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
Funky Planet 1-Year Anniversary Sale!
Our one year anniversary is Saturday 7/22/22. Big thanks to everyone who has supported us thus far.
To celebrate, we put together a massive clearance section. Items are anywhere from 20% off to 50% off. I wish I could post a picture, but since the prices are so ridiculously low, some of the manufacturers might get mad at me. To give you an idea, here are some extremely blurry pictures.
Board games are 20-30% off. All things slime are 30-50% off.
Puzzles are 20% off. Popper fidgets are 30-50% off. Select keychains are 75% off.
Out with the old in with the new! The sooner these toys & gifts sell, the sooner I can place some orders with some of the new companies I found. I'm very excited.
Also, on Saturday we'll be giving out donuts. So be sure to get in on that action.
Hope to see you soon!
~David
What's New in July 2022?
We had our baby on the 28th of June! We named her Clover. Sage will be on maternity leave indefinitely, so you'll all be stuck looking at me when we re-open on July 6th (today).
Store-wise, here's what's new...
We finally have Minecraft stickers! People ask for them frequently, but I'd had trouble finding them in the past. These blind packs each have 3 high quality holographic stickers. We'll also be upping our anime sticker selection soon, but they probably won't arrive until the end of the month.
Very Shiny.
The heavy-duty premium infinity cubes are back in stock. These sold lightning fast in October, and then I had trouble getting them back in stock, so I stocked up this time.
Pictures don't do them justice, but they're awesome
We now stock a bunch of different plastic animal figurines by Wenno. You can buy individual animals from the new endcap display, or you can buy entire sets at an affordable price. Sets include Dinosaurs, Sea Creatures, Farm Animals, Wild Animals, Bugs, and Horses.
Sold in Boxes, Buckets, Tubes, and Individually
We have a new Super Mario-themed battle pinball game out on display. Players shoot their pucks at their respective spinner targets and try to be the first to defeat Bowser. It's a lot of fun.
Mario defeated Bowser in the photo on the right. Better luck next time, Luigi.
Plasma Balls are back in stock. I could have gotten them sooner, but I really wanted a brand that you could plug into the wall. They also take batteries too. Also, big bonus, they're cheaper than the last brand.
Who knew Neon, Xenon, and Helium were so cool looking?
Lastly, we're now closing at 5pm on Saturdays. 5-6pm was pretty boring on Saturdays, and I think we were the only business on the block that was open passed 5. We're still open until 6pm Wednesday-Friday.
Dig that window glare
All right, here's some pics of the baby. I promise I'll only do this once.
~David
What's New in June 2022?
I've been wanting to make this post for a while, but shipping delays on shelf brackets was slowing me down. Now I'm ready!
First off, we now have a dedicated sticker rack! Putting stickers in a gondola was a really shabby use of space. We also added some Puffy Stickers.
Cute.
The former sticker gondola now houses loose stickers, all of our novelty pens, kawaii otaku stuff, and a bunch of odds and ends. We broke our loose stickers up into more categories too.
We now have a bunch of Smencils and Smens too.
We found a cute and affordable animal figurine company several months ago and now we finally have space to order them. So stay tuned. In the meantime, a bunch of Airzooka boxes are in their place.
Gumby and Pokey are here too.
We restocked a lot of our STEM stuff. The new Owl Pellets in particular have been very popular.
Owl Pellets are "Made in America" 😎
We're going to be on FOX 2 St. Louis today as a part of a segment covering some of Alton's downtown businesses! This was either of our's first TV appearance. Sage was a champ, but I was nervous as all get-up.
Exciting Stuff.
Lastly, our baby is due at the end of the month, so at some point we'll be closed for a while. Sage will be out for a while, but I'll try to return as soon as possible. I don't know how long we'll be gone, or if we'll do decreased hours for a bit, or what; but just be aware! I'll be keeping Google Maps and social media up-to-date.
Needless to say, we're both very excited.
~David
What's New in May 2022?
Spring had a couple of false starts, but it looks like the warm weather is finally here!
We had trouble getting Kites in last year, but they're finally in. We've got the classic diamond, the easy-to-fly delta, and some beautiful butterfly kites.
The Two Bros Bows archery sets continue to be beloved gifts. The sets come with a bow, two arrows, and a target. Many people wanted more than two arrows, so we now sell the arrows individually.
We also have some really nice Junior Gardening Sets, and an awesome Nature Adventure Pack that inspires all sorts of ways to have fun outdoors.
On May 14th we'll be taking part in the Alton, IL Pup Crawl (It's a pub crawl with dogs). We'll have a little booth set up outside where we'll be selling gifts for pups and pup lovers.
In the Playcade this month we have...
- Quaggle: The Stragetic Balance Game - An all-wood game that's similar to Jenga and Buildzi, but has players attempting to build a crazy looking structure out of super abstract shapes.
- Playlearn Pipe Construction Sets - Build vehicles, marble runs, and bizarre musical instruments out of the colorful pieces.
- Quercetti Fanta Color - Fit brightly colored pegs into the board to make cute pictures. It's also super portable.
