If you are looking for a last-minute gift for kids or adults, this is a neat store for hobby enthusiasts as well as anything a kid could possibly be interested in. For real! BONUS: A 10% off coupon popped up when I checked in on Yelp so be sure to do that! This store is large & it's fun to walk up and down the numerous aisles to check out all the neat stuff they have. Stem/educational items, toys for all ages, games, dress up/costumes, model cars & aircraft, nice train sets/accessories/landscapes for the train lovers. Science kits, environmental science kits, edible science kits.... Kits for budding engineers & architects... a great way to start tapping into your child's natural abilities early on to nurture possible career interests. It just might save a bundle on college if they have a good feel for the type of career they may enjoy. There is a section of adult games in addition to children's games & family games. There is too much to list here so check out some of the items via my photos. There is so much more to see! read more

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This place is amazing! Such a huge selection of toys and games as well as collectibles. Some items are pricey but others are quite reasonable. My friend and I enjoyed just wandering around looking at the seemingly endless supply of unique treasures. This is a great place to find an unusual gift for a child or adult! read more

Time Machine Hobby - Toy Stores Near Me - Manchester, Connecticut

This place takes you back to a time when your parents took you to a toy store to look, feel and even play with the toys before you purchase. Very nostalgic with a large variety of toys, hobbies, and collectibles. You can literally take a couple hours here just to survey what they have to offer. They are currently celebrating their 50th birthday so with purchase comes some freebies such as pens, koozies and stickers. They also have a train museum that is free upstairs. Highly recommend to take the kids, bond and hopefully make some lasting memories. read more

An excellent toy and hobby shop. They have a lot packed into this store, which itself is larger than it looks. Whether kid or adult, you will probably get lost in here, and end up buying more than you planned. The cashier typically doesn't seem to make any effort to be friendly or helpful. However, the other staff I've interacted with are very friendly, and happy to chat about questions, hobby troubleshooting, and so forth. read more

Color Form, Jax, Lite Brite's and all the other toys I grew up with in my childhood. This store was a real stroll through memory lane and so much fun to linger in. Upstairs there is a huge train set that takes up nearly the entire 2nd floor. The train set club runs the trains and take it seriously. They are a wealth of knowledge about the history. The building is an old mill and also very interesting. Oh, no a/c so be prepared to feel muggy on a hot day. A 10% discount off of your entire order with Yelp check in. read more

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Please come here instead of Amazon !! This place is a wonderland for kids of all ages, up through 100. They have every toy you could imagine including model airplanes and trains, STEM science wonders, puzzles and books. It's housed in a historic mill building with room after room of things to look at. The store seems to go on forever, but not in the evil IKEA sort of way. It's a marvel all of the things they stock. It is impossible to not find what you're looking for or better. It's also impossible to not smile or have fun here. Bonus train museum upstairs Support local ! Shop local ! read more

If you are a child, this place is for you. If you were ever a child, this place is really truly for you. Housed in a massive and beautiful old brick factory, the first floor has toys, games, puzzles, models, rockets, a large STEM collection, LEGO, Brio, remote control planes, trains and cars, and a fascinating array of vintage items you won't see too many places. If you are looking for where Santa stores his leftovers and his latest, this is it. Upstairs, trains truly take over. Anything you could imagine and more to create the model train system of your dreams, and as you wander through, you come across possibly the largest model train set I have ever seen. From Maine to the Rockies and beyond, trains, towns, a circus, factories and freight yards are captured in exquisite detail. If you came for the toys, DO NOT SKIP THE TRIP UPSTAIRS to see this incredible panorama. It is worth the excursion!!! Across the street is a gamer's annex for the latest modern games. read more

If you thought, all great local toy stores had vanished, perish the thought. Time machine hobby is a giant store, and a big throwback to yesteryear, when independent shops like this could exist. It's fun to wander the store, and then go upstairs and see all of the toy railroads as well. Highly recommend as an outing with your toddler or just to get ready for the next birthday party without resorting to Amazon. read more

Whether you're a kid or an adult get yourself to this store and poke around - you'll be happy you went !! read more

