Toys R Us RIP

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

You've never been to a Toys 'R Us?

I don't know how old you are, but I'm 40 and it was a place I loved to visit when I was a child.

I'm 65 and grew up on the plains of Kansas. I'm guessing the closest TRU was probably in Wichita which I only very rarely visited and then usually just to fly in or out. So TRU was simply never part of my life growing up.

[NoobCrawler]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

after announcing 200 stores closing a few months ago, to additional 180+ stores closing, now just closing ALL stores in the US.

so many memories... I've gone to toys R us my whole life.
from the hay-days of the 80's when TRU actually had competition (Toy City, Kay-Bee, etc.) all the way until the big guys (target, Walmart, amazon) started to take over.
i still have stuff i remember buying there when you had to take the ticket to the booth behind the registers... video games, RC CARS!, high dollar items (japan TRU still does this with high end collectable action figures/statues).

I've been with TRU all the way from the golden era to the dark times of 2005 when they started getting in real financial trouble (that's when i noticed they started having real problems keeping new stock on shelves).

kids aren't going to have the incredible experience of walking in to a store that is FILLED WITH JUST TOYS wall to wall. it kills me to think of a world where that isn't possible. what other place can you think of that had their own theme song and mascot? i practically live by those words...
"I don't wanna grow up, i'm a Toys R us KID!"

please share your thoughts, stories, and feelings. i cant be the only one who feels this way.

At 36, I still go to TRU, mainly just to buy LEGO. But I still take a look around every now & again. I’ve said this time & time agin, that place isn’t just a store, it’s an experience. It’s not like walking through Target to the toy section.

I know a lot of kids are more about screens than toys, but still...going into that store, scouring shelves looking for that one toy you’ve wanted...that experience is lost because all you have to do is type it into Google. That’s what I remember, the thrill of the find.

[Zippy1]

Add one more to the list that's never been to a TRU store. Never had the need, or time, being I was working on our farm every day I wasn't in school. And grew out of toys by the early teens.
And my folks didn't have time to haul their kid 35 miles to a toy store. If you couldn't get it at the local Dime store, you didn't need it. Or the Christmas wish books...
Now, that something I do miss, the wish books.

[Jim85IROC]

I guess I have a different perspective than most. There weren't any Toys R Us stores close to me, but I did go to them whenever we travelled. I almost never bought anything there even as a kid, because even back then it was way overpriced, and generally had the same stuff that my local K Mart sold, just more of it. Now as an adult I never go there, because it's way overpriced and generally has the same stuff that my local Wal Mart carries. Even my kids seem to enjoy the Wal Mart toy section more. I've never had any use for the store.

[canadianbacon]

They're still open here in Canada but I don't know for how much longer, they're talking of selling it. I still go there, mostly just for Hot Wheels since I started collecting them again.

[skinnyj]

I don't think I saw the inside of a Toys R Us until I was an adult. For me it was Kay-Bee and Bradlees (an upper east coast department store like Target). My mother was a manager for Bradlees, so it made sense to use her employee discount.

[NoobCrawler]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

yes, i live in a world where Canada is not a 10 minute drive. its called California.
and you should have screamed the quote from spaceballs when lord helmet was caught playing with his "THEY'RE NOT DOLLS, THEY'RE ACTION FIGURES!!!" i hate judgemental employees like that. its funny, target employees have always been WAY more helpful to me in that aspect, and i usually have a good conversation about collecting action figures after they help me.

i have tons of memories of going to toys R us in my youth. seeing isles that had product fully stocked all the way to the ceiling, you never went there without getting what you came for. if you knew a toys had been released (johnny down the street has one) you could rest assured if you want to TRU, you would be able to buy one for yourself too. nowadays, you are lucky to EVER see "that figure" in the wild at TRU or really anywhere but that's mostly due to poor distribution and/or scalpers buying up entire shipments of a certain line before kids or collectors ever see them on the shelf. different topic but losing a huge retailer of toys is NOT helping in that aspect.

i went to my local TRU over the weekend, sadly explaining to my kids it could be their last ever trip. it was hard to keep my composure telling them, even now I'm getting choked up.
my son, at 9 is "too cool" for everything already, and his overall attitude was "meh" but i said well you like hot wheels? nerf? LEGOS?! he does. his 3 favorite brands. he gets it but not on an emotional level like me.
we went inside after mom snapped a pic of all 3 of her "kids" outside, yes i am her 3rd. i try opening all of my senses to take it all in one last time... and parent everywhere look just has horrified as i do. talking amongs each other about their memories, and how could this happen, etc. i had a REALLY hard time keeping it together. i went down almost every isle, just... looking. enjoying the splendor of a WHOLE STORE devoted entirely to toys, and the kids who would play with them.
i managed to find a star wars 6 inch figure of Rey, a version that was emblazoned with s sticker identifying it as a "Toys R Us Exclusive!", probably the last one we will ever see with that sticker on it. i have dozens more with that sticker, but this one is it. i was surprised to find 4 of them left. and i told my wife they were "only $25" when normal non-exclusives are $20. she said "go buy the rest! sell them!" i said no... i'm leaving them for the next collector. a quote from one of my favorite youtube channel, toy galaxy.
he actually did a great vid for this whole thing, explaining the history of TRU, and why this is happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL0L8fWXIxc

and another guy i watch, summed up my emotions perfectly with his vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqh2E6qj7KI

the next day, i was at my in-laws and the girls went shopping, the boys stayed drinking Guinness and shooting pool. when they returned, my mother-in-law says to my son "here buddy i got this for you" it was a plush Geoffrey the Giraffe, the toys R us mascot. i nearly broke out in tears (i know, I'm a sap) and i just looked at her and grinned a thank you. my son was like uh ok thanks. knowing him, he will give it to me because he knows how much that place meant to me. he's a great dude.

