Texas Toy Museum and Arcade

We were really impressed. It's certainly ot geared to younger GenX and later in terms of majority of toys. It was so nice reminiscing (and regretting losing/discarding) the toys from my childhood. We had more fun playing games here than at pinballs and it was cheaper. They seem to take care of their games. O my one was down and I observed an employee actively working on it.

The Texas Toy Museum is so much fun! It has an extensive collection of toys from the original Little People to GI Joe's to more obscure toys I almost didn't remember such as Army Ants and others I didn't know about such as Silver Hawks. Then there's a collection of nostalgic arcade games and game consoles that you can play unlimited times with admission which is a really great deal compared to most arcades these days. On top of that, all minors under 18 get a reduced admission which is rare these days. They offer a collection of beverages that are also reasonably priced. The staff are really great and want to ensure a good experience. If any game glitches, as some of the older arcade games can, they're happy to come help and try to fix it so that you can continue to enjoy yourself. My personal favorites since they don't require much skill are pinball machines which they had four of. As far as downsides, some displays are a bit more dusty and disorganized (fallen figures, etc.) than you'd expect from a typical museum, but when approaching it from the perspective mostly an arcade with an extensive toy collection as decorations, it's a really fun place! The bathrooms were also on the dirty side. Another fun part is that they give each group a scavenger hunt and if you find everything on your list including Waldo, everyone one in your group gets two stickers and a small toy from the treasure basket on the way out. We had a great time here!

This place is by far my favorite place to be in Austin. My only regret is that I didn't go in here sooner! The collection of toys is massive, and it is fun to do the scavenger hunt here and reminisce when you recognize some of your own favorite toys. Mostly, I come here for all the arcade games and the old gaming consoles! Almost every single arcade machine works, and the man at the front always updates me when I come in which machines have been fixed or if they've added a new one. You can tell that they work hard to care for these machines as they deserve unlike the other arcades I've visited in Austin. 10/10 place with 10/10 vibes. Grab a beer and grab a friend, I promise you'll have a great night here.

I have seen this talked about on here, my Facebook, and X(ugh) but never made it in. The front entrance has some toys and things you can buy, they sell soda and water if you would like. The cost of the self tour can be a bit more then your expecting but the fact they have so many types of toys and collectibles in such a unique space plus arcade cabinets and consoles ranging from Sega to XBOX with free to play/included with cost is a nice touch and you can stay however long you want, a quick tour or a long day of looking over everything and playing games. They include a scavenger hunt where you can win small prizes and they have a ton of old toys from Barbie to M.U.S.C.L.E to magic and Pokemon cards. G.I Joe has the largest section along a wall and DC and Marvel have their own areas. Spawn, TMNT, and so many more get to share in this spotlight, it would take several reviews to go over everything but it is very neat and a nice throwback look at childhood. Guy running it owns it and most of the toys are his. You won't catch or see everything in one go but it was fun walking around and sometimes catching something the second time you see the display you didn't see on the first go round. I highly recommend going at least once. It is a cool idea and a fun set up.

Came here for the first time with my kids. Cute little toy store with a larger back area where you'll have to pay to get in. It's a bit pricey, but I think it's nice to go once in a while especially when we're not from this side of town. It was about $11 for kids and $17 to gain entrance into an arcade with old school or vintage games. You can play all day until they close. My kids didn't grow up in my era where we had these joystick arcade machines so it was nice to see my kids enjoy the Street Fighters, Tekkens, Terminators, Aliens vs Predators, etc. Your admission also includes a mini scavenger hunt in which you'll win a small prize after completion. I'm a huge TMNT fan so seeing all the vintage toys and artifacts (not for sale) displayed was amazing. They do have other toys located in the front of the store that are for sale. There's a small parking lot next to the building in which you'll have to pay. I don't know if there is any restrooms available. The staff are really friendly.

Lady at front desk was rude didn't make eye contact and bad attitude. Took my son he was really excited to go in and check out the toys but you can't expect people to support a business with this kind of service.

Neat little spot for some nostalgia, old games and a few beers and seltzers. Not much to it but definitely a neat spot to explore, some regulars go there to game it up and get the high score.

What a hidden gem in Austin. I've walked past this place many times and it's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. Go up the stairs and find entry to your childhood toys and video games. There is a cost for admission. They offer beverages for purchase. A scavenger hunt is included and it's pretty fun to play. There's an arcade room with free play. You get a prize or two if you complete the scavenger hunt.

