#World 4 Kids

[paulagnewart]

The World is 4ull of Stuff

It's time for another long-winded, attention-seeking post to remind myself social media exists, and keeping in the spirit of last month's venture into Saturday morning nostalgia, decided to look back on another turning point in Australian pop culture history from exactly 30 years ago. Yeesh, this had better not become habit forming.

While locals across the land counted down the remaining few days before they flocked to witness an adventure 65 million years in the making, another world of adventure opened its doors for the first time on 19th August 1993. A world gargantuan in scope bounding with flashy colours and near-limitless opportunities for youthful imagination. A world guaranteed to leave boys and girls' heads spinning with ranges and prices on a scale almost inconceivable. A world... 4 kids!

This multimillion dollar project had been a long time coming for the Coles Myer group. And who could blame them? Their combined retail output at the time controlled a staggering 40 percent of all local toy sales, and with the nation slowly finding its feet after a crippling recession, saw an opportunity to cash in.

Such aspirations resulted in Coles Myer hitting hard and fast with intense production and marketing campaigns. Stores soon flowed with stock under long leases. Commercials and letterbox advertisements bombarded homes. They shamelessly boasted that unlike other stores, World 4 Kids was number one in a field of one. Oh sure people could visit other smaller chains like Casey's, Toyworld or Uncle Pete's, but this? This was an event. *The* toy store with *the* unbeatable prices and everything a kid could ever want under a single roof. Well, except for the ever elusive Thunderbirds Tracy Island playset and Grape Escape board game.

From that very day the first World 4 Kids opened its doors on the fourth level of Sydney's Chatswood Chase, a plethora of cherished memories would be forged. Be it running around with tiny trolleys or donating old toys for their in-store recycling program (both of which have since become the norm for a number of large retailers), many kids shouted with glee at the prospect of walking home with their first Nerf. First Barbie. First Biker Mice. First Cabbage Patch Kid. First Action Man. First Littlest Pet Shop. First video game.

But while ol' Globey greeted every shopper with a big green smile, the bean-counters gradually saw nothing but red. As the years rolled on, Coles Myer were hit by loss after loss, struggling to keep the franchise open. Perhaps they tried too hard? Or underestimated a frugal buying economy who preferred saving their spending until Christmas?

Or it was simply a case of envious corporate greed catching up after hoping to nip their former business partners and distinguished competition in the bud before they set up shop? Whatever the reason, World 4 Kids swiftly led to a near-decade long battle for the ages between two parties, with many independent stores caught in the crossfire.

But that's a tale saved for another day. In the meantime however, how strange it feels to (quite literally) revisit a few of said memories. Indeed Chatswood Chase was the first store to open, but Coles Myer had initially planned to kick things off in Penrith of all places. Situated on the corner of High and Station Street, this outlet was poised, primed, ready to be their flagship store... until a last second decision by upper management wanted it somewhere closer to Sydney's CBD.

Having made the pilgrimge across the M4 on what turned out a rather mild weathered early Saturday morning, it's quite astounding the building remains intact to this day. Being separate from a shopping centre undoubtedly had its advantages. For exactly two years World 4 Kids called this little corner of the Riff home before moving to Riley Street opposite the back of Penrith Plaza. That particular site was lucky enough to be one of the final shops standing until 2002 when it eventually became a Supre outlet (with some of the original décor left intact) until Westfield demolished the whole block several years later to expand said Plaza. In its place is an outdoor fooderie.

As for this old site, it too has shared quite a coloured history. The instant World 4 Kids left the premises, Spotlight took over and expanded to both ground and lower levels complete with upper enclosed car park. They persevered for many years until a new shopping centre opened on Mulgoa Road saw them move by the late-2000's. Nobody wanted to lease the massive floor space, so they cut the lower level off and made it a separate business. Trade Secret eventually chose the top floor, and the bottom remained vacant until Paul's Warehouse stepped in by late 2013. Losing the overhead carpark by early 2017 came as a blow, and even Paul's expanding to include rejected goods from the US didn't help. Neither store made it to the decade's end.

World 4 Kids may be long gone, its history stripped and buildings either renovated or destroyed, but for many Aussie kids and teens growing up in the 90's, was nothing short of paradise. It brought countless smiles and paved the way for some modern shopping experiences. It created memories to be proud of, even if none of us were aware of the tumultuous cavalcade of chaos behind the scenes.

