A Female Look at the Collectible Toy Scene on Long Island

I am a toy collector. 

A female toy collector. 

A 37-year-old female toy collector. 

That puts me up there with unicorns and mermaids on the mythical creatures list (you didn’t know it was rank ordered did you?).  I shop for toys more than I shop for clothes, shoes, or even (gasp!) handbags (and I have a LOT of handbags).

Everywhere you look in my bedroom there are toys: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Avengers, My Little Pony, Godzilla, Star Trek.  One character, however, is prominent above all: The God of Mischief, Loki.  I have over 30 Loki action figures and am still going strong.  It is through my love of Loki, however, that I learned how incredibly competitive toy collecting can be.  Highly anticipated figures are frequently snatched up by ‘flippers’, people who buy toys to sell on the secondary markets, namely eBay and Amazon, for several times the original retail value.  So it becomes very important to collectors to find trusted places to buy items without breaking one’s wallet.

Enter your friendly neighborhood comic shop.  There are numerous local comic book and toy stores that sell collector’s items that may not be available elsewhere.  Stores such as Chosen One Toys in West Babylon, Fantastic Toyage in Massapequa, Collectors Kingdom in Huntington Station, 4th World Comics and Toys in Smithtown, and my personal favorite Amok Time in Hicksville are just a few of the stores on Long Island that offer collectors a plethora of current and ‘retired’ stock to choose from. 

Some local shops, such as Chosen One Toys and Amok Time, have their own online stores offering a convenient option for the days when you just cannot get to the store but simply must have that hard-to-find toy.  Have a toy to sell?  Fantastic Toyage will buy or trade items.  Some stores even allow you to pre-order items from popular toy lines.  For instance, I ordered my Hot Toys Loki from Amok Time, which gave me the peace of mind of having my precious cargo go to a trusted location from where I could pick him up.  In addition, many stores have comic-related events such as the creators of Argo Comics coming to Collectors Kingdom back in March.

What is really great about shopping at local stores is that no one cares that I am an adult shopping for toys because most everyone at the store is an adult shopping for toys. You can passionately discuss the pros and cons of whatever line of toys you are currently collecting and people will be happen to listen... and probably debate you.  So give your local comic book shop and toy store a try because you can never have enough toys!