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Category: Toy Stores
Neighborhood: WallingfordTake note! We are no longer in Ballard!
Mon-Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
"Got to be the finest children's store I have visited. Run by a husband and wife team who are former teachers, I really liked all the…" read more »
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As a previous employee of Uncle Fun in Chicago I must say that working at Archie McPhee is my dream job now that I've moved here.
It is a great place to get lost, dream, imagine, create and get something for everyone/anyone.
Archie McPhee's is one place everyone should visit when they visit Seattle.
Let's say your roommate calls and says that they need bacon band-aids, a male nurse action figure, and a huge pack of little, itty bitty devil ducks to refill their devil duck slinger with. What do you do?
You go to Archie McPhee's! Because, really, Rite Aid doesn't carry all of this, do they? (If you know of a Rite Aid that does, please let me know ASAP because Wallingford is a ways from home.)
I like Archie McPhee. It's a fun place to kill some time and buy some inexpensive novelties, provided that large crowds and a preponderance of questionable merchandise are not enough to keep you away.
I never buy much at Archie McPhee, but looking around is fun. Old Michigan license plates? Barista and librarian action figures? Pirate bandages? Shiny silver York Peppermint Pattie pencil pouches? These are some of the cool things I have found at Archie McPhee.
I wanted a Toast band-aid soo bad! This is a extremely bizarre store that is unique to Seattle. Love it! I will be back next time to buy little plastic babies and enormous rubber bull frogs.
I went in the new location yesterday. It was packed.
I was looking for Halloween cards.
I saw really fun and scary stuff for Halloween. No cards. Horrible giant black plastic spiders.
My review got mixed up. I started with a 1 and then somehow it shows a 5. So I am updating with a 3.… Read more »
This store is pretty amazing.
They are apparently the source of those random things you find in random thing stores across the nation (squirrel underpants, librarian action figures). Yes, this is ground zero! I got a book from the library about Archie McPhee. They started this nonsense!
I spent a good hour in the store. There were lots of children in here. Kids love this store. I was constantly reminded of how cool kids are in that they get way excited about silly things. I wish I could share in their enthusiasm 100%.
In the end I picked up some random postcards, a devil rubber duckie, a Monkey shower curtain and a bag of broken stuff that only cost like $3! It included an old school phone sign sticker thing, inflatable toast (broken), a really weathered pirate ducky, a broken Napoleon Dynamite lock, and other assorted broken stuff. Totally worth it!
I give this store 5 stars because kids like it so much. And if kids like it, adults should, too! I fear that if I spent even more time in there, I'd have spent my savings away pretty quickly. If you are passing by Archie McPhee, there is no reason to not go in and browse. It's just a lot of fun whether you buy something or not.
Seriously, I do not know why I always drove by here and never stopped in.
Came in today and this store just had so much random goodness to choose from, I was dumbfounded for an hour.
I love that I can get a hot purple wig for $14.95 for my french maid costume.
If I want to see a match off between bacon and tofu, I can recreate my own show for $9.95
If I want to stand up for my feminist ladies at nighttime while I am using the bathroom, the night light will represent for $2.95.
And finally, if I want to show off my devilishness evil side while still maintaining my cuteness, my dashboard evil duckie will suffice for $3.95.
Although originated in Ballard, I am glad that the store is now in Wallingford :).
The Legendary Archie McPhee, the "Montgomery Weird" of Seattle!
This is one of my favorite places on earth. No kidding!
I have been to every one of their stores through each of their incarnations. When I used to live in Fremont "Center of the Universe", I would regularly go for supplies for my business. Yup. My business.
Now that I live in another Fremont (Krappyfornia), I still make it a point to visit the store each time I'm up on a visit. Their store is part upscale thrift, part land of the misfit toys, and all geek heaven. And for you lucky brides out there, they have a Wedding Registry! Woooo-hooo!
If you haven't seen their brand spankin' new store in Wallingford, you need to stop reading this and GO, NOW!
