Welcome To Amato’s Toy and Hobby Of Middletown!
SHOP in the name of loveeee…
because Valentine’s Day is less than 2 weeks away & our store is overflowing with L-O-V-E-ly gifts for your Valentineeee!
New products are arriving daily and our shelves are overflowing with fun options for the whole family this winter! We have SO many wonderful Valentine’s themed items—plush, crafts, books, puzzles and more—to help you get in the Valentine’s Day mood!
As you browse our aisles full of hand-selected items, our experienced team will happily shop with you and offer suggestions for everyone on your winter shopping list! We receive shipments & restock the store every day, so there’s always new gift ideas to choose from.
Our aisles are overflowing with a curated collection of fun, imagination-based activities for kids and adults of all ages. From exciting new toys to classic trains, there’s truly something for everyone! Among the choices include: educational toys for kids of all ages, puzzles, books, games, dolls, stuffed animals, trains, race cars, model kits, science kits, robotics sets, R/C cars, R/C planes, R/C boats, and more!
Not sure what the perfect gift might be? Give the gift of Amato’s Middletown by purchasing a gift card! Kids (and kids at heart) of all ages will have the time of their lives wandering the overflowing aisles and shopping our hand-selected collection of toys and hobbies!
We are open Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm and Saturday & Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. We look forward to shopping with you soon!
We post daily on social media, be sure to follow along for updates!
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March was…. WOW!!! A ✨VERY✨ jam-packed month full of our favorite things: creating, curating & spreading joy! 🤩🤩🤩
From our very exciting return to NYC Toy Fair, to creating our best Easter Windows, to receiving 21 pallets in 3 days (and 42 total this month…), to sharing tons of exciting & fun toy store shopping moments with all of you, and moreee… March has been one of the ✨BEST MONTHS EVERRR✨ andddd we can’t wait to continue allllll the fun in April! 💜💜💜
It was close to impossible to pick only 20 photos as a monthly recap soooo stay tuned for some additional March highlights throughout the week! 🥳🥳🥳
Mon Mar 31st, 2025
I love your store and love seeing your pictures. I wish you gets could bring back cabbage patch dolls and Love tender dolls
Have a picture of one of your workers in with the stuffed pets . Then play a wheres Waldo game .
Sundays are for shoppinggggg… AND Sunday evenings are for the 2nd (out of 3) ✨Lego Wall Merchandising✨ Night Sessions!!! 🤩
The Lego wall is officially FULL… and we have about 1.5ish out of 7 pallets left to get on the shelves soooo stay tuneddd for a Night 3 update! 🥳🫶🏻📦
Sun Mar 30th, 2025
Such a cute face😊
☀️🎶We’re walking on sunshineeeee woahhh-ohhh🎶 becauseee our AH-MAZINGGG team received, organized, checked in, merchandised AND warehoused… 21 PALLETS FULL OF PRODUCT!!! WOW. JUST WOWWW!!! 📦🫶🏻🤩🫶🏻📦
P.s. this video is from an earlier delivery in March but was the most relevant one for this post lol 🤪💖📦 #everydayispalletday
Sat Mar 29th, 2025
I love this so much!!! 🤩
So cute!
To make a box fort or not, that is the question! On a 21 pallet week, the answer is ✨YES✨🤩🫶🏻📦 ! Now if only I had a photo of the full size one we ended up accidentally making… this will have to do for now! 🤣
Sat Mar 29th, 2025
Scooter Box Tour Round Twoooo! 🤩🛴📦 WOW our entire team continues to AMAZE me, we have checked in & merchandised 12 pallets worth of product so far this week (5 of which were taken care of today alone!!) plus a handful of non-pallet deliveries AND we have a plan of attack for allllll of the rest! GO TEAM!!! 💜💜💜
Each aisle of the store is getting a complete refresh as we process each shipment—it’s our version of “spring cleaning” but in a buying & merchandising manner! We can’t wait for you to see all the ✨NEW✨! Stay tunedddd! 🥳🥳🥳
Check back tomorrow for another status update & wish us luck as we tackle the 2 biggest deliveries… hip hip hooray for FriYAY!!! 🤩🫶🏻📦
P.s. these boots were made for walking.. but scootering was… well, let’s just say it was an interesting choice but running deff wasn’t a option lol 🤣
Thu Mar 27th, 2025
Speed tour x scooter POV x box report! 🤪🛴📦
ICYMI, we have received 18 pallets so far this week & SURPRISEEEE, we have 3 more arriving tomorrow which brings us to 21 pallets (aka a million bajillion boxes) soooo here’s a crazy lil “Box Tour” & status update… stay tuneddd!
