the people that worked there to have their store close down and this person that wrote that must've been really attached to the store. It's still there. We didn't cover it up or paint over it.
Thanks for this video Minty Comedic Arts! I'm a former Toy's R Us employee, and I worked at the Sunnyvale California store during the holiday season of 1997. Yes, it's the "Haunted" store that you included as #4 in your video, and knowing that it was said to be haunted sometimes gave me chills after the closing shifts late night. Plenty of good memories aside from that. To be honest, I only knew 4 out of the 10 things about Toys R Us you featured.
Where I lived as a child in the 90s, the nearest Toys "R" Us, was over 30 miles away and I only went to it once when my grandparents took me, to get me toys of Mighty Max. I was into miniature objects at the time and liked the Mighty Max TV series and loved the Mighty Max toys. I never knew about the supposed haunted store but incidentally, back in the 90s, myself and a few friends of mine were really into the Goosebumps books and myself especially would write Goosebumps style scary stories involving all of us. One of my friends was the only one of us who had a camcorder and we had big plans to make a short film with it. The story was going to be about us getting trapped in a Toys "R" Us store after closing and some hijinks ensue, Goosebumps style. We even started writing the story for it which I mostly wrote. We were 9 and 10 at the time so we were way too ambitious to think we could ever make a short film based on that at our age and with next to no money or much else. Shortly after we had the idea and I wrote most of the story to it, my mum sent the unfinished story to the book publishers who published the Goosebumps books and I got it back a while later with a letter saying they liked the story and that I should keep writing. I also got pre-release covers to Goosebumps books yet to be released, with the release date written on the inside of them..."Chicken, Chicken" "Don't Go to Sleep" and "The Blob That Ate Everyone" so at least that happened and I am still writing stories today which I eventually would like to get published.
@@berzerkbankie1342 Was it Skull Dungeon? That is one of the toys I got at the Toys "R" Us I went to along with the monster Magus as the store was the only place that had Magnus, no other toy shop near where I lived had one.
Minty has gone CRAZY! Toys R Us was pretty awesome, huge places, and in 1975, around October, the front area of the store went FULL HALLOWEEN, with masks and costumes, records (this was before CDs, so 12” vinyl records were visible on large displays) and decorations. This has been topped with Party Stores and Halloween Stores - but nothing can top that feeling of being a kid and, around October 10, say, because you’d be foolish to miss out on all the enthusiasm - of seeing those shelves full of monsters and creatures and superhero costumes - oh my goodness. 💜💜💜💜💜
I took my kids to the Toys R Us in Times Square, NYC and we rode the Ferris Wheel. That was a great memory for me. I'm glad Toys R Us is making a comeback. It's not the same world without Toys R Us. Plus, Minty rocks. Keep making more videos and I'm binge watching your videos tonight!!
I remember working at Toys R Us from 2000 to 2003. It was a fun job when you get to demo toys for families and help kids find toys, but definitely not during Black Friday or dealing with Karens.
I've seen things like Toys R Us, Blockbuster Video, cassette tapes & Walkmans and Hard Rock Cafes come and go. I've seen the bellbottom jeans fad twice in my lifetime and lived through the Disco era. I feel old now. Thanks Minty.
I still remember everything about our local store. I can still tell you exactly where the TMNT and video games were located and I will always remember buying Mario 3 there like it was yesterday. ❤️
Thank you Minty for this episode. I have been to the TRU in Times Square, NYC many times as a tourist whenever I visit New York. I was sad to see it closed down. It is now a GAP clothing store.
Nice one, Minty. Living in NYC, I've been to the store located in Times Square a couple of times. You're right.... a HUGE tourist hot-spot. Too much so. Horrendously crowded, barely able to walk through there. It just didn't feel like a typical Toys-R-Us. I used to love going there as a child. Always exciting. (Obviously I don't mean to the one in Times Square.) BTW, Sylvia Brown was exposed as a fraud many, many years ago.
Great video Minty, brought back some good memories. I live in Canada and we were very fortunate our toys r us stores remain open to this day. I love bringing my kids to the store and watching them go into toy overload.
You should have a section talking about that Toys R Us still lives on, in nearly it's original format in Canada. Canadian operations were not directly impacted by folding of the rest of the business.
I worked there for nearly four years during college. I made some good friends and had some fun times. Thankfully I never had to wear the Geoffrey outfit--it looked like it had seen much days.
As a Canadian, I don't know what losing Toys R Us is like. TRU's in Canada never closed down. In fact, I was just at my local store 2 weeks ago. It was magical.
Damn, this video hit me in the feels. As a 40yo I grew up with this store. It saddens me that my youngest child was born the same year they closed down and didn’t get to experience it.
I like that you expand your content by doing stories about other pop culture icons like Blockbuster & Toys 'R Us. You should do videos about the history of famous Film Studios like Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, etc.
I remember my first time going to a Toys R Us. I was about six years old. It was a new store just opening in Dallas, TX. People were lined up outside and I remember the line was so big, it stretched from the front door to around and past the edge of the building. I remember waiting an hour just to get in. Parents bought me a Speak & Read. Then later exchanged it for a Speak & Math :)
Epic! My favorite place to visit for toys. My childhood! Thanks for doing a video on this. Now I know some facts on my favorite store as part of my childhood.
