TOYS R US, soon to become a Toy store of the past!

 Back in January I did my first post about toy stores of the past and sadly now I have to officially add Toys R US to that. I have been purposely waiting to do this post not because I was waiting to see what was going to happen but because I have been suffering from mixed feelings about this whole situation. On one hand I am an adult and saw this coming but on the other hand, my memories (as bad as they are due to my bad memory) are making me feel this kinda like a kid. I was also not even sure that I really wanted to do this post as it would make it all to real.

 The 80s were a great time to grow up, so many great toylines and toy stores! Toys R Us was even greater. Toy stores back then stacked toys up to the sky (not really but it was impressive) and shelves were always packed. You always found stuff back then.

  Like many others that I have seen posting about this, I will admit that I rarely bought stuff at TRU in recent years but I still went whenever I could.  To me Toys R Us closing is not a store closing but a loving memory that I could still go to. Toys R US was the last of the Great American Toy Stores. With its passing, TRU will join greats like CHILDREN'S PALACE (CHILD WORLD),the original version of F-A-O SCHWARZ, KAYBEE, LIONEL PLAYWORLD, and non toy stores such as BORDERS, PHAR-MOR, RADIO SHACK, SERVICE MERCHANDISE, and WOOLWORTH into the world of being in our memories and that is sad.

 I remember going to Toys R US as a kid and us getting the original Nintendo Entertainment System and how excited I Was. I also remember going to the Toys R Us in Georgia that I frequented (and was on the closure list of original closings earlier this year) and getting G. I. Joes. I remember getting Marvel figures in the 90s once I started driving and going so regularly back then that the staff knew me. Those were the days. I remember driving all the way (an hour) to a TRU in Atlanta to just play Pokemon the card game and get an exclusive card. Toys R Us as sad as it may be was my hang out for many years. It was the place I socialized and had fun.

GEOFFREY OVER THE YEARS.

 One thing I just recently realized that my fondest memory as a kid is from Toys R Us! When I was a kid I wanted She-Ra but my family firmly believed in boy toys/ girl toys so it was off limits. I was able to convince my mom to get me some one time only because she was He-Man's twin sister. This is one of my greatest memories as I was able to win and get a girl line and its even sweeter that it was in Toys R Us!

   A lot of people worry about the future of announce TRU exclusives (the above one was released many years ago and used as an example) and I can understand that, but I am sure they will still pop up.

  I am much more concerned about the small companies that were lucky enough to sell toys there, like Animal Planet and True Heroes/True Legends. I have some from the Animal Planet line and love them and know that JOE collectors buy from the TRUE HEROES line.

  Also Playmobil! While not an exclusive, I have never seen them sold anywhere but TRU and I really was interested in the upcoming monsters line and possibly the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS to. There is at least a little bit of joy in the knowledge that it will still exist in Asia, Central Europe, and possibly Canada. Also there is still a hail mary chance that a handful of stores will reopen one day under Canadian control but I know mine would never be one of them (the problem with living in the middle of nowhere.) AND I am sad for all those thousands of people and their families that are going to lose their jobs because of Bane Capital's mismanagement (not even going there). It is just sad that the era had to come to an end and so many are losing their jobs. I never wanted to grow up but I guess I had to and I will no longer be able to be a TOYS R US KID!

 I Guess We All Had To Grow Up. Farewell My Old Friend! TOYS R US 1948 - 2018