It may seem like idle boasting, but there was good reason for Kay-Bee Toys to be known as “America’s toy store.”
Founded in 1922 by the Kaufman Brothers, at its peak Kay-Bee operated over 1,300 stores in all 50 states. Chances are, if your town had a mall, your mall had a Kay-Bee. The stores were a staple of a fledgling toy collector’s youth, including many of the Fwoosh gang. ibentmyman-thing picks up the tale.
“Growing up near a sleepy town that was slow to expand meant that I didn’t have some of the stores others took for granted. I was never a Toys R Us kid, because the nearest TRU was in the neighboring “big” city (and I’m using big loosely) and wouldn’t make an appearance in my city until the ’90s. So most of my toy acquisitions came from Hills or Best. That isn’t to say those stores didn’t provide for me, but I would often dream of this magical land that was dedicated solely to toys and nothing but toys. I imagined row upon row of every possible action figure I could imagine. Obviously, the reality was probably nothing like the fantasy, but you know how it is.
We did have a brief appearance of a store called “Tons of Toys,” but I felt so lied to when I walked in. Just . . . so damn lied to. Why were there so many articles of clothing in a toy store? Why are the toys twice the price? Why do they not have any G.I. Joes? Lies piled on lies.
Luckily, we did have a mall, and that mall had a Kay-bee. It was like a little brother to what I imagined the big toy stores were, but at least it was something. It was scooched right between a plant store and a Sears, and it would usually be our last stop when he made our way through our one-level mall. It would eventually die out and leave that mall, only to come back ten years later as a pathetic, limping thing full of random crap only to die yet again, but at one point it was magic.
I can still remember the first time we toured the mall after moving into the area. I was not yet six years old at the time. We stopped at one of those mall directories to see what the place had to offer. That was when I saw it: Kay-Bee Toys. I jabbed the button and looked to see where the light was. It was so far away from the “You Are Here.” I wanted to be “there.” But parents are parents and they are slow as frikkin’ molasses, so it would take forever to make it “there.” Not that I didn’t enjoy this brand new world — if you haven’t guessed, we moved to this sleepy town from an even sleepier town that had no mall, so this was really new to me. There was plenty of cool stuff, but in the back of my head, all I could concentrate on was “toy store toy store toystoretoystoretoystore.”
But when we finally got there . . . bam. It was the brightest, most colorful store in the mall. It seemed to radiate light like it contained a miniature sun inside it’s cramped walls. The toys spilled out into the walkway, and even they seemed to glow. The words “Kay-Bee” were huge and red and glowing and could be seen from way past the water fountain. Which was, like, a long way away.
In hindsight, it was never a “great” place to find things. It really didn’t have any better stock than the aforementioned Hills or Best, and the Star Wars figures were about a buck higher there than anywhere else. Occasionally they’d have something that other stores didn’t — they were a great place to find Go-Bots when other stores had given up on them — but overall I did much more of my toy buying elsewhere. But it wasn’t about that. It was about the vibe. It was a tiny chunk of colorful awesome popped in between the dull and the mundane. It was a store whose sole purpose was to say, “Hey, kids . . . I might have something for you.” Which sounds creepy as an adult, but as a kid . . . yeah, that was everything you wanted.”
Anthill again. I wasn’t a Kay-Bee kid. Most of my toys were birthday or Christmas gifts, and my family rarely stopped in mall toy stores. Kay-Bee wasn’t “known” to me until my teens. In typical delinquent fashion, my delinquent friends and I used to steal the little penguins off the motorized slide. You know the kind. The penguins start at the bottom of a ladder, ride a little belt up to the top and then roll down a twisty plastic slide. Kay-Bee always had these set up in front of the store because they were colorful and the movement caught potential shopper’s eyes. While we never bothered stealing anything else, the wee penguins were irresistible. We couldn’t help ourselves; every trip to the mall we’d kidnap one or two of them, eventually building a nice little army. I’m not sure what happened to the rest, but the single red penguin that survived lived in my broken stove one memorable summer long ago. Heat Penguin, I hardly knew ye.
