Mr. Mopps’ Toy Shop

This was a very cute toy store! It was very clean and tidy, and it was full to the brim with wonderful toys for all ages, from babies to adults. The staff was extremely friendly and we witnessed them interacting with some kids in the most precious way: it was really a treasure.

What a great old-​school toy store! An interesting selection of toys arranged in a maze-​like fashion that encourages wandering and browsing. The customer service is great also. I came here looking for a stuffed animal my son lost. The two staff members behind the cash register looked through their stock lists online and through catalogs trying to help me track down the maker of the stuffed animal. Also great selection of those tiny cheap toys for stocking stuffers and goodie bags.

Seems like I’m repeating the gripes of those with less than five stars. The employees’ souls seems to have been sucked out by the grinch or setting. Sourpusses for sure. All three had nothing to say and answered minimally when posed with questions. The store itself as far as mechs is great. Thus the three stars.
Update: had to add a star for genuine and prompt outreach from owner offering apology and asking for feedback. His attention to both customer and employed was impressive.

The selection of games and toys here it is phenomenal and take me back down memory lane and allowed me to share with my son some things that I enjoyed as a kid

Mr. Mopps’ is the best! I have nothing but good things to say about this shop or the owners. On my most recent visit, I went in to buy a birthday gift for a friend’s daughter. Devin asked me about her age and interests, and gave a ton of great recommendations. I particularly love that they focus on toys for kids, instead of «boys» and «girls.» Their selection is wonderful, they’re super knowledgeable, and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. They’ll even wrap your gift and add a beautiful paper crane to the top for just a dollar! A true Berkeley gem.

This place rocks. Came her as a kid. I could believe all the cool toys they hands they toys you could not find at other toy stores. Also they had Legos sets that could only be ordered from the Lego magazine. This is one of the best toy stores that I’ve ever been to.

I am a terrible gift shopper, but I love this place! I came here looking for a gift under $ 30 for my best friends 8 year old nephew. I was feeling desperate as I had waited until the last minute, but was hoping that I could still find something cool and within my price range. Even though I only made it 10 minutes before the store closed, a helpful salesgirl appeared immediately and offered numerous great suggestions, patiently answering my questions and never making me feel rushed. The checkout guy was really friendly too. They had a fantastic selection of pretty reasonably priced stuff for curious, creative kids, (I would have had such a blast here when I was a wee bit younger) and I look forward to coming back!

Mr Mopp and team are incredible. Staff is quick with a smile and offers of help. They are incredibly patient as children figure out how to hand over the right amount of money. Their gift wrapping is absolutely beautiful. You’ll find them pulling a wagon around Albany/​Berkeley events handing out bubbles or bouncy balls to the little and not-​so-​little-​anymore kids. My kids and I love, love, love the newly revived Mr Mopps!!!

How could ANYONE give Mr. Mopps less than five stars??? This place is the bomb. Mopps is an example of how a local business can thrive. The shelves are always stocked with great toys– much of it produced by smaller and responsible businesses. In a world of corporate greed gone mad, Mopps is a safe haven. I love love love Mr. Mopps.

Mr. Mopps releases your inner child no matter how jaded, old, or cool you are. It’s a real neighborhood toy shop and one of the best places I know to buy a light hearted present. While the business took a dark turn for awhile, they are thriving under new ownership. They’ve truly restored the charm and flair of the Mr. Mopps I grew up with.
This isn’t your run of the mill barbies and legos retailer. They’ve got so many fantastic and quirky options for any kid. Everything from gorgeous stuffed animals to hobby kits to children’s costumes to plastic models. They display ALL kinds of toys — the latest favorites, good ol’ classics, and even some rare collectibles. Their trinket selection is major. I love coming here for goofy little stocking stuffers during the holidays.
The biggest win is that I don’t recall them selling any video game consoles or computer games so welcome to a store that can get children to live offline more often! They stock a lot of board games, puzzles, art supplies and so much more that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Places like this make it easy to support local business. Great inventory, friendly staff, and a tidy shop. In this day and age, you’ve got to love a toy store that stocks more than just things made in China.

Mr. Mopps was getting tattered and sad. The new owners however have brought it back. Now it’s a happy wonderful store again: thank you thank you. Good selection, choices «not made in china», and friendly staff who care. The new Mr. Mopps is smaller than the old, but they make up for it with heart.

The new management of Mr. Mopps is as friendly as it gets. I lost a gift card to this store (birthday present for my son) and one of the new owners hand wrote me a store credit-​based on my word alone. I thought this level of trust between stores and customers was a thing of a bygone era. I found it very touching. There is a great selection of toys of course, particularly playmobil! If you have very young children its definitely worth a look and there are a lot of different craft kits and science kits. Also, this is a great stop if you are filling a piñata (better than the party store) or making goodie bags. If you live in north Berkeley make this your neighborhood toy store and you will be making a unique memory for your kids.

This place has been here FOREVER!
I love getting to go in and bringing my niece—
There is generally a small kid having a tantrum inside — it’s hard not to when you don’t get everything you want in a cool toy store.
Luckily the staff is used to these happening…
I would much rather give them my business than go elsewhere…

This is a classic whimsical little toy store that is packed floor to ceiling with delights. It has bins full of goodies for little hands to find. A cozy little book corner with a very good selection (a book seller so I know!). There is a wall lined with beautiful stuffed animals and puppets. It has the best random toys– zombie finger puppets, kazoos, glowing plastic eye balls, Breyer horses, dress up outfits, baby chew toys… there is something for everyone here.
Its about as far from the bright, flashy electronic merchandise that Toy’s R Us or Target sells but you can get that anywhere, can’t you?

