Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Toy Store
I was in the mall tonight and saw that KayBee Toys was having a giant clearance sale. I ducked in and picked up a few interesting bargains - a current rendition of the View-Master, a very handsome African American Skating Ken, and a toy that I would have coveted had I seen it on TV as a kid, "Dungeon of Doom".
Last month KayBee Toys filed for Chapter 11. On the heels of F.A.O. Schwarz filing its second bankruptcy in December, this led me to ponder how this will affect the future of toy retailing. It seems that both stores cited, at one time or another, the inability to successfully compete with discount retailers like Wal Mart, Toys R Us, and Target. Apparently most toy consumers are strict bottom-liners. But anyone who is truly a toy lover can tell you there are limits to what you will find in these megastores. If you expect to find something handmade or special, you have to search elsewhere.
The places that I find unexpected treasures tend not to be actual toy stores. In fact I can think of only two dedicated toy stores in Los Angeles that I can still rely upon to have a good and unusual range of toys. Other places that I shop for toys are independent bookstores, museum stores, stationery stores, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Olvera Street, Wacko, Wound and Wound, Marz, and the Folk Tree. Whenever I travel, I scope out the toy stores first. Unfortunately these days traveling anywhere in the U.S. means you have the same selection of toys and stores to choose from. On a trip to Ireland in the 70's, I was told that toy sales were strictly seasonal and that they were usually sold near Christmas time and only in department stores (that has changed of course with the new global economy).
The only toy stores I can remember going to as a child were in the Farmer's Market. One of them still exists and is run by the same man. Kip's Toyland has changed spaces, but has been in the Farmer's Market since 1945. Steve Lopez of the L.A.Times wrote a nice piece about the store on November 28, 2003. The other store was a doll store, now many decades defunct.
Our family shopped for toys at the local dime store (yes, it was still called that when I was a kid) or at J.J. Newberrys. And I can still spend more than a few minutes pondering the selection of cheap toys in the supermarket rack. For big occasions we would go to a department store. The toy sections were never very large, but the selection was usually of a higher quality and price.
I will miss the local mall toy store. Somehow the gigantic toy warehouse experience has never sparked me the same way a small store has. (Unless of course it is 10 PM on Christmas Eve and you are just there to watch people shop for toys...) Chances of finding something as obscure as "Dungeon of Doom" would depend on how much food and water you could carry on your quest.
Last month KayBee Toys filed for Chapter 11. On the heels of F.A.O. Schwarz filing its second bankruptcy in December, this led me to ponder how this will affect the future of toy retailing. It seems that both stores cited, at one time or another, the inability to successfully compete with discount retailers like Wal Mart, Toys R Us, and Target. Apparently most toy consumers are strict bottom-liners. But anyone who is truly a toy lover can tell you there are limits to what you will find in these megastores. If you expect to find something handmade or special, you have to search elsewhere.
The places that I find unexpected treasures tend not to be actual toy stores. In fact I can think of only two dedicated toy stores in Los Angeles that I can still rely upon to have a good and unusual range of toys. Other places that I shop for toys are independent bookstores, museum stores, stationery stores, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Olvera Street, Wacko, Wound and Wound, Marz, and the Folk Tree. Whenever I travel, I scope out the toy stores first. Unfortunately these days traveling anywhere in the U.S. means you have the same selection of toys and stores to choose from. On a trip to Ireland in the 70's, I was told that toy sales were strictly seasonal and that they were usually sold near Christmas time and only in department stores (that has changed of course with the new global economy).
The only toy stores I can remember going to as a child were in the Farmer's Market. One of them still exists and is run by the same man. Kip's Toyland has changed spaces, but has been in the Farmer's Market since 1945. Steve Lopez of the L.A.Times wrote a nice piece about the store on November 28, 2003. The other store was a doll store, now many decades defunct.
