Does Your Ice Cream Cone Have a Motor?

It's time for ice cream! Nothing like scooping up a double-dip cone of mint chocolate chip, heading outside, then working the cone frantically (and usually unsuccessfully) to catch the drips. It's terrible! Why, you can get carpal tunnel from twisting your wrist every which way turning that cone!

Well, dear blog reader, fear no more! The My Favorite Toys Morotized Ice Cream Cone is here. It automatically turns your ice cream cone while you lick. No more manually rotating the cone! What could be better. Click here to buy one or if you're within driving distance of our store at University Mall in Carbondale, IL, come visit us!

.......And Then There Was One

Upon entering FAO Schwarz's Manhattan store, the iconic wonderland of specialty toys, you are greeted by a 3-story clock tower singing "Welcome to Our World of Toys. The adventure is about to begin."

Well, maybe now you'll have to fight your way past the goofy-looking Geoffrey the giraffe, because the magical adventure of the oldest toy retailer in the country is about to change for the worse. Yup, Toys R Us announced they are gobbling up FAO, immortalized in the 1988 Tom Hanks movie, "Big."

Why should we be surprised? Since the early 1990s toy stores have been squeezed continuously by the Monster Marts. First there was Child's World, Child Palace,and Circus World, then Zany Brainy, and more recently KB Toys. All are gone from the scene.

Toys R Us CEO Jerry Storch says, "We will work tirelessly to preserve the distinctiveness and integrity of the FAO Schwarz stores and brand as we grow the business and, indeed, take the brand to even greater heights.”

Excuse us? This is the same Toys R Us charged with anti-trust violations for trying to muscle out the competition? The same Toys R Us that squandered its leadership in the toy industry and has seen its market share fall from 25% to 16%? The same Toys R Us that had to be bailed out by a real estate holding company in order to survive?

So now there is basically one major toy retailer which, along with the Big Box giants, Walmart and Target, can dictate even more to toy manufacturers who are already reeling from the soft economy and dramatically increased costs.

In one sense, there's really nothing new here. Independent, mom and pop retail stores across the spectrum of products have been zapped from the marketplace by the mammoth corporate reatilers for the last three decades. Our community of Carbondale, IL, a heartland university town of 25,000 permanent residents, has felt the pinch of the loss of hometown, local retailers just as other communities across the country.

Fortunately there are still mom and pop toy stores with heart and soul, customer service, and creative, educational and silly toys you won't find at the MonsterMarts.

My Favorite Toys at University Mall in Carbondale is one of those stores, and we work hard to instill the same spirit into our web store, www.MyFavToys.com. We enjoy knowing many of our customers by name, and we're delighted to watch the youngsters who visit us grow up right before our eyes. We're proud to hear middle-aged and senior shoppers exclaim, "I haven't see this toy since I was a child," or hear a young adult say, "I wish there was a toy store like this when I was a kid."

We do all of our own buying, instead of our stock coming from a mega distribution center. We can listen to our customers and try to find items on special order. We can take time to visit a bit with customers and get to know them. We can provide more customer service than, "Oh yeah, I think the toys are in aisle 87."

We so much appreciate the strong base of customers who share our passion for constructive toys, puppets, puzzles and games. We pledge our very best efforts to maintaining the quality and spirit of My Favorite Toys, despite the threat of a continuing march toward the faceless monopoly of the mass market!

Teaching Your Little "Free Spirits"

To paraphrase Neil Sedaka, "Growing Up Is Hard To Do!" My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store at University Mall in Carbondale (IL) and www.MyFavToys.com, our online store, have teamed up with Free Spirit Publishing to offer books from the Toddler Tools Series.

As parents of toddlers in years gone by, we've always respected the Free Spirit folks as a leading publisher of learning tools that support young people's social and emotional health. The Toddler Tools books include:

-Clean Up Time
-Bye-Bye Time
-Naptime
-Listening Tim
-Manners Time
-Sharing Time

Other titles we especially like, from the Best Behavior series, include "Diapers Are Not Forever," Tails Are Not For Pulling," and "Pacifiers Are Not Forever."

Click here to purchase any of the $7.95 titles or, if you're within driving distance of our flagship store in Carbondale, come see us!

Zing! New Summer Fun At www.MyFavToys.com and My Favorite Toys!

Zing Toys has arrived at My Favorite Toys, our University Mall store in Carbondale, IL and at www.MyFavToys.com, our online store. Try the Zartz Fun Pack --- an "Urban Dart" with two hand darts for two-person play. It's pictured above.

Or how about the Sporteez, a sports version of the original Zeebeez pop ups. Check it out in this video:

The Flingshot Monkeys Are Back!

One of our most fun and popular items the past year has been the amazing, screaming Flingshot Monkey. Kids and adults alike have furiously bought up these guys. You place your fingers in the monkey's paws as shown above, pull on his tail, and the monkey goes flying across the room, emiting an attention-getting screeching scream!

After a dry spell of no available inventory, the monkeys are back!. You've never had so much fun for $5.95! They're easy to ship as well, so pick one out either at My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store at University Mall in Carbondale or our online store. Click here to buy one!

Melissa and Doug Floor Puzzle Sale at www.MyFavToys.com and My Favorite Toys at University Mall!

That's Right! Even though our everyday price on Melissa and Doug's award-winning line of floor puzzles is discounted from the manufacturer's suggested retail price, during June we are running a "Buy Two, Get One Free" Sale on ALL Melissa and Doug floor puzzles!



We've stocked up on these great puzzles, such as the two below, in anticipation of this sale, but they won't last long. So come visit us at http://www.myfavtoys.com/ or at My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store at University Mall in Carbondale! Buy Two, Get One Free!

It's VBS Season!

Directors and teachers throughout southern Illinois and across the country are gathering supplies for Vacation Bible/Church School!

Several VBS themes offered by the church-related publishing houses this year focus on camping, hiking, safaris, crocodiles and boomerangs!

Group's "Crocodile Dock" screams for crocodile puppets, figures, and plush animals to augment the theme. We have Folkmanis puppets who can tell the story or just be a play toy for the children.

Gospel Light's "Kids Camp Son" has a camping theme. Camping play sets or inexpensive compasses can serve as thematic play.

Safari themes take children on an imaginary trip to Australia. Animal figures from National Geographic, Schleich and Safari, Inc. can augment that curriculum. Or how about Australian hats for the teachers?

Yes, My Favorite Toys, our brick and mortar store at University Mall in Carbondale, IL and http://www.myfavtoys.com/ can help to help accessorize the special VBS week.

Come visit us!