Merced toy show calling kids and kids at heart
An annual toy show rolls into Merced this weekend, and an organizer said it will have a whole new feel this time around.
The Chaos Collectibles toy show is set for 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, at the Merced Elks Lodge, 1910 M St. An “early bird” entry is also available for an extra fee.
The toy show, which is Merced’s closest thing to pop culture mecca Comic-Con, this year has a celebrity guest. Kathy Garver, who starred as Cissy in “Family Affair” in the late 1960s and voiced Firestar in the 1980s cartoon “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends,” is set to make an appearance and sign copies of her book “Surviving Cissy.”
Organizer Danny Fuentz said past shows have focused on pre-1980 toys, but this year’s show will open up to toys from any era. “This show’s got a different feel to it,” he said. “We’ve had this show every year, but people are excited.”
Popular toys at the show have always included vintage Marx trains, metal lunchboxes, Smith-Miller trucks, plastic models, comic books, old cap guns, Hot Wheels, G.I. Joes, and other wind-up or battery-powered toys.
This show’s got a different feel to it. We’ve had this show every year, but people are excited.
Danny Fuentz
the toy show organizerFuentz said this year’s offerings will open up to 1980s action figures such as He-Man and characters from “Star Wars,” as well as modern favorites like POP! vinyl figures, which license an array of pop culture characters.
Children 10 and younger will get into the toy show without an entry fee and they’ll walk away with a free toy, Fuentz said, another first this year. “No little kid is going to walk around without a toy in their hand,” he said.
The show draws a few hundred people each year to peruse the spread in the basement of the Elks Lodge. Fuentz said the vendor tables sold out this year.
From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., early birds will be admitted for $10; from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. the general public will be admitted for $5. Children 10 or younger get in free.
Anyone who brings a canned good gets a $1 discount on the entry fee. The food is meant to benefit seniors, according to organizers. For more, call Fuentz at 209-631-6277.
Chaos Collectibles toy show
When: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21
Where: Merced Elks Lodge, 1910 M St.
Cost: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. “early birds” are $10; 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. is $5; children 10 or younger are free.
This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Merced toy show calling kids and kids at heart."