ORBIS
Toys
71 shops · Hand-checked. Walk in.
Toys by city
Craft guide
ORBISTHE TOYS ISSUEGoto Hakata Ningyo hand-forms and paints fired-clay Hakata dolls in Fukuoka, continuing the city's tradition of ceramic figures. Its Kogei Gallery sells finished dolls and accepts commissions for commemorative pieces, connecting display objects with individual occasions. Hamburg's Miniatur Wunderland Shop provides another toy-shopping address, alongside the Fukuoka doll maker represented in this selection.
This plate lists 71 shops in 18 countries. Paris has the most with 10, followed by Tokyo with 7. Among these shops, 3 sell online, going by their own descriptions.
Check the age rating: look for the age marking and safety standard on the toy before buying it for a child.
Ask what it is made of: ask about the wood and the paint, especially for toys a small child may put in their mouth.
Ask about spare parts: for models and sets, ask whether replacement parts can be ordered later.
Use the city plates when they appear below, or open any store for its official door and related ORBIS city and craft links.
Toy & Model Makers · 71 shops, the best first
Fukuoka
Goto Hakata Ningyo is a long-established Hakata doll house in Fukuoka, hand-forming and painting the fired-clay figures the city has made for four centuries. Its Kogei Gallery shop sells finished dolls and takes commissions for commemorative pieces.
Best for Hakata ningyo clay dolls
Hamburg, Germany
Miniatur Wunderland Shop is listed in Hamburg as a toys; its official website and supplied OpenStreetMap place record provide the public-door evidence.
Best for Toys
Baytown, Texas
Nico’s complements Alter Ego by centering the pre-owned and trading side of hobby retail. The family-owned shop buys, sells and trades comics, cards and toys at its current West Defee suite, making it the better first inquiry for a collection, a used find or a trade-in.
Best for Pre-owned comics, cards, toys and collection trade-ins
Baytown, Texas
Once Upon A Child on Garth Road buys and resells children's clothes, toys and gear.
Best for Children's resale at a verified Baytown door
Pearl Street, Boulder
Into The Wind has sold kites from its Pearl Street shop since 1980, from simple diamonds to stunt and box kites, along with windsocks, banners and flying toys. The independent store designs some of its own kites and ships them worldwide.
Best for Kites and flying toys
Cebu / Philippines
Making Space in Cebu City sells its own crafted products, from making kits through to wearables.
Best for Making kits, wooden toys and wearables
Collioure / France
Zinzin Magasin is a shop on Place du 18 Juin in Collioure selling tableware and decoration, and old toys too.
Best for Tableware, decor and old toys
Times Square Center, Al Quoz, Dubai
A specialist tabletop retailer selling board games, card games, role-playing games, miniatures, puzzles, painting supplies, dice, and gaming accessories. The shop runs in-store events and supports tabletop gaming communities.
Best for Board games, RPGs, miniatures, and painting supplies, with in-store gaming events
Back to Games was founded by Mark Azzam in late 2015, opening its first shop at Shams Boutik Mall on Abu Dhabi's Al Reem Island as, by its own account, the UAE's first retailer dedicated specifically to modern board and card games -- a category distinct from the mainstream toy chains that had previously carried only a narrow selection of mass-market titles. The concept expanded to Dubai in 2017, with a second outlet holding its grand launch at Times Square Center on Sheikh Zayed Road on 24 March 2017. The store stocks board games, card games, role-playing systems, tabletop miniatures, and the paints and hobby supplies used to finish them, and runs in-store events aimed at building a local tabletop community rather than simply moving stock. Back to Games has since grown to three physical locations across Abu Dhabi and Dubai -- including a further branch at Town Centre Jumeirah -- alongside an e-commerce operation, positioning it as the UAE's specialist alternative to general-purpose toy retailers for tabletop hobbyists.
Grindelwald, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland
A third-generation family shop on Dorfstrasse stocking souvenirs, clothing, and toys across 130 square metres in the village centre. It focuses on traditional and regional gift items rather than mass-market goods.
Best for Grindelwald souvenirs and gifts
Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Sino Centre is a shopping building on Nathan Road in Mong Kok, with shops carrying anime goods and collectible toys. Its reputation also includes vintage comics, following an earlier mix of record sellers and Japanese photobook shops. It is a collection of separate retailers rather than a single store with one shared product range.
