☆ The Greatest Toy Shop On Earth (FACT!) ☆ #GamersUnite

It's nearly Christmas and at Christmas time I tend to be in a very nostalgic mood....

 

All this nostalgia got me thinking about the coolest toy shop in the world ever...

 

So in a departure from the usual video games related posts I thought I would take a trip to......

 

MR JENNINGS TOY SHOP.......

As a boy growing up the local toy shop was my favourite place on the planet.

When my pocket money saving reached the perfect level I would plead with mum and dad to take me to Mr Jennings toy shop to pick out my toy of choice.

The thing with Mr Jennings toy shop was that it contained literally thousands of toys, games and curiosities going back decades.

Mr Jennings didn't just have the latest toy for that year he also had the latest toy or game from ten years ago!

There was a shop window display bursting with a vast array of colours and choc full of TOYS!

As you walked into the shop you'd be greeted with bikes, trikes, planes and pedal cars hanging from the ceiling like a toy filled sky!

On your left was the pay counter which also had a vast array of pocket money toys on display on every available piece of space.

Then underneath the counter was a glass display case just bursting with all sorts of cool LCD Game & Watch type toys.

Behind the counter were More games piled high on shelves!

As you walked down the long corridor like shop your senses were overloaded with colour and unparalleled choice.

When you were 3/4 of the way down  the length of the shop there was another pay counter on the right ready to help you choose your  play thing of choice. This end of the shop was another Aladdin's cave of cool things.

 Then came my most favourite part of the shop.....

Tucked away at the very end of the shop was a "Subbuteo Corner " a whole area devoted to subbuteo teams and accessories.

This part was decked out with Subbuteo sets such as the Mexico '86 and ITALIA '90 box sets alongside every club and national team you could think of. Then there were the stadium accessories such as a box of policeman, a camera man and a streaker!!!

If it wasn't in this corner it didn't exist in the world of subbuteo. The holy grail for me was to own the "Astro Turf" Subbuteo pitch which didn't require any ironing!

If ever you were in Mr Jennings shop and you happened to ask for something that wasn't on display then there was a mythical place that the shop assistants would visit that would always result in your item being found for you. 

It was "The Stairs  To The basement " 

The basement seemed to contain everything and if the first person couldn't find it they'd ask Mr Jennings to find it and hey presto it would appear! Mr Jennings toy shop was a place of wonder and a shop that no longer seems to exist in todays world. It was a one of a kind and a place I fondly remember from my childhood and I feel sad that these type of shops don't exist today. Shops with a soul are truly hard to find and this place was one of those.....

Recently I heard that Mr Jennings toy shop was now closed and has been replaced by a nail bar......

It's sad that I wont be able to take my children to such a wonderful place as it was one of a kind....

Although a few years ago I visited San Francisco and I managed to find a brilliant toy shop that had the spirit of Mr Jennings throughout it. It was packed with cool toys and stuff that you wouldn't find anywhere else BUT it didn't have "The Stairs To The Basement" or "The Subbuteo Corner" .....

What Was YOUR Favourite Toy Shop When You Were Growing Up?