#World 4 Kids #W4K #Australia #1993 #Thunderbirds #John Tracy #Biker Mice from Mars #Modo #Batman #Xena Warrior Princess #Mighty Ducks #Mallory McMallard #Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #Venus de Milo #April O'Neil #Star Wars #Padme Amidala #Dragon Ball Z #Goku #Power Rangers #Lightspeed Rescue #Kelsey Winslow #Yellow Ranger #Digimon #WarGreymon #Action Figures #Toy Photography

[thesequelvintage]

World 4 Kids x Big Bird - For those who may not remember, World 4 Kids was a toy store in Australia during the 90’s.

#90s #1990s #aussie #australia #perth #vintage australia #toy store #vintage toys #world 4 kids #big bird #Sesame Street #90s kid #90s fashion #90s style #90s stuff #90s aesthetic

[wyvernity]

been thinking about the sinnohtrio lately......plus misc other stuff

also, casual ko-fi drop!! get something in this sketchy style starting at $10 woop woop

#finally decided to do a commission test run u_u #pokemon #trainer lyra #trainer kris #trainer dawn #trainer lucas #rival barry #rival silver #ayalumi #hisuian zorua #luxio #timeskip tag #rkgk #anyway it's sinnoh time !!! #still figuring out their designs and lore but this works for now #god's specialest little guys & their very normal bestfriend who they would kill/die for. up to interpretation who is killing/dying #dawn is the platinum protag who meets giratina and becomes champion #distortion world affected her way more than compared to cynthia and cyrus since she's still a developing kid. but hey cool ghost hair! #4-5 yrs later lucas gets blasted to hisui..lost his memory for the three years he's there and when arceus sends him back he's just like Man #the entire time barry is CHILLING PLAYING HAVING FUN #and forever worried abt his friends ): dawn & lucas are soo nonchalant about what happened to them it's a bit concerning to everyone else #design comments umm the only thing that matters is that they still have their og scarves 👍 #and i guesss these are spring/summer outfits. winter dawn gets leggings and big coat ok. she already has too much yin energy #btw i use the cleanse tag as the direct opposition to the spell tag even tho that's probably not a real thing LOL) #oh yea barry wears the tower master ribbon 24/7. tower tycoon in training and won't shut up about it (i love him) #character dynamics i will talk abt that in another post if i feel like it... these days i just want to go replay pla aughh

[paintedpatroclus]

eddie and winnie circa 1990

(steddie kid steddie kid steddie kid!)

#they laugh the same #debut of my steddie kid ?!? #her name is winnie. #teddy and winnie <3 #she has lore in my head. mostly she’s just a giggly kid. she thinks eddie is the funniest person in world. #steddie #implied #steve x eddie #eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things 4 #steddie kid #my art

[0vergrowngraveyard]

pre-tails sonic: i don’t need anyone that’ll just slow me down. attachments are for losers and im way too cool for those

with tails: i’ll kill you ill maim you if you even dare to look at him the wrong way it’ll be the last thing you ever do i swear to chaos i fucking dare you i need this kid more than i need oxygen he is my entire world and anyone who tries to take my kid from me will not live to see the next sunrise

#graveyardtxt #that whole “i don’t need anyone’’ idealogy really didn’t last long #one look at this scrawny traumatized 4 year old and it all went down the drain #immediately adopted him #that’s his kid now #and he will destroy the world if something happens to his kid #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #unbreakable bond #the brothers ever

[ningadudexx]

I may seem like a fucntioning member of society but the truth is season 4 ruined me beyond a shadow of a doubt (i was shaking rocking and screamign during viewing)

Also the first idea with macaque and wukong sharing jin and yins capes were an idea from someone but i cant find who im sorry :( but that doodle is dedicated to that person!! it works perfectly with their color schemes heheheheh

#monkie kid #lmk #lego monkie kid #monkie kid sun wukong #monkie kid macaque #lmk macaque #lmk sun wukong #monkey king #lmk monkey king #sun wukong #six eared macaque #monkie kid spoilers #monkie kid s4 #lmk season 4 spoilers #lmk season 4 #not really spoilers very small #SEASON 4 KILLD ME I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS I NEED TO REWATCH IT ONE THOUSAND RIMES #This show means the world to me 😿 #please go support the show #itll change your life

