Mastermind Toys

I think I have a serious toy store radar. Anytime I’m out on some other errand, I end up spying a toy store in the distance, and chances are, if Noah K is with me, we’re going to stop.
No, he’s not still into action figures or anything like that, but he loves boardgames, and let’s face it — as a former nanny, I still love looking at toys. While on our way to get groceries on Sunday we spotted this toy store and had to check it out.
Kaitlyn C is right on the money saying she was blown away when she walked in. This place is somewhere in between Mrs. Tiggy Winkles and Toys R Us. It’s not as massive as Toys R Us, but has a great selection. While it’s not as trendy as Mrs. Tiggy Winkles (particularly their Lost Marbles section), it’s still fantastic. I was really impressed with the variety of things we saw there, as well as the cleanliness and organization of the store. We were also asked a few times if we needed help but friendly, young employees.
Their boardgame selection isn’t huge, but they do have a few of the Settlers of Catan expansion packs, as well as some other popular games like Pandemic, Scrabble, Monopoloy and quite a few other fun games. The selection is certainly geared toward younger kids with lots of 3 and up games. They have a HUGE selection of puzzles as well.
Where I thought this place was simply fantastic was the amount of educational games they have. There’s a massive wall of Science and Discovery activities and an amazing selection of children’s books. They also have a pretty fantastic dress up selection, some fun old school games. I’m absolutely coming here next time I get the wee ones in my life a present.
If you have kids, I would definitely recommend checking this place out if you’ve got a birthday party to go to, or want to pick them up a special gift. Your kids will LOVE it!
The prices seemed very fair and on par with Toys R Us.

Came across this gem of a place while in the neighbor of getting my groceries. Pretty cool toy store! They have toys for all ages (even adults!).
I checked out the board game section and they had games such as dance charades, no where to go (2 player game where you have to trap the other player), pictionary, and many more.
What I found great about this store was that it wasn’t super big but had great gifts for kids (even stocking stuffers for adults — though big kid at heart). I would definitely check them out if I was going to a kid’s birthday party. You’ll find some great things here and if not… well toys r us is right around the corner. Lol.

I’d seen the first of these stores in Kanata but hadn’t checked it out yet. When this one opened, my sister and I decided to take a visit. We were pretty much blown away.
The place seemed a lot bigger than it did when it was used as a Spirit Halloween store and the space was filled with almost every kind of toy you can imagine. They had everything from scooters to LEGO to baby dolls. While it isn’t as big as Toys R Us and does not offer quite the same amount or selection of merchandise (especially licensed items), it was just as well, if not more organized and still had quite a nice selection.
My sister and I really enjoyed the book section. They had books for all ages of kids and they had quite a few the two of us remembered from our childhood.
All in all, it’s a really neat place to visit, especially if you have kids or even if you’re a kid at heart.