Kind of a let down. The Toy Museum had some toys from the 70's and 80's but no older toys. This made the experience very limited and thus the entrance fee was overpriced.

It was okay. Everyone else had a great time, I just felt there were only so many times that you could play the same arcade over again. My husband and son will go back but I'm good.

Hubby decided the entry fee was well worth spending 90 minutes drinking beer and working towards beating the high score on Galaga. Quirky spot.

What a neat find! Randomly walked in, saw a sign outside. Core memory overload!! Tons of fantastic memories abound. Every toy, play set, cartoon, show, etc. like being a kid again. I enjoyed the walk up the stairs so much I decided to support and take the tour for a couple $ and snagged a quick can of IPA to drink on the tour. Self-guided, I was awestruck at the displays. So much work went into the design and the collection of the figures. Labor of love, indeed. I completed the scavenger hunt and played a few video games (free play!) and pinball games. Such a flood of nostalgia. So many toys, so little time.

they have so much to see and 80s arcade video games you play for free. displays need some TLC n redesigning but its well intentioned n worth it as is.

We enjoyed this weird place, although It felt more like a collection grown wild, rather than a museum. Our guests were aged 8-40's. It was a little pricey, but the free arcade made it worth it. We met with friends & spent about 20 minutes looking at the toys. The beers were a nice cocktail hour addition. Our kids were tickled by the PC with the original Oregon Trail & TV with old gaming systems. We could have spent hours there... It was a quirky atmosphere filled with stuff to look at & games to play. Headed by one person at the front desk. My only suggestion would be to push the museum format by adding more information about the toys, such as years made? From what show? Names of characters? Etc. The kiddos we were with had a million questions about the toys, which was fun for adults sharing memories.

The museum was cool. I paid about 21.00 bucks for entrance and a can of sprite. The museum is filled with vintage toys from WWE, Simpson's, GI Joe, and more. It takes about 20-25 minutes to check out every part of the museum. Arcade- the Arcade is filled with 90s video games like teenage mutant ninja turtles, nba jam, and more. I can easily spend 2 hours playing all the games.

Objects of Childhood I can't remember how many times I walk past the Texas Toy Museum on Congress Ave and never checked it out. I had some time to kill so said told my wife, "Let's check it out" and up the narrow stairs we went, but first encountered the Han Solo encased in carbonite. The lobby or toy closet was loaded with toys and memorabilia from floor to ceiling. I was in awe and paid admission to enter room with so many old toys from the past my childhood memories went into shock. There was glass enclosed cases with toys grouped together by types. There was a Star Wars, Avenger, Transformers, Simpsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more collections. I spent spend quite a bit of time looking at thousands of plastic artifacts and played a scavenger hunt to find certain toys in this massive collection. The prized item to be found was ... not surprisingly ... Waldo. Afterwards I entered a room with some video games from the past where can play for free. More toys also proudly displayed on the walls in here too. I imagine like Toy Story if these toys come to life when the doors close at night. So where do these toys come from? Apparently many were donated to this museum to help mom clean up closets and attics. I myself have toys at home in boxes where need to placed at a better home and was told can call to have them picked up. I was glad I took time to experienced the Texas Toy Museum where is was fun and recommend it for everyone who want to show their kids the toys they played with when they were their age.

Had I not been traveling with my 2 year old son there is a very high probability that I would've spent the entire day here - there is just that much to take in. Located in the heart of Downtown Austin on Congress, the Texas Toy Museum is a trip back to childhood for Gen-X'ers and Millennials alike. For one low price ($9 for adults, junior was free) you get to check out displays containing more or less every single toy of all your favorites from the 70's 80's 90's and beyond. Grew up loving He-Man? I'm pretty sure they have them all. Fan of the Simpsons? You'll see more figures than I knew they ever made. You get the idea, the list goes on and on with all the cool displays they have that are guaranteed to bring a smile to those of us in our 30's and 40's. As if this weren't enough, there is also a video game room that is included in the cost of admission. Here you'll find 20 or so arcade cabinets plus a few pinball machines, classic home video game consoles, even a PC with Oregon Trail loaded up so you can die of dysentery just like the good old days. Unbelievably friendly and knowledgeable staff, nicely air conditioned (this fat kid thanks you!) great beer selection while you reminisce, what's not to like? This is a must see in the downtown area.