I absolutely adored TRU. I got a job there for a brief period, and that sucked. The pay was atrocious and the workload was insurmountable. However that hasn't ruined my beloved childhood memories of the place. God, I miss it. You've really done this very special place a wonderful job, Minty.
It was a rare occasion to visit Toys R Us because it was an hour away. I remember the shelves being so tall, the ceiling was hard to see. It was where I got the original Nintendo NES for my tenth birthday. I also remember seeing the "six shooter" light zapper for the NES.
Awesome video! Always shopped there, was a great experience each time! I miss the Xmas commercials, 'Toys in their millions, All under one roof'. I still have my first Action Man, purchased at a TRU, the box is long gone and his toes are chewed but I still have all his acessories! Aww Play On' Indeed!
Toys r us in Canada never closed up. There is one nearby where we get all our baby supplies! Plus for some reasons, they offer discount for military personel. Love that store
Kiddie City, Toys R Us and Kay Bee toy stores were so awesome! Going to Sears, K-Mart, Woolworth and Caldoor was always fun. To have stores dedicated to only toys was super cool. >_
Star Wars Action Figures, ERTL Thomas Trains and Thomas videos are what I always got at Toys ‘R’ Us. There’s one trip I’ll always remember that makes me nostalgic.
Thank you, Minty! This video brought back a lot of memories for me. I remembered some of the commercials and the story about the haunted ToysRUs store as I used to watch that show about ghosts! As a kid, I always wanted one of those huge Lego castles. They were $200, but I never did get one.
42 years of age here. As a Kid my parents bought for me at Toys R Us: Transformers, Voltron, GI Joe, Wacky Wild Slip N Slide (the roll out slide with a mini dunk pool at the end), TMNT, the Thundercats sword, Spy Gear, Game Boy, Nintendo, Hot Wheels, toy guns, mini trampoline, basketballs, and a lot more. My family is middle class so I had a great childhood and I've always been grateful.
I remember going to Toys “R” US when I was a kid man so many toys it was Heaven for me. I had never seen so many action figures in one place. But in my teen year I went there for the video games. It sucked seeing Toys “R” US go out of business it truly was an end of era. But now it looks like it’s try’s to make a comeback.
I remember living in Alaska and watching the local Toy R Us go out of business. It was extremely sad because I bought a lot of stuff from there. Thats why when I moved to Japan I was struck to see that it still exists here. Granted I have to drive almost an hour out but its still great to shop there again.
FYI: The company that bought the IP's for TRU out of bankruptcy has tried resurrecting the brand several times now. Unfortunately their timing was horrible the first time as they opened new stores in Paramus, NJ and Houston, TX just before the pandemic hit full swing. Unfortunately those stores closed during the lockdowns. Their latest attempt saw them opening up another new store in the American Dream mall in NJ, which is struggling to keep itself afloat financially. I understand that whoever bought the IP's want to see a return on their investment but starting big is definitely not the answer. Unfortunately that's the answer they have come up with. By the way, the Toys R Us brand is not completely gone from North America. However if you want to go to a TRU store now you'll need a passport to visit America's neighbor to the north (Thanks GWB) to go to one as they're still alive in Canada. Canadian TH-cam star Laura Legends does semi frequent videos of her shopping trips there.
I especially miss the Toys R Us of the 1980s, when if you collected GI Joe or Transformers, there were entire aisles full of those, rather than the few pegs that became common later
The wall of Hasbro goodness. I was a Transformers freak (guess I still am) and the surface area they were allowed would never fail to leave me frozen in awe. I miss that, even now. My wallet probably doesn't 🤣
yup, just like going through the hordes of GI Joe characters looking for the 1 we were allowed to get, reading their bios etc...when they had like 6 rows wide by 5 high you could spend a day looking
I remember those days. 😊
Kay-Bee (where I got most of my toys... TRU was too expensive) was smaller by a wide margin, but they always had a seemingly never ending stock of... well, everything.
I specifically remember walking inside many, many times to see that they had so much stock that they ran out of room on the shelves, and had stuff stacked on the floor in front of the display shelves, on top of them, out in the main hallway of the mall in which they were located, and even hanging from the frigging ceiling!
Kay-Bee is where I got literally every Ninja Turtle, Ghostbusters, He-Man, and WWF action figure I ever owned (all lost in a basement flood... RIP). Same with my NES, SNES and all the games... but luckily they weren't in the basement when it flooded.
I went to Wal-Mart for my N64, and all others... Toy Stores became too expensive in the shadow of Wally World...
you know i was just thinking this the other day... i was digging through some old stuff in box's and found my old gi-joes from like the 90s.... and i remember as a kid going into Toys R us and there just being a massive row of just Gi Joe and Gi Joe stuff and just got a sad feeling cause there really are no toy stores that do that anymore and just the crazy feeling it gave you when you walked in and just saw massive rows of stuff like that.... the Lego rows always blew me away too and back then its not like you could easily see every lego set that was made or that is coming out so going into toys r us and seeing all these sets you have never seen before.... it really was something special lol...