Best for Anime merchandise, collectible toys and vintage comics
Malha Mall, Jerusalem
Israeli branch of the U.S. toy chain founded in 1957 by Charles Lazarus; opened its first Israeli store in 1995 under license to Fishman Retail Group, with this location on the third floor of Malha Mall.
Best for Action figures, dolls, games, educational toys, and outdoor play gear
This Malha Mall location is part of the Israeli Toys R Us franchise, which opened its first store in the country in 1995, run under license by Fishman Retail Group. The global Toys R Us chain traces to 1948, when Charles Lazarus opened Children's Supermart, a baby-furniture store, in Washington, D.C.; he opened the first store dedicated purely to toys, under the Toys R Us name, in 1957. The Israeli operation has continued trading under the Toys R Us name even through the U.S. parent company's 2017-2018 bankruptcy and store liquidation, since the Israeli stores are run independently under license rather than owned directly by the U.S. corporate entity. The Jerusalem store, on the third floor of Malha Mall, carries the standard Toys R Us range across baby gear, action figures, dolls, games, educational toys, and outdoor play equipment.
Konstanz / Germany
Pläsierchen is a shop on Theodor-Heuss-Straße in Konstanz selling pottery and toys, as well as clothing.
Best for Pottery, toys and clothing
Lagos
A toy store in Lagos selling indoor and outdoor toys including bouncing castles, swings, playhouses and slides.
Best for Indoor and outdoor kids toys
Solaris Dutamas
Carousel is a vintage London-style toy shop at Publika Shopping Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. Giant window displays and life-sized Nutcracker figures front a stock of model airplanes, rocking horses, and toy soldiers.
Best for Vintage London-style toy displays — model airplanes, rocking horses, toy soldiers
Carousel occupies a corner of Publika Shopping Gallery in Kuala Lumpur dressed like a London toy shop from an earlier decade: giant window displays anchor the storefront, with a pair of life-sized Nutcracker figures greeting shoppers at the entrance against a red-and-white color scheme. Inside, the stock leans deliberately old-fashioned rather than chasing whatever's trending in mainstream toy chains, with model airplanes, jack-in-the-box toys, rocking horses, and ranks of toy soldiers sitting alongside more contemporary arts-and-crafts sets, dolls, and jigsaw puzzles. A candy cart near the entrance stocks gourmet treats from Fête Artisan Marshmallow, a local confectioner, giving the shop a secondary pull for browsers who aren't there for toys at all. The approach reads as curated nostalgia rather than a discount toy warehouse: harder-to-find items like specific Nutcracker figures and Schleich animal figurines show up in customer accounts of the shop more often than mass-market plastic. Carousel keeps daily hours, open from 10am to 9pm, and sits on Level G3 of Publika alongside the mall's other specialty retailers. For parents or collectors looking for toys with some visual theatre built into the shopping experience itself, rather than a big-box aisle, Carousel is built specifically around that kind of browsing.
Luxembourg City / Luxembourg
Domino on Rue Louvigny has filled four floors with toys and gifts in Luxembourg for thirty years.
Best for Toys and gifts over four floors
Mont Belvieu, Texas
Bricks & Minifigs Mont Belvieu is listed in Mont Belvieu for LEGO resale and specialty toys.
Best for Lego resale and specialty toys
Mystic Connecticut / United States
The Toy Soldier is a family-owned toy store, the first shop to open in Olde Mistick Village back in 1973, stocking collectible toy soldiers, dolls, plush, puzzles and imaginative-play sets. Its shelves favour games, science kits and gifts that spark reading and time together over screens.
Best for Toys, games, dolls, collectibles
Nashville / United States
Family-owned since 1946, Phillips Toy Mart is a Nashville toy store on Harding Pike stocking everything from Playmobil and Brio to plush, dolls, games and a large model-train display. It offers gift wrapping, a birthday registry and in-store shopping for all ages.
Best for Toy store, games, dolls, model trains
3-4-16 Nipponbashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka
Massive capsule toy shop — hundreds of gachapon machines with collectable figures, from anime characters to miniature food replicas. The most Japanese shopping experience.
Best for Capsule toys.
3-2-19 Nipponbashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka
Anime and manga resale across multiple floors — new and used figures, doujinshi, cels and collectables. Otaku treasure hunting in Nipponbashi.
Best for Anime goods.
Paris / Multiple
French toy shop for wooden toys, creative games, plush toys, baby gifts, and family-friendly browsing.
Best for Wooden toys, creative games, plush toys, and baby gifts
Paris / Online
Paris toy and games brand founded in 1954 by Veronique Michel-Dales, named after the gecko; still a family business - her son Frederic took over in 1989 and added arts-and-crafts kits to the range in 2007.