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My wife and I were not prepared for this place. It was beyond our expectations in every conceivable way. It was WAY bigger than we had imagined. It had EVERYTHING you could think of and more. The prices were LOWER than we would have expected. We were there for an hour and only scratched the surface of this place. It's an amazing place for a hobby nerd like myself or someone who wants to be in awe of recapturing the feeling you had as a kid in a massive toy store/hobby shop. Wow. How did I not know of this place before? We are so glad we do now and we can't stop talking about it. This weekend we are going to bring the kids... we are gonna be there for hours! A must visit place! A CT gem! read more

Excellent choice of toys, things you remember from your childhood as well as the latest and greatest "it" toys. Fun things to play with like a lego table, roll up player piano, and other fun things. A couple of times a month they have free train demos, and even a model train club that meets here. Tons of lego sets, crafty items and educational books, and lots of stuffed animals and car and plane building kits. Better service and experience than the big chain stores. read more

Time Machine Hobby - Toy Stores Near Me - Manchester, Connecticut

Throwback to toy stores of old. Worth a visit and buying a few gifts. I suspect they suffer a lot from Amazon.

I swear when my boyfriend and I went there on a Sunday we were in sensory overload. This is totally a nerd hotspot but one must see it at least once in their life time. It's toys galore but it is in a class of its own. It is not your typical Toys R Us. The toys they carry were unique brain stimulating toys. Many parents don't realize children have to work on their hands and eyes coordination. A simple leap pad isn't going to properly prepare your child for their next developmental milestone properly. They had toys for all ages. We had so much fun touching all the toys there. I love that they have toys that are science related yet fun. There were educational toys as well as silly gag gifts. Their anatomy models were amazing. I know that if I had one of those models while in school, studying would have been a tad easier. I don't know where you can find a model of an ear and be able to take it apart besides an online store that will charge you triple the price. If I had child I would definitely buy them realistic anatomy parts. They also had tons of gag gifts such as Poop that grows! The highlight of this hobby shop is the amazing train sets. They don't have a room devoted to the trains they have a FLOOR devoted to nothing but train sets. This store is just ridiculous. They use every square inch to the max. Every corner you turn there's a new toy awaiting to be handled and played with. Great selection but I don't remember seeing a sales associate walking around the store. If you don't have an agenda expect to spend tons of time sorting through tons of toys arranged in a chaotic system. We didn't mind that the toys were arranged in no particular order or system because we had time to waste. This toy store has the feel of an old toy store you often read about in old Christmas stories. Parking was pretty easy. They have their own lot with tons of space. The space is easy to locate. Overall the place was a great experience. I just wish someone would dust. read more

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I think this is the largest toy store and hobby store in Connecticut. I maybe wrong, but this place is absolutely huge. Half of it is kids toys. The other half is for us big people. Wow, scale dioramas, plastic models, boats, planes, cars, helicopters, RC, drool drool drool. I could spend half a day and half a grand here. Thus, it's good that it's quite a drive away from me otherwise I'd be in the poor house and dog house. Three thumbs and a paw up! read more

Best toy/hobby store this part of the state. Came here per recommendation of a friend and totally fell in love with this place. Special thanks to the cashier who entertained our needs as we rummage through Magic The Gathering cards. Some good finds and cheap too. Didn't spend a lot of time in this place as we were kinda in a hurry. It's a big store with lots and lots and lots of toys and hobby needs. Definitely a must if you are visiting or if you are in the area. read more

Time Machine Hobby - Toy Stores Near Me - Manchester, Connecticut

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This is what I wrote 5/3/2015: The first time I came here was the end of January, my boyfriend discovered this place's existence because he was on a board game kick and was looking for specific expansions to Dominion. (All that sort of stuff is actually across the street in Portal though.) The 2nd floor of the place is all model train stuff with HUGE layouts (they even have a replica of Horseshoe Curve - train geeks know what that is) and they seem to have a wide variety of modeling stuff. I never could get into it...not only are model trains expensive, some elaborate layouts take up massive amounts of space. I can still appreciate the effort that goes into building them though. They also have a decent selection of railroad-related magazines (which I'll keep in mind when I get photos published in Railpace again and people want copies...ha) I came up here looking for something very specific, which they unfortunately didn't have in stock, but were willing to order for me and pick up on their next supplier run, which is apparently weekly. Update: I'm knocking two stars off because they never ordered the specific thing I was looking for (or just didn't call when it came in). I ended up going elsewhere to get it. read more