Our family shopped for toys at the local dime store (yes, it was still called that when I was a kid) or at J.J. Newberrys. And I can still spend more than a few minutes pondering the selection of cheap toys in the supermarket rack. For big occasions we would go to a department store. The toy sections were never very large, but the selection was usually of a higher quality and price.
I will miss the local mall toy store. Somehow the gigantic toy warehouse experience has never sparked me the same way a small store has. (Unless of course it is 10 PM on Christmas Eve and you are just there to watch people shop for toys...) Chances of finding something as obscure as "Dungeon of Doom" would depend on how much food and water you could carry on your quest.
Monday, February 23, 2004
Collections Management
Originally, the purpose of this blog was to provide ‘transparency’ into the process of museum making. Process, however, implies progress…forward motion. When you don’t have a site yet and you are still searching for funding, motion is mostly in a lateral direction. Much networking, many nets cast in various directions, but not a lot of forward motion – YET.
But since we have this blog, there should be some value assigned to it, and that should be KEEPING YOU INTERESTED IN US! So from time to time, we will share musings (there’s that root word again – ‘muse’, as in ‘museum’ and ‘amusement’…strangely enough ‘mousa’ the Greek root is a ‘word of unknown origin’) related to all things toy. And when we do have something of significance to report, you will hear about it here!
So, Collections Management – We recently were presented with a cache of vintage Barbie-phenalia. This substantial legacy came in much the same manner as it existed during its ‘play’ lifetime – jumbled up in various boxes and plastic cases with clothes and accessories stored higgledy-piggledy. There were two Barbies – one of ponytail vintage and one of the bubble cut era; a first edition Midge; a now de-flocked headed Ken; a molded hair Ken; a Skipper; an African American Francie; and two Tuttis. Also included in the group: a Twiggy doll.
The condition of these pieces was as one might expect after passing through the hands of three sisters, a cousin, and a child of one of the sisters. But the most disturbing part was the fact that they were all STICKY. This stickiness is due to the fact that the vinyl used to make Barbie has become toxic with age (not unlike some people). It would be ironic that a doll, customarily an object that encourages the nurturing nature of little girls, might be the source of future infertility.
But as I am past the age of worrying about my fertility I bravely proceeded to wash the dolls in the web-recommended manner (mild dishwashing soap followed by powdering in cornstarch) and prepared them for storage. I stopped short of washing hair, de-tangling with fabric softener, and setting said tresses with pencil rollers and boiling water. I will leave that work for our future Collections Manager.
But since we have this blog, there should be some value assigned to it, and that should be KEEPING YOU INTERESTED IN US! So from time to time, we will share musings (there’s that root word again – ‘muse’, as in ‘museum’ and ‘amusement’…strangely enough ‘mousa’ the Greek root is a ‘word of unknown origin’) related to all things toy. And when we do have something of significance to report, you will hear about it here!
So, Collections Management – We recently were presented with a cache of vintage Barbie-phenalia. This substantial legacy came in much the same manner as it existed during its ‘play’ lifetime – jumbled up in various boxes and plastic cases with clothes and accessories stored higgledy-piggledy. There were two Barbies – one of ponytail vintage and one of the bubble cut era; a first edition Midge; a now de-flocked headed Ken; a molded hair Ken; a Skipper; an African American Francie; and two Tuttis. Also included in the group: a Twiggy doll.
The condition of these pieces was as one might expect after passing through the hands of three sisters, a cousin, and a child of one of the sisters. But the most disturbing part was the fact that they were all STICKY. This stickiness is due to the fact that the vinyl used to make Barbie has become toxic with age (not unlike some people). It would be ironic that a doll, customarily an object that encourages the nurturing nature of little girls, might be the source of future infertility.
But as I am past the age of worrying about my fertility I bravely proceeded to wash the dolls in the web-recommended manner (mild dishwashing soap followed by powdering in cornstarch) and prepared them for storage. I stopped short of washing hair, de-tangling with fabric softener, and setting said tresses with pencil rollers and boiling water. I will leave that work for our future Collections Manager.
