Time Travel or a Trip to Canada? (Bonus Drive-In Trip)

[packerbacker180]

Ok, I promised Brandon I would do this for him. For people who don't live close to the border with Canada, you may not know that there are still full-sized Toys R Us stores up north. I've wanted to go there for a few years now but then the plandemic hit and our passports expired so we just never got around to renewing them. I haven't been to Canada since probably 2018 or so, and back then we still had TRUs locally so the idea of going up North to one wasn't really a necessity.

But my son's summer travel hockey had a hockey tournament this weekend in Ontario, Canada, mor specifically he had games in Niagara Falls, ON and St. Catharines, ON, which are about a 40-60 minute drive from my house respectively.



So one of two places we were determined to visit while up there Toys R Us (the other being Swiss Chalet which is a chicken restaurant that used to be around locally but left the US about 20 years ago or so). We also stopped at a Canadian Walmart and Canadian Tire as well.

But I promised to take some pics at TRU and it was like travelling back in time 10-15 years. There was the same kind of busted up concrete parking lot and sun-faded blue roof. But wow, I saw some action figures I'd never see on the pegs in the US. And the shelves were full. One of the weirder things that was different is there was no video game section. There was an aisle of DVDs and vinyl records, books and graphic novels, and even adult t-shirts.

We actually went twice, once on Friday and once on Saturday. I didn't think my pics from Friday were that great as they were kind of wide aisle shots, so on Saturday I tried to take more up-close photos. But I'll post Fridays images first here in two posts to break it up some.

[packerbacker180]

Friday Part 2:

[packerbacker180]

Saturday:

[packerbacker180]

Saturday Part 2:

[AcidDragon]

Get off my lawn!

[BrandonDaCollector]

First off, I'm glad I'm not the only one that says about the plandemic, I don't know if you noticed but when I talk about it I put it like P!amDemic because I didn't know what you thought WOW Packer, I just looked thru this again, I saw it all at least a few times already. Like My own Showcases, this is worth way more than one look I took My time here because I wanted to reply very properly and just not one sentence that gives this no justice As Skeletor says, "good things come to he who waits" I love your title to this too, really clever PB That's a good map there of how far Buffalo is to this Canadian location. Okay, I've examined your pics very closely, your details are very good, I could even make out the price stickers which is a very important thing I'm gonna talk about your pictures and all the stuff that this TRU has as a mixture of both days mostly in order so follow Me PB

I can tell your son just came from a game. From the looks of things it looks like you & your son had the place to yourself. That DOES look like a TRU front door. I see the sticker of His Master's Voice-HMV, Nipper the RCA Dog. I find that odd to see that on a toy store window despite I knew that since I was a youngster. Cool how this is, it does look like an old fashion TRU Those Bikes are good. If My Grandpa was there he'd have a ball with'em and tell ya everything about them, he'd also tell ya if that's a good deal or how it compares to his bike shop prices and if these are good makes or not too. I said it before, He didn't like Huffy, he thought they were too cheaply made, the best quality in his mind was Dyno & Schwinn, that's who'd he'd get Me. He'd be looking at Bikes whether we went to Target, Venture, K-Mart, you name it...you'd have to pry him away from this Packer That's some cool SW there but I'm not sure what a lot of that is. That's cool the two lonely Luke & Vader figures. That's some cool Marvel figures too. The only ones I've studied there was that Spider-Man multi-pack. I know their Dies-cast figures by Jada Toys. Their similar like the old Kenner Action Masters that I love. That's an impressive set but dang, $44.99...that's quite a bit for Me Those Jurassic World figures look great but unfreakin' believable how much they...$59.99 That is a small selection of Goddzilla x Kong. I see the Crystal ones that you got for your son, dang their $10.99 each...good thing you learned that trick Packer...I'm gonna tell you right now, I still haven't got them but I got something just as cool a while back on Amazon that I bought that you'll see in time Cool Transformers but darn $64.99 Look at that Masters of the Universe...only Slushhead from New Adventures of He-Man and he's $59.99...unreal There's Panthor and Landshark plus the "now" black King Grayskull on clearance Them prices aren't really that bad. Cool DC stuff there too. Ah, them DC figures by McFarlane...their Clarence at $13.18...not bad there. WHAT....look at the TMNT RAT KING VS. VERNON FOR $89.99...that's totally insane...are you kidding Me That NHL looked cool. I can't believe how much all of them Star War figures are...40 to 60 bucks for a Vintage style when you could get a real Vintage one on eBay for that price and that's actually Kenner too $19.99 for Pokemon Unfreakin'real, over $40 bucks for G.I. Joe & Marvel Legends...what the heck is going on here Now that clearance price of $9.18 for them G.I. Joe ReAction figures is pretty good. I'd go for that if I was interested. Don't forget a couple years ago I got Alien, Predator & Terminator ReAction figures that are in scale and look vintage with the Kenner & Hasbro action figures, their pretty sweet. I can't believe that, $103 for a three pack of ML...what the heck makes them so special and better than the original ones Oh cool you took pics of WWE & AEW Gosh, I can't believe how darn high they are. That's cool that they have Roxanne Perez, her figure looks pretty good. Geesh, $69.99 for AEW Supreme I'd go fro that Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. if she was much, much cheaper...WHAT THE HECK...$104 for that Hulk Hogan 3 pack...it's sad that many kids today don't even know who he is but darn, that price is even more so Oh look, there's Halo How about the classic rock bands shirts...there's Metallica and it's Ride the Lightning too Cool, AC/DC, Rush, Kiss, Misfits, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more Cool SW Puzzles, it reminds Me of the ones that Me & My Mom got in 97 at TRU in South County that I briefly showcased I don't know if $34.99 is a good price or not for Puzzles as it's been so darn long. I see your boy is by the Legos and and he's got himself a little Kong there, that's really cute there How about that Play More & Customer Service Cool your son is next to Geoffrey Cool about Day 2 there with the entrance & Shopping Cart and Jolly Geoffrey How about your boy playing the little keyboard and them official NHL Hockey Sticks. Oh boy, they got Soldier Force Their made by Chap Mei...their a Chinese company that usually has toys for Big Lots & Family Dollar...NOT TRU so I'm surprised there. They made some great Dinosaur figures that I have, they're really coming up in the world now and these are even super expensive...$29.99 and up Another great look at Jurassic Wold, Godzilla & Kong Look at the T-Rex & Godzilla Masks OH BOY YOU DID IT...you took some great pics of the TMNT What a selection there, I see they're Mutant Mayhem which is yet another reboot. This is actually My first look of the figures. Amazing how Genghis Frog & Mondo Gecko look now. Wow, $18.99 for the singles and $31.99 for the Making of a Ninja packs Cool that they made the Ooze and Giant Turtles again. This is totally tubular PB Wow, I didn't expect a Super Mario display...where in the heck was this back in the 80s & 90s Oh there's Sonic & Knuckles...super cool there I see Wednesday of the Addams Family, that was unexpected Ah man, there's the NECA Ultimates. Wow, Predator, Universal Monsters & The Thing, Misfits IT & Gremlins...so cool but so expensive. Another great look at Joes & Wrestling Cool miscellaneous stuff there. More NECA...man that's cool they brought back TMNT Universal Monsters Golden Girls & Jaws plus RoboCop & Freddy Ah man, another great shot at the TMNT but this time on the end cap of the isle Cool picture there of the Mutant Mayhem poster Your son is now Batman Cool SW & more Sonic & Gizmo plus Venom plus Jason There's TRAGICALLY HIP, you finally showed them LOCALLY Packer...CONGRATS An adult book section...interesting Your son is there at the Legos again Cute plushes there and your son is with Geoffrey once more and that is it for day 2....what an excellent time that was PB

