Shop Hop is a monthly column that shines a spotlight on small local retail businesses in and around Nashville.
I walked through the door looking for Wicket. Specifically, the plush Wicket my parents bought me at Disneyland sometime in the late ’80s or early '90s. I loved that doll and kept it well into my 20s. But when I got a new kitten, Baba, he adopted Wicket as his own. At first he snuggled with it. Carried it around the apartment with him to use as a pillow wherever he decided to nap. But as Baba got older, Wicket became his frenemy. Baba would grasp Wicket in his front paws and kick his back claws into Wicket’s plush belly over and over again. He’d clutch Wicket in his jaw and shake his head violently, releasing his grasp and causing Wicket to fly across the room. Then he’d hide behind the couch, wiggle his butt for a second or two, and dart across the room to snatch him back up and repeat the game.
Wicket’s hair started coming off in patches, tufts of it got caught in Baba’s claws. At one point I think he lost and eye. I can’t remember. But I couldn’t be mad. Wicket was Baba’s best friend for years. And when Wicket’s body finally popped and the white stuffing started to leak out, I knew Wicket’s time had come. He was beyond repair. I tossed my childhood memories into the trash.
Totally Rad Toyhouse & Collectibles didn’t have the Wicket doll I was looking for. But seconds within walking through the door on Nolensville Pike, I got lost in a haze of nostalgia.
The shelves and racks are filled with just about every childhood treasure you can imagine. She-Ra and Battle Cat! Doug as Quail Man! The Snorks! Every wrestling action figure ever made! (Probably.) Glo Worms and Pound Puppies! God, remember Pound Puppies? I wanted to adopt them all!
They have Star Wars comic books and tapes sets, Animaniacs Funko POP! figures, an Ecto-3 vehicle that comes with a Galloping Ghoul Ghost, and rare Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle characters including Hot Spot the dog, Halfcourt the giraffe and Sandstorm the camel, all bulging with aggression and muscles. (The ’90s were weird, man.)
For less playing and more collecting, the shop also carries rare and mint-condition Transformers that cost as much as a monthly car payment and still-in-box characters from some of history’s greatest horror movies.
I spent a solid 30 minutes just browsing and recalling the days I’d build blanket forts and pretend they were Rainbow Brite’s Color Caves or play Barbies with a neighborhood girl named Stacy who loudly breathed out of her mouth while dressing her dolls and never ever let me borrow any of her dolls' fancy dresses.
And because Totally Rad Toyhouse buys toys, too, their stock is always changing. (They say if you have a small number of toys to sell it’s OK to stop by without an appointment, but if you have a larger collection you’re looking to unload you’d be wise to call ahead and make sure their buyer is available.)
Sadly, there was no Wicket — at least not the Wicket — but I’ll happily keep checking back. And if you see him — he was wearing a thin, light pink hooded cape — let me know.
Totally Rad Toyhouse & Collectibles
2517 Nolensville Pike #B
Nashville, TN 37211
Tues-Sat 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun noon-5 p.m.