The goal is to get as many aisles cleared as possible before the weekend… wish us luck! (& maybe send reinforcements?? Anyone wanna be a toy store team member for a day? Super fun times await!!! 🤷🏼♀️)
Only took 3 takes to get it under 3 mins! And the first one I was running instead of scootering… 🤣 I need a go pro lol
Alsooo yes, we are officially Box Fort Experts & will happily teach you! 📦👑📦
Thu Mar 27th, 2025
Everyday is #NationalPuppyDay when you have 3 Toy Store Dogs! 🐶🫶🏻🐶
Here’s a lil throwback to when each puppy went through their “Amato’s Cart Sitting Phase”🤣
This is also known as when they were tiny enough to still fit in the cart… and before zuzu figured out how to jump out of it…🤪
Ok yes, Gracie still enjoys a cart sit from time to time (and surprisingly she magically still fits!) 😂💜🐾 I will see if I can get her to do one this week as proof lol
P.s. Rosie was never a fan of the cart… but she was the best Toy Store Dog for 15 years! 🥰
Mon Mar 24th, 2025
Terrific
Will Smith better watch out becauseee Monroe Scotty Dog & Ricky the Rain Frog are the new Fresh Princes of Bel Air! 🎧🎶🕺🏼
Sun Mar 23rd, 2025
Weekend vibe check! ☀️🫶🏻🛍️ 🫶🏻☀️ Make every day, the ✨BEST DAY✨ with a trip to your favorite store: Amato’s Middletown!!! 🤩
(& be sure to fuel your shopping trip with some coffee, a smoothie or sweet treat from @perkonmain! ☕️🥐☕️
Sat Mar 22nd, 2025
Fridays are for VERYYY tall pallet deliveries! 📦🫶🏻🤪🫶🏻📦
Can’t wait to see what’s in allllllll of these boxesss! 🤩 Stay tuneddd…
Fri Mar 21st, 2025
Nee doh tie dye nice ice??!
It’s not everyday that one of our most special customers (& a future Amato’s Employee—he & his brothers each have a countdown) turns 10! So of course we had to film an extra special Happy Birthday video for him!!! 🥰🎂🥳
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y L U C A ! ! !
We are now only 6 years way from officially having Luca on our team, but for now he & his brothers will be official team-members-in-training! 🤩 And they are the ✨BEST✨ Jr. Pit Crew team during our summer RC events!
& yes we made sure to feature alllll of his favorite area’s of the store! 🫶🏻 RC cars, Stuffed Animal Puppies, Legos & Trains are the top 4! 🤩
Thu Mar 20th, 2025
Carolyn Janis 💜💜💜
So Nice!! You and Your whole team are really great with our boys!! Thank you for this wonderful video celebrating Luca’s 10th birthday!
Oh my God! This is awesome! We love you all!
All right if you guys get another car then we are getting another kitten and dog and a subject
All we need is L-O-V-E and your V-O-T-E for ✨Best Toy Store✨ in the Best of Hartford competition! 🤩💜🛍️
We love what we do and we are SO lucky to be able to create & spread joy to all of our wonderful customers in-person & via social media, 365 days a year, for 85 years and counting!!!
We would reallyyy appreciate it if you could help us maintain our ✨Best Of✨ winning streak by taking a few seconds to vote! 🤩
Voting is as easy as 1, 2, 3:
1. Click this link: courant.secondstreetapp.com/Best-of-Hartford-2025/gallery/478289062/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaa...
2. Click vote! 🤩
3. You can also scroll through the categories & vote for your other favorite local businesses—this is an amazing (& free way) to show your love to allll of your favorite small businesses!
We promise that with each vote, we do a lil happy dance & we definitely feel the loveee🥰
You can vote for us once a day between now & March 23rd, it only takes a few minutes & it would truly make our day if you do it just once! 🫶🏻
(You do have to enter your email to vote, but you don’t have to opt in to any future emails from the Hartford Courant!)
Thank you in advance & we look forward to shopping with you soonnnn🤩🫶🏻🛍️
Thu Mar 20th, 2025
Voted
They are so attentive & helpful! Great gift ideas for all ages!
A great place to shop!