I worked at Toys R Us here in Canada throughout high school and university. To this day it’s still my all-time favourite retail job! When Toys R Us was shutting down in the U.S., the Canadian subsidiary was bought out by a Canadian investment firm and became an independent Canadian owned toy store which is still thriving and expanding more locations throughout the country. I’m so happy they were able to become Canadian and avoid the fate of Blockbuster and Sears, whose profitable Canadian subsidiaries were bled dry by their U.S. parent companies to save themselves at the Canadian businesses’ detriment. To this day I still shop at Toys R Us Canada, especially now that I have young nieces and nephews to shop for!
Its still fun to go check for gifts after all those years I worked 11 years at a TRU in Québec and its still fun to see my old boss.
Yes Asia franchises still open too. Japan, Hong Kong, etc.
The hege fund that destroyed Toys R Us, loaded it up with debt and rook all the money. The company was always profitable. It was murdered by Wall Street.
Can't forget the nostalgic song, "I wanna be a Toys R Us kid" still can hear it like it was yesterday. Maybe it'll make a comeback with the new pop up locations, kids today should be able to enjoy it like my generation did.
🎵 ...."From bikes, to trains, to video games..."🎵
The one that I always think of, and can still completely recite now is the "Its a magical place / we're on our way there / with toys in the millions / all under one roof / its called Toys R Us" 🙂 Loved that advert (and the sales pitch in the middle of the latest toys)!
th-cam.com/video/VJJ-ZLdrTwY/w-d-xo.html
...or if you're in Canada, we still make commercials: th-cam.com/video/LASoGuFUZMI/w-d-xo.html
I'll be 58 next weekend and I miss Toys R Us. No other store, toy department or retail outlet was like it. You could always go there an find something fun. Even just to see what the new shiny toys are. I wish I still could be a Toys R Us kid. 😣😢😢
It was probably mentioned before, but Toys R Us didn't die in Canada, it was kept alive and the stores remained open. I'm glad to hear that other stores are opening up again, too :)
The Toys R Us I grew up with is the same one my son is now growing up with.
I’m going to the SherwayGardens(Toronto,Canada,) ToysRUs today after work!
Yup, they never closed here in Canada. Makes shopping for my nephews sooo much easier.
I think some have close, like the smaller ones, I have seen one being close, but larger one were still opens. I think it was somethings different about the law in Canada that help them to be still there even with the bankrupcy in the US.
That makes sense. Do your stores have Black or Brown Mangers? They didn't in America.
Being a kid in the 80s, I would sometimes imagine how great it would be to one day work for the "biggest toy store there is." In the fall of 1996, that fantasy came true. I worked for the company until spring of 1999, leaving just before the floorplan redesign. (fyi: the floorplan redesign was done in large part to eliminate a lot of the storage space of the stores, the logic being, of course, why keep product in a storeroom when it can be on the salesfloor.) I worked in the "big ticket" department, that is the department responsible for bicycles, cribs, swing sets, and all other large bulky items. At one time I even got to wear the Geoffrey Giraffe costume for a promotional event at the store. Overall, I really had a fun time working there, even getting to do something most kids only dream of: riding a bicycle through the empty aisles of the store after hours.
Cool I did the same riding a skateboard while the store was closed.
My boss even tried a 4wheel drive and toured the store.
So many great memories
@@francoisregis2155 nice. One of my managers liked to roller-skate in the store during "employee appreciation parties," or whatever they called 'em.
Cool sometimes we even threw a nerf football who was making noise.
It was cool to work there.
I loved toy r us, but I hated that giraffe
@@the98themperoroftheholybri33 lol.
TRU was the institution for a lot of children growing up including myself. This was our go to store for a lot of the latest toys, games, etc. Thanks Minty for this iconic stroll down the proverbial memory lane.
at lest we still have TRU here in Canada! i just got home i was buying Lego Mario LOL
I couldn't agree more buddy, God Bless Minty
Fuck Amazon
I've got fond memories of the old Toys R Us in the US. Shelves stacked with toys and board games, reaching all the way up to the high ceiling. Toys I've seen from the commercials, as well as toys I've never even heard of. It was a mind-boggling, fascinating universe of toys.
When that store closed. It was the end of an era. A really awesome era for lots of us.
When my husband & I were first dating he worked for Toys “R” Us in their IT area. It was great because if there was a hard to find toy that someone needed he was usually able to get it for them back in the 90s.🦒
Yea, one of my uncles' worked at our local TRU and wore that same hat. Sadly I wasn't allowed in TRU as a kid because my mom was paranoid about stranger danger in a costume. But they did have the best selection. 1st time I remember actually going inside was with my favorite uncle around age 14, who promptly told me (this is our secret). Also TRU wasn't cheaper then our local toy stores usually, but If it was rare or super popular then they could nearly always get it. ;-)
I grew up with TRU. Now in my fifties I have fond memories of entering that magical place. Thank you, Minty, for covering that story and for the fine work you do sharing interesting facts unknown about your topics!
That Haunted Toys R Us was my local Toys R Us. I remember learning about the ghost on the 80s show “That’s Incredible”.
I never saw or experienced anything paranormal there, but the toys were awesome.
I loved Toys R Us as a kid especially during the Christmas time!
If I ever get my hands on a time machine, going to a mid 90s Toys R Us will be one of my first destinations. I miss going to Toys R Us as a kid. It really was a magical place.