I have not been to this store since childhood, but when i spotted it in my Unilocal search while looking for something else I had to review Mr. Mopps. The name caught my eye, and I was immediately taken back to a time of fun filled afternoons. Even as a kid I recognized this was no ordinary toy store with its unique items, and hands on atmosphere. I would spend what seemed like hours lost in a fantasy world. If you have children, or looking for an out of the ordinary gift for a child stop by Mr. Mopps.

A super cool toy store that is hard to come by nowadays. Mr. Mopps gives the middle finger to the big box stores like Toys R Us. This is a decently sized, locally owned toy store with a little bit of everything.
I came here to buy presents for some little nieces, nephews, cousins, the whole lot. I probably ended up spending about an hour longer than I had planned looking at everything in this store. Luckily I didn’t get a parking ticket this day. I felt like a kid again in this store.
This is an old school type store that had many toys I remembered from my childhood. There are no video games here, no high tech gadgets or the such. They had a good selection of the classic toys such as Legos, Hot Wheels, every board game imaginable (Even some original edition board games from many years ago that I thought was awesome), and all kinds of hobby kits.
Ever see the board game Words With Friends in stores? They have that hear too, but for some reason they call it Scrabble?
In addition to the big ticket items, they also had a bunch of little trinkets and what ended up being stocking stuffers. I even got a kit of miniature eyeglass screwdrivers, of all the places to find those at.
The staff was really friendly and obviously enjoyed working in such an awesome store.
Screw you Toys R Us, I am making the drive back out here the next time I need a toy.

This place is too tiny to have everything, and that’s the only drawback. But the greatest thing about this place is that the managers and owners remember what kids actually love — not just what’s a hotly marketed piece of plastic out by some yaya company. Here you’ll find the staples of what kids naturally take to: Stuff you can build with, little items you can do lots with that fit in the palm of your hand and can be carried with you; all kinds of plastic models; beginning science items; exploration and nature related things; optical fun toys; and lots and lots of various popular doll or toy staples. Games, funware like little kid costumes and tiaras or feathers or goofy noses, FUN STUFF. And some books as I recall. Bubbles. Silly putty. Etcha sketch. Slinky. Great stuff that spurs your love of how the world works.
AND: they have GOOD stuff stuff: Like real wooden block trains, carved in Germany, nice quality things you had when you were a child. Nice doll house additions, little miniature animals. Etc.
I bought a bunch of items for no more than 15 bucks and my 3 year old nephew fell hardest for a little prismatic viewer that you can look through. That thing probably cost $ 2.50 and it completely changed his day. He went around calling it his Camera, and he took «pictures» all day long with it.
Mr. Mopps is THAT kind of place. You should COME HERE! NOW! and buy something you forgot made you so happy.

I live down the street from this place and I’d never been in. I absolutely love that I took a gander with my bud Joyce today! I honestly could spend eternity in there and probably never get bored. I ended up cruising around in this sweet, epic tricycle then playing games with the owners.
I got an awesome game by this company Maranda which makes lovely games you can leave out because they have a great aesthetic. I loved the owners too, totally awesome, down to earth and helpful people.
I’ll definitely be going back.

Okay, I am never going to grow up. I know this not news to my close friends but the rest of the world should give up on me ever acting my age.
My heart still melts when I see stuffed (now called plush) animals. I have the annoying habit of straightening any shelf of plush animals that are upside down.
I think all those years of Disney cartoons have ingrained in me the notion that animals (real or stuffed) think and feel the way humans do.
i love to make the puppets and plush animals ‘talk’ to Mr. Rinky asking him if he’d like to take them home. Even though he groans and rolls his eyes I continue to torment him with my silliness. After all, someones got to stop him from being a stuffed shirt, right?
There is something so comforting, so magical about this store. It is the kind of store you dream about as a kid or as a «Big» middle aged kid too. The new owners have captured the essence of the former Mr Mopps and you’ll find so many things you’ll NEVER find at Toys R Us.
When you walk in the door there is a section to the right that has many many puppets-​from finger puppets to hand puppets. I love the furry hand puppet animals from cats, dogs, lions, raccoons, skunks that all give you (or at least me) longing looks to be taken to your home (er, i mean mine)
There are puzzles; board games; costumes; Playmobil (I LOVE Playmobil!); magic tricks; musical instruments (i.e. kazoos, tiny cymbals, shakers,); Calico Critters
(cute animal families) with furniture, play sets, etc; art supplies; origami paper;
yoyos; wind up toys; books and a whole lot more.
There is an assortment of birthday party supplies from invitations to plates, cups
& napkins to bins of party favors for goodie bags.
I think the owner was at the cashier counter dispensing his enthusiasm.
It’s hard not to get wrapped up on the glistening eyes of kids or most of the adults as they go up and down the aisles.
Heaven on Earth.

Mr. Mopps’ is a Berkeley institution. Nina and I came here today after lunch to look for birthday presents for her about to be 4 year old granddaughter. We walked in the front door and were immediately captured by the display of hand puppets. Dragons, sharks, raccoons, chefs, cops, all sorts of puppets. I ended up buying a flying squirrel. I remember buying puppets for my oldest nephew when he was about that age, a snowman and a monkey, which he named Bob Monkey. He named the snowman Blackie. That kid was always my favorite.
Nina bought a wonderful ceramic frog to put in her DGD’s Easter basket and then we were both captivated by a giant rainbow colored plastic slinky which she also bought for her birthday. The owner was patient and friendly. He found me a box for the squirrel. I admired the box of marbles which are supposed to go in a pouch, but they’re out of pouches. The marbles were beautiful, even more beautiful than my marble collection of many years ago. There weren’t any steelies, but they weren’t that beautiful anyway. As Nina and I left happily w/​our purchases she noted that we had barely made it past the front door. No question there is much more to explore, so I’ll have to return. I just found this background information on the sale of the store about 2 ½ years ago and the new owners: