‘A new beginning.’ Longtime Bellefonte area toy vendors open new shop
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Local toy vendors left Benner Pike after a rent increase and opened downtown Bellefonte.
- Jelly’s Treasure Chest catalogs vintage and new toys, video games, cards and more.
- Owners pursue community collaboration, plan trading card game nights and arcade.
Last August, a rent bump forced two local toy vendors to vacate their previous location, Unlimited Treasures 2, along the Benner Pike. Now, just over four months later, the pair has found a new home in downtown Bellefonte.
Jelly’s Treasure Chest is located at 121 S. Allegheny St., the former home of Victorian House Antiques. It’s owned and operated by Vince Bubb and his girlfriend Mary Rocky, who have been collecting toys together for well over a decade, with Bubb’s passion for toy collecting starting around 35 years ago.
The store’s original opening date was slated for October, but making sure that the building was up to code and securing all the necessary permits took longer than anticipated, and it finally opened in late December.
“It’s like a new beginning here, where we can focus on selling what we want to sell,” Bubb said. “The old store was nice, but there were three owners each selling their own things there, and there were a lot of other vendors too, so the place was filled with a lot of different stuff — not just toys, which is what we’re focusing on.”
Toys from across decades and franchises
When entering the shop, customers are first greeted by large mannequins of Star Wars favorites Chewbacca and R2-D2, and a front desk/checkout area with a Darth Vader helmet-shaped urn displayed overhead. The urn contains the ashes of Bubb’s sister, Jelly — the namesake of the store and a part of the store’s logo — who died in a car accident.
“Darth Vader was [Jelly’s] favorite character, and the sloth in the logo represents her because that was her favorite animal,” Bubb said. “The dragon in the logo is for my mother, who passed away last February, and the skateboard and glasses are my godson and brother, who have also passed.”
After the entryway, the store opens up into a large room, with toys from the ‘70s and onward lining each wall and aisle from top-to-bottom.
The toys are separated into different franchises, including G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Transformers, Jurassic Park, He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Lego, Marvel, DC, Funko Pop and more. More Star Wars memorabilia and TY stuffed animals are being sold by two vendors that followed Bubb and Rocky to the new location.
“I know we’ve got a lot of toys in here that are pretty boy-specific, so we’re also trying to bring in some girl’s toys too,” Bubb said. “The collection is lacking a bit right now, but I’ve got some Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie, some Rainbow Brite stuff in, and we’re working on getting more.”
Plans for game card nights, arcade
Aside from the toys, Jelly’s also sells video games — which can be tested in the back lounge area of the store — and trading cards. As the store grows, Bubb and Rocky hope that they’ll be able to host trading card game nights there for fans of the Magik the Gathering and Pokémon franchises.
The pair also plan to turn the store’s back room into a small arcade.
“We’ve got to get the whole back room cleaned out first, then we can start looking at an arcade,” Bubb said. “We’re not sure if it’s going to be an hourly sort of thing, or if we’re just going to do it on a per-credit basis though, and we’ve got to get some more games in here too.”
Since opening, the pair have seen a steady amount of foot traffic come through the door, with many people taking business cards — something Bubb believes is a sign of good things to come.
Fitting into the Bellefonte business scene
Bubb also said that Jelly’s has been well-received by the other stores in downtown Bellefonte, including Bellefonte Brick Studio LLC. When Bubb receives a Lego set, he said he always takes it to the studio first to see if they want it before displaying it in his shop.
“As a small business, a mom-and-pop stop, that kind of collaboration is basically the only way you can survive,” Bubb said. “I mean, if you try to do it all on your own, there’s no way it’ll work.”
Jelly’s Toy Chest is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. More information on Jelly’s Treasure Chest can be found at the store’s Facebook page.
