I want to make the bleepy bloppy wheezy sounds

June 25, 2009 2:06 PM

Are there any stores that sell cheap toy musical instruments in Los Angeles?

I'm looking for a few specific kinds of toy instruments:

-toy accordion (preferably one with piano keys like this one, though one with buttons would be fine too)
-voice changers
-toy fake guitars (you know, the ones that pump out a few canned riffs, like the inimitable One Man Jam)

Though other toy instruments are good too (especially electronic ones that can be bent). I tried going to Mega Toys but they seem to only be open during Xmas season, and my cursory stroll through Chinatown looking for shops was not so fruitful. Does anyone know of any stores around town that might have this kind of stuff for cheap?

Thanks in advance folks!

posted by speicus to shopping (9 comments total)

The first two places I'd try would be Wacko and the Jumbo Bargain just east of Echo Park Blvd. on Sunset, though not in that order. In the JB, veer left as you go in and check out the stuff behind/inside the counter, then the few aisles on the far left side of the store. Then, there are cheap little plastic type toys all the way on the other side of the store, and fortune cookies.
posted by carsonb at 2:24 PM on June 25

You never pass up a chance to sing Jumbo Bargain's praises!
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 2:27 PM on June 25

If you're willing to trek to Garden Grove, US Toy has a location there, and I've always found them to be an amazing source for cheap toys and instruments.
posted by nomisxid at 2:30 PM on June 25

I frickin' love that place. Don't make me explain it.
posted by carsonb at 2:49 PM on June 25

I am almost positive that I have seen toy accordions like that on Olvera Street. I have also seen toy guitars there, but what I remember having seen is like a little mini acoustic guitar, not like the thing you linked to.
posted by kitty teeth at 4:09 PM on June 25

Another thought -- maybe the Toy District downtown?
posted by kitty teeth at 4:45 PM on June 25

Another place I thought might have this sort of stuff (and cheap!) would be the row of mom & pop's and pirate stores along Alvarado across from MacArthur Park, basically between Wilshire and 7th.
posted by carsonb at 8:41 PM on June 25

Update for posterity:

I got a "Fashion Keyboard" ($7 crappy monophonic synth vaguely shaped like a handbag) from Jumbo Bargain, two toy voice changers from Cost Plus in Glendale (where I remembered seeing them before), and a mini button accordion on Olvera Street (all the vendors seemed to have the exact same brand -- no piano accordions, but I can live with that).

Thanks carson and kitty teeth!
posted by speicus at 6:35 PM on June 28

What I mean is thanks EVERYONE, especially carson and kitty teeth.
posted by speicus at 6:36 PM on June 28