Best for Artist-designed puzzles, wooden toys and imaginative games
Djeco was founded in Paris in 1954 by Veronique Michel-Dales, who named the company after the gecko, traditionally a symbol of good luck. The brand specialized in educational games designed to be both beautiful and fun, and Michel-Dales won four Oscars du Jouet through the 1960s. Her son Frederic took over the family business in 1989 and began designing original toy and game collections. In 2007 the brand expanded into arts and crafts, introducing kits for origami, glitter boards and fabric painting alongside its existing puzzles and games.
Paris / Online
French wooden toy specialist — FSC-certified puzzles, games and creative play for children 12m-14+, learning through adventure.
Best for French wooden toys, puzzles and role-play sets
Janod is a French specialist in wooden and cardboard toys and games with a mission described as being 'the best adventure companion for children.' The company designs toys and games that allow children to learn while engaging in creative play. Janod manufactures a diverse product range including wooden and cardboard puzzles at various difficulty levels, educational games, imitation and pretend play toys including kitchens and tool sets, creative activities and craft supplies, board games, bath toys, skill-based games, musical instruments and outdoor play equipment. All products are made from FSC-certified sustainable materials emphasizing environmental responsibility. Janod markets toys and games for children from 12 months through 14+ years old, positioning the brand as a comprehensive resource for childhood learning and creative development through play-based education.
Paris / Online
L’Atelier de la Souris Verte focuses on French toys, plush, children gifts, and playful family shopping. At Paris, the range centers on French toys, plush, and children's gifts for playful family shopping.
Best for French toys, plush, and children's gifts for playful family shopping.
Paris / Online
Nantes-based children's brand founded in 2019 by Marine Bocabeille and Quentin Ory, who started out making toys from recycled plastic before pivoting to educational, non-gendered children's magazines and toys manufactured in France.
Best for Travel-themed educational toys, figurines, and discovery kits
Les Mini Mondes was founded in 2019 by Marine Bocabeille and Quentin Ory, who met that year and shared a wish to create toys made in France from recycled materials. The pair began within the startup studio Imagination Machine, initially building a line of toys made from recycled plastic paired with an accompanying storybook. As they developed the concept, the founders shifted focus toward publishing: parents they spoke with wanted more thoughtful stories for their children, ones that moved away from gendered narratives built around violent superheroes for boys and passive princesses for girls, and Les Mini Mondes pivoted toward age-adapted educational magazines built on that premise. The company's office, its in-house Boost creative studio, an illustrators' workshop, and its warehouse are based in Nantes, while physical manufacturing of its toys takes place in La Forêt-Fouesnant, keeping production within France. The brand's output today spans travel- and discovery-themed magazines for children, educational board games, and figurines and toy sets, all built around the founders' original goal of combining ecological, made-in-France manufacturing with content meant to inspire and educate rather than simply entertain. Les Mini Mondes was later acquired by the publishing group UHM, which has said it plans to expand the brand into podcasts and animated content alongside its existing print and toy lines.
GALERIES LAFAYETTE
The French storyteller box — screen-free audio tales children compose themselves. Stocked at Galeries Lafayette in Paris.
Best for Screen-free storyteller boxes for children’s audio tales
Lunii was founded in 2014 by Maëlle Chassard, then a design student at Strate École de Design in Paris, together with three childhood friends. Their prototype, an audio device letting children build their own stories by choosing characters, settings, and plot twists, won a public prize at the Futur en Seine innovation festival, then raised roughly €42,000 through crowdfunding in 2015 and a €480,000 funding round the following year that financed its first large-scale production run in China. The flagship product, "Ma Fabrique à Histoires," is a screen-free, illuminated device combining interchangeable story elements into twenty-four narratives from its base set, designed as an alternative to tablet and phone use for young children. Revenue grew from €2.3 million in 2017 to €6.5 million by 2018, and in 2020 Lunii moved manufacturing to France, partnering with BMS Circuits in the Basque Country. Since 2024 the device has added Wi-Fi connectivity, replacing its original USB-based system for loading stories bought through the LuniiStore platform. The company sells primarily online and through retail partners, with occasional in-store presence such as a corner at Galeries Lafayette in Paris.
Paris / Online
The 1972 French toy cooperative — plush worlds and paper theatres of gentle Loire imagination.
