If You Could Bring Back One Childhood Store...

[Mikey]

Die-Cast Y-Wing is my all-time favorite Star Wars toy.

Always LOVED the Y-Wing Fighter too

Seems the most realistic of all Star Wars ships

In a way, a scaled down USS Enterprise

[J.B.]

Die-Cast Y-Wings started it all for me

Die-Cast Y-Wing is my all-time favorite Star Wars toy.

[Mikey]

Shelby's

Back in the day (early-mid 80's) bought a ton of their Star Wars clearance stuff just to put away.

Original Star Wars MOC die-cast ships were like .99 cents apiece

Bought like 20 Y-Wings and they eventually lead to my trading/collecting Megos and lunchboxes

Die-Cast Y-Wings started it all for me

[KnightDetective]

I'm going with Nichols. It was similar to K-Mart,just without the Blue Light Special.

Oh yeah, a stop at Nichols during a road trip was always a treat! Had my first and only Mego Iron Man sighting there. In the same town, Mammoth Mart and Clarks (later Cooks).

Roses (used to be fantastic, discovered Star Wars there), Ben Franklin (best Halloween stuff in town), Pope's (Big Jim, POTA, Brach's candy counter and popcorn), but most of all my hometown Woods 5 & 10! Still vividly remember spotting the endcap of Mego display boxes for the first time. Aurora models, Big Jim, Johnny West, huge Lone Ranger diorama, tropical fish and a wonderful snack bar/lunch counter where they offered smaller versions of the Pepsi Looney Tunes glasses and delicious steamed hamburgers. Somehow they neatly packed all you'd ever want or need into a fraction of the space Wallyworld takes up.

Sorry, you asked for just one. Got carried away. I'm in my happy place right now!

[jwyblejr]

I'm going with Nichols. It was similar to K-Mart,just without the Blue Light Special.

[Wee67]

We need more cheap reading materials and streaking in 2023.

If there's anything that can bring our divided world together...

[Megotastrophe]

My RC Batman came from TG&Y...my Aquaman bendy from Skaggs Albertson(the first store that I know of like a Walmart Supercenter half grocery store and half department store), my Land Adventurer was from Page Drug Store and my Robin and Batmobile from Sears Wishbook. Not sure where my Evel Knievel set cane from.

[Duncan]

I think I'd bring back an old magazine & book store that sold stuff that had supposedly been thrown away for refunds from the publisher (or something like that). We used to get the coverless & 1/2 cover comics & mags, and coverless books, generally in the $.50 to 3 or 4 for $1 range. Good times. I got my baseball cards and Marvel stickers there...grape Charms pops, and occasionally a grab bag of random crap. One grab bag had a bumper sticker promoting streaking. We need more cheap reading materials and streaking in 2023.

[monitor_ep]

I used to buy most of my action figure in the 70-80's at K-Mart in town. It was the biggest selection of toys beside Bottom Dollar but they sold more knock-off toys and those Whitman 3 pack comic books.

True story: While at Bottom Dollar we picked up some Knock-Off Barbie blow-up furniture that was used in the Wayne Foundation. Just wish I had taken more photos of my toys back then.

[sprytel]

Merlin's Books in Tampa. This place played a huge role in making me the nerd I am today.

[Hector]

Gemco. My dad bought me my very first Megos there, a Kirk and a Spock.

A couple of cool Gemco toys and video games commercials…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LnowUe_z6I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB9KT2kGKGg

It was a membership California-based retailer owned by Lucky Stores (now Albertsons). Target bought the majority of its buildings and real estate holdings.

The other one is Woolworth. I loved their Lunch counter and Soda Fountain. Sooooo awesome!

Honorable mention: Montgomery Wards and The Emporium-Capwell.

And I do miss Sears in its prime. Great store back in the day. I also miss the old school Radio Shack too. Who didn’t like the cool build your own transistor radio set kit? Or those awesome walkie talkies?

Yeah, I miss all that…

[Goblin19]

My second choice would have been Woolworths. I love five and doens and that’s the special one to me.

[Confessional]

In retrospect, kids my immediate area really had it good with a Kmart, Woolco, Hills, a department store with seasonal toys, and a couple drug stores all within a mile of each other. It was captivating and seemed never-ending then, but nothing remains now.

For a few years in the mid-70's there was even a small independent toy store (tucked in-between the shoes stores on the north side of the Liberty Plaza) in the mix, and that's the one I'd want back. Most folks I grew up with only have a vague memory of that store and I've never been able to find any photos or even verify the name, but that's where many of my Apes came from (a big simian endcap & countertop super heroes!) … and also where my pops would take me for a surprise visit on a great day of palling around.

[Brown Bear]

Fantasy Comics, with their ten for a dollar comic bins and Star Wars arcade at the back.

[drquest]

Our local Woolsworth as well. Lots of great toy memories there, plus our 3D Discount store.

We had a small "dime store" as my grandmother called it, and it was a Murphy's. Lots of memories of being in there as well.

I'd take all three of these back for sure.