Nickelodeon's Super Toy Run

Like a lot of children before the creation of the internet, I spent a lot of my free time daydreaming.  One of my recurring daydreams involved myself, a shopping cart, and 5 minutes in a toy store without having to pay for whatever I could get my hands on.  For two lucky kids each year during the '80s and '90s, Nickelodeon awarded just that opportunity.  Children could enter the contest by sending in a postcard requesting to be entered into the drawing.  I never did, though, because my Mom considered it a "waste of a good postage stamp," and she was probably right.  In later years, you could sign up at the local Toys 'R Us but I was too old by then to compete.

The "Nickelodeon Super Toy Run" allowed two contest grand prize winners a 5-minute shopping spree in a Kay-Bee Toys (prior to 1994) or a Toys 'R Us each year.  When the race started they were given an unlimited number of shopping carts and free reign of the entire store to collect as many toys as they could before time expired.  As each shopping cart filled up, the contestant would have to return to the start line and pick up a new cart before heading back out into every other child's dream.  Think of it as Supermarket Sweep for kids!

The 1991 Super Toy Run took place in a Kay-Bee Toys

Throughout the year, Nickelodeon ran a series of commercials about the upcoming event, and jealousy spiked among children everywhere.  They'd show footage of the previous year's event as kids tossed toy after toy into their shopping carts, and even worse, sometimes they'd show the contestant celebrating with the entire haul.  It was more than every Christmas present I ever received combined and filled my head with envy.

Just like on "Supermarket Sweep," each kid had a strategy.  I spent many of my daydreams honing my method should the miracle of myself being selected occur.  In Supermarket Sweep, some would head right for the small expensive beauty products while others would head to the frozen meat section to rack up big-ticket items.  At Toys 'R Us you had many options.

The 1993 Super Toy Run

Personally, I would head right for the video game aisle.  One of my favorite things about old-school Toys 'R Us stores was that after you browsed through the games, you'd select a little ticket from a plastic sleeve and take it up front to the "cage," where you'd be handed the game cartridge to take home.  The first thing I would do is collect as many tickets as possible and, from then on, be considered the King of Nintendo at my school!  This strategy worked well for the kids in the real Toy Run because it takes no time at all, doesn't fill up your cart, and you'd have a minute or two left over to go collect those awesome Ninja Turtles figures.  Speaking of...

I would also often consider heading right to the action figure aisle when the flag dropped to start the race.  As a kid, I collected Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, Dick Tracy, and WWF Hasbros and I would have loved the opportunity to get all the playsets, vehicles, and other figures to complete the set.  The one fault in this strategy would be that the figures and playset boxes would take up a lot of space and you'd have to waste time running back and forth getting a fresh cart.  The good news is once the race was over you'd have every toy in the set and as long as you don't sell them off at yard sales as you get older (like me) you wouldn't have to spend time and money collecting them all over again (also me!)

Occasionally, some kids would skip the action figures and head for the Micro Machines, Tonka Trucks, or Hot Wheels matchbox cars.  If those were the kinds of toys you liked, it was a great decision, but I wasn't a fan and it always seemed to me that it took too long to get those little boxes of cars off the rack.  In a race like this speed was truly an asset.  The tracks and playsets for these toys also came in large cumbersome boxes and could easily become a space-waster in the shopping cart.

The 1994 Toy Run... the first at Toys 'R Us

One particular strategy that drove me crazy was when they'd head right for the bicycle or Power Wheels.  These were probably some of the most expensive items in the store so you could rack up some big bucks here... but this wasn't Super Market Sweep so the grand total didn't mean anything.  The downside to this strategy was TIME.  It took forever because some kids would try to wheel several bikes back to the starting line at the same time and would inevitably trip and fall over, wasting time.  In the Power Wheels instance, they'd get in and drive them slowly up to the front of the store, wasting even more time.  Before you know it, you've got yourself the $250 bike and a few board games, and the contest is over.  As an adult now, I think... "How many bicycles can you ride at once, anyway?"

It is nice to dream, though.  In some bizarro world where I could be transported back to a Toys 'R Us of the '90s, I'd head right for the video game aisle and then clean up as many action figures as I could before running out the clock cleaning up the action figure aisle.

What would you run for first?  Let us know in the comments below!