This place has the best selection of children's books I've seen in a long time. Diversity, women, equality, inclusion. These are the books children today need to be reading. Well done to the owners for stocking this selection! read more

Thinker Toys - Toy Stores Near Me - Carmel, California

As a collector I found some amazing items there especially handheld electronic games. Also employees there were really polite and helpful

They have soooo many toys. It's like heaven for my son (and husband). And thank you to the gentleman behind the Center who helped to wrap my gifts. Much appreciated! read more

I am so sad to write this review. I have been going to Thinker Toys since I was a child, and have been a steady customer during the pandemic. They were doing SO well until the mask restriction lifted in California on 6/15. To clarify, this means that VACCINATED people can stop wearing masks indoors. Obviously smaller (I.e., ages 2-11) children have not been vaccinated yet. Thinker Toys now has a sign in their door that says "masks optional" and then smaller type indicating that people should follow state mandates. While great in theory, we saw families with unmasked small children (think, grade school) wandering around, and an unmasked man coughing all over the place. Their store is small and you cannot avoid these people. I wish that the owners of Thinker Toys could remember that they are in the business of serving the small humans who are now most vulnerable to Covid. I will not be going back until my child is vaccinated, or they do a better job of making their store safe. Or maybe never, given their appalling lack of concern for others. read more

Umm...just realized they offer a discount for all teachers/educators with no limits. Shop local!

So I would love to give Thinker Toys five stars. In fact, if it were still located in the Carmel Plaza, I would give Thinker Toys five stars. Sadly, it's not, and although it's still got a lot of charm, the new location is nowhere near as magical as the old one. I'll stop myself before I write a 4,000-word review about the old location, but let me just say that going in there when I was a kid was one of my favorite things about being a kid, and I had a wonderful childhood. read more

I LOVED THINKER TOYS...back when it was the only really super cool store to go to in Carmel Plaza...back the Brothers Magnin had stores on either end of the Plaza... yes...I'm old...and yes, the store seemed HUGE to me as a child...but I will still find an excuse to wander in and remember... read more

Awesome toy store that carries more than the mindless consumer products with product endorsements and meta-marketing automobiles and logos to kids. This stuff is thoughtful, engaging, and FUN! AND... now I have a niece and nephew that I can justify buying this stuff for!! read more

Really only 3 stars, but I'm being nice. :) Nice toy store with decent selection, but not so much that it's overwhelming. Doesn't get more stars for 2 reasons: (1) staff is not helpful (no one offers to help you find an age-appropriate gift, for example), and (2) I don't always find something for the child in my life. Today, for example, I needed a gift for a 2-year old boy. Most of the cool stuff was for 3+ years. So I left empty handed. This is where Toys R Us fills in the gaps. Might not be original, but Toys R Us has it all. Locally, I like The Wooden Horse in Los Gatos a bit more than Thinker Toys. But they both get my vote for trying to be different and for staying afloat in uncertain financial times. read more

I don't have any kids (yet) but all of my friends do and this place has been a God send. I am a big fan of getting kids toys that will actually stimulate their brain. Call me sentimental but I believe in investing in our future. By that I mean make the kids today smarter so they can support me when I am old :-) Anyways, the employees were super helpful, when I asked someone about age appropriate toys for a new born she immediately picked out 4 and I narrowed it down to 2 awesomely noisy toys (like I said they aren't my kids). Also, the huge toy Ferris wheel in the front window is amazing! My husband was in awe long enough that I finally had to drag him away. read more

Super cute toy store that had everything you'd need to have a fun time in Carmel! Everything was priced a little higher than even some of the higher priced boutiques I've seen. (ie Melissa and Doug puzzle can normally run $12 on the expensive side, and was $15 here). I'm sure they don't have cheap overhead in pricey Carmel. Anyway, we were able to get beach toys and kites for the kids. It looks very nostalgic from the outside as well. read more

Look for the huge toy Ferris wheel in the front window. It's Christmas everyday of the year when I come here. Stimulate your brain, get a kids toy. It's not a super big place, but there's always something sentimental about a place that's been around for years (I wish the other airplane-model-place around the corner didn't have to close). Great place for big and little kids. Anyways, the employees were super helpful, there's a range of age-appropriate toy/gift that you can buy here. read more

My kids (and I) LOVE this toy store. It's easily their favorite! A great selection of so many different, quality toys for all different ages. read more

VERY nice toys. They have a GREAT selection of toys, board games especially, but are pretty expensive. Thinker Toys is ideal for kids about ages 3-10, and it also has multiple gumball machines and some decent art supplies as well. Very good break from the excessive amount of art galleries in Carmel; I could spend hours in here. read more

