January means toy clearances! Here’s what I’ve found…

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January is a great time to find clearance toy bargains! So many stores drop prices on toys into the 50-70% off range because they want to reclaim their shelf space for new seasonal items and other merchandise.

On Thursday, I devoted a few hours to running around town and looking for deals. I posted a quick recap the same day for those looking to get a jump on toy shopping. Now that our weekend’s quieted down a bit, here’s a with-photos recap of some of the deals I found. (I’m including Amazon links too if you want additional details about any of these toys.)

I began my day at the Crystal Lake Target, where they had several aisles and encaps of clearance toys priced between 50 and 70% off. I was very excited to see a Barbie Rainbow Cove Princess castle marked down from $99.99 to $29.98. I thought my nieces would love this, and I have many fond memories of my sister and I playing with our Barbie Dream House as kids! 

The Crystal Lake Target also had a Disney Princess Royal Dreams castle, which I actually liked even better than the Barbie castle, as my nieces have the 12″ sized Princess dolls. It’s also 3 feet tall and is modeled after the Walt Disney World Cinderella castle. However, it was still $49.99, marked down from $99.99. (I even scanned it to make sure!) Cost won, and I bought the Barbie castle.

I also bought a My Little Pony Canterlot High playset that came with one pony. Originally $29.99, it was 70% off, and I paid $8.98!

I also bought some Barbie dolls for my nieces:

Barbie Rainbow Cove Light Show Princess: Originally $19.99, it was 70% off, and I paid $5.98. I couldn’t resist buying her, because her chest lights up with LEDs when you push a button. (Yes, I laughed!)
Barbie Endless Hair Kingdom: Originally $19.99, it was 70% off, and I paid $5.98.
Ken Star Light Adventure: Originally $12.99, it was 70% off, and I paid $3.98.

I forgot to take a photo of this, but the Crystal Lake Target also had Disney’s The Lion Guard plush talking Kions marked down to $8.98. 

I also found some things for my boys. I bought these Marvel Secret Wars comic book and dual action figure sets. Originally $19.99, I picked them up for $5.98 each. 

I bought my children a Minecraft Papercraft kit – Animal Mobs. (We have some other ones, and they love to make these.) Originally $10.98, I paid $4.86.

I bought two Star Wars Hero Mashers action figures, Darth Maul and Greedo. Darth was $14.99 marked down to $4.48, and Greedo was $9.99 marked down to $2.98. 

Lastly, I picked up a Pressman Think & Jump pegboard game. Originally $9.99, I paid $2.98.

Next, it was off to Meijer! I headed south to the Algonquin location. When I shopped, the 3-Day-Sale extra 30% off clearance merchandise was in effect, so I looked for good deals that would be even better with the additional savings. 

 

I found that many Lego sets were 50% off. I picked up a small Marvel Iron Man vs. Ultron Lego set. Originally $12.99, it was 50% off at $6.50, minus another $1.30 for the 30% off; I paid $5.20.

I also got a large Star Wars: Battle on Takodana set. Originally $59.99, it was marked down to $30. I got another $6 off with the 30% clearance sale and paid $24. 

I also got two Star Wars Science Mini Lightsaber Tech Lab build-a-saber sets. Originally $9.99, these were 50% off at $5. With 30% off, I paid $3.50! 

I also saw the identical My Little Pony playset I purchased above clearance priced at $19-something at Meijer. (This made me feel even more proud of my $8.98 deal on it at Target!) 

Finally, it was off to the Algonquin Target. (If you’re not from my northwest ‘burbs, understand that these two Target locations are maybe fifteen minutes apart, and the Meijer and Target’s shopping plazas are next door to each other. It was easy to bounce around and shop!)

Wouldn’t you know it — the $99.99 Disney Princess Royal Dreams castle that I liked at the Crystal Lake Target (but not enough to buy it at only 50% off) was 70% of in Algonquin and marked down to $29.98! It’s amazing how different the prices can be at stores that are geographically close to one another. Truthfully, this is the castle I wanted for my nieces all along, though, so I bought it here, took it to the car, then returned to the service counter with the Barbie Rainbow Cove Princess castle I’d bought at the other Target to return it. 

I learned something new on this trip too. Target does not let you return an item purchase at a different Target location in the same day. It’s an anti-fraud measure to discourage people from buying something, taking it out of the box, then returning it to a different Target. The customer service counter employee advised me to wait at least 48 hours before trying to return the Barbie castle. 

The Algonquin Target did not have nearly as many toys on clearance compared to Crystal Lake, though, and the majority of the clearance toys were for girls. If you’re shopping for girls, though, they had the same Barbies, Ponies, and other girl toys on clearance in Algonquin.

So, for the time being, I have both the Barbie castle and the Disney castle taking up a fair amount of space at home. Regardless, I’m really happy with my purchases, and my nieces are going to love that big castle when they get it for Christmas… oh, about eleven months from now. (Don’t worry — they don’t read Aunt Jill’s blog… yet…) 

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