By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Whether it was a grandma buying a replica of the tractor she remembered using on the farm or a child buying their first action figure, Saturday’s Hays Toy Show had something for young and old.
The annual event was at Big Creek Crossing this year and drew about 30 vendors from the around the region.
Jason Lamb, 43, Hays, has been collecting toys since he was a kid. He said selling toys was an natural progression.
He first caught the collecting bug as a kid when he figured out he could earn some extra money by shoveling snow.
“That Christmas, I came home with money in my hand, and I don’t remember what I got for Christmas that year, but I remember that I could work and figure out a way to buy my toys on my own. I was about 7 or 8 years old.”
He took his shoveling earnings to Woolworths and bought G.I. Joes.
He particularly likes the gross toys and puppets from the ’80s — the Madballs and Boglins.
“I love when kids come by and you can actually see their eyes light up when they get a good deal,” he said. “I actually bring toys to give away to kids sometimes, cheap ones. There is something even about adults when they see a toy they haven’t seen in 20 years, it brings them back to that place in their mind when everything was innocent and life was just fun.
“Because when you are a kid, that is your main objective is just having fun. You get up every day and I just want to play with toys and have fun. That is why I love toys. It brings me back there.”
Sam Oyler of Garden City also tries to connect with buyers who are trying to connect with their past. He creates custom farm trucks and pickups.
He uses a 3-D printer to create the tiny custom parts needed to make a stock toy look exactly like the vehicle the buyer once owned.
“It feels really good when someone walks up and says that is exactly like what we had on the farm or that is exactly like what we use today,” he said. “It is nice when you hit the right color or the right model or something like that.”
He said he also enjoyed the camaraderie at the shows.
“It more about seeing your friends and talking to other vendors is what most all of us have more fun doing and chit-chatting and giving each other ideas,” he said.
Pay Mayo of Lawrence is a nurse by day, but as a hobby restores antique marionettes.
“They are colorful, and they are unique. People don’t do puppet shows, including myself, but some of them are 60 and 70 years old. It is kind of a history thing,” he said.
Most of the marionettes are in bad shape, with strings cut. Mayo takes a couple of weeks to restore the pieces and mounts them with artwork so they can be displayed on a tabletop.
“They are colorful and neat,” he said. “It is just something from childhood.”
.