Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Blackbird.
Daniel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have been collecting and selling toys for over 35 years. I recall at the age of six, I would cut grass, teach people in my neighborhood how to speak/read in English and babysit in order to have a little cash for Transformers. In the nineties, collecting became an obsession for me, I would toy hunt the entire city for the newest collectibles, namely horror movie monsters, vintage toys and of course Transformers. I had well over 10K items in my collection by the time I was 30. Around this time I met my wife to be and she convinced me to try and decrease my collection which had progressed from action figures to high-end posters, guitars, UFO and space memorabilia, and lots of movies like 5 thousand or so. We took a few hundred items to our local swap meet and by the end of the weekend we were sold out! I knew right then my purpose in life: I must sell toys!!!
After working in the oil industry for a few more years and working every weekend at Traders Village, I decided to go pro and opened my 1st location in The Heights Common Market, in 2016. This location is blocks from my old middle and high school, I grew up here and recently purchased a home in the neighborhood. We have a 2nd permanent location at Traders Village now and are well on our way to opening our 3rd location this fall. I attribute my whole success to my amazingly patient wife for always pushing me to work harder than ever. Everyday is an adventure here, everyday I meet amazing people and families, I work all day with my best friend Leah and best of all, I get to play with toys all day, whom could ask for more.
Has it been a smooth road?
I work a lot, like 80 hours a week, especially in the beginning when we were building up our brand. I have a little girl, Diana Price, we maned her after Wonder Woman, she’s almost two years old and I struggle to spend more time with her and my wife everyday. In the evening we may be planning a quiet evening at home and a call will come in from Austin, TX from someone wanting to sell a room full of toys. I have to stop whatever I am doing and go get that collection. I have left to travel to Seattle, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and many other far far destinations to pick up toy collections. This business thrives on having the best of the best and I know what to look for, where to find it, and a willingness to keep going long and far for my clientele. I can only hope, as my little girl gets older, that she will catch the collecting bug and take over one day.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the MISFIT TOYS story. Tell us more about the business.
Misfit Toys started as an idea to create a shop with items you could not find in any retail setting, namely, horror movie collectibles. Houston has a huge horror movie community and there are very few places that cater to this fan base. I decided on taking this task head-on. When we opened our doors, I filled the shop with my own collection of horror/sci-fi toys and collectibles. My best friend and I are horror movie fanatics. Once social media got wind of little horror hot spot it was on! Our grand opening was a huge success. We saw over 700 people in a 2-day span. People came for the horror stuff and also fell in love with our vast selection of vintage toys. Three years later we are known as the horror toys shop, we also stock over 2 thousand transformers at all times, we carry the largest selection of loose/out of package figures in Houston. Misfit Toys also operates two thriving Facebook fan groups: MOON BASE ONE: HOUSTON TRANSFORMERS CLUB and Houston Kaiju Clash: Houston”s 1st Godzilla and Kaiju Collectors Group.
We have regular meetups at the shop, there are always promotional events going on in the city that we get to do give-a-ways like advanced tickets to movies, free t-shirts all kinds of swag. I’m extremely proud of the incredible growth we have made in just three years. This growth has allowed us to make a difference in hundreds of peoples lives through our charity work. In the past three years we have assisted in major food drives with The Houston Food Bank, several Christmas Toy Drives, financial donations to many local schools such as Ridge crest Elementary Choir, Wood haven Baptist Deaf Church, Houston Blood Bank and many more. We set ourselves apart by knowing our customers like they are family; in the past three years my wife and I have traveled all over the US with our customers/friends for vacation. Our shop promotes long-lasting friendships with families that help us make it everyday.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Retail is making a come back now! People are looking for an experience when they walk into a store. There is something magical that happens when a customer walks into our store and hundreds of their childhood toys are lined up waiting to relive amazing adventures again. We hope to bring that experience to people all over Houston as we plan to open multiple locations in the coming years. We plan to launch our online store very soon to help our Misfit customers all over the country continue to find those hard to find toys.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1802 Yale Houston,TX 77008
- Website: misfitoystx.com
- Phone: 8326603637
- Email: misfittoystx@gmail.com
- Instagram: @misfittoystx
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/misfittoystx
- Twitter: @misfittoys1
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
