SHOP LOCAL Timeless Toy Box Local Woman Breathes New Life Into Vintage Toys

PULL QUOTE: This Dec. 10 will be the third holiday toy shop at the Peterborough Community Center, a sale Catherine Brouillette founded for toy vendors from around New England. Like so many others who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, Catherine Brouillette was obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake. &emsp;&emsp;The American Greetings card cartoon became a scented doll and merchandise line in 1980 (introduced by Kenner) and made more than $100 million in the first year. &emsp;&emsp;As a child, Brouillette had the rag dolls, plastic figurines, pajamas, records, a lunchbox and drinking glasses. &emsp;&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;"When Cabbage Patch Kids came out, it killed (Strawberry Shortcake) off," she says. "I outgrew her." &emsp;&emsp;Years later, she was kicking herself for selling her dolls at a yard sale. &emsp;&emsp;Bit by the nostalgia bug in her college years, she started buying back her childhood. &emsp;&emsp;"Strawberry Shortcake people collected My Little Pony," Brouillette says of another toy from the same era. "I would buy and sell those to justify some of my Strawberry Shortcake collection." &emsp;&emsp;She joined eBay early in 1997 (her seller name is shortcake21). &emsp;&emsp;Sometime after she began collecting again, she saw an ad in Boston Craig's List for the Travel Channel show "Toy Hunter," which was looking for people with toy collections. &emsp;&emsp;After her Strawberry Shortcake collection appeared on a 2012 segment of the program, Brouillette and her husband, Steve, drove from their then-home in Massachusetts home to Pennsylvania to buy the contents (dolls, books and lunch boxes) of a Strawberry Shortcake museum of sorts at a woman's bed and breakfast. They rented a U-Haul to bring it all back home. &emsp;&emsp;Soon after, she bought what she thought was a GI Joe and Star Wars lot with an oversized R2D2 toy box that came with it. Upon opening it, though, she found it was filled with Star Wars action figures and fast-food toys from the era ... even Bubblicious gum wrappers. The collection inspired the name of her business: Timeless Toy Box. &emsp;&emsp;"It's a time capsule — it's the inspiration for preserving your childhood," she says of her business. &emsp;&emsp;She continues to come across toys — from Polly Pocket and He-Man to Barbies and Rainbow Brite. In fact, one particular trove of Polly Pocket helped pay for her wedding. &emsp;&emsp;Brouillette's business started as a part-time venture while working in the newspaper industry: she'd most recently worked for the Eagle-Tribune in Andover, Massachusetts, for a decade in various positions, including page designer and copy editor. &emsp;&emsp;"I was making the same from eBay as I was at my job," she says as her business began to take off. So, she turned her hobby into a full-time gig. &emsp;&emsp;In 2016, Catherine and her husband moved to a much larger home in Peterborough, and the entire semi-finished basement became her warehouse and office. &emsp;&emsp;"We have a house that size to store everything and not pay for anything extra, like a storefront," she notes. &emsp;&emsp;Timeless Toy Box is a vintage toy and doll resale business specializing in "dolls, action figures, toys and books from the 1980s and 1990s," as listed on the eBay page. &emsp;&emsp;After buying the toys, she sorts, researches and cleans them, marketing them on Facebook, listing them on eBay and shipping almost daily. During peak activity, the online store has more than 800 listings available. She also maintains a booth at Endless Treasures in Jaffrey. &emsp;&emsp;Her husband Steve, whom Brouillette calls her greatest support in her business, said they've been thinking about replacing the age-old "swear jar" most homes have with an "I had that" jar. &emsp;&emsp;"People are buying for their own nostalgia, to collect, or for their kids," she says, and everyone has a story about the toy in which they are interested. &emsp;&emsp;"They say, 'I had that, and I want it for my kid,' or 'My girlfriend had that but lost it in a fire,' or 'My kid had that when they were 4. Can you find it?'" she says. &emsp;&emsp;In the summer of 2021, Brouillette held her first Strawberry Shortcake event (called Berries to Market) right out of her home — it's the only such event in the country — to try and sell some excess toy inventory and bond with fellow collectors over strawberry cupcakes. &emsp;&emsp;Recently, she consulted with the current designer of Strawberry Shortcake merchandise on her line. &emsp;&emsp;"For me to go through being a college kid to consulting on this — it's really incredible," she says. &emsp;&emsp;Brouillette wants to continue to connect with people cleaning out their attics; she can be contacted via her business Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TimelessToyBox) or via email (timelesstoybox@gmail.com) &emsp;&emsp;Following COVID, when a couple of consignment stores in the area didn't reopen, Brouillette started a Facebook group, the Monadnock Resellers Association. &emsp;&emsp;"There are two fronts of the business," says Brouillette, "One is continuing everything I've ever done with toys. The other is looking for ways to extend the experience outside the basement, providing a place for other people." &emsp;&emsp;This Dec. 10 will be the third holiday toy shop at the Peterborough Community Center, a sale Brouillette founded for toy vendors from around New England. The event will feature refreshments (hot cocoa) and a visit from Santa. The period range of toys represented will be from the 1940s to the 1980s and even current — as long as the current pieces are complete with original boxes. She's looking for other vendors to participate in the holiday show, with hopes of doing more pop-up shows in the future. &emsp;&emsp;"I'm committed to bringing the vintage feel to Peterborough by offering things that bring back memories," she says. "My (business) slogan is, 'Giving toys new life.'"