I have officially found my new favorite store in town: Toy Genius! This unique toy shop recently relocated from the Freehold Mall and has found its new home at The Shoppes of Old Bridge. In a world of big box shops and commercial everything, it is so nice to find a real live Mom & Pop Toy Shop right here in our area.

Toy Genius is owned by Manalapan residents, Jeff and Maria Singman. Maria felt that there was a great need for a specialty toy shop in our area after she searched in local stores for one week to find a special birthday gift. She had no luck finding that special gift, so she was forced to buy a gift online.  But, Maria likes to see, feel, and touch all of the toys before she buys them, and online shopping left her frustrated.

So, Maria opened up Toy Genius, and now YOU can see and play with the toys before you buy them. There is even a demonstration table where kids can sit and try out different toys and games. Maria wants Toy Genius to become a place where local families can hang out while reading books and playing games. In fact, when I was at the store, there were 2 kids playing catch with a cool toy called Ogo Sport, which is kind of like playing catch with a mini trampoline with a handle and a koosh ball. There were also a father and son sitting down on chairs reading a book together.

The store is well organized and easy-to-shop with sections for every kid in your family. Toy Genius prides itself in its customer service, with most of the staff being family and friends. Come in and you will get a personalized tour of the store, and a staff member will be happy to recommend the perfect toy for any age. Try getting this kind of tour at Toys R' Us. Here's a little online tour of Toy Genius:

Sports, Science, and Electronics:  For the kid who loves science, there are chemistry sets, electronic circuit kits, spy gear, magic kits, pet tornadoes, and metal dectectors. For the sports fan, there are Pop'N' Catch sets, Doink It Darts (a magnetic dart game), and stilts.

Dolls: Toy Genius carries everything from upscale dolls like Corolle, Haba's Lotta & Friends line, and Madame Alexander to Barbie Dolls, Polly Pockets, Disney Princesses, and Groovy Girls. In addition, they have a full selection of Calico Critters, which are miniature animal family playsets.

Cars and Trucks: There are all kinds of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, plus an imported German line of cool Bruder multifunctional trucks like Fire Engines and Construction vehicles. Plus, there are Melissa and Doug wooden swivel bridge train sets and wooden railways sets. For the eco-friendly fan, Toy Genius carries a nice line of Plan Toys, which include a wooden parking garage made from eco-friendly rubberwood and fire station to go with it.

Arts and Crafts: Toy Genius  carries a full line of crafts from Melissa & Doug, Alex, and Creativity Kids, including stamp sets, chalks, paints, and decorate your own princess mirror, fashion doll, car, or treasure chest. Plus, there are cool Magnetic and Sticky Mosaic sets made by The Orb Factory. And for older girls, there is Fashion Angels's line of shoe design, makeup design, and fashion sketchbooks.

Games: On the back wall of Toy Genius, there are the usual games like Apples to Apples, HyperDash, and Zingo. Plus, games that I have never seen before like: Animal Scrambles, Gather Round Restaurant Game, Egg Scramble Challenge, and Blunders--a game to teach your kids some manners.

Puppets & Music: In the middle of the store, there are a full line of Sesame Street stuffed animals and finger puppets.  There's also a  stand of movable people and animal puppets by Melissa & Doug. For the little musicians, there are Neurosmith music blocks, Band in a Box, Remo drums, and Hohner's rhythm instruments.

Puzzles:  Toy Genius carries a large selection of puzzles from sound puzzles for little kids to Ravensburger's puzzles for older kids and adults. They even have Ravensburger's Family Fun puzzles, which are large puzzles with a variety of skill levels so the whole family can work on a puzzle at once!

Books: In the middle of the store, Toy Genius has a nice selection of books for all ages, from touch and feel books for babies to "My First 100 Words" for toddlers to "Captain Underpants" and Meg Cabot's series, "Allie Finkel's Rules for Girls" for older kids.

Building: Imaginations could run wild in the building section of Toy Genius, where they carry all kinds of building toys like Wedgits (colorful building blocks for preschoolers), motorized erector sets, Magnatiles, and a huge selection of Playmobil sets. They also carry Cobi, a building block from Poland  that is compatible with Legos. Cobi offers a full line of military, emergency service, Jeep, construction and race car sets.

Educational Toys: Toy Genius prides itself in carrying a great mix of toys for both fun and education. One of their favorite products is Hot Dots by Educational Insights, which is an interactive flash card system to teach patterns, shapes, colors, alphabet, math, money, time, and states and capitals.

Pretend Play: Does your child want to be a banker, a baker or a beautician? There are so many fun pretend play and dress-up kits at Toy Genius, including Pretend & Play's School, office, doctor, tea set, bank, and mail boxes. And if you kid likes to shop and cook, check out the cool kid's shopping carts, grocery store, and wooden and plastic food sets. There are even mini organic grocery bags!

Baby & Toddler Toys: Need a unique baby gift? There is a full selection of Manhattan Toy, including Whoozits, Skwish Activity toys,  and finger puppets with miniature puppet stages. Plus, items from brands like Taggies, Haba, Baby Gund and so much more!

Wow, without doing an inventory of the full store, there is so much to love at Toy Genius. But just in case you are not convinced, here are few more reasons:

• Imported quality toys from Poland (Cobi), France (Corolle), Italy (Rody bouncy horses), Germany (Bruder and Ravensburger)
• All items are reasonably priced and you can get items for $1 and up. By the register, there are lots of inexpensive toys for kids to buy like SillyBandz and Zanybandz, Japanese erasers, Smencils colored pencils, pinky balls, kaleidoscopes and more!
• Lots of eco-friendly items like Fair Trade knit food toys handcrafted in Bangladesh, Haba wooden eggs, and stainless steel drinking bottles by Crocodile Creek
• Special events like Game Night and Storytime are in the works
• Complimentary gift wrap--need we say more!

Visit Toy Genius at Shoppes at Old Bridge, 3865 US Highway 9 North or call them at 732-591-PLAY (7529). You can also visit them online at http://www.toygeniusonline.com/index.html.