Late 80s to early 90s for me! But if you get your hands on that DeLorean let me know!
you can experience the magic again in the american dream mall, which has the biggest modern toys r us, unless you count the macy's herald square location
I've been to the "haunted" Sunnyvale store....nothing weird happened. And we all know how reliable Sylvia Brown was with her "psychic" predictions.
My first job was at Toys R Us in 1984. We had these ridiculous uniform shirts that were orange and white stripes but looking back it was innocently charming.
Store 5814! Lol I worked there in the mid 90's and wierd stuff happened all the time lol
Minty mentioned a show from the early 90s, but I remember the show “That’s Incredible” in the early 80s talking about the haunted Toys R Us
That was the store I went to as a kid.... never seen shit
I miss getting new Sega games from toys r us. I loved the display where youd have to pull a ticket and show it to the clerk at the front and they'd go in the back and fetch your game. That was an experience.
right??
Used to have an entire aisle full of those glass or plastic display cases. It was always difficult to make that choice of just one game.
I remember when Nintendo 64 came in 1996, they were $200 at Toys R Us at the time
I hated that system, it made if feel like you weren’t buying anything- I want my game not a piece of paper, kind of like getting a check instead of cash. Lame from a kids point of view.
Being a Toys R Us kid in the 1980’s was amazing and the prices were good. But by the time I had children in the 2000’s they’re pricing was generally higher than most other big box stores
This hit me right in my gut. We had a massive store in my town where I always spent my Fridays after school. I still remember buying toys from TMNT, Batman, MMPR, wrestling like WCW and WWF, the bikes, toy cars, NES and SNES games so many happy memories. After the company closed, the building was used as the main local Spirit Halloween store location. The huge building made it seem epic with many Halloween supplies and animatronics. Sadly, now it is a giant Bargain store which I have yet to visit. These videos of stores like Toys R Us, Blockbuster, and any major 90s store always make me feel as if my world has been erased by the big tech companies and feel as if it was all for nothing. But I am so happy you do these videos as I hpe it inspires people to relive the past when things were more fun and exciting.
The one near me in Hixson, Tennessee, became a bargain store too. It was also said to be haunted by the college kids working in the Books-a-Million next door.
I would always clean up on their 3 old games for 15 bucks deal.
When Toys R Us closed down in 2017, it hit me like a punch to the stomach. An important element of my childhood was gone. Now I’m glad they are returning. But will it really be the same, battling the big box stores and Amazon? It’s an entirely different world from the one I grew up in. I wish them good luck in their partnership with Macy’s.
Apparently Toys R Us still has locations in Canada
When me and and my husband found out that it was going out of business we rush over to the one near us when we live in Colorado. I knew my husband wanted a star wars star destory Lego set. Well once we got there. All the Legos were sold out. Every single Lego was gone. The last toy I got from toy r us. Was a the avengers loki figure. Still in the box. The last thing my husband got. Was a tie fighter Lego set. A week before the store closed. He wanted the star destroyer at the time. I told him let's wait till payday to get it. We'll neither of us knew that toy r us was gonna closed. So yeah..If we knew. I would let him get a star destroyer Lego set
Thanks Minty. I love when you do totally different episodes like this. This one was so heartfelt. I'm glad that Toys R Us hung in there just long enough for my kids to experience. Thanks again friend!
I'll never forget my memories like it. From creepy crawlers,goosebumps & dinosaur toys and it hosted the Pokemon trading card league☺️
I took my brother to one of those leagues. Wow blast from the past!
Sadly, future generation’s childhoods will never have the same excitement and thrill when visiting a toy store. All they’ll have is watching them on videos or on a phone o tablet screen, and I mean actually touching a toy you found amazing, even if it was for half an hour playing with it and ending not going home with it, we felt like we owned the world.
I remember going through the isles when i was 5, seeing all the stuffed animals that were 4 to 5 feet tall hanging on the shelves. They had Disney characters, Looney Toons, Snoopy, Pink Panther, Garfield, Dr Seuss characters, Padington, Corduroy, Babar, name it. And some non brand name stuffed animals. But years later they didn't have those anymore. Toys R Us was at it's best in the 80's and early 90's. I noticed a decline as the years went on. It's sad how it went out. Btw, does anyone remember Kids R Us? That was a fun store.
In 1979, I met DeForest Kelley and George Takei at a store here in Illinois when they were on a publicity tour for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". I was 9 and had only seen them on TV, so it was quite a memorable moment. :)
Being an 80s Child, I’ll always have a soft spot for the _Toys “R” Us_ jingle. Particularly the version where we see adults from an earlier version of the infamous commercial singing the lyrics alongside their childhood selves:
I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys “R” Us Kid
There’s a million toys at Toys “R” Us that I can play with
I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys “R” Us Kid
They’ve got the best for so much less
You’ll really flip your lid
From bikes to trains to video games, it’s the biggest toy store there is (Gee wiz!)
I don’t wanna grow up, cuz maybe if I did
I couldn’t be a Toys “R” Us Kid
More games! More toys! Oh, boy!
I wanna be a Toys “R” Us Kid!
I worked at a Toys R Us store on the run up to Christmas in 1996.
