Walking the Toy Aisles/Toys R Us Rumors

Toys R Us is rumored to be closing all their US-based toy stores following their financial struggles that left the company in debt for $5.2 billion dollars, stemming from an untimely leveraged buyout in 2005, right before the US’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. After a slow holiday season in 2017 and mounting debt, Toys R Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September of 2017. Early into the new year, they announced that they’d be closing hundreds of under performing stores, most of which were Babies R Us, in my area, at least. With insiders saying, “Hopes are fading that a buyer will emerge to keep some of the business operating, or that lenders will agree on terms of a debt restructuring”, it looks like the rumors will most likely become reality. Stores in the UK market have already gone into something called “insolvency administration”, which sounds a lot like a company wide liquidation to me, and seems to be a grim premonition of what we’ll shortly be seeing here in the United States. The final court case is Thursday, so we’ll see what happens…

If (when) Toys R Us announces a company wide liquidation, it will literally be the end of an era. There are no other big box toy stores. There are ‘mom and pop’ toy stores, sure, but Toys R Us is the only large chain toy store. Stores like Walmart and Target sell toys, but don’t have the selection you can find at a well stocked Toys R Us. There’s a variety to Toys R Us that I fear won’t be available in any brick and mortar stores, if (when) they shutter the doors for the last time.

I feel sorry for the generation of children who won’t be able to walk into a Toys R Us, gift card in hand, and have such a huge variety of toys on the shelves, just waiting to be taken home and played with. Seeing a toy in person is such a better gauge of quality than just seeing it on Amazon and hoping the promo photos and reviews are accurate. Yes, children nowadays are drawn to digital entertainment, but there will be a time where traditional play comes back in style. Without a Toys R Us to shop at, with such variety, half the fun of toy shopping will be gone.

My mom and I went to our local Toys R Us Sunday to look around. It’s not on the closing list, as of right now. Even so, it was kind of sad looking. The shelves were not getting stocked. There were huge gaps on shelves with brands that usually are well stocked all the time. There was even an empty display with literally nothing on it. Interestingly, it was the busiest we’ve seen Toys R Us to be in a while. There were so many families in the store shopping, even a birthday girl wandering around. The line of customers waiting to check out was long, winding back to at least three or four aisles into the store. It was quite surprisingly to see such a crowd. It made me wonder if people with gift cards or membership rewards were using them ‘just in case’ the stores closed this week, leaving gift cards and membership rewards useless.

I’ll miss Toys R Us a lot if (when) it goes into liquidation. True, the prices were always a little bit higher than other stores and they refuse to go down on prices until years past a products popularity, but they are the only big box toy store around and one of the few fun stores to wander around.

So, after that long winded lead in, here’s Walking the Toy Aisle! There, honestly, weren’t a lot of dolls on the shelves at any of our usual haunts. Coupled with the disappointing showing of dolls at New York Toy Fair, I don’t think we’ll have a doll filled 2018, unfortunately.

I’m not a fan of the new “Barbie and the Rockers”, but these are kind of cute. The idea of having a Kelly/Tommy sized piano is tempting.

Our stores pretty much stopped stocking Monster High, except for a lone few dolls. Frankie’s little sister is one of them they did decide to stock. Of all the new siblings Mattel has released, Frankie’s is probably the cutest. The un-articulated body is sad, but the face on Frankie’s kid sister is cute!

I thought these superhero mini figures were kind of fun. They’d definitely fit in with any of the Little Kingdom figures you may have gathered over the years.

We found this Elizabeth Taylor doll at the Mattel outlet. They did a great job on her, I think! She looks a lot like I’d expect Elizabeth Taylor to look.

Also seen at the Mattel outlet, this is a super cute retro Barbie! I love the pig tails!

There were a lot of the larger Ever After High sets at the Mattel outlet– should have been the first sign that Mattel was losing interest in the line. At Toys R Us, the line was on clearance. Some stores have stopped stocking it all together.

I don’t know what to think about these mini Shibajuku Girls, the Shiba-Cuties. I think I prefer the normal sized dolls. These are nice, but their faces are a little weird.

I like the vibe of Tokidoki, though I don’t own much (if any) merchandise from them. Donutella and Chocotella are adorable! Barbee0913 is a fan. I may have to pick them up and save them for Christmas.

Flipkins are the smaller friends of Flip Zee Girls. Surprisingly, the Flip Zee Girls review on my channel did really well. If you missed it, click here!

Barbie’s had some out there looks lately– Camping Fun Barbie is cute! Her face, her outfit– I like it!

I also like that Mattel is releasing furniture and outfits. The furniture is great, because you could use it in any doll house, not just the Dreamhouse. And the clothing? I love it! The Saturday morning cartoon fan in me is happy with the Carebears and Sanrio themed outfits!

I don’t collect Shopkins, but these new Wild Style animals are fun. They’d make good birthday presents, I think!

My mom and I had to pick up a Molang surprise toy– and it was so much fun. As you push each layer (like a Push Pop), a new toy is unveiled. The toys are small, but cute.

I found the My Little Pony movie to be good, but not great. The toys are adorable, though! I ran out of room for most of my ponies, but I definitely will be adding a Sea Pony to my collection eventually!

Christmas must be over– Fingerlings are back. And they have the Sloth (now sold everywhere, not just Walmart). Apparently, the sloth moves slower than the regular monkey.

Hello 1980’s! Colorforms are back– for a limited time.

There were so few dolls at Toys R Us that this was my favorite thing from this particular visit. The cover felt so nice and, really, you can’t go wrong with a Pokeball on the cover of your trading card binder. My idea is to use this to hold art cards, since I’ve run out of wall space! (Hopefully, Toys R Us still has this, since I haven’t bought it yet.)

Were I shopping for a baby shower gift, these would be in my cart! I love these teethers!

It’s a cat in a banana. I have no idea why the cat lives in the banana, but how cute is Bananya?! On a side note, it’s really weird seeing all these anime inspired products at Toys R Us! (Even weirder seeing them at Barnes and Noble!)