Toy Shack

Read below to see how YT1 felt about his trip to Vegas, the Toy Shack, and what he saw there!

“I recently went to Las Vegas for a work function. My free time was very limited, which is tortuous considering the locale, but such is life. I have been lucky enough to visit there numerous times over the years and have got to see most of the sights that I desired, and some I didn’t. On this trip I wanted to try to see the Pawn Stars store and some of their affiliated partners. For those who are not aware, Pawn Stars is a quasi reality show on the History Channel where people allegedly bring in rare items for pawn. Often times the proprietors of the shop call in local experts to appraise items or to provide more information. When the show premiered, I refused to watch it protesting that the History channel should show actual history and not give in to the “reality” program craze.

I eventually relented and do have to admit there is a little educational value to the show if you can stomach the hokey plots and haggling. After a little online research I discovered that visiting the actual Silver & Gold Pawn shop can be a little rough. (The hours are limited sometimes, the lines can be long and you will never see the people from the show) so I abandoned the idea. I also checked into Rick’s Restoration which by all accounts is excellent, they sound very accommodating and friendly but their hours wouldn’t work for my schedule, and the Toy Shack.

Johnnie is the Pawn Star’s toy expert and owns and operates the Toy Shack, the least publicized of all the affiliates mentioned. When I ended up downtown for a work function, I knew I had to check out the Toy Shack. It is located just off Fremont St, in downtown Las Vegas. If you have never been downtown, be aware it is very different than the corporate strip area, it is rough. The Toy Shack is a nice store however, and is literally stuffed to the gills with toys of every type and period. Johnnie from the show wasn’t there the night I went, but it was late and I heard the two employees who were working talking about him, so I know he is around. The employees were very friendly and helpful and looked right off the show, tats and all.”

“If I had one negative, it would be that is smelled a little funky in there, but I can’t say as I have ever been in a comic book store or vintage store that didn’t, part of the trade I would guess. They had a decent amount of GI Joe, including ARAH and modern stuff. They had a Flagg on display, which also appeared to be used as a mail desk. There were also a lot of Joe aircraft hanging from the ceiling. They also had lots of Transformers and a TON of Star Wars stuff. Some of the more eclectic items I saw were a Marx Guns of Navarone set, a huge display of Star Trek Figures and a Sega Master System. I would put the prices on the high end, but not crazy high. I almost picked up a couple of things and they had some MOC ARAH figures behind the counter that looked nice. They also had a ton of cars: hot wheels, matchbox and die cast.”

“Overall it was a neat place and worth checking out if you are in the area.”

Big thanks to YT1, for sharing your words and pictures with us here at the Fighting 1:18th!

You can of course, check out the Toy Shack HERE, and their Facebook page HERE!