Best for Plush toys and paper theatres from this 1972 Loire toy cooperative
Paris / Multiple
Descended from Eveil & Jeux, a mail-order educational-toy catalogue Margaret Milan started from a garage in 1989; renamed Oxybul éveil et jeux in 2011 after a decade as Fnac Eveil & Jeux, it now runs about 40 stores across France.
Best for Educational toys, games, books, and craft kits for family gift shopping
Oxybul traces back to 1989, when Margaret Milan, unhappy with the quality of toys available for her own children, started Eveil & Jeux as a mail-order catalogue of educational and playful toys, run out of a garage by a team of parents rather than a conventional retail operation. The company grew from that catalogue model into childcare products and, in 2000, established the Fondation Eveil & Jeux, aimed at improving children's access to play and learning-through-play, particularly for disadvantaged children, a project tied to the brand's founding rationale about the educational value of toys. Between 2001 and 2010, the company operated jointly with Fnac's youth division under the name Fnac Eveil & Jeux, which is also when its first physical stores opened, moving the business beyond mail order. Following a change in shareholders, the chain was renamed Oxybul éveil et jeux on 14 February 2011. Today it operates roughly 40 stores across France, serving children from birth to age 12 and their parents, with the original emphasis on educational and awakening-focused ('éveil') toys, books, games and craft kits still organizing its product range.
Passage Jouffroy
Toy and dollhouse-miniatures shop open since 1972 in Paris's 19th-century Passage Jouffroy, near the Musée Grévin. Two floors specialize in handmade wooden toys, dollhouse furniture, stuffed animals and vintage-style games.
Best for Dollhouse furniture and old-Paris toys in the Passage Jouffroy since 1972
Pain d'Épices has operated since 1972 inside the Passage Jouffroy, one of the covered 19th-century shopping arcades running through Paris's 9th arrondissement near the Musée Grévin waxworks. The shop takes its name from pain d'épices, the spiced honey bread traditionally associated with French children's teatime treats of past generations — a name chosen to evoke nostalgia rather than describe what it sells. Spread across two floors under the arcade's glass roof, the store specializes in dollhouse miniatures and furniture, handmade wooden toys, stuffed animals and dolls, along with vintage-style games and unusual collectible objects aimed at both children and adult collectors. It has become particularly known among miniature and dollhouse enthusiasts as a source for pieces sized and finished for serious display collections rather than mass-market toy versions. The shop's survival since 1972 inside Passage Jouffroy — itself a protected example of Paris's historic covered-arcade architecture — has made it a fixture of that stretch of the 9th arrondissement, alongside the arcade's other longstanding independent shops.
Paris / Online
French lacquered-wood toymaker founded in 1911 in Moirans-en-Montagne, in the Jura, by Narcisse Villet; took the Vilac name in 1979 (from Villet + lacquer). Toys are turned, lacquered and decorated on site from local beech, hornbeam and boxwood; holds the Living Heritage Company label since 2011.
Best for Glossy lacquered-wood toy cars and animals made in the Jura since 1911
Vilac's roots go back to 1911, when Narcisse Villet started a wood-turning workshop in Moirans-en-Montagne, a town in the Jura region long associated with French toymaking. The company took its current name in 1979, a contraction of 'Villet' and 'lacquer' - the finishing process that gives its wooden cars, animals and figures their glossy colour. Toys are still turned, smoothed, sanded, lacquered and decorated in workshops in the Jura, using local hardwoods including beech, hornbeam, alder and boxwood. Vilac built a reputation through design awards from the late 1980s onward, and since 2011 has held France's 'Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant' (Living Heritage Company) label.
Pisa / Italy
Gianfaldoni Giocattoli is a historic toy shop in Pisa carrying LEGO, Playmobil, dolls, board games, and construction sets across its Via Ceci storefront. Run by the Gianfaldoni family, the shop organizes birthday gift lists in-store and posts parking guidance for customers visiting the physical location.
Best for Toys, Games, Lego, Gifts
Porto / Portugal
Bazar Paris has sold toys, models and games from its Rua Sa da Bandeira storefront in Porto for over 100 years, carrying brands like Lego, Playmobil and Jellycat. The family-run shop also operates a full online store with delivery.
Best for Lego, Playmobil, Jellycat and classic family toys
Bubeneč, Prague
Ababu sells Czech-made baby toys, printed fabrics and guides for making toys from its original textile designs. Kits and instructions let families extend the patterns beyond finished products.
