Hobbes and Landes is an amazing toy store for kids of all ages. It's not the usual, commercialized…read moreones with brand names and everything that comes on a huge scale. I love the store because I feel like it encourages kids to be kids by using their creativity, playing outdoors, and being curious. I always come here when I have to buy gifts for nieces and nephews because the carry a lot of good stuff! About a year ago, I had an arts and crafts phase and was dying to do the ceramic painting in this store. I made a date with my inaanak and his mom to go try it out (we went to the one in Power Plant but I think they offer it in High Street as well). It was super fun, I really felt like a kid again and it was super cute to see my inaanak having fun too! It was a great bonding experience for us! The best part though was that two weeks after we got to pick up our works of art and now we'll always have something to remember it by!

This stores is perfect for those days you want to please your inner child. Even if you don't have…read morekids I assure you'll have a great time at Hobbes and Landes. They offer a great variety of LEGO, games, toys and also pet supplies. I treasure Hobbes and Landes specially because there is place I've found my Peanuts Schleich's toys. Not a simple Peanuts toy. But a scenery pack with the Great Pumpkin episode theme!!! I couldn't believe it!! The Halloween Special is my fave episode ever. Charlie Brown dressed as a ghost holding the rock he got after trick-or-treating, Snoopy as the Flying Ace (sooooooo cute!) and Linus as a pumpkin. Just perfect. Actually I've bought it to my baby boy's room, but guess who will have fun? ME. Yes. I admit! THE GIFT WAS FOR ME! So remember this store when you feel your inner child is in need.

Every time I go to a toy store, people think I'm buying toys for my kid (I don't have a kid) or for…read moremy nieces or nephew. What they don't know is that I buy toys for myself. Years ago, I had a brilliant idea to collect toys. And not just any toy, but Mr. Potato Head toys. When I started collecting Mr. Potato Heads, this toy store just had the basic one. You know, a potato dressed up as a man or a woman. Now, they have Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads that look like Iron Man, Spiderman and so many other superheroes. Another section in this store that I go to a lot is the toy car section. Two of my friends collect toy cars and they constantly ask me if the ones they want are available. What I like about Toy Kingdom is that they group the cars into brands or who manufactured them and the staff know where the products are. This toy store is pretty complete with their selection of toys. If they don't have what you are looking for, they can call up their other branches. And if the other branches still don't have the toys, they'll order it for you. Cool.

When Toy Kingdom first started opening shop in the Philippines, I was one of their biggest fans. I…read morewas single, I had some money to spend and I love toys. I was in different branches every week looking for a new toy for myself. They were my go-to store for children's gifts for baby christenings, birthday parties, and Christmas. Now that I am a mommy, I am even more excited about our trips to Toy Kingdom because I could share my love for toys with my daughter. Plus, it really occupies her for several hours and we don't even have to spend a single cent. I love that she gets to play with a lot of things so we discover what she really wants before we buy them. They have such a wide selection of toys from V-tech, Barbie, Hello Kitty, Marvel, Disney and other well known brands. Watch out for those times when they go on sale because they really drop the price on select items. We were recently able to purchase a Furby for only P1,500 when it is usually priced at P5,000.

Toy kingdom was filled with wall to wall toys! They have everything from collectibles to toys for…read moreall ages! Walking in there reminded me of being in a toys r us. Recommend this place as it did not disappoint!

I am a massive fan of Toy Stores for the simple reason that I still feel like a kid in a candy…read morestore when I find myself walking into one. I mean, as a kid, pet stores and toy stores were my haven. I would go there and you'd find me running around like I was a young kid mainlining LSD and Red Bull. This particular Toy Kingdom is great. It is humongous. It in fact reminds me of the Toy Kingdom back in SM Southmall, which is now a lot smaller by the way. What else can I say about this toy store other than that I'm glad it still exists. If you have kids, I implore you to take them here. Toys are important because kids learn to use their imagination to play with them. Interacting with a toy tends to promote creativity since a child is supposed to come up with their own unique scenarios or ways to play with something as static as a toy. Be a good parent and take them to Toy Kingdom.

The UK toy store Early Learning Centre was opened in Greenbelt 5 early last year. It has a lot of…read morecool items for kids aged 0 to 6 years. The store divides its selection into several categories: Action& Adventure, Art & Creativity, Baby & Toddler, Let's Pretend, Music & Learning, Puzzles & Games; and Sports & Activity. These categories should already give you an idea of how extensive their product lines are. Little boys will enjoy the wide selection of cars, dinosaurs, farms, basketball games and more. Little girls, on the other hand, can enjoy paint, coloring materials, cooking items, dolls and more. Then there are the gender-neutral toys like wooden block games, flash cards, musical toys, learning packs and others. I've bought my 3-year-old girl to this place several times and she enjoys being able to freely pick up a toy and look at it. This makes it easier for me to buy toys for her because I see exactly how interested she is in each toy before I consider purchasing it. ELC is one of the few toy stores around that actually manufacture their own brand. Their toys follow European standards and are guaranteed to be hazard-free and non-toxic. Though priced a bit more than what you'd find in other toy stores, I think it's really worth it for the peace of mind and the brand's focus on child development.