It’s nice seeing someone who gets emotional over toys too. To me, there’s a great feeling in getting your hands on that toy. Just the other day, even though I drooled & picked over the pictures of the newest Avengers LEGO sets, I was excited to grab that box & just look at it.

I’ve walked by that Geoffrey plush quite a few times...not pulling the trigger. After your story though, I’m gonna buy one myself.

[Shinchu]

that last video i posted there, when the theme song came on, waterworks.

so many memories...

and the latest update, Kay-Bee Toys is coming back FOR SURE, for black Friday and the rest of this coming holiday shopping season. they will see how they do on that, and determine if the return will be permanent or not.

[BJoe]

Hope this works on desktop

Toys R Us founder dies days after chain's announced shutdown
https://www.yahoo.com/newsroom/vibes...1-011191c37bd2

[jetboat]

with the over pricing and disgusting stores... it was only a matter of time.

[NoobCrawler]

Originally Posted by BJoe

Hope this works on desktop

Toys R Us founder dies days after chain's announced shutdown
https://www.yahoo.com/newsroom/vibes...1-011191c37bd2

That’s some eerie timing.

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

and the latest update, Kay-Bee Toys is coming back FOR SURE, for black Friday and the rest of this coming holiday shopping season. they will see how they do on that, and determine if the return will be permanent or not.

I honestly remember Kay-Bee more than TRU.

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by BigSki

Don't know about where you live, but around here WM is nothing more than a trailer park general store. White trash in every direction, like a low-life magnet.

Targets are cleaner, better stocked, more organized, better quality merchandise and have employees that will actually help you find something. I'll pay an extra $2 for the same exact item at a Target just to avoid having to step inside of WM.

^^^This.

I haven't been inside a Wal-Mart in years, thankfully.

[Shinchu]

yeah i just moved in November, and before i was 2 miles from a Walmart. now I'm 2 miles from a target and 10 miles from a Walmart lol and my target is almost always empty!

as for the founder of TRU dying, yeah that's... i don't know how that hasn't made more news? super sad, he really cared about making kids happy.

[BJoe]

There was something about is passing on Kotaku and a commentor kinda eluded to him dying of a broken heart.

[high plains drifter]

When I started reading this thread I figured that I was one of very few people that had seldom if ever, been in a TRU store as a kid. I don't feel so out of touch now.

But TRU was like many other stores... very far away from the destitute rural-residing families... with parents that very seldom felt it wise to "amp up the kids hopes by presenting them endless toy choices that would never be feasible". It was all about putting food on our table, shoes on our feet, and a roof over our heads... and TRU just wasn't a part of that. My toy stores were Tractor Supply, True Value, and if you can believe it... Woolworth's/ Woolco. I'd also mention Gold Circle but there's no way that anyone still alive would remember that one. Kay-Bee seemed to be the toy-store that I saw most in the malls but by that time in my life it was all about Arcades and picking up girls... not Stretch Armstrong and Slime.

Anyway... just waxing nostalgic here. RIP Toys R Us.

[NoobCrawler]

Originally Posted by BJoe

There was something about is passing on Kotaku and a commentor kinda eluded to him dying of a broken heart.

I believe it. Carrie Fisher’s mom, Debbie Reynolds, died like four days after Carrie did.

[durok]

All I ever went to was the PX (Post Exchange).

Or ordered from Sears' hefty 10lb WishBook to be delivered to P.O. boxes... overseas...

Still remember the California Free Former banana plastic skateboard with the trucks barely wide enough to fit the kingpin between the loose-ball bearing yellow translucent urethane wheels...

Shipped all the way to Jakarta, Indonesia!

[Shinchu]

Originally Posted by NoobCrawler

I believe it. Carrie Fisher’s mom, Debbie Reynolds, died like four days after Carrie did.

that's got to be one of the worst fears of being human: outliving our children

and with The Last Jedi hitting shelves tomorrow, with it comes another reminder of losing Carrie...

but the best line of the movie was Mark Hamill's:
"Nobody is ever really gone..."
cool fact: when Luke kisses Leia on the forehead, that was all Mark. he just instinctively did it, and they loved it and kept it in the shot.

ANYWAY...
no updates on the TRU news. sales started for liquidation at all locations. i haven't gone and i doubt anything good is left anyway.

[Richterat83]

We stopped in at our local TRU and entire store is marked down 5% with a few isles at 10% and already the stores looking picked apart. I hadn't been in a ToysUs since i had saved my allowance for a Tyco Lamborghini Countach turbo-and that took a LOOOONG time to save- (my last RC prior to buying an SCX10 in 2013)