Under the tree: toy shopping this holiday seasonDate: 11/29/2022 It’s every would-be Santa’s dilemma – what do the kids want under the tree, and can we find it this holiday season? What’s the hot toy? What do my toddlers, or tweens or kids in-between really want? And with inflation affecting everyone’s budget, how much are those must-have toys going to cost me this year?
There’s always the big-box retailers, but if you want to really know what’s going on with toys, ask the local toy merchant. That’s what Reminder Publishing did as the holiday crush approached.
Here’s what two local toysellers had to say about supply chains, prices, and what’s popular with parents and kids this holiday season.
Necker’s Toyland
Though Debbie Necker of Necker’s Toyland, located at 1915 Hopmeadow St. in Simsbury, CT, said she hasn’t yet seen any shortages or supply chain issues with toy and game deliveries for the upcoming holiday season, the second-generation toy seller did say that shoppers should expect to pay a bit more for that must-have gift this holiday season.
“It’s going to be expensive,” Necker stated, adding that unlike the pre-coronavirus pandemic years of toy shopping, she also didn’t see any hot, must-have item on this season’s horizon though “there’s always something people are looking for that isn’t available.”
Necker’s is a classic toy store – “we don’t carry electronic toys because we think there are other things to do that are good for [kids] minds,” she said, adding “I feel that customers are trying to get away from all the electronics, especially after a couple of years of online schooling, [kids]were in front of tablets and computers all day and you need to get away from all that.”
Though Necker’s doesn’t carry electronics they do have “lots of robots that you can build and program, other science kits, you can create a dinosaur with gears … tons of books, puzzles, board games … a lot of traditional things but there’s a modern twist to them,” Necker said.
Among the items with a “twist” are escape-room type board games “that still involve people playing together and working together to figure something out” and family trivia games like Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. “I have 9-year-olds looking for it, I have parents looking for it, people play it at lunchtime in the office, it’s a funny, fast-moving game,” Necker said of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza.
Necker’s also carries traditional toys such as baby dolls “with beautiful faces and cuddly bodies,” wooden blocks and building sets, and puzzles. “The Legos and the craft kits, those are always big gifts, I think its something to do with feeling successful having finished it, and paint by number kits, I remember getting that as a present every year,” Necker said.
The newer category that she sees as popular this year are tactile-type toys. “The fidget toys and anything that’s fuzzy and wiggles … from what I understand the teachers are allowing kids to bring quieter toys to school as long as it’s not disruptive,” Necker said. “I think it’s going all the way up to middle school, even high school, there’s a lot of nervous people out there.”
Keeping with their focus on classic toys, Necker’s also has a full stock of outdoor snow toys ready for holiday shoppers. “Sleds, snow tubes, saucers … we’ve got some heavy-duty [tubes], they’re a lot more expensive but they don’t pop as easily as the vinyl ones do,” Necker said. Sledding, she noted “allows families to feel safe and allows families to get together outdoors … [during COVID-19] it was a big thing” and one she thinks will continue to be popular.
“The store is stocked and people are happy we’re going to do it one more year,” Necker said in closing. Check out the store’s collections online at https://neckerstoyland.com/ or call them at 860-658-5783 for more information.
RedFive Toys and Collectibles
Brian Rushby, owner of RedFive Toys and Collectibles, located at 55 Maple St. in East Longmeadow, said though his shop is “definitely geared to preteens and up – we don’t stock toys for toddlers or that age group,” he’s seeing some of the same trends that Necker spotted. For example, Legos are “the hottest thing in the past couple of years” and games are still wildly popular.
“It’s the same for Pokémon cards and card games in general, these are hot,” said Rushby. “Those are the things that [we] tell people to ‘buy them when you see them’ We see it time and time again … people say they will buy it when they come back, and it’s gone.”
Another big item for RedFive Toys at the holidays – and year ‘round – are loungefly backpacks, which Rushby describes as “mini backpacks that appeal to preteens to adults” in designs that range from Disney princesses to Star Wars to Marvel characters.
“We are probably the largest loungefly dealer in Western Mass.,” Rushby added.
His shop also does a brisk business in Funko Pops, which Rushby describes as “little vinyl collectible bobbleheads” that are available in “anything from Disney princesses to Star Wars – all the biggest pop culture themes are represented in Funko,” Rushby explained. “They’ve been one of the number one things we have been selling since we opened.”
The shop also is a popular destination for new and vintage Barbie dolls and “plush is always popular, it’s bigger than we ever thought it would be, plush is ageless,” Rushby said.
He added shoppers should follow RedFive Toys’ posts online at www.instagram.com/redfive_toys_and_collectibles and www.facebook.com/RedFivetoysandcollectibles for the latest info on any upcoming holiday sales and specials.
Readers can also check out the store’s collections on RedFive’s website, https://www.redfivetoysandcollectibles.com/. For more info call the shop at 224-1699.
Reminder Publishing also contacted PlayNow, with stores in Ludlow and Westfield, and Zen’s Toyland in Longmeadow, but did not hear back from either business by publication time.
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