MOVING

We have moved to a new web address in cyberspace.
Follow us at toysforthefunofit.com
We also have a Facebook page so you can be a fan and keep up with the latest toy store news.
See you there!

Sunday Hours

For all you spring-breakers and Easter bunnies, we are now open Sundays from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. starting this week - March 21st.

It can get a little lonely the first few Sundays, but for those who are brunching downtown, we will soon be the weekly post food destination. One new reason to come down on Sunday morning is the "Dream Cafe" that just opened where the Crystal Cafe used to be. I love what they've done to the place; it feels new and exciting with great light and a retro/modern atmosphere... definitely worth a try.

New Puppets from Folkmanis

Some of the exciting, new puppets from Folkmanis have hit the racks here at Toys for the Fun of It. I have already re-ordered some of them. It's great to see puppets flying out of here because they are such creative toys. I love watching kids (and adults) bring them to life in the store. Folkmanis is still a relatively small, family run business based in California. I have tried adding other puppets now and again, but they just can't touch the quality and originality of Folkmanis. Their wide selection makes it impossible for us to ever have them all at once, but I order frequently, and I'm always happy to let customers peruse the catalog and make special orders. With spring break coming up next week, be sure to stop by your favorite toy store and pick up something to play with. We have travel toys if you are going away; and we have indoor projects (science, crafts & games) if the weather doesn't cooperate. In case of beautiful spring weather, we can keep you "hoppy" or "hoopy" with pogo sticks, hop balls, and hula hoops :) Come downtown and have some FUN!

Cool New Playmobil in Stock

This might be the earliest arrival ever for new Playmobil in our store. There are new knights, ghost pirates, and under the sea fantasy sets. As always, to make room for the new, some old items have been discontinued. The most noticeable of these is the whole circus theme...gone! We do have a few of these left and will give you a 25% discount on any of them when you tell us you saw it on my blog. Go ahead and make a liar out of me because I'm always saying NOBODY reads my blog, not even my family or my employees. Now is the time to add to your Playmobil collection. See you soon!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is not a huge deal for us at the toy store, but it is a good excuse to come down and get a little something fun for those you love. This week we are getting huge shipments in so the store is looking full again and you might find something new. Our family tradition, when the kids were young, was to have a few little fun things to give (wind ups, fun capsules, die cast cars) and fix a meal together with a special dessert. We would also be excessively polite to each other and give outrageous complements. It was a special evening of being together. Mike & I would have our "adult" valentine's on another night when the restaurants weren't so busy. I think maybe the point is to take time to really be with the ones you love and show affection. It helps brighten the dark of deep winter, and we all need that.

Re-arrange-arama

We have done some major re-arranging in the store. Since we had to move everything a couple of times to have the carpets cleaned, we decided to take the moving business to the next level. Now we have to think about where things are when we are restocking and helping customers. People seem to be liking it and now that we are getting shipments in, things will probably move again when they don't fit where we put them. Stop in and put us to the test.

The Cure for Cabin Fever

As the season of the eternal night continues and the weather really isn't cooperating, it's time to get out of the house and spend time downtown. As you probably know, the construction has started down at the first three blocks. The area is cordoned off and there are a few pieces of large equipment at work. This is live entertainment if you have young children. Stop by to watch the backhoe, then walk down the street have lunch and stop in at the toy store to get warm and see what's new. Games, puzzles and crafts will keep you busy having fun on a long cold winter night. We are starting to see shipments arrive to fill in the blanks after the holiday season. We will be ordering toys for the next several weeks, including new toys as they come out. First order to hit the shelves here was Klutz books, including a few new ones. Main Street is still very user friendly in spite of the construction- check it out.

The Party's Over - Happy New Year

I think everyone is glad to have a new year. Last year was full of challenges, highs and lows for us and I know we are not alone. The post holiday slump has hit early and we are busy cleaning, re-arranging and doing inventories so we can fill in the holes. The downtown "uplift" has started and things are happening from the convention center to wells fargo bank. Come down and check it out. Kids love to watch destruction/construction and there will be plenty. Do support downtown as we make it a nicer place to shop, dine and play... see you soon.

