I had the chance to hit the road this past weekend, and I headed to Minnesota to visit some friends. We also found some time to visit some antique shops along the Mississippi River.

While these shops didn’t have a lot of toys, some of the toys they did have on display were rather curious. There was a nice selection of cap pistols and some good Little Big Books, but what is the fascination with putting “limited-edition” die-cast produced within the last five years on the shelves with the antiques?

I realize dealers put stuff out there just to see if it will get any bites, but there are better places to give that a try than in antiques shops. These don’t fit in with the plastic trucks from the 1950s and the Tonkas resting on the bottom shelf.

And if you wonder why Barbie is decked out in pink, my theory is because it really stands out on a shelf. There was a small Barbie play set in one shop that “leapt” off of the shelf amongst the rusty animal traps and dollhouse dinnerware.

If was going to display toys in my booth in a shop, I’d probably group all of them together instead of sprinkling them throughout the display. I’ll bet there are a lot of toys missed because you can only see a portion of it underneath the Life magazines and old beer cans.

And show those lunch boxes (even if it’s one with Barney) at eye level with the front facing out. It’s the graphics that catch the eye, and you can see them with a side panel showing on the bottom shelf.