DisThunder had this to say about Kay-Bee:
“When it comes to Kay-Bee, I have tons of memories stretching waaaay back into childhood, but you wanna know what I think of almost instantly? The mid-’90s. Between the golden age of toys and the silver age resurgence of the early 2000s, the ’90s were still a fascinating time for toys and comics, and a great decade to get your driver’s license. Even at 16, I still dabbled in the dark arts of toys and comic books, though in my day, you kinda kept that on the low, instead of flying your freak flag full-mast like these damn kids today. So it was pretty normal to finish practice and head down to the mall about a mile or so away from school.
It’s pretty difficult to talk about Kay-Bee and not talk about “the mall.” Symbiotic a pair as their ever was, watching the overall decline of the classic mall in the US over the last decade makes me think that losing all those Kay-Bees really was the canary in the coal mine. But back in the ’90s, Kay-Bee was the main reason for hitting the mall. Whether it was to grab a bunch of cheap figures whose prices ended in 3s to get the discount, or scoring a bunch of N64 games at half price, there was always something you didn’t need, but could easily justify. Kay-Bee was also very gifted in rolling over old stock, so it was always wild to find some Kenner Terminator figures you hadn’t seen in at least a couple years pop back up on sale. They also seemed to get a little bit of everything, so there were lots of smaller lines that didn’t get Toys ‘R’ Us traction that you could easily pick up there — the early McFarlane figures were a great example, and that continued up to the beginning of Marvel Legends.
Probably the best part about the whole Kay-Bee/mall experience in that middle decade is that it was just one of many stops you could make. The mall I’m talking about (Cottonwood Mall, may she rest in pieces) also had a Suncoast, Sam Goody, a local toy shop called Hammond’s (still kicking, BTW), as well as a comic shop, and the old time and money waster standby — the arcade. So even if there wasn’t anything I had to have at one, I could always round out the stops and find at least a little something. And even though gas was cheap, the less you wasted on it, the better.
Kay-Bee also really was the first of my “toy hunting” spots, and it created parts of that bizarre ritual I still carry out today. Simply put, if you can work the freeway, you can find most of the malls in Utah. And at the time, if you found the mall, you found Kay-Bee — at its heyday I think only one of the malls along the I-15/215 corridor didn’t have one. And, again, at 16, finding the mall in the next town over was a little adventure all its own. Now, it’s more expensive, less adventurous (but maybe more dangerous?), and leaves you cranky when you’re done.
Naturally, I blame the distinct lack of Kay-Bee stores.
What are your Toy Store Memories? Discuss ’em on the Fwoosh forums!
If you liked this article check out Toy Aisle Memories: Hills Department Store
When I was a kid, my folks were always going to the mall. It was the place to be in the late 80’s-early 90’s. The bank my mother used was just inside the main entrance, my folks loved the food court and the movie theater. My dad bought his records from “The Wall” and my mother was always in JC Penney and Hecht’s. During those boring visits to those stores and the long long lines at the bank, my mother would reward my sister and I with KayBee if we behaved ourselves. Since we were always well behaved children, we seemed to head to that back corner very often. Honestly I think my mother enjoyed the visits as well, thanks to the demos out front. Usually it was the bubble balls, barking puppy toys or the big loaders or that penguin chute toy. They always amused her, while my sister and I looked around at our favorite sections.
