About Atlanta senior life. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2016-2023 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2019)
COVER STORY By Donna Williams Lewis Everybody has a toy story. Maybe it’s that 1960s turquoise Easy Bake Oven with its tiny cake pans that you’d waited for “forever.” Or, maybe it’s a G.I. Joe, an antique doll or a Matchbox car that someone very special gave you. Or, it could be something you never got that you really, really wanted. Old toys are not forgotten, and a lot of them are not gone, either. They can be found 4 online, but you can reach out and touch them at vintage toy retailers in and around Atlanta. Among these spots is Scott’s Vintage Toys & Christmas in Paulding County, where owner Scott Clonts admits he’s attached to every toy he sells. “Everything that parts, truly, it literally is like a piece of my heart. I guess it’s because of the research I’ve done, and I’ve seen how special this stuff was,” Clonts said. “It’s not toys I’m selling, it’s memories. It’s people’s best memories.” Here are the toy stories of several purveyors of the past. Transporter Vintage and Retro This aptly named shop in Little Five Points stays jam- packed with the discoveries of its owner Chris Shubert. While it transports visitors to another place in time, its name actually stems from Shubert’s lifelong obsession with Volkswagen vehicles including the VW van, also known as the Transporter. A few years ago, he sold several VWs that he’d restored so he could move from online sales of vintage toys to a brick and mortar store. He’s a passionate collector of VW toys, which threaten to overtake his home. “I fill my crawlspace with them,” he said. Some of them make it into his store, which features everything from jewelry, comic books, clothing and Shubert’s original paintings of vintage toys to board games, dolls, action figures and toy cars. A FACEBOOK.COM/flTLflNTflSENIORLIFE DECEMBER 2019 I ATLANTASENI0RLIFE.COM