Had a blast! Super cool hidden gem to pass some time. We love action figures. Good luck finding Waldo! Took us almost 2 hours! Haha

Absolutely nerded out, i love this place. I wanna go back with people. Super cute for people of all ages, Really interesting collection of vintage toys. My critic is that they should have more information on the collections, for example the barbie collection had info but not some of the others and i liked learning about them

As a true 90's kid that grew up playing with 80's/90's action figures, this is probably the coolest place I have been to in a while. It had everything I remembered from my childhood and then some. I loved how the displays were themed and organized. An excellent assortment of some of the best arcade games (Area 51, TMNT (game and pinball), House of the Dead, Star Wars pinball, etc.). I could have spent all day in here. Thoroughly impressive collection and Caleb (i think this was the owner's name) was super nice! Well done!

Great place to visit and relive my childhood with my son! Best underrated fun kids place to go to beat the heat in Austin Texas! #bossbubba10

Blast from the past! So amazing! You can look and wonder or buy from anything in the front! Definitely worth checking out! Love the store! Will come back for sure!

Loved seeing and playing all the vintage toys and games. Fun for all ages and the scavenger hunt was a bonus!

The staff member or owner I talked to during my trip was very nice. There was a sign about not entering if under age & I told my younger brother hang on, just give me 2 minutes to just quickly peek inside, it looks so cool. Wait here! & upon talking to said person when I went in for a moment, he said no it's totally fine, your brother can come in, just no alcohol for him (no problem at all, we follow laws!) So even better we get to come inside. And what a wonderful thing we got this experience. You get a scavenger hunt at the start & can visit the display room with all these collected action figures & sets in various display cases. It's such a cool thing to go through - many of you will probably recognize pieces of childhood all around you. In that room was also a playstation with Marvel vs Capcom to play. That brought such a good feeling, it had been so long! You can see all kinds of collections from Masters Of The Universe to Star Wars to Marvel - whole deal. Grand prize on the scavenger hunt is of course find waldo! Then across the hall is the arcade room with many classics inside to relive. There was also an xbox & playstation where Guitar Hero was setup. It was wonderful. Here's a couple of photos to see what we saw - we both loved it & hope to visit again sometime when back in town

Super fun! The owner is really nice and you can do a scavenger hunt throughout the museum. If you find Waldo, you get a prize! There are free to play arcade games and you could easily spend hours here.

We stopped by because we really don't know what we can do with kids indoor. I think this is more of husband's dream visit than the kids. You are offered an scavenger hunt list at beginning to go through the display and on the other side was the free arcade game. It's an okay size of collections nothing remarkable. The arcade room is also small and some of the games were not working properly. It's 10 dollars per person, pricy I think.

Really fun place! Not too crowded and lots of games to play and cool old school toys to see!

What an amazing place to revisit your childhood memories! The owner was a teacher with a love of toys, so started his famous Toys Museum in Austin! He is super nice and welcoming! He offers you beer to walk around with and a super great scavenger hunt! It's an absolute blast from the past! You will see Star Wars, Simpsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, PeeWee Herman, Big Ugly Monsters, Heman, Barbies, Marvels Avengers, Spider-Man, GI Joe, Ferbees, and any toy imaginable. The best part is when you're done with the scavenger hunt - you get stickers!! Then you can go play PAC Man and Q-bert, Oregon trail and Star Wars pin ball machines and video games. I love playing Guitar hero! This is an amazing museum $10 per person and was so worth it! The owner and his friends also made 3D Printed Marvel action figures you can take home with you for 50 cents! I hope he will be able to expand this amazing museum- please stop by!

Yo!!!!!!!! I just leapt into a time machine and gunned it to 88mph!!!! I was just transported back to some of the most epic moments of my childhood!! This place was absolutely amazing!!! Every awesome toy and video game that 5yr old to 15yr old me has every experienced!!! My best friend almost had to restrain me to the ground to prevent me from going full freak out!! There is soooo much cool stuff in this town and this is icing on the cake for me!!!

What a gem. The owner has amassed a very impressive collection. Play the scavenger hunt. Play the games. Think you have what it takes to set the high score on Galaga or centipede or some other great games. Here's where u can still give it a try. Great for all ages. Highly recommend.

It was a lot of fun to play the games, especially the Nintendo and Oregon Trail and pinball. A good portion of the toy museum is still being set up, so it was only a partial experience. Still, pretty good for the price.