Okay PB, I'm not done yet, I have some questions to ask that I'm curious about.

About YOUR SON.

1. Did you give you son a limit/budget on what he could get

2. Did you buy him that cute Kong Plush & Batman Mask

3. Is that Kong plush just a plush or does he have sound effects

4. What did your son think about the TMNT figures

5.What did your son think about the Mario & Sonic stuff

6. Is your son big on the WWE, Joes, SW, DC & Marvel stuff

7.What did he think about them NECA figures. Did he say anything about Predator, The Thing or Universal Monsters

ABOUT YOU PB.

8. What do you think about these prices

9. Is there anything that caught your eye that you may have wanted

10. Did you ask the CS why they had no Video games for sale

11. What is your thoughts about a toy store having not one video game

Really it strikes Me very odd about that. Every time I went to a TRU & K-B Toys they had video games...it just doesn't seem right

Well, that will do it Packer. I can tell that this was a marvelous journey for you and your boy and hope this took you back as close as possible during the old great days You took some great pics here PB, I'm really impressed. This is what I've been talking for a long time now, going to places and taking pics for many reasons especially history's sake. Imagine if we could've done this long again in the 80s & 90s. If I could go back in time and take pics of Verna & her Mr. T's Video Rentals, Annie Burke an dher daughter's Movie Mogul, Judy's Spectrum Superstore and the Bazaar, K-B Toys in Crestwood & South County, all three Venture locations and so many others...oh believe you Me I would do it, no way in Sam "Freggin" Heck I would miss that This was a superb post/Showcase/Topic PB, now just imagine if others would do this on the web besides us...it would be so darn good to capture our journeys and to make up for all of the stuff we didn't do in the past Again PB, this was wonderfully amazing and thanks for thinking of Me, I appreciate that a lot Packer

[AcidDragon]

Hey Brandon, the prices are pretty high but keep in mind that some of that is in the exchange rate and you can subtract 27% from the price in the exchange.

[AcidDragon]

That's peculiar. Our local TRU does have a fully stocked video games section.

[BrandonDaCollector]

I see Acid. Weird that your TRU has Video Games and Packer's didn't Well I thought that this whole thing that PB did was tremendous. I'd really love to see other people do this besides Me & PB. For not a journey's sake but for history's sake as well. So many people take for granted that these places are going to be here forever. there isn't one TRU in the USA. If you have faithfully seen My showcases and elsewhere then they know how much My local places & people from My childhood and even later years mean to Me. My past was very important to Me so I try to preserve it all as best as I can. PB knows how crucial it is to Me and when he can does a bit here & there about his past. If only more people do what Me & Packer just did here, so many things wouldn't have fallen to Oblivion

Packer, don't forget to see My big reply to your big journey and to answer them questions that I have for you

[AcidDragon]

I think it depends on the TRU. Ours also has an HMV section and sells movies, music, shirts and trade paperbacks/graphic novels.

Thanks for documenting your trip out to TRU! Hope it was nice walking down memory lane.