I saw countless parents fail in their attempts to buy a Buzz Lightyear or Tickle Me Elmo.
The waiting list was so long there are are probably still people on the list to this day!
Very sad day when they closed up in the U.K.
I visited the store I worked at before it finally closed. Seeing the bare shelves, “everything must go” signs and aisles closed off with hazard tape was heartbreaking. 😢
Great episode Minty. 👍
toys r us is in whsmith in the uk now
God, I loved going there as a kid, even to just look around. So many good memories like getting "Yoshi" for Gameboy, looking at the huge TMNT shelves, and getting excited over getting a coupon for Nickelodeon slime. Had no idea it was around for so many decades.
I loved toys R us. I would get all my video games there and play the console kiosks for the systems I never played before. Then as an adult I would get all my collectibles there too. I miss toys R us. I hope they return.
Same! Got my Atari 2600 carts from there!
you didnt watch the full video, if you did then you would know that toys r us is back in macys
@@BrimmySP yeah, I heard that but, it’s not the same.
19 1/2 year Toys R Us veteran here. We had our own Mr. Johnson in our store. I never saw him, but two of my managers did ... well, OK, they never saw anything but they each told me something weird happened to them.
One manager said that he was putting bikes (in boxes) on deep shelves in our back room. When the task was done, he walked away. When he reached the corner, he heard a noise. He turned around, and one of the bike boxes was on the ground.
The other manager told me that one night, she had just finished re-arranging the collector's Barbie showcase. It consisted of two locked, glass-fronted cases, individually locked with their own key. She had the only key. She came back in the morning and nothing was re-arranged in there, except one doll was laying down, and one shoe had "magically" gone from one case to the other.
Now, I do not believe in ghosts. I am just relaying what they told me. However, I know that I often straightened up the same aisles day after day. More than a few times, I saw one of our odd items moved from its normal peg or shelf, to somewhere else, the exact same place three or more days in a row. I found that weird. That's all I'm saying.
Now I work in another retail place. I still have the habit of jokingly admonishing "Mr. Johnson" when something falls off a shelf without someone visibly knocking it down, for example.
I remember an episode from Tiny Toons when they had this little song saying I don't want to grow up because I'm a Toy R Miser brat. I'll be running through the store screaming give me this and that.
I remembered hearing that as a kid when I was at Robinsons Galleria on the weekends!! There's a Toys R Us too, but the iconic Geoffrey the Giraffe isn't there sadly ._.
Maybe it's the xanax talking but this made me break down an cry wit how vivid our childhoods were... I'm glad I was able to purchase an ouija board from them in 2017.. rip Toys R' us
I used to go to the haunted TRU in Sunnyvale, CA all the time in the 80's. We were poor so we always shopped the orange clearance tags. It was a reliable place to get a great toy for under $10. Once they did their "boutique" redesign in the 90's it was the end. They dropped all the affordable toys and tried to focus on expensive name-brand items. We shopped at KayBee Toys and another store called Kiddie World equally as much as TRU though. KayBee had better deals on videogames and Kiddie World was the best place to go for Halloween costumes.
Cool. We had Kaybee's Toys here, too. Wow, do you ever remember hearing about the place supposedly being haunted, back when you were going there, as a kid?
I shopped at the Sunnyvale location all the time. I never saw anything but did hear the stories about toys being moved and played with. I for some reason when I first heard the stories thought it was the one that was close to the Winchester Mystery House. Kaybee was good and did kiddie world a few times but I'm a toys r us kid still.
I still get a little chocked up when I see those 🔴🟡🟢🔵boards on a building that was previously a TrU. RIP U.S. TrU. Never grow up!
I’m glad you were able to experience a little of the Toys R Us magic before it was gone. It was heaven for me as a kid back in the 70’s and 80’s. Nice jacket btw Minty. 👍
that picture of Geoffrey in the empty store, and the final message form Toy's R Us, get's me every time. the last thing I ever bought from the store was a stuffed Geoffrey. Loved this video.
I miss Toys r Us I used to love going there when I was a kid 😔
Oh man still gets me upset that I can't bring my kids to toys r us
I have fond memories of TRU as a kid in the 80's. It was THE place to go to look at toys but growing up in the Midwest US which was hit hard by the farm financial crisis of the 80's we didn't buy a lot of toys there. They were always the place to go during the NES days to see what new games were out but were also always higher priced on video games than other stores like K-mart, Sears, Venture or Target.
Sadly by the end of the 90's after Walmart came to town both the TRU's in the metro area I live in seemed seriously out of touch with prices. It seemed like everything was 10-40% more expensive at TRU than anywhere else. Even Target, which still had somewhat higher prices than Walmart, was still less expensive than TRU. If you wanted video games Best Buy was the place to go along with a couple of local independent game shops as they were always less expensive than TRU.
The leveraged buyout in the mid 2000's is what REALLY killed TRU. Saddled them with an incredible amount of debt and all but guaranteed their failure.
I worked for TRU for fifteen years. I could see it’s inevitable downfall way before it became a reality.
I'm curious. What were the signs that tipped you off?
I work at TRU in 1992 and it was a living hell. My employees and managers were a bunch of jerks! One particular manager and I went at it too! Glad this store is gone for good! TRU in San Jose CA gets exactly what they deserve!
