A Wonderful First Peek Inside The Boldon Toy Collection

Today was something of a “soft opening” for The Boldon Toy Collection.

There was no big advertising campaign, no grand launch event, and no fanfare. Just a simple sign on the door saying “Toy Museum Open Here”, with the word Toy styled in a familiar, playful way that seemed to make people smile before they even stepped inside.

Over the last few months, a tremendous amount of work has gone into transforming the collection. Today was one of those rare days when all that effort felt worthwhile.

The displays had been reorganised, the rooms tidied, and countless hours of cleaning and preparation had gone into making the collection look its best. While we still have a huge amount of toys waiting to be displayed, what is currently on show is already creating quite an impact.

Perhaps the most rewarding part of the day was hearing visitors’ reactions.

“Wow.”

“I didn’t expect it to be that good.”

“Amazing.”

Comments like these remind us why preserving and sharing these wonderful pieces of childhood history is so important.

One of today’s jobs was framing several signed Doctor Who photographs that had been safely tucked away in a packet for far too long. They’re now ready to be mounted on the wall and should become a fantastic feature display for visitors to enjoy.

And yet, in many ways, we’re only just getting started.

There are still entire sections waiting to be developed, including our Sindy, Barbie and fashion dolls area, along with the gaming room in the loft. The gaming rooms are very much a long-term project and will likely take several more months to complete, but the vision is already taking shape.

The exciting thing about The Boldon Toy Collection is that every visit will be a little different. New displays will appear, old favourites will return, and there will always be something new to discover.

Personally, I had a wonderful day. Seeing families, collectors and curious visitors enjoying the collection made all the hard work worthwhile.

As many of you know, it’s my birthday on Wednesday, so I won’t be around then and probably not on Thursday either. Because of that, our next opening days will be:

Friday, Saturday and Sunday next weekend.

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the toys you grew up with, or you’d simply like a nostalgic trip back through the decades, we’d love to welcome you.

Come along, have a look around, share a memory or two, and see what everyone has been talking about.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

I look forward to seeing you at The Boldon Toy Collection very soon.