Holiday Hours

We survived Christmas once again. I hope yours was merry and made better, in part, with toys purchased from us and given with love. We will be keeping short hours on New Years Eve - 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and we will be closed on New Years Day. We will be closed Sundays until sometime in the spring.

Top Toy Countdown

Everyone has their list of top toys, award-winners and so on. So it is with my 15 years of experience that I hereby proclaim the top toys at Toys for the Fun of It. As with all statistics, the results will be skewed in favor of what we have in stock this late in the game :)

1) BANANAGRAMS the fun, compact word game





2) DOINKIT DARTS the best magnetic, non lethal dart set for all ages





3) RODY HORSE this fun inflatable holds up to 300 lbs !






4) POWER POPPER rapid-fire fun for everyone










5) WEDGITS unique building blocks for ages 1 to 101

Extended Hours

In case you still need to do some shopping, we have extended hours to help:

Monday through Friday 10 am until 8 pm
Saturday 10 am until 7 pm
Sunday 10 am until 4 pm

Traffic during the evening hours tends to be light, but our customers are grateful and you will get more personal attention than during the peak of crazy times. See you soon!

Fantabulus Funtastic Friday Nights

The stores in the 500 block of Main Street have gotten together to host Friday night events in December. Most of the stores will be open until 9 p.m. so you can come down and get your shopping done and have dinner downtown. Enjoy the holiday atmosphere: the festive lights and holiday windows, along with special activities in the stores. Santa will be making appearances in the 500 block and at the 560 Salon on the corner of 6th & Colorado. Stop in at Kairos Children's Boutique and let the kids make an elf hat. Enjoy games and free food courtesy of Chris Brown at Brown's Cycles. Say "Hi" to Scott & Melinda at Amber Floral and treat yourself to a seated massage with massage therapist Catie Bucher from 5;30 - 7:30. Bring the kids down to enjoy the fun or drop them off at Creative Avenues on 5th Street, just around the corner from us and enjoy an adult evening from 6-9:30. Pre-registration is required for this. (use the linktastic link above). Wow, so, what's happening at the Toy Store? We'll have a Calico Critter craft and stickers to give away. Along with that is a free 2010 critter calendar with Critter purchase and a special Critter deal for mentioning the blog. Spend $200 in the store (must include calico critters) and get a Critters play table for $50 (retail $140). We will have our campfire set up outside to keep people warm while waiting for the free carraige rides. Warm drinks and treats will be offered at several locations. Bundle up and come downtown.

Made in USA

Just in: Imagibricks from Smart Monkey Toys. These are the heavy duty cardboard blocks that are large scale and will stand up to the toughest little customer. I remember them from the play room at church when I was a kid. We sold these a few years ago, but lost track of them when our supplier quit carrying them. The cardboard is coated for easy cleaning and the blocks are strong enough to stand on. They come flat and you have to fold them into blocks before you can play with them. They are made in the USA and are made of 50% recycled materials. What's not to love?
There aren't a lot of toys still made here in the US, but we carry those we can find that are a "fit" in our store.

Do-a-Dot paints and coloring books
Harrisville Designs potholder looms & loops
Green Toys tea sets, tool sets and sand toys
Taggies natural baby blankies
Fractiles magnetic design sets
Tedco gyroscopes
...& more

Big Weekend Ahead

Downtown will be full of excitement this weekend. Friday night is the Spirit of Christmas and First Friday Art event. Live entertainment, free carriage rides and a variety of special in-store activities are planned. Come down and have dinner, then stroll along beautifully decorated Main Street. Most of the stores should be open so you can do more than just "window" shop. We're open til 9.
Bring the kids down and let them make their Santa List and make crayon rubbings in our store, or drop them off at Creative Avenues and have a night to yourselves. (pre-registration is required; see link above).
Saturday, the 26th annual parade of lights kicks off at 5 p.m. If you are new to the area, this is the must-see event of the year. Bundle up and come on down.
JUST IN...NEW CALICO CRITTERS! We just received our "Sneak Peak" shipment of Calico Critters including the undeniably cute hedgehog and elephant families and the tree house complete with hot tub and all new country furnishings. There is also a new website devoted to the critters. It has games, crafts and you-tube videos for the kids. It seems to be geared to the pre-school crowd even though many critter lovers are older. Check it out if you like calico critters. See you downtown!