Best for Czech-made baby toys, printed fabrics, and make-your-own toy guides
Letná and Nové Město, Prague
Hugo chodí bos sells Czech-made wooden toys, puzzles, illustrated books and playful objects for children and adults. The selection values local design and durable materials over licensed character merchandise.
Best for Czech-made wooden toys, puzzles, and illustrated books for children and adults
Via della Scrofa, Rome / Online
Since 1977 Città del Sole has curated the intelligent toy — wooden, scientific, cooperative, screenless — from its Roman flagship to shops across Italy. A children's store parents linger in.
Best for Serious toys for creative childhoods
Seattle (Wallingford, 45th St)
Archie McPhee has designed and sold absurd gag gifts from its Wallingford store since 1983. Rubber chickens, bacon-scented novelties and glow-in-the-dark aliens fill the shelves.
Best for Quirky novelties, gag gifts and oddball toys
Spokane / United States
Boo Radley's is a locally owned downtown Spokane gift shop selling quirky apparel, blind-box toys, Sonny Angels, and home decor since 1993. The shop sells both in-store and through its online storefront with new arrivals updated regularly.
Best for Quirky apparel, blind-box toys, Sonny Angels, and home decor since 1993
Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo
THE GUNDAM BASE TOKYO is Bandai’s official Gunpla facility at DiverCity Tokyo Plaza. Its zones combine model-kit retail, building, displays and events.
Best for Gunpla kits and Gundam Base exclusives
Ginza 8-8-11, Chuo Ward, Tokyo
Hakuhinkan Toy Park is a four-floor toy specialty shop in Ginza stocking roughly 200,000 items across stuffed animals and character goods, games and dolls, and a dedicated racing/hobby floor with slot-car circuits. The store dates back over a century as one of Ginza's original toy retailers.
Best for 200,000 toys, character goods, dolls and slot-car racing
Omotesando, Tokyo
Four floors of character goods, toys, and Japanese pop culture merchandise. From Studio Ghibli to Pokémon to Sanrio — if it has a face, they sell it.
Best for Four floors of character goods, toys, and Japanese pop culture merchandise
Jiyugaoka, Tokyo
Flagship store for Kotobukiya's collectible figures and model kits. Exclusive Jiyugaoka-only items available alongside their full catalog. Regular workshops where fans can learn painting and assembly.
Best for Flagship store for Kotobukiya's collectible figures and model kits
Akihabara, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Tamashii Nations Store Tokyo is the Bandai Spirits flagship for Tamashii Nations collector figures, one minute from the Electric Town exit of JR Akihabara Station. It reopened at this address on June 23, 2022 with three times the former floor area. The shop is laid out in a New Item Zone, a Shop Zone and an Event Space. S.H.Figuarts, Figuarts mini and Chogokin lines share the shelves with store-limited editions.
Best for TAMASHII NATIONS figures and store-limited collectibles
Tamashii Nations Store Tokyo is the flagship shop of the Tamashii Nations brand, the collector figure line of Bandai Spirits, at 1-1 Kanda-Hanaokacho in Chiyoda-ku. It sits one minute from the Electric Town exit of JR Akihabara Station. The brand dates from 2008 and its name carries the word tamashii, or soul, which the company applies to figures finished by Japanese craftsmen. The store moved to this location in June 2022, reopening on June 23 with three times the floor area of the previous shop. The interior is arranged in three zones. A New Item Zone at the center introduces the latest releases, a Shop Zone carries the standing range, and an Event Space hosts changing exhibitions. Series on the shelves include S.H.Figuarts articulated figures, the compact Figuarts mini line and the Chogokin robots. Store-limited editions and event commemoration items appear alongside general releases, with some exclusives sold by lottery drawing during events. Past exhibitions have included a Gundam Figure Exhibition and a Dragon Ball Tamashii Nations Figure Expo in 2025. Purchases earn miles in the Club Tamashii Members programme, which also applies at the Tamashii Nations Store Online. The Chiyoda City Tourism Association described the renewed interior as resembling a 90s disco in a fashionable way.
Tokyo
Undercover Aoyama is the Tokyo shop of Jun Takahashi's label at 5-3-18 Minami Aoyama in Minato. Takahashi started Undercover in 1989 as a Bunka student and founded it formally in 1993 with the Nowhere store in Harajuku alongside Nigo. The label has shown in Paris since 2002. The shop carries the men's and women's collections, the kids' line and collaborations from Vans and George Cox to Medicom Toy.