Don't bother for RC. Never been there on a day when the "RC guy" is in. My most recent attempt at a purchase was thwarted by an employee with no interest in helping me find the LiPo I needed, wouldn't even get off her phone for two seconds to look behind the counter, she just said "we only have LiPos for cars" which is nonsense, a LiPo is a LiPo. They even had one with the correct cell count in plain view, just wrong capacity. Id've even ordered the batteries through them given the chance because hobby shops are a dying breed. I guess now I know why. It's a real shame because there aren't many local hobby shops around here and I'd really like to support one. I tried several times with this one and after the total disinterest I experienced today I won't be going back. If you are just looking for toys in general, Gundam or other model kits, theres a decent selection. Just don't expect any help or enthusiasm with RC purchases. read more

The moment I crossed the time machine entrance, it lived up to its name. I got a nostalgia rush that I haven't had since I re-visited Coney Island. You immediately feel that this store has it all. Toys, toys and more toys. Walking on a wood floor awakens long gone memories with every step. You can hear "I had that when I was a kid" shouted from every corner of the shop. I bought a flexi Felix the cat which has been left in the package until the day I feel I can no longer stand it and proceed to lift it out of its plastic entombed resting place. Kids and adults both yell "Holy smokes" when they find something that really is extremely rare or strikes a cord in their souls. Lucy and Ricky smile at you from a box cover. (They never could do any shots where they were both in bed). The only thing I couldn't find were high end puppets. Brands like Pelham and Hazelle have been out of business for decades, but that doesn't mean it's the "end of the line." Those were marionettes that a kid my age could always find in a few stores during the fifties to the sixties like F.A.O. Schwarts. Bring your trust fund. read more

My husband was having a birthday and I thought it was high time to get him back into one of his favorite childhood hobbies; models. Lo and behold finding a quality model these days is not as easy as you might think! Insert this place. Not only do they have oodles of models to choose from depending upon your interest (cars, planes, bikes, boats, military etc) but the selection of those in those genres is boggling. I was pleased as punch to find a BMW which I had about given up hope on as well since my hubs is a self proclaimed "fanatic" and I figured this would be just the thing to pique his interest. Now I never did a model in my life so the guys there were super helpful when I inquired about paints and cement...even gave me 10% off my purchase! Really can't say enough about this place. Legos, matchbox, etc! So. Many. Toys. read more

If you live in Manchester or anywhere near Manchester, you must come to this store to get toys or just little gifts for your friends! Support a local favorite and spread the word! This place is super family friendly! read more

SERIOUSLY? I lost my boyfriend in the first 30 seconds and found him 45 minutes later playing with legos at a table. By himself. In a corner. This store is magical. In the meantime, I discovered art supplies, science kits, paints for model cars and trains, a plethora of stuffed toys, puzzles (10,000 pieces - are you insane?), radio control stuff - a piece of everything. And that's just on the first level. The second floor has a pretty wild range of model train accessories and dollhouse miniatures. Here's the thing - I loved having a dollhouse when I was but a young gal. Hence, I nerded out something awful in this section. Oh, then I found Nick and dragged him out of the store. But I will say this - especially when it comes time to do bday/holiday shopping for his niece & nephew - we will never shop in another toy store again. read more

i don't care how old you are, if you have kids in your life or not, or even if you hate life....go here! Go! and LIVE! So cool, so much fun! it was a toss up and who had more fun: me, my husband, or my 17 month year old daughter. everything from birth to a huge adult hobby section....lots of items out to play with...whisical....a great way to spend a cold afternoon.... We didn't have time to go upstairs and check out the toy trains, but I heard it amazing..next time, for sure. I will go here frequently! You can go shopping for anyone in your life, show up with NO ideas, and leave with way too much! in a huge old building, on a side street in Manchester (which looks more like a place for industrial work, or murders). I will recommend to anyone and everyone! also, we get 10% off coupons mailed to us in those booklets of coupons on a regular basis can be overpriced read more

I saw the Yelp reviews for Time Machine and figured there was no way a local toy/hobby store could possibly get 5 stars across the board... Wow, was I wrong. If this were only a hobby/train shop, it would easily be the best (and one of the biggest) I've ever set foot in. But there's also an entire floor devoted to toys - and not the plasticky garbage you can find at any Walmart or Toys R Us, but hundreds (thousands?) of toys that are really high quality, many of them made in the U.S.A. and Europe. They don't have a single video game in the store (that's a plus), but do have a great selection of puzzles, kids' games, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I spent two hours in here with a 2-year old and had to drag him away. (Note: Two-year-olds are not known for their long attention spans). We spent over an hour in the train section alone. Some of the other comments mention the nerd factor of this place. You know what? Then slap a "Kick Me" sign on my back and let me go back to wandering the aisles. read more

