Toys et Cetera

On the occasions when I am in the market for new toys, I come here. This local shop reflects the tastes of its clientele (U of C people) and most of the toys have a European simplicity to them. This is not a place to buy video game cartridges, cheap Chinese knockoffs and weapon-​laden action figures; this is a place for wooden puzzles and Playmobil sets. Classic toys that are durable enough to be passed on.

Great store with a crazy amazing selection! They even gift wrapped my gifts really quickly, free of charge. I always go here when I need a special gift for a niece or nephew.

Beautiful toy store! They carry a great selection of high quality toys and games. They carry a lot of great brands like Melissa and Doug, Ravensburger puzzles, Thomas the Train, Lego, playmobile, etc.

Sure this place is no mega toy store, but I always manage to find great toys for my kids that Toys R us doesn’t have.
Awesome selection of unique board games as well as classics. Legos and Thomas the train, plus other popular toys abound. Plus plenty of learning based toys.
Sure you could drive to a big chain toy store or target and save a dollar or two, but if you live around the south side you lose the savings in time and gas. Plus you get to support an independent locally owned store by shopping here. How cool is that.

I really love this toy store to pick up items for my daughter as well as birthday presents for the other children in my life unfortunately I have started to notice that their customer service needs an overhaul. The cashier was rude and got an attitude with me when I asked for a gift receipt when I already asked for both of the items I purchased to be gift wrapped. As a customer I shouldn’t have to ask for something so little when it’s clear these items are for a birthday. Given that the price point for this store tends to be higher than the average toy store you would think people would have better attitudes at this location. Management needs to take a look at who is working the front as their poor customer service can run this Hyde Park gem into the ground!

Adorable toy shop tucked away in a shopping center. They really have everything. I was looking for one specific game, and found it there — along with hundreds of others I had never heard of! Great stuff for kids, but also general family-​game type stuff like puzzles.

An actual independent toy store. Walking into this place is like going back in time or stepping into a fairy tale. No long sterlie linoleum aisles filled with plastic crap. It’s quaint and a little crowded but designed to be strolled through at a leasurely pace. The stock is rich in educational items and has more woody European gear than you will find at the giant giraffe store, that’s for sure. Bring your kid and your imagination. You won’t regret it.

I could waste an afternoon here! I stopped in here on a whim after going to the french bakery across the square.
I gathered from the name that it was obviously a toy store, but I didn’t know it was going to be an educational toy store! Jackpot! I’m the kinda lame that gets excited to make homemade gifts or teach things through my gifts to my niece and nephew. So when I saw educational craft toys (and science kits!) I was super excited!!!

This toy store is a great escape from the florescent-​colored, plastic, battery-​operated, noisy contraptions that people tend to want to give your kids.
You can come here to get toys that actually allow your child to think (how about that) and I can always find something new and creative.
Also great for purchasing last-​minute gifts when en route to birthday parties with their reasonable prices and free — and quick — gift wrapping services.

The best toy store in the city IMHO. I grew up going here in the original Harper Court location and I recently went to the new location. Still the greatest. I love how their toys are more educational than anything else. Great place to get a gift for a kid. 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Really fun little toy shop with a well organized collection of toys, all more geared to younger than tween aged children. I was hoping that maybe we would spot some items that can be fun at any age than we did, but that really didn’t take away from how fun it is in here.
I spotted quite a few items from my childhood, shrink a dinks, klutz books (cootie catchers anyone huh? I know I can’t be the only adult who still knows how to fold them!), finger crayons, and puppets galore. Even the that weird little game were you can make a beard on a mans face with teeny tiny magnets.
My favorite part? That section in the middle where they have all the weird wind up toys, and other little things. In that pile I found a rather creepy note worthy rubber chicken that when you squeezed it, it pooped an egg white rubber blob thing. I had to show it to Aaron. Rubber Chickens don’t lay eggs. It was one of the oddest creepy finds ever, and we were really tempted to bring it home just because it was that odd.
A nice toy store, which is really a dying breed these days.

