KB Toy Stores

[spockoda]

It's been a few years now since the last of the KB stores closed but I do miss those stores as they were still around when I started collecting and you were never quite certain what they might have gotten in since the last time you shopped there. More than once I could be spotted practically crawling inside one of those bins where they would just sorta dump figures in. The good ol' days. I admit I took those days a little for granted because at the time I never really thought figures would soon not be made as readily as they were made at that point in time. Anyhow, I did a search for pics of KB stores on the net a day or so ago and I saw a pic from inside an aisle of a toy store that resembled how KB's used to be set up and I noticed figures from the GI Joe Sgt. Savage series from the mid 90's right next to figures from the last GI Joe movie. I'm not sure what store this was, but I wouldn't mind finding it! All the pic said on it was "toy wiz". Don't know if that's a website or what but obviously all the KB stores closed way before GI JOE:Retaliation came out.

[brcthrift]

I remember the KB toys in the mall where I grew up. It was huge. The carpet was blue, and the ceilings were mirrors. They had hundreds of stuffed animals suspended from the ceiling.

I wish I could go back to that place circa 1985, and relive the fun of being a kid in the toy store again.

[waywardmonk]

KB was kind of the red-headed step-child of toy stores for me. I would only buy there on clearance or when I couldn't find it somewhere else. Their prices were crazy high sometimes and then would change without rhyme or reason. I do miss having toy stores in the malls though. Malls have not been the same since KB went out of business. It's hard to believe another company hasn't tried to fill that niche. It's also ironic that I used to laugh at all goofy bootlegs that would come into KB on clearance right out of the box only to begin collecting them 20 years later...

[figuremod73]

Kb toys was one of my have to go places at the mall. I always got a laugh at some of the stuff they sold there to and ironically, I feel like I may have taken them for granted compared to Toyrus at the time.

I remember going in there around '88-89 and getting Sega master system card based games on clearence as well as going thru the Atari 2600/7800 bins that were stacked full of games for a number of years. You could always find wrestling figures there to.

Besides KB, my stops were B. Dalton bookstore, Camelot music, Aladins arcade, and later Spencers and two different videogame stores. So much fun...

[spockoda]

Apr 15, 2014 8:20:34 GMT -6 brcthrift said:

I remember the KB toys in the mall where I grew up. It was huge. The carpet was blue, and the ceilings were mirrors. They had hundreds of stuffed animals suspended from the ceiling.

I wish I could go back to that place circa 1985, and relive the fun of being a kid in the toy store again.

Heck, I wish I could go back to around 1998 when I was 27 and relive it !

[spockoda]

Apr 15, 2014 9:22:18 GMT -6 waywardmonk said:

KB was kind of the red-headed step-child of toy stores for me. I would only buy there on clearance or when I couldn't find it somewhere else. Their prices were crazy high sometimes and then would change without rhyme or reason. I do miss having toy stores in the malls though. Malls have not been the same since KB went out of business. It's hard to believe another company hasn't tried to fill that niche. It's also ironic that I used to laugh at all goofy bootlegs that would come into KB on clearance right out of the box only to begin collecting them 20 years later...

I do agree that their new stuff was always a little high(like TRU)but their bread and butter seemed to be the discount items. That's at least a big reason why I enjoyed going in those stores so much, they had all the toys all the other retailers had given up on. Once in a while I'll be in a mall and pass a store that I know used to be the KB store and I find it almost a little sad.

[BoogDoc7]

TRU here has opened a KB-like store in the mall, except same prices as the big TRU. Just smaller selection.

[waywardmonk]

Apr 18, 2014 4:44:20 GMT -6 BoogDoc7 said:

TRU here has opened a KB-like store in the mall, except same prices as the big TRU. Just smaller selection.

Wow, it would be great if that happened all over. 

[3 3/4"collector]

it still feels weird to me to have malls not have a toy store in them. none of the ones here do. I miss when I was a kid in probably around 82-86 a couple of the malls here had really awesome game shops too. I use to love collecting and painting lead gaming miniatures back then. toy stores aren't what they use to be and neither are gaming stores.

[muckmonster87]

in Maryland, KB had a chain of discount stores called Toy Works that seemed to be almost exclusively for their old stock and overflow. i remember going there as late as 2001 or 2002 and still finding toys from the early 90s on the shelves.

[homeschoolman]

Wow muckmonster, that would be so intense. Did you rack up or what?

[spockoda]

This store used to be a KB once upon a time. I'm not as nostalgic about this one as other locations in my area as the town this one was in had two and I rarely went to this one. This one was the first KB to close in my area. Still think it's a shame, though .

