Community Corner
Does A ‘Monster’ Lurk On Area Toy Store Shelves This Black Friday?
A look at the hottest toys on the market heading into Black Friday.
It's a good thing that 2-year-old J.J. Johnson isn't old enough to read Eldersburg Patch just yet. We're about to spill the beans:
One of his Christmas presents from grandmother Char Epling of Eldersburg will be the latest toy truck in the series known as Tonka Chuck and Friends.
Epling, who browsed the toy aisles at Super Kmart on Ridge Road Tuesday with daughter Shannon Moyer, said her older grandchildren "are more into the electronic stuff." So, she is able to focus her hunt for "real toys" on the wants and needs of the youngest, J.J.
Find out what's happening in Eldersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Indeed, Epling and other area toy seekers face big decisions because there is so much to choose from this year. Toy department managers at the Super Kmart and at the nearby Walmart say that they have a variety of likely big sellers, rather than a single must-have item that customers are demanding.
Kevin Thompson of Westminster, the Walmart toy manager, said a new, more powerful Nerf gun is a big item, as are Squinkies, tiny creatures that can be dispensed by a gumball-like machine and used as pencil-toppers.
Find out what's happening in Eldersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Joyce, the Super Kmart toy manager, said a learning toy called MobiGo, which has both a touch screen and a flip-out keyboard, disappears from shelves as soon as she puts it out.
The local stores also feature many variations and updates of old favorites, such as board games, Radio Flyer wagons and, of course, Barbie.
So, unlike the Cabbage Patch Kids of the 1980s and Tickle Me Elmo of the 1990s, there is no "monster" hit lurking in stores, right?
Well, maybe. Bigfoot the Monster, a long-armed, foot-tall robotic creature able to perform "more than 80 actions and phrases," is getting a lot of media attention.
"If I was a kid, I'd definitely want one," said Walmart employee Jon Cody while he performed maintenance on the Bigfoot display in the Liberty Road store.
Apparently young shoppers – and no doubt a few adults – already had overworked the display unit, and Bigfoot the Monster was feeling sluggish. Fortunately, Jon the human was there to help.