There’s thankfully a lot more «toys» here than «et cetera». It is a dreamland for children of all ages. I was personally hoping to find something for myself — hoping that some of the toys or games would be fun even for someone who’s more of the «child-​at-​heart» type than an actual child.
While I didn’t find anything worth purchasing (though I was tempted several times in the puzzle area and game section), I at least left the store with a large sackful of nostalgic memories.
The finger-​crayons. The wooden train track set that links up and has the magnetically-​connecting train you can pull around it. Shrinky-​motherloving-​Dinks. They even had one of those «my first needlepoint» kits that I used to have and sparked my interest in cross-​stitching.
What really tugged at my heartstrings was the music they had playing on the speakers. They lured me in with a non-​Sesame-​Street version of «Sing a Song». They followed that up with «Guantanamera». And then they lost me with a French children’s song that I didn’t recognize and couldn’t understand. But by then I was being taunted by my girlfriend with one of the creepiest toys I’d ever seen.
It’s a rubber chicken that fits in your hand and when you squeeze it, out of its butt pops this gooey clear sack with white junk floating around a big yellow mass and it’s supposed to resemble an egg.
This would have ALMOST made sense if it weren’t for the fact that this is a yellow RUBBER CHICKEN. Not a white feathery chicken/​hen that traditionally LAYS EGGS. It’s nonsensical and gross-​looking and of course that tempted me to buy it. Luckily I didn’t. Because it would only be used when guests come over in a «look at the freaky crap we own» kind of way.
We’ve got plenty of that already. *glares at his 7 NES cartridges of Duck Hunt, two Duck Hunt guns, and non-​functioning NES*
Maybe if we ever have a kid (or need to purchase a gift for friends who have children) we’ll be back. Especially for the gross chicken toy…

Toy stores are usually either kid-​friendly or organized. This place, miraculously, is both. Though it looks small on the outside, it houses an almost alarming amount of stuff, most of which is on display so that you can play with it. They have toys and games for children aged 0 — 12. As an adult, I really enjoyed the geographical puzzles they have out, the wide selection of puppets, and the many small, weird plastic things that were sadly phased out of my life about fifteen years ago. There are also a whole lot of really cool coloring books and construction kits and science experiments. The staff is great — they encourage you to play with stuff, and even join in sometimes. If I lived anywhere near Hyde Park, I’d probably come by here just for fun on a regular basis, and if I actually wanted to buy something for a child, this is the first place I’d go.

Jam packed with kid crap — wooden toy crap, European toy crap, baby toy crap, smart kid toy crap, slow kid toy crap, high-​end toy crap, crap toy crap — basically just all of the crap I love and want to give my sweet baby boo boo.
The staff is nice — too nice. They were closed once for more than 20 minutes and never mentioned it to me at all as I continued to browse, until I was like, «Hey! Did you guys close?» And then he still told me to keep looking — Seriously it was straight up service with a smile.
There are open toys, ride-​on doodads and stuff on display for kids to play with inside the store and kind of scattered around all over the floor and the shelves are packed — basically this place looks like what my kid’s room would be like if I was having a nightmare. Because of that trying to push a stroller through here is almost impossible, even just walking through the aisles ain’t that easy either.
Because there is such a diversity in the types of toys they carry, you might get a deal or you might pick up something, as I did, assuming it’s $ 20, when it’s really three times that much — ouchie. So be sure to check the price BEFORE you promise it to your three-​year-​old.
This is also the perfect spot to shop for anyone else’s little tykes. One of the best toy stores in the city. So if you need to buy a present for my little guy? Wink wink.

This is the greatest toy store I’ve ever been in. It is very kid friendly! There are all kinds of toys on tables and displays begging to be played with. You could find a present for anyone in this store!
There are tons of educational toys, and art kits. The kinds of toys you’d be happy to let kids play with!

This is a cute little toy store, with a lot of stuff packed in there. I think any kid would love going here, even if they are Playstation fiends. Old fashioned, educationally minded toy store you can feel good taking your child to.

Cute place. I thought it was going to be overcrowded inside because the building was so small. I went inside and the place was so big.
The toys are great for children up to 17 believe it or not. You never want to leave.