- Brainflakes Engineering Sets - We had this one out in the Playcade when we opened, and since it was so popular, we brought them back out. Snap pieces together to make cool 3D sculptures.
Some other new items we have are Pokemon Cards, Wooden Train Sets, City Playmats, Wooden Engineer Sets, and Lava Lamps. And as always, we're constantly rotating in new Fidgets, Jigsaw Puzzles, and Board Games.
Lastly, Jean Curvey made some very very cute ceramic figures featuring our mascot Catpants! Dig those funky fellas...
All right, I could go on and on, but that's it for now. Keep up with us on Facebook/Instagram or check back here next month.
~David
What's New in March 2022?
The beginning of February was pretty boring. Just about every Wednesday & Thursday we had a snow storm. Luckily, the rest of the month brought a lot of new and exciting things to our store.
First, we now have way more books. The bulk of them are from Usborne, but we also carry a few titles from some independent publishers. We also carry flipbooks.
Second, we have a new kiddy ride! It's a '57 Chevrolet Bel Air. A ride will cost you a quarter.
Third, we upped both our board game and puzzle selection. We gained access to a hobby distributor, so in addition to new board games we'll soon be able to stock Pokemon Cards.
We also got approved to carry two more puzzle brands, including a brand that offers 2000pc jigsaw puzzles.
Fourth, there are new toys on display...
- Playcade #1 has Cube Duel, an awesome solitaire or 2-player puzzle game.
- Playcade #2 has PicassoTiles + Building Bricks, a mix of LEGOs and MagnaTiles.
- Playcade #3 has Quaggle, which is like Jenga's insane cousin.
- Playcade #4 has Roy Toy Log Building Sets, which are like Lincoln Logs, but affordable.
On the tables we have Klask, Crokinole, Penny Hockey, Hammer Fight, and Straw Construction.
The arcade machine once again has RealSports Volleyball, perhaps the best 2-player game of the 8-bit era.
Last, we just placed an order for a whole bunch of art supplies. We're getting things like paint and paint accessories, modeling clay, drawing sets, macramé, fiber arts, and whole bunch of other stuff. We can't carry everything due to being a small store, but if there's a particular art supply that the community wants access to we can carry it. Just let us know!
What's new in January 2022?
Not a whole lot yet, so this will be a short post.
Like many, I was hoping that we were through the worst of the shipping issues and materials shortages, but it's still been very difficult. Quite a few of our favorite companies aren't taking orders until March. In addition, Sage and I will be out of state from the 17th to the 24th, so I had to put ship dates for the end of the month for what purchases we could make.
But, we plan on quadrupling our selection of Usborne books and doubling our board game section. We also hope to greatly expand our arts and crafts section. Ever since Karen's Crafts closed, Alton hasn't had a store dedicated to Arts and Crafts. We're going to try to fill this gap as much as we can.
We do have two new games on display, and they're both really really fun.
The first is Super Stadium Baseball. This extremely detailed game pits two players against each other. The fielding team can arrange each of their fielding players in different configurations. Pitching also has a lot of depth, in the form two levers that enable the player to make a variety of pitches (curve balls, fast balls, slow balls, etc.) For expert play there's also the "Miracle Pitch", where a ramp opens up underneath the batter. All the batter can do against these pitches is quickly decide not to bat and get a "Ball".
The batter has to use quick reflexes to decide if a pitch is hittable or will be a "Ball". They can also choose their batting angle, and if they want to swing righty or lefty. It's been a huge hit with the kids, and during this slower post-holiday season I've had a lot of fun being player two.
That's about it! Keep up with us on Facebook/Instagram or check back here next month. The next couple of months will be exciting ones.
~David
What's New in December 2021?
Black Friday and Small Business Saturday came and went. What crazy days! Thank you so much to everybody from the surrounding communities who did their Christmas shopping with us. I think we'll be able to stick around for a while.
Well, we have A TON of new items. I don't want to take pictures of all of them (all of the new fidgets will probably be gone before the end of the month) but here are a couple of pictures.
We now have Placemats! Styles include US Map, Solar System, Flags, Dogs, and Cats
We also got transformable wacky track fidget spinners. Bend 'em, Stack 'em, Spin 'em
Assemblesaurus Dinosaurs are fun and easy building toys
PicassoTiles Magna Tiles are compatible with Legos, and enable builders to create cool 3D structures
It's a Pop-It, it's a purse, it's a Pop-It purse
A Shiba-Inu dressed as a Reindeer
If dinosaurs aren't your thing, we also have take apart trucks
We also have awesomely accurate rubber band guns made in the USA
In other news, we now have Freeway as our arcade game of the month. So far it's been a hit! The goal is to guide your chicken across a dangerous interstate highway. Way back in the day if you got 20+ points on Level 3, you could take a picture of your television screen, send the photo to Activision, and they would send you this "Save the Chicken Foundation" iron-on patch.
We don't have any patches to give out, but if you film yourself getting 34 points or higher on Level 3, you can break the world record.
Lastly, as you could have guessed, we'll be closed on Christmas. We will however be open on both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (closing time pending). We've got a few plans for expansion in the New Year, but we want to see how much damage tax season does to us first, so stay tuned!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
~David