Love Amatos
Voted! ⭐️
Done. Good luck
Voted!
That pic is in Middletown
I know you've been on Main Street forever, but sometimes I circle Main Street at least 5 times to find parking... sometimes I can't find one so I skip shopping there 😢 love your store .... so... Walgreens is going out of business late April, the one on East main... has a big parking lot 😄 just sayin....,
Voted! 😊 best of luck 🍀
Wednesday’s are for curating ✨NEW✨ gift bag ribbons becauseee spring vibes are in the air and we are SO, SO exciteddd! ☀️🌷☀️🌷☀️
Wed Mar 19th, 2025
Gotta. Getta. Gund. Orrrrr one of each of their AH-MAZING teddy bearsss!!! 🧸🫶🏻🧸🫶🏻🧸
Tue Mar 18th, 2025
Happy Saint Patrick’s Dayyy! We are feeling ✨extra luckyyy✨ that our team gets to spread joy through the ✨power of play✨, everyyy singleee dayyy! 🍀🫶🏻🍀
P.s. this complication of RC videos is a lil throwback to the ah-mazinggggg hour of fun before one of the summer parades where we got to drive our @traxxas RC cars allllll over Main Street!!! 🤩 It was SO. MUCH. FUNNN!!! 🏎️🏎️🏎️
Mon Mar 17th, 2025
✨Window Week✨ Status Updateee:
✔️Both side windows have fully refreshed walls filled with carefully curated spring-y products!
✔️Both side windows have been masterfully decorated with egg-cellent Easter decorations
✔️Both side window floors have been magically filled with with spring-y & fun products!
✔️The gingerbread houses, cookie trees & other gingerbread items have been carefully taken out of the middle window, wrapped up & stored in a very merry & organized way
Stay tuned as the window creating fun continuessss! Here are some of our ✨Window Week #2✨ To Do’s:
🌷Add additional Easter decor to the floors of the two side windowsss!
🐰Add Easter & Spring themed plush, books & some other fun surprises to the side windows
💐Finish de-decorating the middle window so we can transform it into a spring-y, Easter Wonderland!
🐣Create a spring-y, Easter Wonderland in the middle window
& probably moreee 🤪
Oh andddd de-decorate & re-decorate the store! 🤩
Anddd… work on checking in & merchandising like 10 more pallets of ✨NEW✨ products! Wish us luckkk… lol 🤪🤷🏼♀️📦
Sun Mar 16th, 2025
good luck best place to shop
Love this store!
When 1/2 of the team shows up wearing green and the other 1/2 is wearing pink (completely unplanned btw!!!)… making this video after work was a requirement! 🩷✨🩷✨💚✨💚
Sat Mar 15th, 2025
“I don’t want to leaveee & go back to school, I just want to finish the windowssss” —Sarah, one of our ah-mazinggg ✨Window Crew✨Captains who did such a WONDERFUL job on the windows this week! 🥰
We wish she could stay & finish too but we know we will be seeing her veryyy soon! 💖💖💖 (& we already can’t wait to tackle the next window project with her!)
In the meantime, some of our newer ✨Window Crew✨ team members will be putting the finishing touches on the two side windows this week—and Amanda, another ✨Window Crew✨ star, will be backkk & joining us to work on the ✨NEW✨ middle window display! 🤩
Stay tuneddd!
Fri Mar 14th, 2025
Yay Sarah! Love the big jellycat too
Amato’s ✨Window Crew✨ requirement: understanding what P•I•V•O•T means & being a silly goose! Well actually, a silly penguin… 🐧🤪🤷🏼♀️
Being a creative perfectionist, having strong spatial relations & organizational skills, a serious eye for design, a passion for creating wonderful displays and being able to see Caroline’s vision for the final result (which is kind of like telepathy as we all end up sharing & curating the vision) is also VERY important.. along with many other things & these two are total ✨Window Crew✨ stars! 🥰
✨Window Week✨ is well underway, stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes fun & for the big reveal of course! 🤩
P.s. funny story about the penguins, Sarah & Amelia have been moving them around the window into different spots while they work on various parts of the windows this week & I keep walking into the window to talk to them & end up finding just the penguins hanging out while the girls are elsewhere working on the project… 🤣🤷🏼♀️🐧
Thu Mar 13th, 2025
Penguins mate for life ,,, also a cute bridal shower gift with a poem ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Fabulous creativity!
Great work !
🩷