Oh wow look at all the crazy crap on the walls! There's a man wearing ear-muffs as pants at the counter, you kids go grab him and hit up that photo booth while I try to find a bacon mouth-guard for my niece who keeps getting beat up at school. What a zany F-ing store! Ka-Blam-ee!
My wife and I love crazy kitschy stores, so when we visited our friend in Seattle, he said we had to visit Archie McPhee. I assure you he was correct. Archie McPhee is awesome! They have everything from underwear for your head to bacon-flavored jelly beans (yum)! To be totally honest, I don't even really want to go into all of the crazy stuff that they have because going and looking around and finding those things you never knew you needed is part of the fun. Just go. Go now! You'll thank me when you get back.
Have you ever heard a pickle yodel?
Or tasted bacon-flavored gum?
Well if you haven't these are just some of the wonders at Archie McPhee. Archie McPhee is possibly the best place to go to have a good laugh, or get a friend a gag gift. If you have yet to have the pleasure of visiting Archie McPhee's you should definitely get the whole family together and take a trip down to Wallingford. Archie McPhee originally was in Ballard but they have recently moved. Now the store isn't as big as it used to be and you don't get a great view of Ballard, but you still get that weird-strange homey feeling like the old one. Archie McPhee is a one-of-a-kind store that you can't find anywhere else in good old Seattle.
When I was a wee teen, I used to get the Archie McPhee catalog in the mail and look at all of the interesting items and dream about how I would be able to buy all of that stuff when I grew up and had my own place to decorate. Then I grew up, got old, and forgot about Archie McPhee. Good thing I rediscovered it on my trip to Seattle!
They have the weirdest blend of things I've ever seen in one place (traffic lights, miniature plastic pigs, ice cube kabobs, dog stickers, and fishing line? Sign me up!), and it may not be very organized, but it's all pretty affordable. The best part of the visit for me, a geeky English teacher, was finding old-school grammar posters to hang on my classroom walls. Yessss.
I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in a store before! There is so much stuff and so much randomness around you won't know where to begin. I would have needed several hours to look at everything, I'm sure I missed a lot of other great things. I think it's a store for people who are young at heart in order to fully appreciate the silliness of it all. Where else could you find a yodeling pickle and bacon flavored floss!? It's definitely a place you should visit if you're ever in the area and need a good laugh at random things!
Yah, shur ya betchya. Forget about the Devil Ducks...mmmmmmmmm I can almost smell THE BACON! They have: bacon bath curtains, bacon trash cans, bacon watch, bacon bandages, bacon mints, bacon gummy candy, bacon dental floss, bacon pads, bacon wallet and MORE BACON!
Not only bacon, a lot more odd and wacky nick-nacks. There is something in this store you always wanted at least once in your life time!
There are Cubes - cubicle doll and office sets, bouncy balls in different designs, glass bottles and cork caps, Papparrazzi and Gangsta doll sets, wind-up walking sushi, a bin full of little favors and charms, Hobo Soup in a can, cigarrette gums (the type that puffs out smoke), plastic lizards, all sorts of mints in a can - absynthe, devil, monkey, BACON, hobo, buddha, chum, etc. , men's Chinese suit set in a box, cards, wedding toppers and stuff, seasonal decorations, and MORE stuff to mention.
Last thing before you leave, don't forget to get your Potato Gun. It's a must buy item!
A MUST GO! =)
A guy followed us around yesterday, commenting on everything we said to each other. It was my first stalking experience and not even as exciting and mysterious as I would have hoped.
But I got three kinds of walking sashimi and a ton of found art ideas. Next time you're in, check out the list of bacon-related products they carry- you can almost furnish an entire living space solely with greasy pork.
Also, you should be warned, there is definitely something psychological about this store, case in point: Every time I see the preview of "Snatch" before movies I always say to my husband, "I want to see that movie, it looks good." He always answers with rolled eyes until I realize that this is a remark I've repeated 10's of times, I've already seen "Snatch", I just can never remember it.