This place is awesome. The top floor is all about trains and dollhouses. All the train accessories you could ever need/want or didn't even know existed. The dollhouse accessories were so micro small that it makes me want to buy them all (lol). The first floor when you walk into the building is the regular toy store selection. There are dolls, games, books, cars, model airplanes, etc. When you venture to the register there is a mineral/rock display and near that an art corner where you can get supplies. There was a lower level but I didn't have a chance to check that out yet. I'll definitely be going back! (It's only 4 stars because: the place was a bit disorganised and since there was so much a bit cluttered. I felt a bit claustrophobic walking the aisles.) read more

nerd factor 5 alarms going off!!! i am placing this nerdlair at 4.5 with a round up to 5 only cause my innernerd forced me to. really, no discount rack, clearance items or anything else that allows to shave the cost upsets me, but the sheer amount of nerdy goodness makes up for it. this place is awe inspiring. seriously! open the door walk into this small section and then BOOM you cant even see the back wall to the place. everything and anything you would want. well except for an sr-71 blackbird hat. they said if they didnt have one, they could find it online, i said, so could i. (i cant though, sadface) great place for the gamer/nerd/toyfreak to get their freak on. read more

Omg how have I never visited this place bf??!! Great, I mean stellar selection of toys that my kids LOVE, model trains, cars, boats, doll houses, all hobby things that go w that, artists corner room, and trains rolling 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. Fantastic, hope more people find it so it stays in business! read more

I was there a few months ago. Store is insane and has the most amazing things. My two stars are over the fact that we waited in line for 15 minutes and the person there found every thing to do instead of ringing us up. He answered the phone and stood there discussing a train with another guy who didn't even have anything in his hands. I totally understand that actually taking the time to talk to your customers it above and beyond but it shouldn't be at the expense of other customers. We put our items next to the register and left. I took a peek behind me when we walking away and the guy didn't notice. Sucks because stores like this are hard to come by. read more

Time Machine, built inside an old Manchester Mill, really does take you into a Time Machine of childhood days gone by. Their selection ranges from kid's toys including lego, play mobile, beanie babies, children's books, model rockets to a wide selection for all ages which includes models, Radio Control items, puzzles, painting materials and history books. The staff there is incredibly nice and very helpful. The people in the Radio Control (RC) section are always very knowledgeable and do a great job of helping customers. This place is a nice little gem. read more

The time machine used to be the perfect spot for Dollhouse miniatures collectors happiness for all things need it now has turned into your typical mall store with toys and high Marked prices. bad customer service the guys at counter act like they hate the job and we are at fault! high in price is not worth the trip anymore I remember when this was a homebody store where you could buy best hobby supplies now they have lost the brick and mortar and turned into your everyday hobby lobby junk & prices. BRING BACK DOLLHOUSES , MINIATURES SUPPLIES YOU USE TO BE THE BEST SPOT!!!! read more

Time machine is a great place. I have been here with my dad a couple of times they have good selection for model trains and vintage toys. The prices are decent, I feel like they are in line with what they should be especially given the how rare and hard to find that they things that they sell are. Most of the stuff they sell is older vintage but still in sealed boxes and cases and really nice condition. You can get some better deals on Ebay but you really need to hunt for them most of it. Most of the time I am really not looking for anything when I go here I just am looking for things in general. I don't think you can go here looking for something specific, if you want to you need to call ahead. I believe they sell some stuff on eBay too so it seems a little counter productive, they seem to be competing with themselves. read more

What a nice surprise. An amazing selection of Lego's, Board Games, Model Planes, Trains... The list goes on. I would recommend this store to any kid or kid at heart. The prices vary, some better than others. Give this place a chance, it might just surprise you. read more

For children of all ages that's for sure, if you can't find something in this store that gets your heart going then you need to check your pulse! This place has an amazing selection at realy great prices. Toys, puzzles, model cars and planes, family board games and if you thought D&D and magic the gathering were dead you were wrong just one look at the gameroom downstairs on a Friday night is a sight to behold. I dont know the square footage but I sure believe their claim to being the largest hobby store in new england, three floors of pure amazing! they have 30 miles of track upstaris for the enormous train layout which runs the first and third sunday of every month from 1 untill 4. Just make sure your first visit isnt made with limited time as you will never reach your next desitnation on time. read more