The Texas Toy Museum is an absolutely brilliant idea and something that I was super excited to experience and check out. When you first walk in you go up some stairs before finding yourself in the lobby where there's actual toys you can purchase. You basically pay $10 to walk around a room full of cool, vintage toys and then get unlimited access to the small video arcade in a different room, sounds awesome right? I did the museum room first and was pretty stoked to see some Dragonball Z and WWE stuff early on along with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (3 of my personal favourites as a kid and an adult). The room was decorated well but it was very small and only took around 5 minutes to scope it out. I then made my way to the arcade room and attempted to play the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that did not really work, as the buttons and joy stick were kind of sticky and not really reacting correctly. Next I moved on to another game that I'm drawing a blank on that didn't work at all. This was kind of a pattern for most of the games I tried to play. The Texas Toy Museum is not necessarily something I regret doing, but this place is absolutely not worth the $10 admission at the door, it's definitely not worth more then $5 at its current state.

went here to play arcade games and without without knowing or being told/asked i paid to enter the museum as well as for drinks :/ found out after the fact that playing games is free if you buy a drink. to add insult to injury most of the arcade games are non original, emulated, have no sound, and not fully working :/ cute place though

Very cool place. Owner was super friendly and informative. His collection is very impressive. The Star Wars toys and figure brought back some great childhood memories. It's $9 for access to the museum and that included unlimited access to the video games. Would highly recommended this to folks.

Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong! I think I have to award this museum four stars simply out of nostalgia. A very fun, very quirky experience in a museum that's half comic shop, half 'toy-crazy friend's attic' in nature. What else can I say but 'Austin, I love you.' While I let my inner child geek out over things like a full diorama set up around the Cobra Terror Drome, I have to note that there are some different-era toys on display. There's a shelf full of wooden pull-toys from the 40's, and a fair amount of 'Howdy Doody' stuff from the 50's. Pro Tip #1: Honestly, if you have kids...I don't think they'll really get this place except for the video games. It's more of a retrospective for us kids that somehow ended up with adult bodies. Pro Tip #2: Yes, there's an admission fee. If that bugs you, go on one of the free days or visit Groupon to get a discount ticket. Pro Tip #3: It's also a relatively cramped and surprisingly hot space, so don't go on a free day or during 100 degree weather unless you like crowds and sweat. Pro Tip #4: It's street parking only, so be prepared for frustration if you show up during a local event. Pro Tip #5: If you play the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle video game in the back, do NOT select Donatello! His control stick is broken! In sum, this was more fun that I thought it would be. I didn't know I had such reserves of nostalgia within me. But now I know. And knowing is HALF THE BATTLE!

Lots of fun. So much to see. Being able to enjoy a beer and the arcade were a big plus

This place took me back to my childhood! What an amazing collection of vintage toys, gaming systems and arcade games you can play. Spent a few hours going thru the museum and playing games.

A complete delight. Loved seeing toys that I had forgotten even existed. I came for the video games, but the museum really knocked me out. A must for 80s kids!

This is a really cool place to check out. The museum is pretty small, but there's also a game/arcade room and they sell beer! We had a good time looking around, playing some games, and having a couple drinks. What was even more impressive to me is the fact that I messaged them on Facebook about a week or two after our visit to see if they could mail me something my boyfriend had seen in the gift shop. He was so nice and got it mailed to me right away! Definitely a great place for unique gifts if you know a toy/comics/marvel/dc fan.

If, and I cannot emphasize this enough, IF you were a boy growing up in the 80s and 90s, and I meet the criteria, then the Austin Toy Museum will be a blast from the past totally be worth the price of admission. The experience is short, it's just one room and I only spent about 15mins, but seeing the toys that shaped my youth up-close was well worth my $7ish. The toys aren't displayed in mint boxes and some nowhere close mint condition, which I like because the played-with condition makes the memories a little more real. That being said, I can see how if you are visiting without having grown up with these toys you might feel underwhelmed because it's just a small room with a bunch of toy displays and not much information beyond the label telling you what franchise the toys belong to; if you are approaching this as a learning experience you won't get much (maybe watch The Toys that Made Us on Netflix and then visit them in person). Also, the displays skew heavily on toys from franchises that primarily targeted boys, not to say all displays, but most. They also have arcade machines from back in the day inside the next room, which you can play for free with paid admission, which definitely enhanced my reliving-childhood experience!

