Merch on the floor...

So, Emily hung around late last night to merchandise the plush department. (Plush is the toy industry of referring to stuffed animals - I guess guys in suits don't like to talk about 'stuffed animals' when they could be talking about 'plush'.) I thought she did a great job! (And not just because she was merchandising while I was sleeping). Notice the adirondack chairs, they're for hanging around and checking out our books. Pretty snazzy, huh? Much more stuff is on it's way, so stay tuned.

Plan Toys

I placed a big fat order today for one of my favorite toy companies. A company that does things right. One that makes really cool, fun toys that were socially responsible before being socially responsible was cool. Just look at their theory on being a 'green' company:

"PlanToys® practices the “Three R’s” of green living: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Our manufacturing processes are designed to reduce waste and save energy. We reuse materials, and have introduced innovative methods to recycle paper and other products. We are always looking for new ways to improve and preserve our environment."

They've been using preservitive free rubber wood since 2004 and water based non-toxic paint since 1994.

That's a concept we are going to try to emulate at YoYo Joe's.

Plus, not to ignore the most important thing about their toys - they're awesome! Look for them in the Plan displays when YoYo Joe's opens...

Zoomorphs

It's an animal! It's a transformer! It's both, both things in one! Zoomorphs arrived today at YoYo Joe's. They're sitting in the back room in their cardboard cases, just itching to get out and get purchased and morphed from one animal to another. Each set includes from 35-60 pieces, and all of the pieces from all 15 sets are interchangeable so the number of horrendous beasts you can create is limited only by your imagination. (Remember imagination?) Suggested for ages four & up.

Überstix = Überrific!

Ja! Das ist sehr gut! Überstix ist über kühl.

OK, they sound über German, yet it's an American company, based in Idaho. This award-winning contruction toy can incorporate recycled elements into it's designs. Things like water bottles, paper clips, McDonald's straws, KNEX and Lego pieces and more, plus the Überstix products are made from recycled plastic.

Corolle Dolls

French dollmaker Corolle sent our order confirmation today, so YoYo Joe will know dolls. Check out this cuter than cute babydoll, named Tidoo Suce-Pouce (?). It's twelve inches tall, sucks it's thumb, and has 'sleeping eyes,' which I take to mean that it's eyes close when it lies down. It's also made specifically for bathtime fun - Tidoo floats! It is filled with polystyrene 'beads,' which will dry after being removed from the tub.
Girl toys were always a weak spot for Mitchell's. I attributed it to the image that Mitchell's portrayed - we were primarily a 'boy toy' store - lots of hobbies and trains. We're going to address that weakness by making sure we have lots of toys that are traditionally associated with girls. Look for Tidoo when YoYo Joe's opens this October!

Pegboard for dayz

Today, I worked at Mitchell's all day. Emily was at YoYo Joe's, where she and my brother-in-law Ric painted miles of pegboard. The pegboard goes in the fixtures we dropped off last Friday. They painted the pegboard white. Sadly, while I stopped by this afternoon, I did not take a picture of the pegboard lined up behind the store. I know, you had your heart set on seeing piles o pegboard. I have to say, my sister Wendy and Ric have been unbelievable this past week. After spending all of Friday helping me haul fixtures around, Ric spent hours painting for us today. Thanks!
I did place one order today for an item Emily I liked at Toy Fair, the Twilight Turtle. It's a plush toy, whose back will project a starry night onto the ceiling of any room in blue, green or amber. The turtle even projects eight constellations onto the ceiling. How cool is that?

Bananagrams (ba dee bedebe)

Third order for YoYo Joe's placed. They should be coming hot and heavy now. Today's order was for an award winning game called Bananagrams. It was originally from the UK, and has won lots of toy awards, including Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Dr. Toy Awards, Creative Child Magazine Awards and more. Plus, it comes in a banana shaped holder! It's a fun, kinda a hybrid between a crossword puzzle game and scrabble. It's fast and fun. I played it at the ASTRA Conference this past June.

More cool toys on the way to YoYo Joe's

Alex is a cat! A ride-on cat! Who never wanted to ride a cat when they were a wee toddler? Well, wait, I never really thought about riding a cat when I was a kid, but then again, Alex the Ride On Cat wasn't around then, was he? Ha! Gotcha!

Hand crafted from wood from Boikido, a French toy company. We're excited by the stuff coming in from all over the world to YoYo Joe's.

Our first product has arrived!

Yay! We have stuff! Not so surprisingly, our first order of product came from our good friends and fellow First-Staters, McNeil Designs, the people who make the über cool games You've Been Sentenced and Twisted Fish. We've know Don and Martin at McNeil Designs for years through Mitchell's and Mitchell's was actually the first retailer of You've Been Sentenced.

Now all we need is a lease, fixtures, computers, employees, marking guns, check out counter, point of sale system, desks, cash registers, checks, and seemingly one billyun other things. Whew!

Cool toys coming to YoYo Joe's

Since we don't actually have any inventory in stock right now, we're gonna post some of the cool new toys that we having coming in. These should all be available when we open in November.

The first of these is new from Melissa & Doug - who make awesome traditional wooden toys and plush. This is the newest addition to the Pretend Food line - the slice and bake cookie set - with cookies, spatula, knife, baking sheet and oven mitt! Plus, it's low-carb! (please do not attempt to eat Melissa & Doug wooden cookies, they will leave you in splinters).