Archie McPhee's is the same way: I think they've carried the same exact merchandise for at least five years now but every time I come here I always say, "Wow, this stuff is so neat, I've wish I would have discovered this place earlier." To which Brien H replies, "You stupid hag, you've been here at least 10 times since we've been together."
This forgetfulness of mine either proves that I am slowly going senile or that there's something about Archie McPhee's and Brad Pitt movies that suck you in and spit you out like a black hole.
Cool store. Hard to get to if you don't drive.
Oh Archie- you scamp.
I almost bought that six dollar green grocery bag that says " buy locally made in China", but my dear that is six dollars.
They have delightfully convenient spiritual consul such as, " What would a Unicorn do?" spinning wheels for those tough rainbow-related religious conundrums and they pretty much have every essential non essential in the universe.
If somebody gave me ten dollars and patted me on the back saying " here kid go nuts" -I would totally do that here.
While unlike most fans I find the devil duckie to sort of disrupt the charming childhood innocence of the duck- I would not want to live in a world without them. Or for that matter in a world that does not have toy flea's at more than 1000X their actual size.
I love this store! It's the perfect store for me to fill my future bathroom with pirate band-aids and devil rubber duckies...
Maybe my future guest also will be filled with useless stuff as well...
Yeah, be sure to check out More Archie McPhee next door. I'd already spent $50 and there it is. Damn.
Oh it will be moving "back" to... I think Stone Way. I hope it will be open when I shop there...
I went to 3 stores looking for rubber snakes for my Halloween costume.
All sold out!
FINALLY I drove over to Archie's, a lo and behold, not only do they have rubber snakes a plenty, but they have at least 4 sizes of them. But then I shouldn't have been surprised, they have EVERYTHING.
And the prices aren't jacked up, which I appreciate.
Love this place...and my little boy was in heaven with all of the cool little toys...im glad fellow yelpers directed us to this store...
We left with a oversized plastic scissor
toy plastic firemen..and a firetruck..the boy loves anything with wheels
pirate band-aids
a little traveling etch a sketch
and for me..minature hockey players...and a rubber chicken--yea!!!
fun place..prices are good..and seeing my little guy smile and laugh, and not pee his pants(he just left diapers) was awesome!!!!
I thought this was a fun store. Maybe I'm too old to work up much more excitement for rubber chickens and the like but I can't. Also, the prices seemed pretty high.
Need a bacon themed placemat?
Need miniature nuns?
Need party supplies?
Need a chicken suit?
You will find it all here. It's a Ballard institution.
BUwahahHAhAhHA !!!
http://www.mcphee.com/...
NggaaaHAHAHAhaHA!!! PUWahAHHA Heaoheoaheoah!!!~
(In an absolute state of Bacon Euphoria)
don't judge me.
Archie Q. McPhee is a serial sneezer. I know this because I ran into him on Market Street the other day. I spotted him from three blocks away: his Dandy Fop flag was flying in a maroon velvet feather cap and a silver handlebar mustache brushed past his swiss dotted bowtie to rest at his clavicle.
We had been introduced last year at a party and had found ourselves tangled in a flaming debate about Ferrara Pan Red HotsTM ("A Fat-Free Food") vs. Hot TamalesTM ("Now With More Kick!"). He wagged an alien-puppeted finger in the air to punctuate each point that supported his thesis: Hot Tamales are Lord and Master. Although he's a moving orator, I held court myself with a description of Imperials so nuanced that at its height, he spit out his cherry wax lips to chuckle "Indeed!" four times in a row before declaring me "Delightfully tempestuous!"
