When customers pull up to Sasquatch Toys & Comics in West Homewood, a life-sized Darth Vader stands outside the shop, greeting them in search of vintage toys and youthful treasures. Tight hallways lined with boxes of toys and comics in rooms are on full display, while 50s jazz plays in the background.
Ben Traylor is a co-owner of Sasquatch Toys & Comics, located alongside Oxmoor Business Park, and prides the store as being a hidden gem of the Homewood community.
“First of all we are out in the middle of nowhere and then when you see the outside of the store it’s very unassuming,” Traylor said. “But when you come inside, it’s overwhelming.”
The store’s hallways are no more than seven feet wide. Every wall is filled with different collectibles such as G.I Joe figures, Funko Pops, Pokemon Cards, and comics that deliver a quality of organized clutter.
“You forgot about the troubles you may have had before you walked in,” Traylor said about his storefront.
Although the atmosphere has a maximalist aesthetic, it radiates a safe, snug ambiance for patrons to walk around and browse.
“For just a bit of time you are relaxed, there’s no pressure, nobody is going to beat on you to buy something,” Traylor said.
Traylor understands that first-time customers often feel overwhelmed when faced with the abundance of merchandise. To remediate this gap, he tries to meet new people where they are.
“We tell people that come in for the first time not to buy anything because they have to process it. There’s so much, they need to process it first,” Traylor said. “We do things over the top around here, we go large.”
Most of the collectibles at Sasquatch are from customers who decide to sell their own belongings. Before someone passes away, they often sell their valuables to reduce the family burden of holding onto collectibles.
“I saw some Swedish dudes where they thin out their stuff so that their family’s not burdened with doing that,” Traylor said.
A grim reality of comic book stores like Sasquatch is that one of Sasquatch’s mottos“Bring us your dad’s toys and comics before your sister does. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“I know that sounds awful but it gets people thinking about ‘If you die, what’s going to happen to your stuff?’” Traylor said. “You have the tendency that when someone passes away that everything they had was sacred, well it’s not sacred. Only a few things are sacred.”
When Sasquatch receives such items, they create an honoring wall, where they hang up a plaque alongside their collectibles to display its importance.
“And if someone brings out a collection that is pretty fantastic we do an honoring wall,” Traylor said. “To let people know that [this] meant something to somebody.”
Abbie Dode is an employee at Sasquatch, and her father is also a contributor to the shop. She has known Seth Cosby, another co-owner of Sasquatch since the age of 10 and now wins cosplay competitions.
Parents bring in their children so that they can pass on generations of collectibles to make memories..
“That’s why I love it because my dad first showed me everything he used to read and it just made me happy,” Dode said. “You can see family bonds.”
A wide variety of age groups come to Sasquatch in search for toys, comics and other collectible items, generating a community that loves the same culture that defined an entire generation
“We got parents that bring their kids, but we also got older folks and people in their 20’s, who were raised on toys in the early 2000s and now they have money so they come back and like to do some shopping for that stuff” Traylor said. “We also got folks that are in their 50s that are buying toys that they remember as a kid, or completing a collection,” Traylor said.
Nostalgia is a large factor to why people collect toys and comics. Recent trends shifts to Pokemon and Funko Pops.
“So you get a lot of folks of all ages just coming up with the nostalgia” Traylor said. “But we get a lot of young folks for the Funko Pops and Legos,” Traylor said.
Traylor was an attorney and veteran for the National Guard and Combat Arms, before Sasquatch.
“After Covid I was just like geez, I’m 50 years old and I’m not happy with the law, there’s a dark side to the law,” Traylor said. “The majority of it is great, but there’s also a dark side I was seeing too much of.”
At that time, Cosby and Traylor had already discussed opening a toy and comic store continuously, but then, were ready to execute the idea immediately.
“So I said, you know what, God’s given me a second chance, I’m gonna do something different and as soon as I came to that realization, Seth walked up to the door,” Traylor said. “It was amazing, it was the first time in a long time that I woke up happy, my family happier and now both my sons come here to work.”
In addition to opening Sasquatch, Traylor and Cosby struggled with advertising, many people being unaware of their location. But so far, yard signs work best for grabbing attention towards Sasquatch.
“We’ve been here over three years and people are just starting to hear about us,” Traylor said. “I’v tried to do facebook, word of mouth, it’s so easy to do a TikTok, but it’s really hard to go viral,”
Sasquatch has collectibles for all people such as Funko Pops, G.I Joe figures and comics.
“I love the fact that we have everything for everyone,” Dode said. “It’s not just one specific thing,”