I've always been a Hobbes & Landes fan even before having a kid. Like comic book stores and…read morecollectible toy store, this is my idea of a Big Girl's Toy Shop. I love all the geeky things I can find here, from the new Monopoly game to some science sets (I've always wanted my own chemistry set as a kid but no one ever thought of giving me such a geeky gift). Now that I always have a toddler in tow, I have to stop by Hobbes & Landes every time we go to Greenbelt. Aside from muscle memory at work, I really just love taking my daughter there because the little Lego table keeps her occupied for a good solid hour. When she's done playing, she can always look at the miniature animal models that she loves. And while she's busy looking at the fish tank or playing with the Legos, mommy can go back to her days of geekery and look at the latest cool toys they have to offer.

It's my personal mantra, that any gifts that I give to kids are educational and something they can…read moreuse for long time. This store is something that helps me fulfill this mantra. You can pick up wide variety of educational toys, be it the Lego or the puzzle games. But my personal favorite is the wide variety of science themed toys that this place sells. My best pick so far has been a basic telescope (cost me around 3,000 peso) that I gifted to a friend's child. It was basic and affordable enough to kindle interest around stars, planet and galaxy. My second best pick would be a binocular (around1000 peso) which was a great gift to enable a kid to explore things around. Also, if you happen to look around, this place also sells craft materials like clay's, paint materials, art kits that you assemble and explore the creative side of your kids.

No matter the age, we live in a society where it is socially acceptable for an adult to collect…read moretoys with no judgement whatsoever. Big Boys Toy Store enables any toy lover or collector not only a chance to purchase the most popular toys in popculture, but also add rare toys! The great thing about the staff at Big Boys is that they are incredibly accomodating, and best of all they understand the obssession! Tell them what toy you're looking for and they'll tell you if they have it or if not whether you can pre-order it. They have clearbooks filled with different items that are not on hand at their stores but available for order if it indeed what you desire. And if what you are looking for is not included in stock or in the pre-orders file, they have been known to source it out for you. Just ask nicely lol!

At some point, toy collecting overlaps with kid's toys. Sometimes, you have to swallow your pride…read moreand go into toy stores without any shame. I can name people who have entered places like Toy Kingdom and Toys-R-Us to look for that one coveted Lego set or a Gundam that you don't quite have yet. Then there are places like Mindwerks that kind of blur the line between a kid's toystore and a grown up toystore. Right off the bat, you could probably think it's a toystore for little kids. Sure, there's a lot of Lego but once you take a second look at the shelves, you'll notice there's stuff there that would interest either much older children too. Puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles. I loved those growing up... and I'm not talking about those puny 100 piece ones. There are 300 piece puzzles, 1000 piece puzzles... definitely something older kids would appreciate... or nerds like myself. Mindwerks is stocked with what I would probably term as brain toys. They're not exactly blatant educational toys but they make you think.

Ever since I started working, there was never a year that I did not receive a gift coming from…read morePapemelroti. This just goes to show that this rustic-vintage inspired store is on top of a lot people's list for gift items. I can't blame them, it's on top of mine too. The place sells a wide array of stationery made of recycled paper which gives their items the old fashioned vibe without making it look used or scrappy. They also have small trinkets and thingamajigs perfect for giveaways or tabletop displays. What I usually get from this store is their small boxes of inspirational messages that can brighten anyone's day in a jiff. I would just tie a little ribbon around it and it's good to go. I wouldn't have to spend a little extra for gift wrapping. So the next time a friend or family member celebrates anything and you can't think of a present to give, you can always go back to the basics and give this place a visit.

I may be giving out my age here but this shop used to be my best friend when cellular phones and…read morethe internet are not yet household names. I go to Papemelroti when I need to send a love letter to the girl I'm courting. Yes kids, it's that thing where you use an actual pen and paper to communicate with the girl you like. We really used to do that. And you have to wait for a day or even several days just to receive a response. Papemelroti has stationaries and notebooks made out of recycled paper with cute designs and vintage look. The said stationaries and notebooks also have nice designs and even sayings. They also sell trinkets like brass necklaces and bracelets. They even have little jewelry boxes made of recycled materials. The fact that Ms. Patty, who partly owns Papemelroti together with her siblings, is such a nice person is another reason for me to continue patronizing this store. Yes, the first two letters of Papemelroti is from her name. RO is for Robert, the sibling who is the creator of the designs and drawings you see in their products. Their classic and beautiful items should be more than enough reason for customers to continue patronizing them. If you need another reason then it's nice to know that the crafts and trinkets that they sell are handmade by mothers living in destitute areas. Papemelroti provides them with materials and pays them for the labor. Just keep in mind that everytime you purchase an item from Papemelroti, you are also supporting these mothers who found a decent livelihood because of Papemelroti.