Didn’t think about sharing your insight then 🤣
@@chrisconsorte7893 that branch got what it deserved, DON'T YOU DARE damn the entire brand for one bad experience.
I'm a truck driver who delivered twice to their distribution center in McDonough, Georgia. They had an enormous amount of open parking space but refused to allow me to park on site when I was on time for delivery but they didn't have an open dock. Then I had a delivery where the first two pallets were pinweeled and required a forklift just to turn them. Rather than letting me slip the forklift operator a 20 and let me pallet jack out the rest, I had to arrange a lumper fee for the entire truckload. The entire operation seemed 15 to 20 years behind what places like Walmart and Target were at. It didn't surprise me when they shut down a couple months after that last load.
My family included TRU in our days out. McDonald’s for lunch, TRU, PC World, watch a movie at the cinema, then pizza for tea. My 3 sons are adults now and they have lovely memories of those days. Great video Minty ♥️👍
Here in Canada Minty I'm happy to report that Toys R Us is still going strong.
I think they are franchised out.
They are also running here in South Africa.
I don't think the stores are franchises. I think the international branches of the company were managed differently and in more isolation, keeping them separate enough to avoid the US company imploding. The company survived pretty much everywhere else in the world except in the US.
I worked at the haunted Toys R Us in Sunnyvale during the Christmas season one year. Going into the stockroom creeped me out as there was always an eerie silence and I always got that feeling that I was being watched. Ironically, after it closed, it opened up as a Spirit Halloween store a few times. Today it's a sporting goods and camping store.
The Birmingham, AL store I worked at had a few spooks too. I'd be stocking shelves in the baby food aisle and suddenly random things would fall off the shelf and I'd catch glimpses of shadows darting off.
TRU was a big part of my childhood. Initially it was my second favorite toy store behind Lionel Kiddie City. Kiddie City was a smaller chain that couldn't keep up with the larger TRU chain. So, eventually in the early 90's they closed their doors for good.
But, what I loved about both chains were they were grand experiences for all children with wall to walll toys, bikes and games. Stepping into those doors and going down toy isle after isle was like a kids dream come true. Thankfully until just before my daughter's 6th birthday I got to see her experience a little of the youth wonder TRU was able to bring.
I'm glad you did this video Minty. I love hearing about that place. It brought me many joys as a kid. I did want to add part of their down fall was the amount of money in the 90's they spent on rebranding all their stores from the original look. Also, Toys "R" Us Canada didn't close. I'm not sure why they were able to continuously make a profit and the stores around the rest of the world weren't.
Lionel was awesome too ! i always loved how they often had demo stuff set up to try and explore, at least they did at our store, fun times ! kb toys , lionel, toyrus, great memories !
I loved the Kiddie City that was in King of Prussia. They turned that frown upside-down!
I only got to go to a toys r us when I was 28 but I still enjoyed it as I collect my little pony and have a lot of G1s (my little pony from 1983 - 1995 )
Minty, thank you for this wonderful and nostalgic video! I enjoyed visiting Toys "R" Us often as a child to buy toys and video games. The store also bought back some video games for cash (before FuncoLand/GameStop existed). It's rival, KB Toys, was located across the street and sometimes had items that Toys "R" Us lacked, such as the 5-inch and 12-inch Mortal Kombat Trilogy action figures. I miss Toys "R" Us.
I am an actual Toys R Us kid. 🥳
I made two radio commercials for the company. A talent agent saw me with my family at a store. I was super excited about shopping their. He asked me if I would be willing to say what I liked about the store for the radio. I eagerly said yes.
The following are MY WORDS! I wasn't given lines. I said these statements in the store.
QUOTE FROM COMMERCIAL ONE: "It's big! It's huge! It has everything!"
QUOTE FROM COMMERCIAL TWO: "I want lots and lots of toys and lots and lots of money!"
I was around 9 when I recorded the commercials. I am now 46-years-old. I still collect toys, but I really, really, really need to work on getting more money. 💸
That’s sounds like so much fun! I was born after TRU’s prime.
@@mondenkindqueen Yes, it was tremendously fun. 🎉🎉
I work in a department store that used to be a Toys R Us store and opened in late 2018. In the stockroom, way up along some of the walls someone wrote in red paint "Toys R Us forever" and I thought that must've been really sad for the people that worked there to have their store close down and this person that wrote that must've been really attached to the store. It's still there. We didn't cover it up or paint over it.
Man that's sad
When my nephew was born I had the best time going to toys r us. I bought alot of baby toys that day.
So cool. Back to a better time. Really miss TRU.
I got that Jaws toy for Christmas one year. Toys just aren't the same.
This is just amazing because I didn't even know about this store until like a year ago. Pretty sad, I know.
Thanks for this video Minty Comedic Arts! I'm a former Toy's R Us employee, and I worked at the Sunnyvale California store during the holiday season of 1997. Yes, it's the "Haunted" store that you included as #4 in your video, and knowing that it was said to be haunted sometimes gave me chills after the closing shifts late night. Plenty of good memories aside from that. To be honest, I only knew 4 out of the 10 things about Toys R Us you featured.