She would give us each 10 dollars and let us loose. It didnt happen every time, but on those occasions I’d say at least once a month, we’d use that 10 for a shopping spree. Passing through the entrance, there were islands with new and hot seasonal items, the side walls were usually packed with movie tie ins and big ticket preschool items. However what I wanted were those bargin bin finds. So many 3 for $5 action figures ranging from Batman to Ninja Turtles and X-Men/X-Force. Alot of good finds were picked here. Apocalypse with weapon hands, Penguin, Wolverine II, all four Movie Star Turtles, Venom, Phantasm. Oh the lists were endless. Once I found those three I liked it was off to the main aisle to find something regular price, this was usually a Star Wars figure or a newer series of TMNT or X-Men. I remember one visit, they had a first edition Deadpool, Morph and Weapon X Wolverine with the Red cables in the bins and I picked up a Crime Squad Batman figure. It was so hard to choose though, because every visit the shelves were fully stacked with figures usually hanging off the pegs and falling to the floor. So even though I had the bargin bin figures I needed I had to pick up at least one new toy, why I didnt get 3 more X-Men or other bargin toy is beyond me, I guess I had to have Bomb Control Batman that badly I guess.
KayBee was also where most of my Mighty Morphin Power Rangers collection came from. Christmas 1994 my mother was first in line twice 2 weeks before Christmas and again on Christmas Eve, there were guards at the gate and the first ten people were allowed special access for a somewhat auction of toys. The manager would hold up a piece and ask how many hands and they would count the first few that would come up and put the toys in a reserved cart, 10 in all one for each customer. My mother walked out with so much stuff those trips. We are talking Titanus, Tor, both Thunderzord sets, complete sets of Karate Actions, and Auto Morphin, the original Megazord, Saba. She made out. There was even an escort for the 10 winners to their car to ensure their purchases were safe. It’s probably another reason why she always looked to this store to do her shopping, because not only were they well stocked but the outlet in our mall had a very good system to counter riots for fads. She still has the scars from Dragonzord thanks to TRU’s throw the box down the aisle and collect the ripped open empty shipping carton afterwards strategy.
Even when I was at that age where I should have been getting out of action figures I couldn’t help but stop at KayBee usually in a Star Wars fueled frenzy, as in my teenage years that was what I was mostly collecting. I’ll never forget the first time I saw both Bespin Duel figures in stock and Luke had the bloody stump. I screamed bloody stump so loud, I think I may have frightened some customers and irritated the staff there.It was an awkward checkout I’ll tell you that. LOL
Bins of cheap Toybiz 90’s X-Men and Spider Man figures!
2nd run Playmates lines like Earthworm Jim, Ronin Warriors, (Not) Exo-Squad and even Turtles!
Awesome cast-off exclusives like Transformers Machine Wars and Aliens Hive Wars!
Man, I miss that place. I still have dreams about finding weird stuff in there.
Me too. Kaybee is a vague memory from my childhood.
We shopped at all the other stores far more frequently.
Mark,I didn’t always get what I wanted either, but as an only child,I was grateful for what I did get. People often got the wrong impression that I was somehow spoiled because I was my mom’s only kid. Not so much.
Thank God for that, and thank God for her. Just because she WANTED to get me things, did not mean she could. My dad passed away before I was born, so you can be grateful that you were lucky enough to have a dad to beg to buy you things,boss. Some things can NOT be bought.
Count your blessings.
Your grades ,as you said, are rewarded in your wages and purchasing power to get the things you NEED and the things you want(ad nauseam). Appreciate it, sir.
There are others who are less fortunate.
☺ Shalom!
Wha? You mean…abc’s “the SHARKS” did this!? =-O (vbg)lol
Wish I could say plenty,about the eponymous store,but I can’t. Kaybee was a vague memory from the distant past. I recall more of it as an adult than as a kid. I do recall the wall of Star Wars toys at one point, but living in Orlando has perks to there being many markets competing for my family’s dollar. As a kid, it was Sears,Zayre, Lionel play world,TG&Y,JM Fields, Jefferson Ward aka Montgomery Wards,ToysRus, and then KayBee.
Heavens, there were even Toys in the local grocery stores and Hess gas stations. I’ve still got fond memories of “Publix” and “Hess” 18wheeler semi trucks that I used to pay “CONVOY” with.
Wow..how times have changed. Kaybee wasn’t the only casualty. The landscape is littered with dead retailers now that I’ve thought about it, and only tru and the box tops stand over the remains..
