toys r us | Nightmare Nostalgia

A few months ago, I shared a video I had discovered on the YouTubes of a short, but quite satisfying clip of footage shot inside a Toys ‘R’ Us shot in 1989. While it indeed induced sweet memories of running up and down the aisles searching for the prefect Ninja Turtle, it had us clamoring for more. Low and behold, the Gods of Geoffrey have bestowed the ultimate treasure for us nostalgic nuggets- a complete twenty-minute video walkthrough of the once gold mine of toys and games that will have you oozing nostalgia from your eye sockets!

The raw footage is filmed inside a Manhattan Toys’ R’ Us at Herald Center in New York the day before Thanksgiving, showcasing the Christmas season’s hottest toys and giving an inch on the dreaded Black Friday for most parents. It’s pretty amazing this video exists and it’s as if some random someone 30 years ago just picked up a video camcorder and started shooting knowing people like us today would be creaming our pants over this type of stuff. All I can think to say is, this person is a damn hero.

Brought to us courtesy of YouTube Channel btm0815ma, the reel highlights the best of the best and everything we can possibly remember from this now relic as children. We get a complete nostalgic gut-punch with WWF wrestling buddies and WCW figures, Ninja Turtles with Technodrome playsets, the universe of Barbie, and Lego sets of yesteryear! We also get to roam the bike aisles, (tell me I’m not the only asshole who rode those around the store) and I even caught a glimpse of those Universal Monsters PVC bendy figures!

Also, can we appreciate that the recorder spent a good amount of time in the World of Nintendo? Memories of taking those yellow tickets up to the counter to get your coveted game to take home to scream at that night were one of the greatest feelings in the early 90s’. We even get a shot of a ballsy woman taking a Gameboy out of its original packaging to get a closer look at it!

Fantastic.

Then, we end the video with a thorough guided process of checking out and walking out into the streets of the city with a panoramic shot of the once beautiful Toys ‘R’ Us monument. It truly is, one of the coolest videos I’ve seen in a long time, and proper high-fives to this Youtuber for unearthing this gem and sharing it with the world!

Enjoy as much as I did Nostalgic Nuggets!

One of the greatest aspects of growing up in the 80s’ was the weekend trip to Toys R Us to bask in all the very latest of trendy, plastic treasures. Taking bikes off the shelves and riding them around the store like a goddamn heathen. Grabbing your complimentary Geoffrey balloon while scoping out this week’s new Barbie doll. And most importantly, the heaven on earth video game aisles where you could sit for hours playing video game demos until your hands cramped up or a store associate threw your ass out.

Good times man. Good times.

Now, we all know the tragic troubles our beloved childhood relic has succumbed to leaving us with only nostalgic memories, photos if your parents were the type to take pics of anything and everything, and then THIS. Oh yes. I stumbled on this NATIONAL TREASURE quite accidently of a glimpse inside a Toys R Us chain store uploaded by and features a then teenage Youtube user Kimock7; who by the way is rocking a very snazzy era fashion hat and radical on-point trendy clothing of the latter decade. Checking out the rest of his videos, no surprise here he is now in a Doors tribute band called Of Perception and that just validates that this guy knows the importance of tried and true nostalgic feelings. If you can’t tell, that something I damn appreciate.

I mean, it is 2020 after all. Fuzzy memories are always welcome!

The video is only over two-minutes long, and mind you this is wayyyyy before influencers were counting on supreme content for views. This was clearly done just for shits and giggles by the user and his buddy Brian as he refers to him enter the palace of plastic pleasures looking for “curious kids looking for curious toys”.

These days one might be arrested for something like that but hey, I’m gonna bypass that joke on the heels of what we see next.

The store in the video is shot and located in Vernin Hills, Illinois and isn’t hyperfocused on any toys in particular, except a few creepy dolls that I can’t seem to identify at the expense of a classic joke aimed at Brian ol’ boy. However, the fantastic Nintendo fiber-optics sign smack in the middle of Nintendo world with shots of Sega Genesis along the way is the way to my heart ladies and gentleman.

I’ll admit I would have loved to see some of the Ninja Turtle merchandise they mentioned in the video but I can’t even complain about anything going on here. These types of videos are so rare that the fact this even exists is quite enough for me! Check it out below and give this guy a subscribe who also is an Autism Awareness advocate. Great stuff all around and enjoy this internet gold nostalgic nuggets!