Remember when all of us had a problem with Walmart and refused to shop there for any reason?
Yeah– that about a billion years before they upped the ante on their toy section and got a while bunch of exclusives.
Now as a person who is not only toy obsessed, but has toy obsessed children of her own, Walmart is a location I hunt at probably about twice per week. Not only do I head there, but I live in a town where there are three Walmarts in about a five mile radius. Which means…
I get to rotate.
While some of the items on this list are things that have been lingering around the store for a little bit, a few of them re brand new items that are freshly shelved this week. Therefore, I thought it would be a fun experiment to take pictures of new toys that catch my attention when I hit up the ol’ Mart of the Wal and see what stuff is trending.
But I can tell you what isn’t trending.
These Star Wars black box figures.
Yowza. Like really no one wants these things.
10) Faux Kennner Star Wars Action Figures
Say what you will about the new movies or these figurines themselves, I think the packaging and Kenner throwback label is charming and attractive.
9) Muppet Babies Playroom Figure Set
These are adorable. The poses are great, and the paint and molds are spot on. They look super clean and the characters have the integrity of their original designs. I don’t have to watch the new Muppet Babies to know that I love these, or that swapping out both Scooter and Skeeter for a little penguin girl was an excellent idea.
8) G1 Transformers Autobot Bumblebee
I freakout screamed when I saw this little dude. At $7, you’d better believe he came home with me. I’d never seen him in the Transformers aisle before today. He was the only G1 reissue on the shelves!
7) CLUE (With New Artwork…Again)
You’re about to learn something about this Wizard that you never wanted to know, but Professor Plum is really doing it for me on this new CLUE box art. Professor Plum? More like Professor YUM…am I right?
6) Electronic Football
I just like the way this looks. Part calculator, part Tiger hand-held, and part video game, this Electronic Football just rocks that classic aesthetic to the retro core. In fact, even though it’s not from Mattel, part of me hoped that when I turned it on, it would say “Mattel Electronic Presents…”
Yeah, you know the voice.
Wishful thinking.
5) Simon (That Actually Works)
Simon lovers rejoice– it only took two rounds, but Simon is back in its truest form. If you remember the article I wrote about retro toys that came back as garbage, I had words with Simon. The buttons didn’t depress and the game never sped up. Fortunately with this reissue of the reissue, the suck factor seems to have been resolved.
4) Ghostbusters Car Playset by Playmobil
The car looks fantastic, the packaging is exciting, and the Janine and Zeddemore tinies are the most cutsie bootsie little muffin squish faces I’ve ever seen in my life. I hope the sky portal is included, too.
3) How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Dragons from Spin Master
This display of dragons was so bright and exciting, I had to do a triple take. They are so well crafted and detailed; I sort of regretted not buying a Toothless. But with all of the dragon choices to make, I wasn’t able to narrow it down to just one.
2) NES Classic
Although not new, I have to laugh because of what a cluster it was to get this sucker when it first came out. Now there are stacks of them ready to go at Walmart. Which is good– it’s a great little system. Go get one and have fun!
1) Pac Man Wall Lamps
Because lamps are amazing, and everyone could use a little bit of…illumination.
Honorary Mention:
3/4 height arcade machines.
Heck yeah. These are clean.
But small…ish.
Do you have a favorite Walmart toy? Anything coming to the store that you want to collect? Tell Toy Wizards in the comments and get the conversation going!
That vintage football handheld, I believe is the one they used for a prop in Guardians of the Galaxy.
I also picked up that Bumblebee. Super rad reissue