We had indulged in a bit of absinthe that evening, so here in daylight on a weekday I wasn't sure if he would recognize me. Inching closer, his green plaid high waters revealed angry pirate socks and I noticed that his large bowling tap shoes were etched with the words "Free Ballard." As I stepped toward him I stuck out my palm and immediately rescinded it, recalling previous hand buzzer hijinks. He smelled of latex and corn dog, just as I remembered. "Hey Mr. McPhee! I'm Abigail L. We met at Jensen's par---"
"AHHHCHOOOOOO" he sneezed over me. The gummy haggis that he had been nursing in his cheek flopped onto the pavement.
"Gesundheit!! Your haggis...Ahm, anyway, remember me? Abby? Ferrara Pan? Imperial--"
"AHHHHCHOOOO!"
"Bless you!!" I said, unlodging the bacon toothpick his gale had flung into my ponytail. "Umm. Jensen? Red Hots?" He removed his glass monocle and squinted at me, without a whiff of recognition. We stared at each other. Three beats. My cheeks burned. He frowned, fingered his Russian Commie lapel pin and bared a plastic fang.
"AHHHHCHOOO!" He sneezed again. Bigger and wetter. Now my neck and shoulder were covered in Space Mucus. This was not the box o' fun I remembered.
"Bless you! A thousand times! Welp, I'd better be going...on my way to pick up a few plastic ants for my farm."
"INDEED!" he bellowed and shot at me with his potato gun as I walked away, leaving him crouched and sneezing alone on the sidewalk.
Gizmos, gadgets, bobbles, doodads, thingamajigs, doohickies, zombies, chickens - whatever you want, you got it!
I've always loved Archie McPhee but to be honest? It's more of an online store than a walk in store. It loses a little bit of it's weirdness because it's just so stark.
There are shelves and shelves and spinny compartment stands all chock full of items. There's even a weird section of surplus items..need a tiny lightbulb?
Don't forget the additional store next door when you go!
I can't believe I only walked out of there with a handful of zombie finger puppets, some shark balls and stickers...all for under $10. Shew! I got lucky!
Hadn't been to Archie McPhees in ages and it is still the fun store I remember. Bought a bunch of crap for wedding favors. Because I spent more than $25 I was given a free Devil Duck, and when I forgot my one of my purchases the cashier ran out after me.
Fun plastic toys and great service make Archie McPhee's a real treat.
Need party decorations? Try this place!
Need gag gifts? Come here!
Need a costume or finish off your costume? See if you can find it here!
This is a cool place to find gag gifts, costumes, weird, and different gifts. If you are in the store, you will be in there for a while because you will (and you know you will) be playing with the toys or trying on the wigs. Have fun!
I'm probably going to burn in hell for this (at least Yelp hell), but I'm sorry - I'm just not infatuated with this place like everyone else seems to be.
Sure, this place can be fun to go in, look around, and see what kinds of crazy stuff they have to sell. I can spend up to half an hour browsing the aisles - BUT I've never bought a single thing there. Most of the stuff they have for sale doesn't actually interest me and I can't see myself shelling out a dime for most of it. A lot of people have said that they don't really need the stuff, but they want it so they buy it anyway. I don't need or want any of it unfortunately.
It's definitely a fun place to go into, but...that's it for me.
This place is as good as it gets for wasting time, finding obscure relics, buying a present for someone you don't know much about/know everything about...just don't take kids unless you're prepared to be very, very patient.
...and don't think you're done. There's an annex.
Where do you find all of the necessary equipment to become a pirate for a day (or more)? Archie McPhee
Where do you find materials to outfit your backyard for a Luau themed party? Archie McPhee
Where do you find action figures of an Albino Bowler, Librarian and Freud? Archie McPhee
Where do you find a plastic device that will re-create the sacred image of Mary on toast? Archie McPhee
Where do you find me about once a month buying silly and amazing gifts for my friends and family? Archie McPhee
I decorated my bathroom with finds from here and everytime someone pees at my house they tell me how cute my bathroom is. I also love the staff. I love that I can buy bacon jelly beans (they are tasty I SWEAR!).
