Memory Lane: Part 2 - Toy Shops In The Steel City Part 1

 So, toy shops...

I genuinely believe that in Sheffield, we were spoiled for choice. I was born in 1968, so I lived in the golden age when Action Man was an alpha male, but girls had Havoc, a smaller scale action figure for girls, who had a motorbike for Christ's sake... She kicked Sindy's flowery-knickered ass, and even Action Man watched his step around that lady. Barbie stayed well clear for fear of getting a brake handle taken down the side of her nipple pink convertible.

Havoc was designed by Mary Quant - talk about designer toys - and was well tooled up:

When it came to Action Man, I was a pedant for detail. I actually bough matching uniforms (Duck Hunter pattern, high boots and M1 steel Helmet , or green jumper and beret for commando missions, for all of the troops under my command - Which if I remember correctly was 7, although the Assault Boat could only stay afloat with 6, so two patrolled in my Cherilea PBR, to allow a fully tooled up 5 man team to conduct raids, replete with .50 Browning

So, I needed to have a reliable source for my quartermasters to place purchase orders with.

Locally, in the suburb of Firth Park, we had two toy shops. The first was Kenyon's on Bellhouse Road. This was double fronted shop, crammed with some interesting but not 'high end' toys (or so it appeared).

Firth Park is a workng class area, but back then steelworkers earned decent wages, and so, they wanted the best for their kids. The rear of the shop was accessed through a door hidden behind the peg board display walls, and it was here that those who the proprietor thought 'suitably respectable' could get their hands on some serious shit for those Christmases and birthdays.

In the rear was a second shop, more akin to a warehouse, which had the very, very best of the big name toy brands. Want that hard to get Hornby loco? An unreleased record for the talking Action Man? 7 sets of Duck Hunter fatigues? It was here. I was in kid heaven when I found several records for the talking Action Man which also fitted the field radio set. My Quarter-Nan bought me the lot at no small price, let me tell you. My Nan was seen as being very respectable indeed, and a no-nonsense cash-only customer when it came to buying toys.

The second shop was on Stubbin Lane and was Mrs Seymour's. Mrs Seymour was a the ACME Little Old Lady and in my memory she looked like the granny from the Tweety Pie cartoons. She was always smiling and gentle, and her stock seemed to be sweets and Timpo Swoppet figures. At 7p for infantry and around 30p for cavalry, they were a serious purchase in 1974, so a reliable stockist was essential. 

This was where I bought the bulk of my Timpo forces, and Mrs Seymour and my Nan ('Mrs Barson' always Mrs Barson) were on very good terms. Mrs Seymour could remember every figure she had sold me, and so, she would set aside knights I did not have, and would actually allow me to swap out parts. She kept everything displayed in the Edwardian style under a glass counter, carefully set out like plastic jewels, unless she was holding something for the weekly visit of your narrator (and I suppose, other kids from the more discerning families) and I still revcall the day that I went in and was presented with mounted and foot versions of a knight in yellow and green heraldry, purple lance, white horse with matching yellow and green caparison. That was a great day!

Beyond Firth Park, for the Airfix stuff (although Kenyons did stock them), and later the Matchbox figures and kits so beloved by my generation, I would look further afield in the city centre, where a parent or grandparent could find themself bankrupted if the child in their charge was not carefully wrangled and managed.

So, as this is going to mean visits to a lot of different places (don't worry, we will get to wargaming, but this is all scene setting and my memories all lead to gaming - and I have a lot of memories) I think I should sign off for now, as we board the 47 bus with my nan, from the bust stop on Hucklow Road, where that man with the blue disability car parks right in front of the bus stop, the silly sod.

I swear those cars (affectionately called 'Spaz Chariots' were so fragile that Havoc's motorbike would write one off in no time at all, so had a bus hit it, the man in question would have needed more than a wheelchair. But the roads were not as busy as they are now.

But, the bus is here, so I need to pay my 2p fare and head for the Haymarket area of Sheffield and the start of a day's shopping for Airfix and Hornby (this is where the discovery of Citadel Miniatures began, too). So, until next time...

TTFN