Best for Jun Takahashi's punk-inspired streetwear-meets-high-fashion collections
Undercover's Aoyama shop stands at 5-3-18 Minami Aoyama in Minato ward, the district Jun Takahashi moved into after his first Harajuku store. Takahashi was born in 1969 in Kiryu, in Gunma prefecture. He studied apparel design at the Bunka Academy of Fashion from 1989 to 1991. There he sang in a Sex Pistols cover band and picked up the nickname Jonio for his resemblance to Johnny Rotten. He began Undercover in 1989 while still a student. The label was formally founded in 1993, the year he and Nigo, later of A Bathing Ape, opened the Nowhere store in Harajuku. The Aoyama shop followed as the brand grew. The first Undercover collection showed in Tokyo in 1994. The same year Takahashi began the intermittent A.F.F.A. project with Hiroshi Fujiwara. The Paris debut came in 2002, and in 2003 the Mainichi Shimbun gave him two fashion awards. The clothes take punk and street references with tattered or frayed elements and printed fabrics. The cuts lean feminine. Takahashi has described the work as strange but beautiful. The brand's own site now lists men's and women's lines, a kids' line and the Shepherd Undercover. Collaborations run from George Cox shoes and Vans OTW to Medicom Toy, The North Face and a Cindy Sherman capsule. A History of U archive and a stockists list sit alongside the shop pages for anyone tracing the label's seasons back to 2013.
Ueno, Tokyo
Massive 6-floor toy and hobby emporium across from Ueno Station. Action figures, models, games, character goods, and collectibles.
Best for Massive 6-floor toy and hobby emporium across from Ueno Station
Planois hamlet, Basse-sur-le-Rupt, near La Bresse
Christine Marbacher-Quintard turns and hand-paints wooden toys, puzzles, and home objects from locally sourced Vosges wood in a small workshop and showroom in the Planois hamlet, on the departmental road linking Vagney to La Bresse. During school holidays she opens the workshop floor for chantournage (fretwork woodturning) demonstrations, giving visitors a direct look at how each piece is shaped and finished with water-based paint and natural varnish.
Best for Hand-turned wooden toys and puzzles
Belarus
The shop sells handmade Belarusian matryoshka dolls, flax linen towels, bedding and tablecloths, and a traditional Belarusian rushnik towel, alongside Soviet-era souvenirs and soft toys. Products are organized by material, with wood and flax linen listed as the two main categories.
Best for Matryoshka dolls and flax linen textiles
Nizami Chouk, Channapatna
Manufactures wooden toys at Nizami Chouk in Channapatna, Karnataka. The site describes its toys as made with natural wood and emphasizes tradition alongside innovation.
Best for Handcrafted channapatna wooden toys
Camerano
Bontempi is an Italian children's brand making toy musical instruments and educational games, produced by iCom S.p.A. in Ancona. Its range spans keyboards, guitars, percussion, dolls, and plush toys.
Best for Toy musical instruments and educational play sets — keyboards, guitars
Bontempi has built its catalog around toy musical instruments designed for children, spanning keyboards, guitars, wind instruments, percussion, and microphones, alongside educational activity sets, plush toys, and a line of dolls. The company behind the brand, iCom S.p.A., is based in Ancona, Italy, and holds ISO 9001 certification as well as Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) status for its supply chain. Bontempi organizes its range into named collections rather than a single undifferentiated catalog: a 'School' line aimed at classroom instruments, a 'Music' line covering its core keyboards and guitars, and softer-goods lines such as 'Baby Soft' and 'Fluffy' for younger children. The brand positions itself around learning through play, pairing musical toys with instructional value rather than treating them purely as novelties. For a shopper, Bontempi reads less as a single hero product and more as a full children's-instrument wardrobe, with entry points at multiple price points and age ranges rather than one flagship item.
High Street, Bourton-on-the-Water
A working model railway exhibition and toyshop on the High Street, where large-scale layouts run alongside a counter stocked with model railway kits, die-cast vehicles and traditional toys. The long-running family business pairs its paid exhibition with a shop serving hobbyists and children.
Best for Model railways and traditional toys
Channapatna
Sells handcrafted wooden toys made with 100% natural wood and non-toxic colours, including wooden vehicles, puzzles, nesting dolls and kitchen sets. The site says its toys are made by Indian villagers and ships across India.
Best for Handcrafted wooden toys and puzzles
Channapatna
Third-generation family business, Meeran Art & Crafts, founded in 1946, making GI-tagged Channapatna wooden toys with natural, non-toxic lac colours. Based in the Handicrafts Colony on T K Road Cross, Channapatna, and recognized under India's ODOP scheme.