Where I lived as a child in the 90s, the nearest Toys "R" Us, was over 30 miles away and I only went to it once when my grandparents took me, to get me toys of Mighty Max. I was into miniature objects at the time and liked the Mighty Max TV series and loved the Mighty Max toys.
I never knew about the supposed haunted store but incidentally, back in the 90s, myself and a few friends of mine were really into the Goosebumps books and myself especially would write Goosebumps style scary stories involving all of us. One of my friends was the only one of us who had a camcorder and we had big plans to make a short film with it. The story was going to be about us getting trapped in a Toys "R" Us store after closing and some hijinks ensue, Goosebumps style. We even started writing the story for it which I mostly wrote. We were 9 and 10 at the time so we were way too ambitious to think we could ever make a short film based on that at our age and with next to no money or much else.
Shortly after we had the idea and I wrote most of the story to it, my mum sent the unfinished story to the book publishers who published the Goosebumps books and I got it back a while later with a letter saying they liked the story and that I should keep writing. I also got pre-release covers to Goosebumps books yet to be released, with the release date written on the inside of them..."Chicken, Chicken" "Don't Go to Sleep" and "The Blob That Ate Everyone" so at least that happened and I am still writing stories today which I eventually would like to get published.
I used to like Mighty Max too when I was a kid. I was probably like 6, I had one of the little toy sets. I think it was a skull?
@@berzerkbankie1342 Was it Skull Dungeon? That is one of the toys I got at the Toys "R" Us I went to along with the monster Magus as the store was the only place that had Magnus, no other toy shop near where I lived had one.
Minty has gone CRAZY! Toys R Us was pretty awesome, huge places, and in 1975, around October, the front area of the store went FULL HALLOWEEN, with masks and costumes, records (this was before CDs, so 12” vinyl records were visible on large displays) and decorations. This has been topped with Party Stores and Halloween Stores - but nothing can top that feeling of being a kid and, around October 10, say, because you’d be foolish to miss out on all the enthusiasm - of seeing those shelves full of monsters and creatures and superhero costumes - oh my goodness. 💜💜💜💜💜
You are the 80's & 90's kids nostalgic king! You always bring back fond memories
I took my kids to the Toys R Us in Times Square, NYC and we rode the Ferris Wheel. That was a great memory for me. I'm glad Toys R Us is making a comeback. It's not the same world without Toys R Us. Plus, Minty rocks. Keep making more videos and I'm binge watching your videos tonight!!
I remember working at Toys R Us from 2000 to 2003. It was a fun job when you get to demo toys for families and help kids find toys, but definitely not during Black Friday or dealing with Karens.
I almost worked there in 2010, but it didn’t work out. that was when it conjoined with Babies R Us
I've seen things like Toys R Us, Blockbuster Video, cassette tapes & Walkmans and Hard Rock Cafes come and go. I've seen the bellbottom jeans fad twice in my lifetime and lived through the Disco era. I feel old now. Thanks Minty.
I still remember everything about our local store. I can still tell you exactly where the TMNT and video games were located and I will always remember buying Mario 3 there like it was yesterday. ❤️
The “Bunnings” of toy stores! I wonder if Bunnings will implode as well?
Absolutely love you and your show. Thanks for the entertainment Minty.
Thank you Minty for this episode. I have been to the TRU in Times Square, NYC many times as a tourist whenever I visit New York. I was sad to see it closed down. It is now a GAP clothing store.
Nice one, Minty.
Living in NYC, I've been to the store located in Times Square a couple of times. You're right.... a HUGE tourist hot-spot. Too much so. Horrendously crowded, barely able to walk through there. It just didn't feel like a typical Toys-R-Us. I used to love going there as a child. Always exciting. (Obviously I don't mean to the one in Times Square.) BTW, Sylvia Brown was exposed as a fraud many, many years ago.
Great video Minty, brought back some good memories. I live in Canada and we were very fortunate our toys r us stores remain open to this day. I love bringing my kids to the store and watching them go into toy overload.
My favorite Toy Store when I was a child.
You should have a section talking about that Toys R Us still lives on, in nearly it's original format in Canada. Canadian operations were not directly impacted by folding of the rest of the business.
I worked there for nearly four years during college. I made some good friends and had some fun times. Thankfully I never had to wear the Geoffrey outfit--it looked like it had seen much days.
As a Canadian, I don't know what losing Toys R Us is like. TRU's in Canada never closed down. In fact, I was just at my local store 2 weeks ago. It was magical.
Damn, this video hit me in the feels. As a 40yo I grew up with this store. It saddens me that my youngest child was born the same year they closed down and didn’t get to experience it.
I'm also 40 and have many fond memories of going to Toys R Us and being overwhelmed with delight. The theme song is also nostalgic 👍
43.....
well now they can with the american dream mall location
I like that you expand your content by doing stories about other pop culture icons like Blockbuster & Toys 'R Us. You should do videos about the history of famous Film Studios like Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, etc.
I went to one of their stores their last day, you would have thought everything would have been 90% off, it was still all only 50% off. I was pissed.
Thanks Minty for a nice reminiscent look at TrU! I forgot all about W4K too! "Don't ever grow up. Play on" - words to live by!
Can you please do a video on the movie "Virus" pwease?