[stainedglass-sketchbook]

CHILDREN OF BHAAL

I adore the vibe of redeemed durge your sister killed your mind and took your place - it was the greatest gift she ever gave you

#orin the red #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 orin #the dark urge #cant stop thinking about orin #myart #durge vaye #still deciding what kind of c section scar to give vaye #went with a vertical scar for this one #the lore for vaye is that he got pretty far into his life as baahls chosen as far as milestones are concerned #became unholy assassin almost finished those plans to take over the world had a kid for sacrifice/back up bhaalspawn purposes ect #& was daddy's perfect little murder baby <3 until the lobotomy ofc #then only with memory loss was there was enough distance for him to actually face how fucked the whole situation #btw Orin did Vaye's top surgery c-section and lobotomy <3 #thats his whole medical team right there #when you wake up with no memory all you have is your body for evidence so i really leaned into that for vaye's scars #I gave him vash the stampede level scars lol #he wakes up knows 4 things: that hes been through metaphorical hell and survived that someone did a choppy job on his top surgery #that at one point he decided face + eye tattoos would be his thing and that hes had a child #Im debating whether or not Orin would outright kill the kid or if shed keep the kid around until theyre old enough to face her in a duel #Leaning towards the second #that means while vaye is wondering around faerun that kid is having arts and crafts time with auntie orin! (oh no oh no oh no)

[nounaarts]

The hero and the warrior!

#my laptop was being a huge pisstake and crashed for like half an hour JUST as i was about to post this #it was glitching and everything #the world just wasnt ready for shadowpeach #lmk #lego monkie kid #lego monkey kid fanart #monkie kid #macaque #lmk six eared macaque #sun wukong #lmk macaque #lmk monkey king #lmk season 4 spoilers #lmk season 4 #the hero and the warrior were like the sun and the moon #shadowpeach #past sunwukong and macaque #art #nounaarts

[daily-hanamura]

Hanamura Yosuke's first appearance vs last

#p4 #p4g #persona 4 dancing all night #p4d #persona 4 #persona 4 golden #hanamura yosuke #yosuke hanamura #HAPPY LAST DAY OF THE YEAR AS A GIFT PLS TAKE THIS COMPARISON #guys our boy has grown up so much hes changed so much hes!!! #hes gone from this lonesome kid struggling to find his place in inaba and in the world #hes putting up facades to be liked and going along with whatever people wanted because he thought it would make him accepted #hes forming relationships based on superficiality because he cant connect genuinely with them since he wasnt being honest #half of inaba treats him like an outcast because of Junes and the ones that want to connect with him cant because he doesnt know how #and now here he is!!! hes the morale leader of the team!!! hes the second banana to bancho's first banana!! #hes the team wrangler he gets them together he gets them going!!! #hes loved and hes accepted and they rib on him but they also respect him so much!!! they follow his lead wordlessly!! HES TRUSTED!! #LOOK. AT. HIM. LOOK AT OUR BOY!!!!!

[himejoshiangels]

duke and fear gas..NOBODY LOOK AT MME!! fuck a basic ass "He's afraid that his parents might never recover" u wnna know what has more canon evidence? he's fucking terrified that when they do recover they won't recognize him. What happens when they see their son who cut his cornrows, who has 3 new piercings and towers over them with all sorts of scars litering his body that he can't even begin to explain. Even worse what if they're disappointed in him, what if he isn't what they expected or wanted from their son at all? what if his mannerisms are unrecognizable, his speech patterns, his interests and so on. what if they'd rather cling to a version of him that no longer exists

being forced to watch them live happy fulfilling lives from behind a glass screen because he cant envision fitting between them after he's changed so much

#his fears are like exacerbated by the gas and his own like doubts that he keeps deep down but WHWE #bcs obviously his parents should they recover would not gaf they love their kid no matter what but its like all throughout we are robin #and BatS hes like 'oh man im glad my parents cant see me rn im disappointing them so bad' hell when hes falling 2 his death b 4 bruce saves #him his last words are 'im sorry mom' bcs he knows she wouldn’t like the fact that hes been putting himself in danger #HELL WORLD #the signal #duke thomas #thought bubbles #AND THAT THE FUCKING KIVKER #he hasnt changed hes always been stubborn and willful even when he was little #hes always been reckless and willing to face danger if it meant someone elses safety #hes always been caring and forgiving hes changed BUT HE HASNT #do u see the vision

