These are L.A.'s best independent toy and gift shops.
Colorful worlds of wonder guaranteed to stock something that will delight kids and kids-at-heart while keeping your dollars out of the hands of fast fashion-shipping billionaires who will spend your hard-gotten gains on rocket-ships that resemble ding-a-lings and attack our rapidly deteriorating atmosphere.
Have fun!
Soap Plant Wacko ~ Hollywood
An L.A. legend one can only dream they may someday get locked into overnight, Wacko came of age on Melrose during the performance art-driven scene of the early 80s. The space not only has enough toys, books, and art to make Francis Buxton turn green with envy, but it embodies many funky, DIY, artistic, and vintage obsessions that speak to indie hearts and art. Now in Hollywood and fronting the incredible La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Wacko is the Costco of kitsch, where bacon air fresheners, bags of plastic eyeballs, Captain Kirk Barbie dolls, flamingo-shaped plant pots, taxidermy gator heads, disco ball string lights, dashboard Jesuses, movie monster busts, switchblade combs, and tiki mugs are in abundant supply, treated as necessities more than novelties.