I’m a Toys “R” Us kid. Through and through.

Back in the 1990s when I was growing up, T”R”U was a magical place, filled with action figures, dolls, Legos and of course, video games. This was the destination for all things video games. I would walk down what seemed like endless aisles, filled with the things I dreamt about, things I thought I might never get unless it was a birthday or Christmas. Whenever we went there, I was filled with a slight hope that I might walk out with something to cherish. And sometimes, I did.

Sometimes it was a Ninja Turtles figure, or something I told my parents I wanted. I might not get it then, but I would certainly hope I did at some point. Even if I didn’t, just being in the store was beyond cool. Just being surrounded by things that I could have was joyful. This is what T”R”U basically provided for me and other kids back in the day: joy.

Going into the location I often visited before most the stores inevitably closed in the late 2010s and early 2020s, it seemed much smaller and cluttered, perhaps a symptom of the collapse of brick-and-mortar retailers. I recalled it being huge and as I described before, endless. I came in looking for some good deals on games and having not been there for the better part of decade, the biggest change I noticed was the absence of the “game cage”, as it may have been colloquially referred to at some point.

Normally, you’d get your ticket from a wall of pockets and sleeves that had the game art displayed and bring it to the game cage, and the attendant inside it would give it you, then you’d go to a register and pay. Inside the cage was a fortress of games. Quite frankly, it seemed like a dream job at the time. Being surrounded by games was all I wanted as a kid.

Eventually, the game cage was taken away and it transitioned into something more modern, into longer shelves and displays.

Nevertheless, my visit brought back an unforgettable memory. In the summer of 1996, I had saved up some money, I would say about half of the amount I needed for a very special game that has been recently remade, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. When I walked in, I knew the game was going to be pricey, probably close to $80. And I wasn’t wrong. The game was close to that. I didn’t have enough, lucky for me, my dad said he would help me with the rest. Back then, games were very expensive, cartridges and chipsets were not cheap to produce as compact discs. An $80 dollar game back in 1996 adjusted for 2023 inflation is about $150, over twice the price of the standard release price for video games nowadays, which is $60-$70.

Let me tell you, I walked out the happiest kid on the planet. I played that game endlessly, for hours on end, only beating it a few times because I was too busy messing around with the many hidden areas and mini-games.

Still, that visit and the many visits I made to Toys “R” Us remains some of my fondest. Not just because it was happy, but because it reminds me of a time when I was younger, had less responsibilities and had more time to learn and grow, and play video games all summer long.

There really isn’t a place like this for adults, or children for that matter, that exists currently, at least none that I know of. Maybe the toy section at Target or Walmart are similar, but not an entire store dedicated to the joy and entertainment of kids like Toys “R” Us was. It’s just not the same. I doubt it ever will be with how online retailers work, the decline of physical media and the rise of in-game transactions.

It really was the greatest toy store around, where a kid could truly be a kid.