Btw-my malls contain comic shops, Hot Topic, Spencer’s, and movie theaters, so I’ve got plenty of good reasons to still hit the malls!
Shalom☺
I worked at a KB one Xmas season. I also worked at a TRU one Xmas season, too, but KB was WAY more fun. Sure, some of the prices were lame, marked up only to be marked down. But it was an enjoyable place to stop in from time to time. I didn’t even work the register once, I was instead in charge of the boy’s action figure aisle. And I kicked ass, even though I had to help out some scalpers and crazy Starting Lineup collectors from time to time.
I had some great finds at KB back in the day. Being part of the mall, I could get there consistently by bus and there were always figures under $5, which was great if you were a kid on a kid’s budget and didn’t want to leave empty handed. I have memories of excitement and anticipation holding a new figure along the bus ride home. All the other stores were just supplements to the visit to KB. Even today, the mall seems so boring without a store devoted to toys. On another note, every KB price tag I see looks like it was written on with the same red pen and in the same handwriting everywhere. I wonder if it was just one person’s sole job to do that.
Great article. I remember shopping there. The store was not in the mall, but across the street. I remember going for the old X-Men/X-Force line. It’s where I picked up my first Spider Man Classics and Marvel Legends. They also always had the oddball lines that other places didn’t carry.
I remember getting lots of videogames there. One of the few places I remember that always carried Turbo Grafx 16 stuff. I’ll never forget when they had stacks and stacks of Virtual Boy systems for some crazy low price. They would be worth a small fortune today. They also had tons of Genesis 3 systems, not worth a small fortune today.
Awesome story. Brings back memories.
We didn’t shop much at Kay Bee when I was a kid. Most of my toys my parents bought for me came from the Marts (Wal- and K-). My biggest memories with Kay Bee came when I got back into toys as an adult, driving from town to town looking for Toys R Uses and Kay Bees looking for Beast Wars junk.
Fun article – it’s great to see all these KB stories. Mine was in a mall in Farmington, NM. That was the “big city” next to the town I grew up in – and like the rest of you – KB was the destination. I’m sure it was a smaller KB, but it was amazing to me all the same. I remember getting most of my Ninja Turtles there, the first wave of Toy Biz Marvel figures, Dick Tracy figures, etc. It really is a shame nothing has replaced it.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment, folks! Look for more Toy Aisle Memories soon!
Kay-Bee was the ONLY reason to stomach going to the mall, back in the day. What else was there but clothing stores? So you wait and wait and wait for mom to look around in the various shops until FINALLY – you get to Kay-Bee. Maybe you get something, maybe you don’t. Depends on how good you are at selling the idea that you “need” something. “Oh that one would be perfect for a story I’m playing!” You know.
On of my strongest memories is buying the yellow and black Alley Viper and opening that thing up ON THE SPOT. We stopped at Kay-Bee early (’cause we went in the door it was closest to) so I needed that toy open NOW to be able to survive the rest of the mall.
…and I lost the shield. The ONE item I was most looking forward to the most, with the Alley Viper. That awesome Cobra-symbol shield. Just had to open the toy with the tiny parts in the mall, didn’t you?
Otherwise, as with many collectors: I got to know Kay-Bee a little better later on, when they were obviously dying. Prices were low, weird old toys would randomly show up, and lets be honest: No one else seemed to be buying from them, so they were sort of a safe bet (at least, around me). That is, unless I was trying to buy the 200X MotU toyline. Kay-Bee kept Smash Blade He-Man and Spin Blade Skeletor to the GRAVE. Just one whole wall of them. Probably dragged them down further.
In the end, I really miss the place. The mall isn’t the same without it. I mean…now it’s JUST clothes stores. Maybe a Best Buy. That’s it. No toy store has taken up in Kay-Bee’s stead. There’s no reason to go to the mall anymore.
i remember going to kaybees every time i would travel to the town the mall was from the town i lived in. the moment i walked in the mall doors walking straight to kaybees some time just browzing but mostly aquiring some cool treasures like super powers and the first wave of toybiz x-men line even having the sales clerks go out their way espicaly for wolverine. ahh the memories of kaybees.
