We're open again!
We're back from vacation and open for business! It was so great to see family and explore a bunch of new states, but we're excited to be back at the store. We've got a TON of orders to make, but in the meantime, here's what's new...
Wooden weapons are back! We've got swords, shields, battle axes, and a couple of tridents. We're also showcasing our rubber band guns in the Playcade. Customers can test their shooting accuracy on our spinner target.
A very ferocious picture of me and a pic of the rubber band gun station
Our yarn section has been replenished! We also started carrying a few books on knitting. Sage just finished up beginner's knitting classes, and we'll find out soon if/when she's doing an intermediate class.
We have both acrylic and a wool/acrylic hybrid
We now carry a few anime figures. Right now we have Dragon Ball Super and Naruto action figures, and My Hero Academia figurine blind bags. We'll also be re-upping on Pokemon cards in March once the new sets drop.
We got some more Fanny Packs and we got some new Cat Purses.
Cute.
We now carry some very very very cute collectable figurine blind boxes. I love these things. It's been hard not buying them all for myself, but lucky for me my Mom bought a Sueno, Haki & Bobi, Heathrow, and Bebe Bird; so I got to enjoy them vicariously through her.
Sueno, Haki & Bobi, Bebe Bird, and Heathrow Hedgehog
We had Freeway on the arcade machine since November. I was going for the world record and I'm super stoked to say that I got it! I still gotta film it to make it official. Since I finally crossed off that personal goal we finally switched over the game to Fishing Derby. Players compete to catch as many fish as possible, but watch out for the hungry shark!
You can play against the computer or a friend
I rearranged the store once again. STEM, 3D puzzles, collectables figures, and visual psychedelic stuff are on the upper level. Baby and Preschool toys are on the lower level. We're going to add a couple of shelves and expand the Preschool and building toy sections soon.
I finished redoing our website. What an ordeal! There's now a whole mess of information on what we sell, store events, and a bunch of other stuff; so please check it out if you haven't.
Now that our vacation is behind us, we've been ordering a TON of new stuff. I just got an email saying our Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty order just shipped. Stay tuned!
~David
Closed Feb 6th to Feb 16th
February is the slowest month of the year, and we need a vacation!
Funky Planet will be closed from February 6th to February 16th. We'll reopen Friday February 17th.
Happy New Year!
It's 2023! Big thanks to all of our customers this holiday season! There were a lot of great record-breaking days these past two months. I'm very thrilled to say that we met our (modest) financial goals for the year, so, we'll be able to stick around for a while. 😀
We have a lot of things backordered, and a few new companies on the horizon, but I'll wait to post about them next month. In the meantime, we're having some extensive sales.
The main thing I'm working on this month is getting this website updated. It is woefully outdated! Its basic structure reflects when we first opened, and so much has changed since then. I can read HTML, but I can't really write it, so progress is slower than it could be. I did manage to add a snazzy drop down menu at the top of our website*. Within it you can find detailed info on the store and different events we're doing.
*Only computer users can see the menu bar. But mobile users have their own menus.
Speaking of events, we're planning on taking Funky Planet mobile in the form of showing up at random festivals throughout the East Metro. It's something we'd wanted to do last year, but Sage was pregnant and newborn babies are kind of demanding. Later in the year I want to get an Events Calendar up and running on this website to show where we'll be. In the meantime though, it's a blank page. 😶
Sage is starting Beginner Knitting Classes soon (the 11th and 14th). They'll be on Wednesday and Saturday nights. Call or text the store, or stop in and talk to Sage if you're interested. Also, Crafters Community Nights is still being held at the store on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month at 6pm. You don't need an appointment, you can just show up!
Lastly, we will be closed February 6th through February 16th. February was crazy slow last year, and we need a vacation.
That's all I can think to post right now. I'm gonna keep working on this website.
~David
What's New in December 2022?
Small Business Saturday was our biggest day yet! Big thanks to everyone for shopping with us.
We now carry Swivel Snaps creativity kits. As the name suggests, you swivel and snap the pieces together to make big clunky creations. The pieces are super solid. We'll be featuring them in one of the Playcades for the rest of December (or until they sell out).
Swivel Snaps are in the yellow Playcade
We also now carry Airforts. They're made out of a super light-weight material that easily velcros to a box fan. When you turn on the fan the fort inflates, and then you can climb inside! We don't have the space to have one always inflated, but we have a deflated one on display that can be blown up on demand.
We have two styles: Cabin Playhouse and Cottage Playhouse
On the lower level we have Bounce-A-Marble on display. Unlike most marble runs, this set doesn't pose a choking hazard to kids under 3. It's also super solid, so parents (and toy store owners) don't have to put it back together whenever it gets knocked over.