I just got my coveted Archie McPhee catalog in the mail.
I'm a happy camper, because they are mad about bacon! Love that!
Seriously...
http://www.mcphee.com/...
If you want goofy or weird stocking stuffers, hit up Archie
Santa, I want this for Xmas!
http://www.mcphee.com/...
Oh, go on already! Surf the website!
It's like the Wal-Mart of kitsch and junk, and I mean that in a good way. Like every time I (ashamedly) drag my sorry self into Wal-Mart I find things I didn't know I needed until I saw it. All of Archie McPhee's is "Stuff I didn't know I needed until I saw it".
Some of the rad buys I've gotten:
-A pennant (like one would get for their sports team) that proclaims "BACON!"
-Sad Weiner gum, featuring a depressed dachshund on the box.
-A Barista action figure
-A plethora of surplus buttons swtiches and levers for my son's Darth Vader costume.
-A fez
-Taxidermy eyes
-Small plastic "accident victim" figures to go on my husband's 30th birthday cake.
-A giant box of Macaroni and Cheese (Note: This did not actually include the macaroni and cheese, sadly.)
We bring every out of town guest here and no one has ever left without buying SOMETHING. This includes my stuffy, sense of humorless, Republican Mother-in-law. She ought pirate band-aids to keep for the kiddos.
Archie McPhee... What's to say? Basically the greatest store in Seattle! And I mean out of ALL the stores! Yup, better than Fry's Electronics Store, Castle Superstore, freakin' Liquor Store, Top Foods, 99 Ranch, and all the rest! This should have the honor of winning Seattle's 2008 Store of the Year!
What oddity can't you find here? This place is a browser's dream (not like Netscape or Explorer)! You could wander around just staring and picking up stuff all day! I first got brought here one day when one of my coworkers was buying prizes for some of the games booths (like "Shoot Out the Star", Balloon Pops, and such) at Seattle Center's Fun Forest. I fell in love and have recommended this place to new Seattlites and have brought visitors here. I don't even think describing all the products would do the place justice. Just visit.
I'm the 90th review of Archie McPhee's and the 63rd 5-star review!!!
Sound the trumpets! What do I win?
Bacon-strip band-aids and a wind-up nun? Cool. I was going to get these at Archie McPhee's anyway. Saves me a trip.
I LOVE ARCHIES!
And that's all I really have to say.
That and go shop here.
This place is all sorts of awesome.
When walking in, I was saying to myself "Oh, Austin has a place like this called Toy Joy, cool." Looking around at first, it seemed to be pretty on par with Toy Joy until...
I went to the back. Such weirdness that it inspires hilarity. Toy Joy don't have that, and it's too bad, because that was the best part of the place. Just standing there, looking a bins full of the oddest crap and going "WTF would anyone use this for?" "WTF *is* that?" Though, I suppose it's be a great place for artists who want to work in sculpture or mixed media.
Besides the fact that Archie's has random toys and forgotten memories from childhood, I love it because of their photo booth. Bring 3 dollar bills, find props (wigs, hats, giant penguins, creepy masks, etc) and let the classic black and white machine do it's magic! You won't be sorry.
The main reason to go to The McPhee?
THE $3 PHOTOBOOTH!
And what goes so well with a photobooth? Did you say crazy wigs, assorted noses, and hats? Fo sho!
The McPhee has it all.
Huh??
I don't get it.
Not being a fan of brightly colored plastic doo-daas, I don't get why this place is so beloved.
Although, I do have to say, there is a Yelp lady whom I adore that has this stuff all over her car, which I find charming.
I think the bacon band aids might come in handy someday.
Not that I think there is any confusion regarding this point, but It's official:
Me and Seattle?
Not a fit.
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Category: Toy Stores
Neighborhood: West Seattle
Category: Toy Stores
Neighborhood: Ballard
Category: Toy Stores
Seattle, WA
Category: Toy Stores
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Category: Libraries
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