[lukasspookas]

#my art #lukasspookas #mcr #my chemical romance #danger days #the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #killjoys #the fabulous killjoys #fabulous 4 #gerard way #party poison #mikey way #kobra kid #ray toro #jet star #frank iero #fun ghoul #the girl #conventional weapons #the world is ugly #did i make the girl too small in the last panel

[ghostlywhiskey]

to me this is the price household (and yes i’m projecting)

#in my world where im reader with price & our 4 kids anyway

[kazuaru]

Say hello to Yasuko.

#ts4 #sims 4 #my sims #ts4 cas #simblr #oc: yasuko #another sim in my cyberpunk sims world #& a possible friend (with benefits) for ruth an enemy's to loves 👀!!!??? #she's her families bodyguard bc she trying to get their respect back by showing them that she willing to protect them #she their guard bc as a kid she accidentally helped in a assassination on her grandfather by delivering a poisoned drink #yasuko was born with albinism & felt like the black sheep of the family. the only person who loved her is her mother #after the assassination she was blamed and accused of do it on purpose & her father disowned her bc of it

[writer-room]

I've decided the only reason Lloyd, known descendant of dragons, didn't tell this to Egalt, who refuses to train non-dragons, is for the same reason he never mentioned he's the First Spinjitsu Master's grandson. It just never came up. Nobody asked him directly about it. And besides, he's only like, one-fourth dragon, so does it really count? He doesn't look like a dragon, and he has never in his life considered himself a dragon. Mentioning his ancestry to Egalt probably would've just made him look like some hotshot, or make him more annoyed. There's no need to bring up such a silly little fact. He's sure it won't be important later.

#ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #lego ninjago #dragons rising #lloyd garmadon #first spinjitsu master #egalt #text post #talk #dragon lloyd garmadon #the real likelihood is that the writers just quietly brushed that little fact aside (im so sad abt it) #but i think its infinietly funnier that lloyd went down the spinjitsu master route #it just never came up. no one asked. and hes not a COMPLETE dragon so like. why bother telling egalt #the whole time i was waiting for egalt & rontu to b like 'WHO in their SPINJITSUDAMED MIND trained you' #and theyre just like 'oh this guy named sensei wu hes lloyds uncle hes like a master' & egalt is like 'sounds like bs' #then arin as a huge nerd pipes up like 'AND HES THE FSM'S GRANDSON :D' #to which rontu and egalt break their necks whirling around like 'THIS SCRAWNY LITTLE PUNK IS W H A T' #egalt straight up refuses to believe it. rontu is very quickly doing the math & freaking out abt it #wherever these guys are from it might not even be ninjago so like they might not even know the fsm had sons #rontu: im sorry. so youre the grandson. you are aware your grandfather was half dragon half oni. right? #egalt in the background 'THAT BOY IS N O T A DRAOGN I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT' #lloyd blinking owlishly like 'oh yeah i guess so. im only like 1/4th tho' #'BOY YOU ARE 1/4 OF ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL DRAGONS IN FCKING EXISTANCE' #'YOU ARE THE GRANDSON OF MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDMASTER' #the midlife crisis these dragons would have. the crisis the kids would have realizing this #lloyd now cannot go 3 minutes without someone asking 'is there any world-shattering fun facts abt yrself you wanna share' #the fun part is that lloyd forgets all of those informations bc its like. a normal day for him #no one tell wyldfyre she'll flip

[juncopandi]

As the world falls down

#ffxiv #ffxiv fanart #ffxiv spoilers #venat #hydaelyn #endwalker spoilers #I needed to draw her SO BADDDD #I love her so much #:''''''( #also should my next post be silly sketches again? vote now on your phones #just kidding it'll be whatever in the world i think of next #tried to post this like 4 hours ago and then the internet went down...i will not be silenced!!

[retrotrait]

remember them? they're going to high school now.

#sims 4 #the sims 4 #ts4 #simblr #sims #showusyoursims #stranger things dupe world #the kids