Best for Gi tagged lacquered wooden toys
Langeais / Loire / Online
French doll maker founded 1979, design studio based in Langeais in the Loire Valley; debut doll Bebe Cheri set the brand's realistic, vanilla-scented style. Dolls are designed in France and manufactured in Asia.
Best for Baby dolls, doll fashion, and first-doll gifts.
Corolle was founded in 1979 in Langeais, in the Loire Valley, with its first product, Bebe Cheri - a 20-inch newborn doll sized to resemble a real infant. The company built its identity on realism and a signature vanilla scent applied to its dolls, and has since won more than 30 international design and play awards. Corolle's design team remains based in Langeais, but actual manufacturing takes place in Asia rather than France, following standard practice for the toy industry. Corolle dolls are sold in more than 20 countries and the brand is now part of the Simba Dickie Group.
Online
Clean-clinical American skincare in toy colors — biocompatible formulas, the Protini and C-Firma cult, no “suspicious six.”
Best for Mix-your-own smoothies.
Sfax
Based in Sfax, this workshop carves rustic dishes, bowls, cutting boards, kitchen utensils and natural dog chew toys from aging olive trees that have become sterile. Each piece is left natural and unvarnished, produced through shaping, drying, sculpting, polishing, oiling and packaging.
Best for Olive wood dishes and kitchen utensils
Oxford
Family-run on Oxford's High Street, Hoyle's stocks traditional and vintage games, chess and go sets, board games, puzzles, and playing cards. The shop is open daily and mirrors its shelves in a full online store.
Best for Board games, chess, puzzles, playing cards, vintage games
Jura / Online
Jeujura began in Champagnole in 1911 as Henri Liégeon’s woodworking workshop and shifted toward wooden toys under the next generation. Its wooden chalet construction sets, introduced in the 1940s and still made in France, remain a signature part of the range alongside other wooden construction and educational toys.
Best for Wooden chalet building sets and heirloom toys.
Jeujura's history begins in 1911, when Henri Liégeon founded a small woodworking workshop in Champagnole, a town in France's Jura mountains, initially producing everyday wooden items such as tool handles and folding or deck chairs rather than toys. The business changed direction in 1931 when Liégeon's son, Bernard, took over management and redirected production toward wooden games, toys and construction sets. Drawing inspiration from the Alpine chalets characteristic of the Jura region, Bernard Liégeon developed the brand's own style of wooden building set, releasing the first wooden chalet construction toy in 1941 — the product family that would come to define Jeujura's identity. The company remained family-run into a third generation, which in the 1970s pushed the brand beyond the French domestic market into international sales and broadened the product range further. Jeujura continues to manufacture its wooden construction toys, chalets and games in France, marketed on the strength of both heritage (packaging and collector editions reference the brand's century-plus history) and continued domestic production, at a time when most wooden-toy manufacturing has shifted offshore. Retailers carrying the line include specialty toy shops such as Monkey Mum and 2 Kids Toys, alongside the brand's own site, jeujura.fr.
Liezey, Gérardmer
A family workshop in the Liezey hamlet above Gérardmer, turning wooden toys and household objects by hand since 1980. Made-to-order pieces sit alongside spinning tops, puzzles and utensils cut from local timber.
Best for Handmade wooden toys
Le Locle / Switzerland
La-Boutik on Rue du Pont in Le Locle keeps toys and decorations, along with small objects practical or surprising.
Best for Toys, decorations and useful objects
Haeundae
Line Friends' Busan flagship stocks character merchandise from IPX's roster, including BT21 and Brown, on Jungang-daero in Jung-gu. A second corner operates inside Lotte Department Store Gwangbok.
Best for Character merchandise from IPX's roster, including BT21 and Brown
Downtown Beaufort (909 Bay Street)
This independent downtown Beaufort toy store is stocked with games, puzzles and toys. Classic and novelty pieces fill the shelves.
Best for Toys, games and puzzles
Galena
Poopsie's is a funky gift and toy shop at the start of Main Street in downtown Galena, Illinois, packed with games, plush, art, books and home decor. It sells online with next-day shipping and runs a 1% Giveback project supporting charities.
Best for Toys, gifts, games
Ojai / United States
Serendipity Toys on East Matilija Street in Ojai offers retro and contemporary toys, chosen for traditional play.