A very colorful photo.
Sage and I have owned a copy of Bounce Party for a year now, and now we have them for sale in the store. It's a super fun dexterity game where you race to bounce balls into a grid in the shape denoted by the card. It's on display in the tabletop/board game section this month.
A copy will cost you a whopping $9.95.
Premise: You're a chicken who has to cross a 10-lane highway
Today is the third and final 'First Fridays' of 2022. We'll be raffling off a couple of toys, and select items will be on sale. We'll also be open until 9pm. As always, participants receive a passport and collect stamps from the businesses they visit. If you get 10 stamps, you receive a $10 gift certificate from the business of your choosing!
It's a lot of fun.
Here's two photos I meant to post last month. Our newly expanded Toy Tower and our Kiddie Ride.
'57 Chevrolet Bel Air Kiddie Ride and 47 compartments filled with Stocking Stuffers
Lastly, here are our Holiday Hours...
- Christmas Eve: 10am to 4pm
- Christmas Day: Closed
- New Years Eve: 10am to 4pm
- New Years Day: Closed
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and thank your for your support!
~David
What's New in November 2022?
Oh man, way too much is new. We've been getting tons of shipments this past month, and we're just gonna keep on getting more. We had to rearrange the store to make room for another book display and another toy tower.
I took a bunch of updated pictures of the store, so for this month, I'm just posting those. Please stay tuned on our Facebook/Instagram for more day-to-day updates, and I hope to see you all during Black Friday and Alton's Small Business Saturday!
Goofy Novelties, Plastica Animals, Toddler Playsets, and Wooden Food
Wooden Puzzles, Wooden Train Sets, and Toddler Building Sets (Our Pranks are in the background)
Vehicle Rollmatz, Baby Toys, and one of the Book Racks.
A huge mess of plastic figurines (with special guest Gumby). Hot Wheels sized cars in the background.
Squishee Animals and Beany Animals including Cats vs. Pickles, Dogs vs. Squirls, and Sock Monkey
One of our book racks and our 1000 piece Puzzle Displays
Wooden Rubberband Guns, and a whole mess of Fidgets & Sensory Toys
Stickers, Kawaii Figurines, Stickers, Smencils, Stickers, and Stickers
The Keychain Rack, Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty, Kinetic Dough, and some Diecast Vehicles
All kinds of vehicles! You can kind of see our Placemats rack in the background left
Outdoor games, Board Games, and Tabletop Games
More Tabletop Games and Outdoor Toys.
Kids puzzles and 2000 piece puzzles. Wooden Puzzles and Speed Cubes are in the background
Some arts & crafts, Tutti Frutti modeling dough, and our yarn selection
A mix of arts & crafts and henna, and charm bracelets. Blue Q bags are in the foreground
A bunch of plush toys
More plush toys. Sticker activity books are in the background right.
The aforementioned Sticker Activity Books. Also pictured are Blo-Pens and Colorforms.
Some random crafty activities and the ever-popular Plush Crush displays
Lava Lamps, Kaleidoscope Glasses, Color Timers, Ooze Tubes, and Terrariums
Old School Stuff! Spud Guns, Stretch Armstrong, Wooly Willy, Yo-Yos, Paddleballs, etc.
I still gotta add pictures of the Toy Towers, the front display case, the Bel Air Kiddie Ride, the Playcade, our new Air Forts, and the lower display. But for now, I'm posting this.
~David
What's New in October 2022?
I'm a little late posting this month, and that's because we've been stocking up for the holidays. Here's a small bit of what's new...
We re-upped on Mad Mattr, the world's most satisfying kinetic dough! Last time they were out of the big bags, so we got the pods. This time they were out of the pods, so we got the big bags. They released a couple of groovy new "Jewel Tone" colors. Also in compounds news, we got a bunch of the new Crazy Aaron's thinking putties (but I forgot to take a picture).
Miracle Snow, Water Marbles, Drizzl, Mad Mattr, and Slimy Gloop
We got some new toys for toddlers. Pictured here we have the ever-popular Bumpie Ball, a fun magnetic wooden fishing set, some very cool wooden stacking robots, and a deluxe stick-on-the-bathtub-wall waterwheel set.
Bumpie Ball, Fishing Set, Stacking Robots, Water Works
We also got a whole mess of wooden puzzles for younger kids...
We have just about every size you could want now
We have a whole bunch of new random mini stuff for older kids and adults. Highlights include a tiny working record player, a wacky inflatable arm-flailing tube man, lucky cats, a whole mess of very cute dog and cat figurines, and some licensed stuff like Pusheen, Gudatama, Aggretsuko, Fortenite, Bob's Burgers, Harry Potter, and Sesame Street.
