Beanie Babies, Kids-Meal Toys, Disney, Barbie, Pez, Collectables & More At Happy Toy Depot
Written: Nov 14 '03 (Updated Jul 30 '06)
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A few years ago I started collecting various fast food promotional items. To be blunt, it was the endless trips to Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut for the Star Wars items that got me hooked on collecting these types of toys. One of my favorite collections is the Burger King Simpson’s Halloween set but thanks to my youngest son, several of them were opened essentially ruining the completed set I had tucked away. Exhausting all the local options, I turned to the internet to try and find the toys that had been opened and attempt to recomplete the set – that’s how I landed at Happy Toy Depot. Since my initial order I’ve become a regular at the site and shop there at least once a month. Be it a small order or a large one, I am treated with a lot of respect, questions are answered quickly and the merchandise arrives a day or two before it’s expected.
Getting around the site is easy and everything that is listed has a color photo, brief description and price. Some items like the cardboard promotional items have a lot of detail and other things like the Beanie Babies have the basics. If you need any more information about a product that is listed at the site, email them about it and they will be more than happy to help out. Adding tings to your cart is a one-click process and creating an account takes less than a minute to complete. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter so you can take advantage of sale items and keep up to date with new products that are added to the site. The site is 100% kid friendly with no adult content or questionable material. The worst thing that will happen is that you get handed a wish list of things they want.
Products
I am continually amazed at what the site sells; anything and everything from toys to collectables, sports related merchandise to Beanie Babies – if it is a toy and considered a collectable, chances are you will be able to find it at the site. My favorite sections are Pez, Beanie Babies and the fast food toys but that never stops me from poking around in The Muppet area or the Christmas part of the site. If you are a fan of those cardboard cut outs or promotional “standees”, you can find a nice selection of them at the site. They also carry items from movies like Austin Powers, Toy Story 1 and 2, various Disney films and of course Barbie. The site changes pretty often so if you visit and don’t see anything that you want, be sure to bookmark it and stop back often!
Happy Cash!
Ever hear of a site that gives you something a little extra when you make a purchase? Well, at Happy Toy Depot you can earn $1.00 for every $10.00 you spend. The money that is accrued is called Happy Cash and can be used for purchases at the site. They keep a running total for you that you can check at any time when you log in to the site so you will always know how much you have in the “Happy Bank”. This is a great way to reward people who shop through the site and personally, I think it’s a great feature that other sites should adopt.
Payment Options
Happy Toy Depot gladly accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover Card. If these aren’t options for you or you don’t feel safe using a credit card online you can also pay for your order with a money order, check or by using PayPal. I’ve used my MasterCard to place orders and haven’t had any trouble with processing, approval or billing and the amount that was shown in my online card at the time of check out matched up to the amount on my credit card statement.
Customer Service
Happy Toy Depot
2000 Bloomingdale Road # 135
Glendale Heights, IL 60139
[630] 980-9087 – customer service
[630] 295-9591 – fax
customercare@happytoydepot.com
www.happytoydepot.com
Shipping Fees
Shipping fees are calculated according to the total weight of your order but distance from their shipping location may also play a factor in the total amount depending on how it is shipped. Most orders do ship out via Priority Mail but larger items or heavier items might be cheaper to have shipped UPS Ground. The shipping is a little high in my opinion but your items are shipping insured and can be tracked once they are shipped. Some sites offer low shipping fees with the option to add insurance – Happy Toy Depot does it automatically. This does help to prevent against lost packages as well as fraud or people claiming they did not receive their order. Getting the shipping fee isn’t easy, you have to add the items to your cart then proceed to check out to see the total. The easiest way to see the shipping costs is to select the check / money order option and then select the method of delivery you want. If it is acceptable, then use the back button on your browser to select a credit card and proceed with the order. Most of my orders are in the $50.00 - $75.00 range and cost between $13.00 and $17.00 for shipping. That might sting some people who have become accustomed to free or flat rate shipping but in this case I can overlook it since they deliver fast and have good prices.
Return Policy
When you order through Happy Toy Depot you purchase is backed with a 30 day money back guarantee. If you don’t like it, return it and get a refund or exchange. In the case of defective items, they will ship you a new item and even pay for the shipping to return the defective or damaged product. I haven’t needed to make any returns so I have no idea how quick they are to issue a credit to send out replacements but a few of my friends who have ordered from the site say that they received replacement items within a week of calling them.
The Bottom Line
I’ll be the first to admit this – the site isn’t all that attractive. In fact, it’s pretty bare bones and basic but what matters to me is being able to shop through a site that has good products, good prices and delivers in an acceptable amount of time. This is where Happy Toy Depot takes the cake; they deliver the products quickly, back them with a satisfaction guarantee and are always more than happy to help with questions, comments or concerns. I wish they sold some type of gift certificate because I know a lot of people that would love to receive them this holiday season. Safe transactions, stellar customer service and great selection are just a few of the kudos I have for this site but don’t take my word for it, stop by and give ‘em a try for yourself!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2003 Freak369
Office Playground, Lego World Shop, Baylit, Things From Another World, New England Comics, Westfield Comics, KBtoys.com, Happy Toy Depot, Childcraft, Hobbytron, Playmobil, Lunchboxes Online, PEZ, John's Toy Store, Board Games Express, Action Figure Xpress, Plush Dreams, Sanrio, Slinky Toys, Fun To Collect, eSticker, Sticker Giant, Snoopy Store, Toy Wiz, USAopoly
Recommended:
Yes
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