Best for Retro and contemporary toys
Rumilly / Haute-Savoie / Online
Natural-rubber teething toy invented on 25 May 1961 by a Hevea-rubber craftsman known as Monsieur Rampeau, named for the feast day of St. Madeleine-Sophie Barat. Manufactured by the Vulli company in Rumilly, Haute-Savoie, since 1991, still made from 100% natural rubber via more than 14 manual steps.
Best for The iconic teether and baby gift sets.
Sophie la girafe was created on 25 May 1961 by an expert in molding latex from the Hevea rubber tree, credited in brand histories as Monsieur Rampeau; the toy was named for St. Madeleine-Sophie Barat, whose feast day fell that day. Rampeau reportedly chose a giraffe deliberately, wanting to move infant toys away from the usual farm-animal designs. The first Sophie toys were produced at a Delacoste company office in Paris, under what became the Vulli company. Since 1991, manufacturing has been based at Vulli's factory in Rumilly, in the Haute-Savoie region of France, where the toy is still made from 100% natural Hevea rubber through more than 14 manual operations per piece.
Harbor Springs / United States
The Rocking Horse Toy Company has been a family-run toy store in Northern Michigan since 1981, with shops in Harbor Springs and Petoskey stocking puzzles, games, Lego and thousands of toys. It offers free gift wrapping, curbside pickup and coast-to-coast shipping, taking orders by phone, email or Facebook.
Best for Toys, games, puzzles, family-run
Pismo Beach / United States
The Sky's the Limit in Pismo Beach hunts out new gifts and toys, along with flags and kites.
Best for Toys, flags and kites
Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY, USA
This long-running independent shop on Main Street in Sag Harbor stocks toys, games, puzzles and gifts. It has become a village landmark.
Best for Toys, games and gifts
Hofstetten bei Brienz
Trauffer has turned and painted Switzerland's spotted wooden toy cows since 1938, working from its factory near Brienz. The family firm makes wooden toys and home decor and runs an on-site experience world showing how the animals are shaped and hand-painted.
Best for Handcrafted Swiss wooden toys
Tarcento / Friuli / Online
Founded in 1954 in Tarcento (Udine) by German-born artist Gertrud 'Trudi' Mueller Patriarca, who began hand-sewing plush toys at home. Now owned by the Giochi Preziosi group since 2019.
Best for Heirloom-soft plush animals.
Trudi takes its name from Gertrud Mueller Patriarca, a German-born artist trained in Munich who settled in Molinis di Tarcento after marrying Antonio Patriarca in 1948. In the early 1950s she began making plush toys by hand at home, and in 1954 the hobby became a company headquartered in Tarcento, Friuli, near Udine. The company expanded through the late 1990s, adding subsidiaries in Germany, Spain and France. By the late 2010s Trudi employed roughly 100 people and reported revenue of about EUR10.5 million in 2018. In July 2019 the company was acquired by the Giochi Preziosi group.
Shelburne Vt / United States
Vermont Teddy Bear has hand-made teddy bears at its Shelburne factory for over 45 years, offering daily factory tours that end at its on-site Bear Store where visitors can take home a plush souvenir. The company also runs a full online shop selling custom and giant teddy bears nationwide.
Best for Toy maker, Stuffed animals
East Aurora (Greater Buffalo)
Vidler's is a family variety store on East Aurora's Main Street, selling small household goods and gifts. Robert S. Vidler opened the business in 1930, and it later expanded across connected buildings. Its departments include toys and sweets, giving the shop a broader purpose than a single-category specialist.
Best for Variety-store gifts and toys in East Aurora
Robert S. Vidler opened his East Aurora variety store in 1930, shortly after the Wall Street crash. The initial shop occupied part of a building and contained just two aisles of merchandise. Its subsequent growth involved other members of the family and expansion beyond that first small space.
Vidler's now describes a store extending through four buildings and over two levels on Main Street. The range includes toys and sweets as well as gifts and practical household merchandise. This remains a variety-store format, so neighbouring departments can serve very different shopping purposes within the same visit.
For a visitor, the useful distinction is between coming for a particular item and allowing time for browsing. A toy purchase can lead into a separate search for a small present or something for the home. The historic store and its connected buildings also form part of the reason to visit East Aurora itself. Its family history supplies context for that visit without implying that every item on sale is locally made.
Richmond, Virginia
This independent toy and gift shop has earned a loyal following in Carytown. Its shelves run to toys and quirky, offbeat gifts.
Best for Toys and quirky gifts
Illustrative still-life generated for ORBIS; not a photograph of any shop.
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