Dig that spinning rack
Our 1000pc Puzzles
- It's gluten free (unlike Play-Doh or Crayola Modeling Dough)
- It's scented
- It's made in Canada
- It's super affordable
- They have pretty much any set you can think of
We've got Dinosaurs, Outer Space, Ice Cream, Rainbows & Unicorns, Burgers, Hot Rods, Cupcakes, and Popsicles
We've got some new Sticko stickers. They're very tiny, and very cute.
Jungle Animals, Cats, Llamas, Dogs, Unicorns, Pandas, and Dinosaurs
Four awesome games
I play piano myself, so I'm extremely picky when it comes to toy keyboards. So many keyboards are out-of-tune, or you can play only 1 key at a time, or there's no customizability. The Powerstar Keytar, on the other hand, is awesome. 4 different sounds, polyphony, and in-tune. Best of all it has a vibrato button, so you can play super funky licks.
So cool.
There's a bunch of other new stuff I didn't take pictures of; like new board games, a sumi calligraphy set, a potato gun, super cute pencil sharpeners, a ton of keychains, kids cameras, miniature babies, and rubber ducks. We also still have a bunch of shipments on their way, and a bunch of orders to place, so stay tuned!
~David
What's New in September 2022?
We have a lot of new stuff, and there's no way I can cover it all. Here are four things...
When we started this business, we didn't know how hard it would be to find an affordable doll company. And trust us, we gave it the college try. We looked through well over 300 catalogs this past year. All we ever found were very boutique-y (expensive) dolls, or dolls similar to American Girl (or Target's knock-off 'My Generation' line). Either way, not what we're about.
Well, we finally found a supplier! We now carry Steffi Love and Evi Love. To start off we just got the 'Pet Friends' editions, because everyone loves pets. If you own any Barbie or Kelly vehicles/houses/accessories, Steffi and Evi are compatible.
Evi Love comes with a pet cat, dog, or rabbit.
When we opened, we had to order A LOT of Douglas plushies to get our swank display shelf. As a result, we'd been coasting on our opening order for the past 13 months. We finally re-upped! In addition to a lot of cute new animals, we finally got some more Sassy Saks.
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Pictured: Douglas Plushies with aforementioned swank display shelf
I've been wanting to order these Mini Winchester Rubber Band Rifles for a long time, but the company had been out of stock due to those pesky material shortages. We finally have them, and they are AWESOME! They're super accurate, great quality, and made in the USA.
Cap guns, rubber band guns, slingshots, and spinner target
Cats vs. Pickles continues to be beloved, and now the company has added Dogs vs. Squirls to the line. Also, both Cats vs. Pickles and Dogs vs. Squirls now come in a 'Chonk' size (they're a little bigger). If you don't know what these are, they're bags that have a mystery beanie plushie in them. It can be a cat/pickle or a dog/squirrel. They're very very cute.
Cats are scared of Pickles, but Pickles just want love <3
In the Playcade this month we have...
- My Soft World Farm playset - Ages 1+, 28 foam pieces, the barn acts as a carrying case
- Daruma Otoshi - Classic Japanese skill toy. Smack the bottom piece, but don't tip Daruma over
- Zoob BuilderZ - Awesome building set using ball joints and swiveling plastic pieces
- PicassoTiles Magnetic Tiles - Build structures with magnets. Some sets are LEGO compatible.
In the games area we have...
- Klask 2-Player & 4-Player - Score goals while dodging the evil marshmallows
- Super Mario Fire Stadium - Hit the spinner targets to defeat Bowser in this 1-on-1 pinball game
- Super Stadium Baseball - Two-player mechanical baseball game. One of my favorites.
- Robot Hammer Battle - Another one of my favorites. Knock your opponent's block off.
On the large display we have...
- Straw Construction - Build massive complicated structures out of simple components
- The Marble Run - Whenever I remove this from the display, kids get upset. So, it's still up
I ain't gonna take pictures of everything, but we now have Dragon Hand Puppets, Stretch Armstrong, Mini RC Monster Trucks, new Wooden Puzzles, Pokemon Fusion Strike & Chilling Reign cards, a bunch of new Enamel Pins, and bunch of new novelty & fidget toys. You can see those on our social media.
Lastly, Advantage News readers declared us the area's favorite Family Fun Center! We're pretty thrilled. Big thanks to everyone who voted for us. It's very fun having a toy store in Alton.
Aw shucks.
Hope to see y'all soon!
~David