Never really bought from KB going up. They always seemed to be out of stock of the most desired toys and videogames. It was also a tad bit more expensive than TRU in my region and didn’t have as good as a selection. My fondest toy memory from the 80’s is when my Dad got inside information that a local Zayre’s was getting a restock of Generation 1 Transformers in mid Dec. 1984. Being the awesome Dad that he was, he sneaked out of the house that early morning before any of us were awake and waited hours in the cold for the store to open up. With Christmas lists in hand, he was able to get every Transformer and bought a bunch of extra ones we didn’t even list to give to us for our upcoming birthdays in January. That Christmas was one of the most memorable of my childhood. He told us his story of how he was able to find them on after we opened our presents and to this day we always talk about it during the holidays. I figure today, people now buy up all the desired toys around the holidays just to scalp them on Ebay.
Growing up in Louisiana we had a KB in our city… along with a Toys R’ Us, Target, Wal-Mart… yeah… Anyways I remember that little KB bundled in our mall (Lafayette Mall). Always stocked and still carried older goodies. I remember they still had Kenner Star Wars when everyone else had got Hasbro.
Seeing it go was sad. I remember asking my mom over and over why KB toys was gone. She never could answer me while looking me in the eye. Admittedly we both liked KB toys.
Same reason TRU has been sold twice in the past decade, and Wal Mart has scaled down most toy aisles; the profit margin on toys is too low for what most mass retail wants.
I remember that KB! It closed for good just after I moved to Astoria.
Sad part is, Kay-Bee didn’t have to die, it was executed by money hungry venture capitalists when it wasn’t profiting enough.
Kay Bee was always a stop anytime we hit the mall. Current toy lines were always a bit pricier so rarely did I get my Joes or Star Wars figures there. What it really became my destination for was older toy lines. As I hit my teens I would shop there for toys that I wouldn’t have paid full price for when they were new. As mentioned above Kay Bee would often hold on to stuff and then give it a deep discount. This allowed the purchase of a full line at a steal of a price. Battle Beasts, Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos, Visionaries, and Cops N Crooks are just a few lines that I was able to purchase all or nearly all of the line once they hit rock bottom at KB. My biggest score/regret was the “last 17” Star Wars figures. I picked up most of them at about a buck a pop at one point out of obligation more than anything. I was in the transition of loved figures still, but was getting older. I’m pretty sure I sold them as part of my quest to buy more Super Nintendo games. DOH!!!
I grew up in Astoria, in Queens NY. There was a KB toys on Stienway street, if my memory serves right. I remember going there. I actually do not have fond memories as every-time I went, it never had anything I wanted. No one wanted Arctic Freeze. Super Cool, Night Flight Batman. Well actually there are things I wanted just above my 5-8 dollar limit. So usually if there were no GOOD action figures, I would leave in shame. Other kids whose parents took them and WANTED to buy them toys, were the lucky ones, but not me…nope, not me.
I do not think I ever bought anything from KB toys in the 90’s, as ToysRUS had huge aisles of action figures and I actually found things there. But the nostalgia of brick and mortar is great. The bright colors, the store window, you know it was Christmas, by how un-kept the floor was. Golden Age, maybe? But it was the twilight of the in-store toy age, as we transitioned to big brightly lit stores, to a dark shadowy, dodgy warehouse, that made buying impersonal.
Even the local Toy store. I would see an older man run a Toy Trains shop. on 37st street and 30th avenue. I would look at the toy trains and beg my dad, My brother wanted toy trains, but my dad was frugal, and never spent a penny on toys for his kids. Good grades, were never rewarded, so today, I spoil myself rotten. Toys, are my reward, but I do miss seeing the wonderful Christmas toy displays from the train shop. But my and KB were never truly friends, only a passing glance and the shock as how messy the floors were, from the kids and adults who got what they wanted.