Agreed
I remember my first time going to a Toys R Us. I was about six years old. It was a new store just opening in Dallas, TX. People were lined up outside and I remember the line was so big, it stretched from the front door to around and past the edge of the building. I remember waiting an hour just to get in. Parents bought me a Speak & Read. Then later exchanged it for a Speak & Math :)
Epic! My favorite place to visit for toys. My childhood! Thanks for doing a video on this. Now I know some facts on my favorite store as part of my childhood.
Toys R Us Frankston, went there heaps of times. Damn, I miss those days. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!
Toy World next, the Australian version.
Great documentary. I was a manager for TRU 95-98. Great memories. Spot on facts.
It was miles from my home as a kid, we went once a year as if i was going on a pilgrimage lol
I absolutely adored TRU. I got a job there for a brief period, and that sucked. The pay was atrocious and the workload was insurmountable. However that hasn't ruined my beloved childhood memories of the place. God, I miss it. You've really done this very special place a wonderful job, Minty.
Luckily for us up here in Canada, we never lost our Toys R Us stores, which was great news when they were closing down in the States.
I remember “Kids R Us.” Which was a clothing store for kids. Was there ever a Kids R Us in Canada?
It was a rare occasion to visit Toys R Us because it was an hour away. I remember the shelves being so tall, the ceiling was hard to see. It was where I got the original Nintendo NES for my tenth birthday. I also remember seeing the "six shooter" light zapper for the NES.
Am I the only one who this the r in lassrus should of been put the wrong way round??
Awesome video! Always shopped there, was a great experience each time! I miss the Xmas commercials, 'Toys in their millions, All under one roof'. I still have my first Action Man, purchased at a TRU, the box is long gone and his toes are chewed but I still have all his acessories! Aww Play On' Indeed!
What do you mean 10 things you didn't know, the only 1 thing I need to know is why they are no longer around!? 😠 🤬 😡 😤
Wonderful video, Minty. I grew up in a rural area where we didn't have a Toys R' Us. However I loved the commercials & had the theme song memorized.
Third!
😊
Get a hobby.
@@jimmymelendez1836 how old are you?
Every decade has its ups and downs, but I feel that a great year for kids was definitely the 80s.
First
Congrats. Who is playing you in the movie about accomplishing such a massive feat?
@@thehashtagtrashbag Bono, who else? 👍
Your voice is in no way annoying, Minty, and your videos are always just an absolute joy to watch. Good man!
Toys r us in Canada never closed up. There is one nearby where we get all our baby supplies! Plus for some reasons, they offer discount for military personel. Love that store
Toys R US was the best in the 70s/80s I also remember Jafco which became BEST
Kiddie City, Toys R Us and Kay Bee toy stores were so awesome! Going to Sears, K-Mart, Woolworth and Caldoor was always fun. To have stores dedicated to only toys was super cool. >_
One of your best, Minty. Really enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Thanks, man.
Wow Minty, you managed to get me a lil choked up on this one lol as always, great job. Thank you!
Star Wars Action Figures, ERTL Thomas Trains and Thomas videos are what I always got at Toys ‘R’ Us. There’s one trip I’ll always remember that makes me nostalgic.
Thank you, Minty! This video brought back a lot of memories for me. I remembered some of the commercials and the story about the haunted ToysRUs store as I used to watch that show about ghosts! As a kid, I always wanted one of those huge Lego castles. They were $200, but I never did get one.
42 years of age here. As a Kid my parents bought for me at Toys R Us: Transformers, Voltron, GI Joe, Wacky Wild Slip N Slide (the roll out slide with a mini dunk pool at the end), TMNT, the Thundercats sword, Spy Gear, Game Boy, Nintendo, Hot Wheels, toy guns, mini trampoline, basketballs, and a lot more. My family is middle class so I had a great childhood and I've always been grateful.
I remember going to Toys “R” US when I was a kid man so many toys it was Heaven for me. I had never seen so many action figures in one place. But in my teen year I went there for the video games. It sucked seeing Toys “R” US go out of business it truly was an end of era. But now it looks like it’s try’s to make a comeback.
I remember living in Alaska and watching the local Toy R Us go out of business. It was extremely sad because I bought a lot of stuff from there. Thats why when I moved to Japan I was struck to see that it still exists here. Granted I have to drive almost an hour out but its still great to shop there again.
Minty! You had me at "The haunted Toys R us",,,,,,,,man o' man............I think we are the same age! Keep it going bro. RIP Robert Stack!!!!!!!!!!
FYI: The company that bought the IP's for TRU out of bankruptcy has tried resurrecting the brand several times now. Unfortunately their timing was horrible the first time as they opened new stores in Paramus, NJ and Houston, TX just before the pandemic hit full swing. Unfortunately those stores closed during the lockdowns.
Their latest attempt saw them opening up another new store in the American Dream mall in NJ, which is struggling to keep itself afloat financially.
I understand that whoever bought the IP's want to see a return on their investment but starting big is definitely not the answer. Unfortunately that's the answer they have come up with.
By the way, the Toys R Us brand is not completely gone from North America. However if you want to go to a TRU store now you'll need a passport to visit America's neighbor to the north (Thanks GWB) to go to one as they're still alive in Canada. Canadian TH-cam star Laura Legends does semi frequent videos of her shopping trips there.