Both this store and their other location in the Del Monte center offer great customer service and a great selection of toys (both well-known brands like Lego and lesser known, European-styled brands) and books for all ages and budgets. I came in looking for a gift appropriate for a 3-year-old girl that could grow with her for at least a couple of years. Shelbi was very helpful, making a few specific suggestions within my target price range (without pointing me exclusively to super girly stuff) as well as indicating which areas of the store would be most fruitful to browse through. She then let me know she'd be happy to help further if I had any questions and left me to browse. When making my purchase, I asked if they could provide a gift receipt. They did and offered to gift wrap the items at no charge. read more

Terrible customer service. A girl behind the counter was so unwilling to help and seemed kind of dumb - she could not figure out the simplest task. I left irritated and will never come back. Hire salespeople who are not that stupid and lazy! read more

We were visiting Carmel over the weekend and found this toy store. It is a gem! I love independent toy stores and I am proud to support them. We bought our daughter some Melissa and Doug toys and went on our way. They have plenty of toys out for kids to play with and chairs throughout the stores for parents to sit in...which I thought was super thoughtful. They had a decent selection of toys as well! read more

I remember when they were located in Carmel Plaza. They used to have these bins with cheap toys near the front. I'd always stick my fingers in those Chinese Finger Traps and 4 out of the 5 times my fingers would get stuck. So stuck that I would panic and freak out. But I was a cool kid so I wouldn't express my feelings. I would just stand there and mess around with them until I got released but I really wanted to shit in my pants. Freaked the crap out of me! Traumatized. Those things are not cool. read more

Cute toy shop with friendly staff; a sweet refuge for the kiddies amongst the more adult-friendly shops in town.

Great toy store, with something for the kid in us all ( I know *vomit*). Very friendly staff, especially for a toy store. I think I would be downing liquid valium by the gallon if I had to work at a toy store, but these guys seem like fun and like to joke and answer any questions about any of the toys. Great games selection, which is what I went in there for in the first place! read more

Our kids love coming here. It is a good combination of licensed toys (Lego, etc...) with puppets, wooden toys, etc... They also have a lot of fun, smaller activities that are good for the hotel room and car. The staff is friendly, and the toy train that continually runs overhead is always fun. It is one of the first stops our kids like to make when we make it down to Carmel. And it is the only toy store in the area, to my knowledge. read more

We always seem to spend a couple hours in here when we visit Carmel. This store is great because all the toys are ones that will stimulate and teach. It seems like all you see now are kids playing video games and then store is the complete opposite, good old fashion toys! We bought a really cool kite here a couple years ago. Also the employees are great and really helpfull! read more

I really love this store, they have everything from $250 kites to $2 name plates (but where the hell are all the video games?). Gund stuffed animals, jack-in-the-boxes, Playmobile, building blocks, rubber band guns(!!!! My fave), so much cool stuff. I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because there are no changing tables; you'd think a toy store would have a changing station, but nope. read more

Didn't really impress me. The store is super crowded and it was hard to really navigate and find anything in here. No staff greeted us or spoke to us the entire time we were in the store. read more

great little toy store one block off the Ocean at NW corner of San Carlos St and 7th was able to keep my two little ones occupied for 1 hr without any complaints they have Tolo toys, which I love! and Stabilo colored pencils which are made in the EU chock full of toys that your kids can see and touch and buy. read more

I've been shopping here since I was a little girl. This store has been here forever and the K-nex Ferris wheel has been twirling in the window as long as I can remember. This toy store sells classic vintage MB board games. I love that. The store is always neat and organized. The staff is very friendly as well. I now take my 9 year old daughter here. Such history and nostalgia everyone I come back. read more

We love this place! Lots of exotic toys! We spent hours here while we were in Carmel. My son said this was the best part in the whole trip. :) read more

All the toys a big & little kid could want. A must stop on visits to Carmel. Great selections and fun people!

Just heard how one of the partners screwed one of the partners out of the business. Went in to say hi to Mark Phillips and found out that one of the partners screwed him over. Let's watch how social media will take this guy down people. Millennial are all about peer to peer wield. You don't screw a good loyal partner out of a life long business. You'll be sorry. read more

Love this toy store. The train riding along the top of the store is cool, and anything you might possibly want to buy seems to be in stock here. Fun! read more

Great shop. Has a plethora of toys, books, and wacky things all kids both young and old would like. Need to call out the play area with train table kids can entertain themselves while the parents look around for things to purchase. read more

Great store! Its got so many old school toys that are fun to look at! And the ferris wheel they built is amazing!

I love the unique and beautiful toys here and have been coming here for a few years, but today I was very disappointed in the customer service. I came in looking for a doll for my new baby niece, and asked about a particular one I have purchased before. Two employees were stocking the area, so I asked about it, and one employee's responded " no, I guess we are out of those" and then went back to the conversation he was having with another employee. I looked around for a while, saw 3 employees on the sales floor, and no one asked if I needed any help. I walk back over to the display case, planning on getting a different item, and no one paid any attention to me. Now I understand when it is busy, but at this time I was the only one in the shop and there were 3 employees working!!! Sorry Thinker Toys, but I will have a hard time bringing my friends and family there again if this is how you treat customers! read more