Do any U.S. mods know of physical places to buy tangles at? I've tried toys r us but they didn't have any :^[
Anon, would you believe that this one is difficult? I think, in a lot of ways, the US being so big with so many stores can actually work against you, because it can make it tough to find regional-specific offline stores if the big chains don’t carry them.
I do have this list we’ve reblogged from @tangleobsession with US-based offline stores that I think is worth checking out. A few US folks have commented or reblogged on that list, which I’ll collate here to make sure those fabulous additions aren’t missed:
@nyasupa:
Powell’s Books in Portland Oregon carry Textured Tangles, both locations. Call ahead because they sell out fast.
@electric-milk-carton:
I can confirm that Math n Stuff (Seattle) has tangles, fidget cubes and spinners (both $19.99), boinks ($2 each if you buy three), various sorts of silly putty and stress balls, and a bunch of other stim toys I’m forgetting atm.
@kirbys-playground:
[link] I definitely have found spinners and fidget cubes in local independent toy shops here in Colorado. I also recommend World Market for stim toys and tangles, the ones at my store were $5.99 I believe and are the textured variety. I found them in the toy section in a bin just about the floor. The other bins had stretchy fuzzy caterpillars, glitter bouncy balls, slime, and other similar stimmy toys.
Fat Brain Toys has offline storefronts in Omaha, Nebraska and Overland Park, Kansas that might also be worth considering. They absolutely sell Tangles!
Additionally, @diy-stims, on our Jet discussion post, referenced Tangles on Walmart.com. I don’t know if that means they’re available in offline stores, anon. There is a free pickup option on some of them, but if you can’t do the ordering part (payment, unrestricted access to ordering and paying) that still isn’t helpful. Can anyone confirm for us if Tangles have been seen in Walmart’s offline stores?
I have a few other asks/submissions/references from US stimmers with regards offline stores, but I don’t know if they specifically sell Tangles. Followers, if you have recommended a store in the past and you know it sells Tangles, would you comment or ask or reblog to confirm so I can add it to this list?
I also chatted with CD, our only US-based mod, to see what other suggestions they might have. They have found Tangles at an Alabama toy store, The Toy Place, but also had this to say:
I think in the US the only places people can find them is going to be local toy stores. Searching for toy stores on Google doesn’t much help if you don’t know where they are already.
Additionally, these types of small and independent toy stores seldom have online catalogues listing their entire product line, especially not for small fidget, stim and office toys. Searching for toy stores and your region (literally type “toy store [name of state or city]” into Google, because you should get something) might not get you any store that specifies as to whether or not they stock Tangles if they don’t have a webstore as part of their business.
If none of the above are suitably close to you, anon, and even perhaps if they are, I’d recommend following Mod CD’s amazing suggestion:
I recommend using the store locator on puttyworld.com. It doesn’t guarantee the store has Tangles, but if it has Thinking Putty, that’s a good sign that it sells the kind of stuff similar to Tangles.
In all honesty, without knowing the specifics of where you’re located, I think the Putty World store locator is probably your best option. It still runs the risk of going to a store and not finding a Tangle, but I think you’ll get better results than just searching for local stores and hoping they stock Tangles.
ETA a lovely anon addition:
[link] Hobby Express in northern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has a ton of stim toys! Tangles, Thinking Putty, spinners, dice, slime, kaleidoscopes and some other awesome stuff :D Playthings Etc in Butler (a nearby town) has Klixx, Twiddles, molecule balls and a staggering selection of small bargain toys. I hope this helps out my fellow Pittsburgh stimmers!
I hope that helps, anon, even as I’m aware that this is a less than helpful response. I would really like to put together an offline US-based store master post, because I think this a resource a lot of people need!
- Mod K.A.