"I'm probably the only thing here with an on and off button," Tony Duffy said with a laugh. Tony, a 78-year-old toyshop owner who refuses to stock electronic products, has created a timeless wonderland of imagination.
After 55 years at the helm of Duffy's Toyworld in Dunleer, Co Louth, Tony maintains that the joy on a child's face on entering the shop keeps him steadfast behind the counter.
And it’s not just the children either – some 30 per cent of all customers at Duffy’s Toyworld in Dunleer are adults, only too ready to jump back to their own childhood with toys of nostalgia such as Monchhichi or Meccano.
Maybe it's because of the twinkle in his eye or the beard, but some children even mistake Tony for Santa Claus himself.
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“My father started this shop in 1938 and I honed in on toys when I took over the family business in 1966 at the age of 19, after he died suddenly,” he says.
"I was the first Toymaster member in Ireland and then started going to the world's biggest toy fair in Nuremberg over 30 years ago where I was like a child in wonderland myself, overcome by 18 halls packed with toys and models.
"Then I started visiting toy shops and fairs all over Europe and America to develop my shop into what it is now," he says.
“”We have avoided selling electronic toys because we want to completely concentrate on fueling the child’s imagination and developmental skills.
“There is no ‘on’ switch here. We focus on passive toys which initiate play and can spark the child’s curiosity, imagination, perseverance and problem-solving skills.
“There’s nothing wrong with electronic toys but it’s just something I personally decided not to stock years ago.
“We also sell one of the country’s biggest ranges of sensory toys and it’s lovely to see the face of an adult with autism picking up a puppet and using it here.”
What are his biggest sellers?
“Over the years, fashions change and the type of toys appearing on the TV change, but the popularity of toys in the agricultural sector is timeless,” he replies.
“Demand on toys like Schleich, Lego and Playmobile have been constant in the last 15 years.”
He adds:“I look at the play value of an item when stocking the shop. As far as I’m concerned, the dearest toy is something that the child loses interest in after one day.
“In my opinion, what’s the point of getting a toy that does everything if the child does nothing but look at it?
“The best toy for a young child is a box of bricks with no instructions. They use their imagination to build them up and when they are finished, they knock them down and start again.
Tony says that as long as he still sees children’s eyes light up he will remain behind the counter of the corner shop. “When a child comes in and says ‘wow’ when he looks around him, then that’s made my day.”
He says he also gets a chuckle out of seeing the faces of adults light up when they spot toys they had growing up.
"Toys like Monchhichis make adults go wobbly at the knees as they bring back such happy memories, and we have more model horses than John Wayne for the adult kids.
“To us, it’s all about imagination and we only provide the tools for children and big kids to use it.”
And Tony says he has no plans for retirement as long as his health allows.
“We have had a large number of online sales since Covid-19 hit but I think there is nothing like personal interaction and the satisfaction you get from seeing the joy in a child’s face – big or small – when you hand them that toy.”