Thanks "GIVING"

This year we are doing our best to make sure every child in the grand valley has a happy Christmas experience. We've been saving toys all year to donate to Toys for Tots and last week we helped them kick off the season of giving by donating nearly $4000 worth of toys. Our challenge now is to our customers. We have a big donation box in the front of our store and this year the need is almost double that of last year. Please come down and fill up our box (over & over). This is the season of giving. A great way to help your children experience giving, would be to bring them down to the toy store and have them pick out a toy they like to give to another child "just like them". Let them learn about giving and put the toy in the box. Older children might be encouraged to "earn" the toy to be given, by doing chores. Generosity, I think, is more of a "learned" behavior. By starting them young and setting a good example, you can raise the next generation of generous people.

When my son David was little, I'd take him along to deliver meals-on-wheels. The recipients were always glad to see him; he was the highlight of their day. One year, we were in Texas and he helped my sister deliver food to homeless people and when we got back home there was a package for David in the mail. One of the homeless guys had given my sister a big plastic car to give to David as a thank you. It probably came out of a dumpster or the Goodwill, but it meant a lot to Dave and I think we still have it somewhere as a reminder that both the giver and the receiver profit from the experience. Warm fuzzys all around!

Classics are Forever

Classic toys have always been best sellers for us. Why? Because they withstand the test of time. Basic construction toys from wooden blocks to lincoln logs to erector sets should be in everyone's toy box. We carry other classic items; tin toys, jack in the box, sock monkeys and always Raggedy Ann & Andy. These are not antiques, they are newly made and pass all the current safety regulations. Remember lead (or tin) soldiers? They are not considered safe toys for this generation, but we carry the "Papo" line of knights, pirates, and fantasy figurines. They are very detailed, hand painted plastic figures that the kids love to collect.
Classic toys require more imagination to play with; something that we at Toys for the Fun of It encourage. The more "open - ended" a toy is, the more play value it has. In the "active" category we have classic tricycles, pogo sticks and hop balls. When it comes down to good old fashion fun; we're here for you.
Now is the time to bring the kids down to make their wish lists. The turkey is thawing and Christmas is right around the corner.

BIG KID TOYS

Don't think that just because you're older than dirt, that you are too old for toys. Here at Toys for the Fun of It we will admit that one does have to grow older... but growing up is optional. Some of our best selling toys have no age limit. We have a fully stocked section for adult games, puzzles and brainteasers. And what big kid doesn't need an inflatable fruit cake or a Sigmund Freud action figure under the tree. Skill toys are also popular with the young at heart. We can teach you to juggle or do amazing yo yo tricks and our most popular book from Klutz Press is "The Encyclopedia of Immaturity". It was so popular last year that they came out with volume 2 for this holiday season. Let's make some big kids smile :)

Thanksgiving comes before Christmas

.... and we have our inflatable turkey in the window to prove it! I can also promise that we won't play Christmas music in the store until AFTER Thanksgiving.
With that said, there is no reason not to start shopping early. Every year there are items that we run out of and/or can't get back in stock before Christmas. This year is no exception. Because of both the slower economy and the new toy testing laws, we've seen both price increases and product "trickling in" as available. In the coming weeks, I will highlight some of our best sellers, classics and what's new. We want to see each and every customer this season so that on Christmas morning I will know there are thousands of happy kids (of all ages) because we could help you pick the perfect gift for everyone on your giving list.

Do Boys Ever Outgrow Marble Runs?

We have a pretty good supply of Marble Runs in stock for all the guys on your list. I shouldn't be sexist because I remember loving to send marbles down when I was a little girl and I think I might have really enjoyed playing with them again when my boys were young. The cool part about today's marble runs is that you can build them many different ways. They combine engineering with gravity to equal fun. From simple to complex, in price ranges from $20 to $99, we have a marble run for you.

What's New

bilibo




The bilibo is a unique, open-ended toy invented by Swiss designer, Alex Hochstrasser. It immediately won local awards and it's popularity is still expanding. It holds a Dr Toy award here in the States from back in 2002. I hope I am not ahead of the curve introducing this cool toy to my Grand Junction customers. Kids seem to instinctively know what to do with it, but parents often give me the "whaah???" look. Click on the video link above and maybe it will become clear why everyone should have at least one of these.