Houston Toy Museum — Attraction in Houston

The Houston Toy Museum is a cozy, pleasant trip down nostalgia lane tucked in the middle of The Heights' 19th Street. Guests beckoned inside by its rainbow-striped walls are greeted with an honestly delightful gift shop, stocked with toys, themed clothes, and truly witty stickers, the latter of which I ended up stuffing my pockets with. The tandem siren songs of a "yes, chef" easy bake oven and a Lizzy McGuire bemoaning abortion bans as "so yesterday" were not ones I could resist.

It's a delightful quick visit museum that appeals to both adults and kids alike- though everybody likely feels like a child for some time when they pass through those doors.

Adult price of admission is a reasonable $14, which gains you access to tpy displays spanning from the 1950s to nearly the modern day. The first thing you'll see is a faux-living area that brings to mind a room in your Star Wars-loving uncle's bachelor pad, and a quick trip up the stairs opens into the main gallery. There's numerous places to snap photos, which are also broadly encouraged within the museum (as long as you avoid flash!)

One additional element I appreciated was the LGBTQ+ history threaded into relevant displays. Queer history, when it is even permitted to make an appearance in museums in the South, is often regulated to a single display or a few lines in a corner somewhere. Not so here, and rightfully so: every gay person was a child once, too, and toys make a distinct impression on children growing up. I found the paper doll exhibit (pictured above featuring the frankly named Gay Bob) especially enlightening on this subject. Visitors can tell there's a lot of passion infused into every square foot of this place. If you're ever on 19th Street, it's well...

While it was a cool concept and we enjoyed seeing the old toys, there are definitely a few things that need to be fixed if they want to stay in business. First of all, our tickets said it opened at 10am. When we arrived at 10:30am it was still not open and there were several other people also outside confused as well. One of the ladies said she actually called and spoke with someone and they confirmed it was opening at 10am. All the kids were disappointed and waiting around with a 4 year old asking every 5 minutes if it’s open yet was not the ideal way of starting this out. When we got there, we let them know about the error and they couldn’t seem to care less. The man working couldn’t even be bothered to get up out of his chair and move the red rope blocking us from getting into the museum. He made us do it ourselves. Of course, 5 minutes in my toddler needed to use the bathroom and the bathroom said “out of order.” We went in anyway out of desperation and there was pee on the seat and no toilet paper, but the bathroom did work. Seems more like they’re too lazy to keep up with cleaning it. We enjoyed walking around, looking at toys, and playing with some of the toys. Anyone hoping to play with the arcade game or Super Nintendo will be disappointed to know neither of them work. This place needs some upkeep and some owners who care. Otherwise, it was a good idea and we enjoyed the main...

A must see! We have been to HTM 3 times already and can’t wait to go back again. We enjoy the entire experience from the moment we walk in with all the memories of the past and making connections with my kiddo.

We have bought tickets online and in person- both ways is a breeze. You don’t feel rushed and it’s a prefect size and open. You can truly take your time and enjoy each display.

We love being able to interactively play with an great play area. We took our 1 year old niece and she even had fun in this safe, fun, and clean environment. Plus the gift shop has the coolest toys and tinkers too!

The best part is the owner Matt in the gift shop. He treats each child and customer with value. Our son has some cool interests that he enjoys sharing with him every time as well.

Thank you for creating such a fun environment for us to visit. We would love to become season pass holders as this is the perfect place to take family and friends throughout the year as it has become one of our favorite places to go.

Much love and fun! Jonathan, Wendy and...