WARREN, Ohio – Tucked inside a small storefront on Elm Road, a treasure trove of rare toys and childhood memories awaits. Monsters in the Toybox brings decades of hard-to-find collectibles, vintage action figures and nostalgic memorabilia together under one roof, offering customers a one-stop shop to relive the past or complete their collections.
Monsters in the Toybox, the city’s only toy store, held a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday afternoon at its location at 1795 Elm Road NE. Customers are invited to buy, sell and trade items ranging from the 1970s through today.
“Monsters in the Toybox is basically like you’d walk into the straight-up ’90s, with the paint style and everything,” said Rick Fusselman, store owner. “We pretty much have everything from Masters of the Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, ’90s Marvel and DC toys, vintage plush, wrestling, Star Wars – you name it.”
The store places a strong emphasis on vintage toys, with current trends favoring carded ’90s items such as X-Men, Ghost Rider and Spider-Man. “We sell a lot of vintage more than anything,” Fusselman said.
Fusselman, who also co-owns Time Capsule Toys and organizes Toy House, a triannual toy show, has spent more than a decade in the toy business. He says sourcing inventory is a nonstop effort.
“People think it’s easy, but it’s not,” he said. “You constantly have to be out on the hunt. I don’t get days off. Even vacations are planned around trying to buy toys.”
The shop welcomes items in any condition, whether sealed, loose, incomplete or missing parts. “If your parents are getting ready to move and they find your old toys, we’ll take a look at them,” Fusselman said. “We buy everything from toys to boxes to instructions to even parts.”