Toy Joy — Local services in Austin

I love Toy Joy. Walking in the old Guadalupe location was magical, as if I stepped into Willy Wonka's factory. The toys were amazing and wack; they had human size bubbles! This shop is a true Austin icon for weirdness.

The new location downtown is not as convenient for me, although they do validate parking on weekdays. The toys in stock are still diverse, but not as "weird" as they used to be. Despite this I still love shopping here. I love the staff and the owner, they will even gift wrap your purchases for free!

I hope that this shop will remain an Austin icon and continue the weirdness.

UPDATE--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My girlfriend and I came here with one purpose: to find a weird birthday present for our friend's birthday. We had no idea what we were looking for, but we somehow knew Toy Joy would have the answer.

Sure enough, after browsing the store we found the perfect gift. It was a locally made bar of soap. And trapped inside the soap was a small doll figurine, with the eyes smeared across the face. Weird and useful...it was perfect.

At the checkout, the staff graciously wrapped the present up. "Wow you did a really good job wrapping the present," I remarked. The guy smiled and said "Yea, I'm proud to say I did do a good job huh." lolls The staff is the reason why I keep coming back to this place; they really care about their customers and make sure to put a smile on their faces. Thanks Toy Joy for keeping...

I love Toy Joy, I’m a frequent guest at the North location, and it’s one of my favorite places in the city but the customer service at this location is... disappointing. I don’t know if I caught this girl on a bad day but when I called asking about a potential position and if they accept resumes she flat out said “No.” in a cold tone with no explanation or reasoning. I said, “Oh, do you hire seasonal employees or is there a certain time you guys are hiring?” and she said “I don’t understand what you mean.” I said “Do you hire people for the holidays?” Again, “No.” with a cold tone. I said “Thank you” and she hung up. Like I said, I don’t know if I caught her on a bad day or maybe she gets calls asking if they’re hiring all the time but I felt very silly for asking a question. My favorite thing about toy joy is the welcoming, comfortable environment and when I called that day I experienced the opposite. I’ve never been treated like that at the other location and when I asked about a position they told me they are always accepting resumes. Maybe I’ll just stick with the...

Was looking for something as a present for my husband who is a collector and i'm glad I found something for him at this store! They have a decent amount of items and if you need to check if they had something in particular, just ask and staff are happy to quickly check on their systems to see if they can assist. I was browsing for a long time cuz I couldn't decide and staff just gave me space to browse and decide without making me uncomfortable. Definitely recommend the place if you're looking for something unique and special. They didn't accept my cash but accepted someone else's I think more because they didn't have enough cash for my exchange but clearly lied with "oh, I don't have any bills here" (there was a change of staff at the counter so they didn't realise I saw them accepting another customers cash) so I'd probably just advice that you assume they're card...