The Best Little Toy Museum in Texas is Right Here in Wylie

By Donnita Fisher

Army Vet Displays 20,000+ Toy Collection

Stephen Gardner wants you to come over and play with his toys. Well, you can play with some of them. Others you can just ogle, laugh, drool, and “ooh and ahh” over.

Stephen, 49, is the owner, curator and tour guide of The Best Little Toy Museum in Texas, located at 3509 Aztec Trail in Wylie.

Opened since early 2023, the toy museum is a treasure trove of collectibles with some movie memorabilia, video games and a whole lot of other fun stuff. For the admission price of $10 for adults and $5 for kids (ages 4 to 12,) you can play pool and video games and peruse Stephen’s collection of pop culture items from the age of television and movies.

Starting with Laurel and Hardy dolls – maybe action figures? Memorabilia? Figurines? Commemoratives? All of the above? – column after column in the three back rooms of the 1,600-square-foot building are filled with your favorite characters, heroes, heroines, villains and victors. There’s Snow White and Dorothy and their sidekicks, the cast of “Cobra Kai,” Harry Potter’s world, “The Brady Bunch,” Pee Wee Herman, “I Love Lucy,” Steve Austin, the universe of “Stranger Things” and oh so much more.

The scenes are laid out chronologically from the early days of television to today. One room is dedicated to Marvel and DC characters.

Visitors seem to like the collection, Stephen said, but there isn’t one item that most people get wide eyed over. “I’d say there really isn’t one piece but rather it’s the volume of pieces that I have along with the range of movies and TV shows covered in my collection,” he said. “There are close to 20,000 pieces displayed, representing hundreds of shows.”

To give visitors an incentive to linger, Stephen offers a scavenger hunt card. Find all 20 characters on the card and you’ll leave with a prize. (Don’t worry, you can keep your phone handy to look up the names you don’t recognize. Sure, we all know Darth Vader but do you remember Miguel Diaz or Dr. Smolder Bravestone? How about Vecna or Wilson?)

“The scavenger hunt is just a fun way to explore the toy collection,” Stephen said. “Participating in the hunt forces you to really look at all of the displays, toys.”

Walking in, visitors are greeted by a gaming room. There’s a pool table, and three walls are lined with classic video games. Playing is included in the price of admission. Unless you want a Super Ball … (remember those?) … that’ll cost you a quarter. Video games include PacMan, Ms. PacMan, Centipede, Mortal Kombat, Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Tron. And of course, the museum is home not only to video games, but all manner of collectibles inspired by the iconic “Star Wars” films.

“Star Wars” takes up a lot of space in the museum – so much that Gardner is opening a new area to handle his “Star Wars” collection. And, the Army veteran admits, Luke Skywalker and the gang may have started his fascination with toys and collecting.

“I didn’t collect toys as a kid,” he said. “Of course, I had toys but I played with them and after I played with them, well, they weren’t in the best shape. ‘Star Wars’ toys were my favorite.” But his own favorite item in the museum isn’t a toy. “I have an original ‘Star Wars’ poster that I have managed to get most of the starring cast’s autographs on,” he said. (He also has a Storm Trooper uniform. (Or is it costume? Oh well, those guys were tall!)

Originally from Chicago, Stephen said his family “moved around a bit before landing in Plano” when he was 15. After graduating from Plano East, he joined the Army. He served from 1993 to 2021, first in active service and then in the National Guard.

That’s when the collection began and it has just continued. When he moved to Wylie, it didn’t take long for his stuff to outgrow his upstairs space at home.

“I buy the toys from anywhere I can find them,” Stephen said, “big box stores, online stores, estate sales, flea markets, antique stores, toy conventions, etc. I buy the toys from anywhere I can find them. And I do accept donations. I have already had a few customers donate items to the museum.”

To prepare for his Army retirement, Stephen went to law school at the UNT Dallas College of Law. “I went to law school but then I missed taking the bar the first time because of Covid,” he said. “I missed it the second time because of the ice storm of February 2021.”

By that time retirement was closer and, Stephen said, when he started looking at the numbers, he realized he could make it without becoming a lawyer. “I felt that the toy museum would be a great way to spend my free time by sharing my collection with the public,” he said.

Stephen’s step-dad, who lives in LaPorte, In., gave him the idea for the museum after seeing the Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum near there. “This guy turned his two- story garage into a museum for all his superhero figures,” Stephen said. “The front even looks like the Hall of Justice.”

Stephen had the space for the facility on his property, so the Best Little Toy Museum in Texas was born. “Since I had the land, I decided to build to showcase the collection,” he said.

Although the museum has only been open a few months, Stephen said he already needs to build on. Eventually, he said, he’d like to add party rooms and expanded gaming, meeting areas.

Museums featuring collections like Stephen’s vary from collector to collector, he said. “Every toy collector is different. Some collect only one type of toy while others collect many kinds. Some keep all their toys in their original unopened packages, while others open and display the toys. It’s whatever makes the collector happy.

“I have been to several toy museums, and what I like to see is the variety of toys and how they are displayed,” he said. “To me, presentation is key to a good toy collection.”

That, Stephen said, is what he has tried to do with his collection.

The Best Little Toy Museum in Texas is located at 3509 Aztec Trail in Wylie. It's open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. For more information, find the museum on Facebook, TikTok, You Tube or Instagram, or visit the website at thebestlittletoymuseumintexasc.godaddysites. com, or email Stephen at TMiNT3509@gmail.com. •