Time Machine Hobby - Games, games and more games! - Toy Stores Near Me - Manchester, Connecticut

Cool place expensive over priced toy. But it's supporting family business so in ok with it I hate big corps company's But Rc department is a huge failure only for airplane and heli Guys takes for ever to get parts ebay a lot faster read more

Time Machine has a huge collection of childrens' toys, games, high quality science/art supplies, puzzles, and more. Up at the front of the store near the cash register is a section of nostalgia-type toys that make great stocking stuffers at Christmas time or small gifts for anytime. We try to shop at Time Machine before our kids' birthdays and Christmas and buy as many gifts as we can there first before buying things online. Usually the prices are either the same or just a few dollars more. It feels good to support a local business and hopefully help to keep them going. I also think it's really cool that they are located in the old Bon Ami building. read more

I am mostly interested in N scale model trains, admittedly a narrow interest. They had a fair range of the most obvious RTR stuff but little breadth or depth. I am always on the lookout for unusual things. HO and large scales seemed rather better represented than N scale however. I still give it high marks for its catering to other hobbies than my own. read more

Time Machine is a great place, even if you don't make a purchase. The main floor is a warren of different sections: art supplies, games, models, stuff for kids of all ages. The name is apt, for the feel of the old mill building combined with the timeless quality of the merchandise gives me the feeling of walking back in time. Wearing glasses that render the world in black and white (do such things exist?) would make the illusion complete. It is, thankfully, low on the cross-marketed plasticky junk found in the big stores, and enriched for stuff that reminds me of when I was a kid. They have metal cars, for example, and wooden toys, and a great selection of models and modeling tools and paints, high-quality jigsaw puzzles and books, to name but a few of they types of great stuff that you can find in there. The non-linearity of the layout increases the chance of making serendipitous discoveries. Upstairs is a section dedicated to dollhouses, model trains, and contains several train layouts, in each common scale, that you can see running on Sundays. This is a popular attraction for parents with young children. Across the street in a separate building, is The Portal, dedicated to large format table top games. I haven't yet gone over there so will say no more about that. Time Machine is a toy store, and also a place where people who still have hobbies can find supplies and inspiration and someone to talk to. Train or model aficionados, for example, will find fellow travelers there in addition to the merchandise. Time Machine is a unique store, with something for almost anyone looking for toys or hobby supplies, and well worth a visit or two, or more. read more

Everything you can ask for in a hobby store. Very wide selection of toys, cards, games, model cars/trains/planes.

The best hobby shop in the area and one of the best in the state! They have a huge selection of toys, games, and tabletop/board games. Wayne and crew are very knowledgeable about MTG, Warhammer, and all the other hobbyist games in te store, and offer a great place to meet up with other gamers and play. They also offer model trains, Airsoft and innumerable other items. Also, anything they don't have they can usually order fairly quickly. One of my favorite local businesses in town. read more

What a wonderful place! I stopped by on a Sunday with my son to watch the model train display. He was entrances with all the "choo choos" and watched them for a while. Then he got to pick a piece of candy off the special Halloween train (and I got a 10% coupon). Next we went to the Thomas area where there is a train table and dollhouse. My son played while I searched for a particular Thomas train I've been unable to locate. I had just about given up when I looked down and my son was holding the very train we were looking for! It was a display engine on the table. I asked if they had any more to sell and after checking inventory I was told they did not but that I could take that one! It is a little beat up but the train shares my son's name so he really wanted it! How kind of them to understand my problem! I ended up using my coupon toward a double aquarium car set which will go nicely in my son's stocking. All told we spent about 1.5 hours here and I expect we'll be back soon. Very satisfied! read more

I went the first time hoping to get a unique gift for Christmas. Holy hell, I was not disappointed. I wandered around for half an hour and even though they (seemingly) didn't have any if the games I was looking for I didn't mind- there were so many other awesome items I was dumbstruck. Long story short- when I asked about a particular game, sure enough they had it across the street in a whole other store just for tabletop gaming. I'm in love and can't wait to go back. And it's a hell of a long drive from my house. And I also love that they're in a cool old building. read more