Remember this stuff? It contained polyvinyl acetate dissolved in acetone, with ethyl acetate plastic fortifiers. I can't even put that stuff in my lab without a whole book of MSDS.
I started having children later in life. I was 40 when my first son was born. He's 5 now. It had been decades since I visited a toy store but now with kids, it's a regular occurrence.
I recall the first time as a father that I visited a Toys 'R Us. It was depressing. No chemistry sets. No Revell or Monogram models (and, needless to say, no paint or model glue). No Estes Rockets, electric train sets, gas-powered Cox airplanes. None of the toys I loved as a child.
In fact, it seemed like there wasn't a single toy that would challenge a child's creativity. Even today's ghastly expensive Lego sets are engineered in such a way to be assembled with as little imagination as possible.
What a wonderful generation of safe, compliant worker-bees we are producing.
Remember this stuff? It contained polyvinyl acetate dissolved in acetone, with ethyl acetate plastic fortifiers. I can't even put that stuff in my lab without a whole book of MSDS.
Yeah, no hobby shops any more. You have to go to A.C. Moore for that stuff now.
Yeah, I think you are better off skipping the toy stores altogether nowadays. Go to a hobby store, or better yet, find some retro toys at a collectible shop or on ebay, if you have the money to burn.
My son was equally disappointed he could not find anything worthy of stimulating creativity..and he’s an artist ta boot!
His solution...he went to Amazon and other used merchandise sites and found those items he once enjoyed...many in perfect shape. Actually found the chemistry set he had as a child in mint condition. Same with books etc.
Two words: Hobby Lobby. They have most of those things. Other arts/crafts stores (Michaels, for instance) have them as well, but HL is particularly well stocked.
But also look into whether you have a dedicated mom/pop hobby store in your area and explore that/those first before going to the large chains.