[dogpoopwalker]

Loved KB. And I also never paid more than four dollars for anything there. No wonder they went out of business.

[figurecollector]

I always found them to be as expensive or more expensive than TRU other than the clearance items.

[spockoda]

May 21, 2014 11:03:18 GMT -6 figurecollector said:

I always found them to be as expensive or more expensive than TRU other than the clearance items.

For a newly released item, TRU and KB were the last places I would look. I loved the discount stuff at KB.

[bowheadwhale]

I've never seen any KB store in my province... was it once in Canada or has it only been in the USA?

[spockoda]

Jun 10, 2014 13:17:12 GMT -6 bowheadwhale said:

I've never seen any KB store in my province... was it once in Canada or has it only been in the USA?

Good question. As far as I know, at least, KB was a US-based company.

[jughead]

Jun 10, 2014 13:17:12 GMT -6 bowheadwhale said:

I've never seen any KB store in my province... was it once in Canada or has it only been in the USA?

I dont think there was ever a KB toys in Canada. I live in Canada and i remember going on roadtrips to the states as a kid in the early 90's and going to KB was always a highlight because their toys were super cheap and their pegs were usually full.

[tztoyz]

KB was always really expensive, and when they were around I was either a kid or in my late teens and couldn't really afford their prices (always a dollar or two more than other places).  They did, however, have great deals when they would put stuff on clearance, and I would pretty much clean up buying all those toys marked down with a red pen.  I remember getting tons of Beast Wars stuff in the 90s at almost half off, and great deals on other strange 90s oddities like Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog.  

[waywardmonk]

Apr 18, 2014 4:44:20 GMT -6 BoogDoc7 said:

TRU here has opened a KB-like store in the mall, except same prices as the big TRU. Just smaller selection.

Went to an outlet mall over the weekend and there was a TRU Express store there. I felt like I was walking into a KB store because the set up was strikingly similar. Weren't many markdowns though and those few were modest. Still, it was a nice blast from the past and I hope to see these pop up in regular malls around here.

[actionplus]

I used to work for KB in the early 90's. It was always fun to get first crack at the new toys. I unpacked every truck and stocked shelves all the time. Ah, the good old days.

[kpn1138]

Had a couple of KB'S in my ares as well as a KB outlet store. Yhese stores were great for a parent with small children. I always found thier Star Wars aisles exspensive. They nevrr found a good market niche. Too bad, I loved looking there on my toy hunts!

[spockoda]

Nov 14, 2014 11:10:16 GMT -6 kpn1138 said:

Had a couple of KB'S in my ares as well as a KB outlet store. Yhese stores were great for a parent with small children. I always found thier Star Wars aisles exspensive. They nevrr found a good market niche. Too bad, I loved looking there on my toy hunts!

For a period of a few years, I would go on regular toy hunts I called "toy runs". It was a fun time except when I became a little too self indulgent in it, then it became a problem.

[spockoda]

I found this for a quarter at my local thrift store, bought it as a bit of a momento. KB stores haven't been closed for that long but it feels like it has been a lot longer for me.

[greenthirteen]

God I have so many NOS toys with KB price sticker in my warehouse, I think it's really hard to make money with toys. The big manufacturers dont give great discounts and they generally have stipulations to buy wholesale from them, most of the time you have to buy across all their toy lines. So if all of a sudden lala loopsy is dead and gone you are stuck trying to liquidate toys that no one give two craps about, plus like I said your markup wasnt great anyway. also take me back to the, younger generations just don't collect things dilemma.

Oh and the internet! lol

Cheers, SIN..........

[kirkymonster1983]

I'm surprised to hear so many call KB expensive. I remember most of my toys coming from KB growing up especially if I was using my own money. And for those who say KB was too expensive then where did you buy toys from ten that had better prices?

[spockoda]

May 16, 2015 17:50:00 GMT -6 kirkymonster1983 said:

I'm surprised to hear so many call KB expensive. I remember most of my toys coming from KB growing up especially if I was using my own money. And for those who say KB was too expensive then where did you buy toys from ten that had better prices?

I think people that say it was expensive are talking about the new figures they sold, not the discount retail reject figures. KB stores are like the dinosaurs I think, we will probably never see stores like that again that sell mainly toys like they did.

[kirkymonster1983]

I'm really surprised no other company has come along to do what KB did and put toy stores in strip malls and shopping malls. I also thought the exclusive repaints were pretty cool like the Marines from the Aliens figure line.