Great place to spend an hour or two at. We spent about 40 minutes doing the scavenger hunt and completed it with the help of some online image searching. After we spend another 45 min in the arcade section playing guitar hero, Mario kart, mortal Kombat, and pinball. Staff was super friendly.

This is such a cool idea, and I was super excited to check this place out. I was a little disappointed or maybe I wasn't prepared what to expect. It is a very small area and it is packed full of stuff. If there are more than just a few people in the area, it can start to feel a little claustrophobic. The museum area is a great touch of nostalgia that definitely takes you back to your childhood, but again the area is very small. There is also a room with old arcade games that can be played if you pay a bit more. Again, this area is super small. They do sell a few different adult beverages which is very nice. They also have some board games available if you are not a video game person. It was a little pricey for the hour that we were there.

I'm 55 and I took my 11yo twin nephews. We had a blast. I played an hour of Centipede in the arcade while they searched the thousands of 80s and 90s toys for the scavenger hunt. Great service. The experience reminded me of why I love living in Austin so much.

This is a great space with beer and wine on the second floor. Nostalgic collection run by a sweet family. We hope to catch the Sip and Draw sometime.

If you don't know this about me yet, I'm a bit of a gamer nerd, particularly of the video game or board game variety. So while I wasn't a huge fan of the varying toys and action figures (which I certainly recognized, just wasn't terribly excited about) they had some great video game stuff which I could have spent an hour playing around with. The place itself is a bit of a hole in the wall and you'd blow by it if you weren't looking for it. There's a front lobby area where a very knowledgable staff person will give a brief explanation of how the museum works. The one who helped us went as far as to make a scavenger hunt to do while walking through the couple of rooms. The highlights for me were the vintage, well maintained, arcade edition video games in the back room set to free play. Street fighter II, galaga, Ms. pac-man, centipede, donkey kong, and Q-Bert were the arcade editions and they had a sega genesis hooked up with varying games. But the best part by far was the Super Nintendo complete with like-new light gun with duck hunt! Duck hunt was one of those games classic games I always felt bad never getting to experience, but today, today I got to do it. It was fantastic. The game was responsive, the light-gun was accurate, and trigger functioned like new. It was everything I could have hoped for. And for that, the whole trip to the place was worth it. TLDR: don't expect a Smithsonian level museum but if you're into classic arcade games, comics, or action figures, you might enjoy it just as much.

Comics and video games annnnd the museum. It's a cool little niche spot where all 3 come into play. I recommend for anyone wanting an hour or so to kill and wants to check out some cool stuff.

I was really excited to go the toy museum with my 11 year old sister. The reviews were really nice, so I assumed this would be a great place to visit. I personally wasn't a huge fane of the place, it is very very small. But the toys that were in there, were pretty cool. In the "museum" they had tons of Star Wars and Barbie toys, that I enjoyed. I wish the museum was bigger, I wish they had more toys to see. I did like how they had a tv area with old Mario games that you could play. They had a interesting collection of comic books as well that I thought was cool. Beware of parking, we had to park pretty far away, which was annoying. I wish the place was cleaner, there were a lot of dust and dirt around the display areas as well.

It was great to see so many toys from my childhood in one place, but it was as organized as lifting the lid to a toy box. Things are haphazardly thrown together and just sitting behind glass. It was small, cluttered and barely operational. Most of the "unlimited games" are broken - the buttons don't work, the graphics are off, the guns don't fire and everything is on wheels so it moves as your trying to play it. It's a bit pricey for a stroll down memory lane.

Went on free museum day. It is much less a toy museum than a collection of toys haphazardly thrown together. Although I was happy to have a trip down memory lane. I just think some of the displays could use some work if it's going to be a museum. They also have a large collection of magazines for sale and a video game arcade. We spent about 30 minutes here. I don't think admission price is worth the visit. Many of the displays could use some TLC. It was also a great reminder of all the toys I never got for Christmas but that's another story. Otherwise, I feel adults would get more out of a trip here than young children would since they wouldn't recognize many of the characters or games here.

I absolutely love arcade bars, and while this place has a great museum ($9 entry), the limited selections of game is super disappointing because so many of them require repairs. One Pong controller is sticky, Centipede is more or less inoperable, the Star Trek pinball machine's screen is broken, and so on.