What's New in May 2023
As always, we have a bunch of new stuff in the store.
We now carry Hot Wings! Each die-cast aircraft also comes with a foam piece of runway. The runways connect together like a puzzle, so each time you buy one you get a bigger and bigger runway. We also sell runway expansion sets, and a big control tower.
Tons of board games are still on sale. We have about 20 titles at 25% off and 10 titles at 15% off. Most of them have only one copy left. A lot of the titles are strategy based, but there are a few family and kids games mixed in too. Some of them are 50% off of what you'll find on Amazon.
We've got a bunch of new arts & crafts. Some of the new arrivals include Diamond Dots, a variety of Macrame Kits, extremely cute DIY Miniature Houses, and Wooden Model Kits.
We've got some cool space-themed playsets. You can choose between a Rocket Ship, a Rover, or a Space Capsule.
Volleyball is back in the arcade cabinet. It's one of my favorite 2-Player games.
We also have a bunch of new keychains, stickers, squishy things, and old-school novelties I didn't take pictures of. We'll be getting a small Pokemon Card shipment soon too. We just placed a book order with Usborne and Kane Miller, so those should be arriving soon. Once we sell through some more old stock I'd like to once again expand the book section. You really can't have too many.
That's all for now!
~David
What's New in April 2023?
I skipped March so a lot is new.
Yesterday's post was an April Fool's joke. We still have the Playcade, and some new toys are being featured. We just got a PicassoTiles shipment so our mini tiles are on display...
We've got a Floating Bath Block Engineering Set...
We've still got the Rubber Band Guns on display...
And we've got a Dinosaur Gear Playset...
We have some new Glow in the Dark Track Sets. Each set comes with a battery operated vehicle that zooms around the flexible track. You can now choose between Dinosaur, Construction, or Racing sets. When people come in looking for a gift for a 3-5 year old we almost always suggest these. They never disappoint.
We have a Rocket Ship Tent on display...
We have a bunch of new wooden puzzles and playsets for preschoolers...
And we have a ton of new jigsaw puzzles for older kids and adults...
New Pokemon Scarlet & Violet boosters are in. We also have a bunch of deluxe sets.
We also have a lot of new Board Games and Books too. Tons of the old Board Games and Books are 25% off.
I really can't cover it all. There's a ton of other stuff like new plushies, NeeDoh, cap guns, playsets, diecast planes, baby and pre-school toys, and a bunch of other random stuff I'm forgetting. Come on in and check it out!
~David
Big Announcement for April 1st!
The Playcade has been a great success. Both customers and toy companies love that people can get hands-on experience with the toys we carry. But, we had throw them all in the dumpster to make room for our Adult Gaming section!
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.
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 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.
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.
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!
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.
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).
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.
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.
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!
Here's two photos I meant to post last month. Our newly expanded Toy Tower and our Kiddie Ride.
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!
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