Zodiacs toy shop

Si · Post by Si » Thu 29 May, 2008 4:07 pm

edlong wrote: Zodiacs was definitely the white building near the top of Briggate - think it's Schuh and Dune or thereabouts now - just down from Startbucks (not that that narrows it down much in Leeds - "Which Starbucks?" I hear you all cry...)Personally, I used to get most of my goodies from Toyworld in what was then called the "Bond Street Centre" - Britains farm series being a particular favourite. Speaking of "Britain's," didn't they sell "Swoppits" too? Knights in armour you could pull to bits and put back together. Their swords even fitted into little metal tube scabbards. Or am I thinking of somewhere else? They were available mid 60s I think.

mike marine · Post by **mike marine** » Thu 13 Nov, 2008 6:12 pm

zodiac was at the bottom of queens arcade,and went right at the bottom,using the shoe shop and usc,it was a great shop,werebears,cabbage patch dolls,and all the other strange toys that were around,i also remember the shop in queens arcade that sold nearly all star wars,as i used to get a figure a week,just imagine had i kept them in packets i'd be minted now,but don't regret a seconds playing with them,if you old enough (36) you might remember the arcade and toy shop which is now harvey nicks,there was a cig shop at front,hair dressers half way down,the toy shop,and a cheap shop on other side.

Steve Jones · Post by **Steve Jones** » Thu 13 Nov, 2008 8:02 pm

Out of curiosity, what was a werebear? I don't think I ever heard of them as a toy.

Post by **chameleon** » Thu 13 Nov, 2008 8:11 pm

Steve Jones wrote: Out of curiosity, what was a werebear? I don't think I ever heard of them as a toy. A touch of dual personality Steve, the good and the bad in one entity, some would say a little like... well maybe not Have a look at thishttp://www.lsaccounting.com/werebears/

Steve Jones · Post by **Steve Jones** » Thu 13 Nov, 2008 11:08 pm

Thanks for the link. Interesting. I know some people who would like one of these<G>. Be interesting to see if they do relaunch them.

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 9:13 am

That has brough back so many memories of being a kid. The advert is so 1980's its great! Although 16.99 seems a bit procey for the terror ted 20 years ago.The arcade you mention is Empire, of course where the old Empire Theatre used to be an now the overpriced cack that is Harvey Nichols. I'm sure it has been mentioned but if you go down the back of Harvey Nic's through Cross Arcade you can see the old "Empire Palace" carved in the stone at the top of the back/staff entrance

simonm · Post by **simonm** » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 10:26 am

Bloody hell... Kennedy's. Now that does bring back memories. I remember cycling, on the spur of the moment, one sat evening to Kennedy's from Bramley. I must have been about 10 or so. It was getting dark on the way home and I remember thinking this wasn't a good idea. I was by the lyric wondering if the bus would let me on with my bike. Made it home safely though and my paretn weren't any the wiser. such safe and happy times it seems now.What did I go for? A small tub of silly putty!! A real innovation in toys was silly putty

mike marine · Post by **mike marine** » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 11:09 am

what about zoids? anybody remember these?

simong · Post by **simong** » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 2:42 pm

Trojan wrote: When I was a kid there used to be a toy shop in one of the arcades called "The Dolls Hospital" - you could take dolls there and get them mended. But in those days of resale price maintenance and manufacturers controlling who could and couldn't sell their product, the Dolls Hospital was an official Triang Train outlet - so I used to go there for bits for my train set - like points, or extra coaches or signals. It was a vertiable cornucopia of toys - as I recall it was double fronted. There was another Triang outlet in Lower Briggate called Peter Tongs I think. There was a Doll's Hospital in Doncaster too, so there might have been others. This has just reminded as my sister had a doll that our nana had given her and managed to lose an eye, so we took it to the doll's hospital, which was, like the one in Leeds, an upstairs room above a 60s arcade, and the owner told us that he would have to send the doll to Leeds, which to an eight or nine year old could have been on the other side of the world.

Brandy · Post by **Brandy** » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 2:59 pm

simonm wrote: Bloody hell... Kennedy's. Now that does bring back memories. I remember cycling, on the spur of the moment, one sat evening to Kennedy's from Bramley. I must have been about 10 or so. It was getting dark on the way home and I remember thinking this wasn't a good idea. I was by the lyric wondering if the bus would let me on with my bike. Made it home safely though and my paretn weren't any the wiser. such safe and happy times it seems now.What did I go for? A small tub of silly putty!! A real innovation in toys was silly putty Silly putty was ace mate! remember you could cover a picture in the newspaper with it and the print would transfer onto the putty ExcellentDidn't it also bounce? I remember once going on a mad solo bike ride my self around ten years of age on mi Raleigh tomahawk lolI went into town for a bag of old cabbage leafs for the rabbit and i can remember thinking WOW this is ace how grown up and responsible i am,until it started getting dark on the way home and i realized the reason it seemed easy to get to town was because it's all down hill there and obviously UP hill all the way home lolFunny how you dont realise these things when your having funStill though i can say that even though i was on my own i still felt kinda safe.Not like nowadays eh?