Contributed by collector and Overstreet Advisor Art Cloos
Photos by Alice Cloos

Joe Veteri offers a series of shows under his Veteri Productions banner. These events include the monthly Wayne, NJ Toy Show, the twice a year Comic Art Con, and ToyConNJ, which is also held twice a year. The latest edition of ToyConNJ was held on April 26-27, 2025, at the Morristown National Guard Armory in Morristown, NJ. The show is billed as the next evolution of ToyConNJ as the new venue is a bigger and better space than its former location, featuring over 31,000 square feet of event space. This meant there was more room for more vendors and more toys and collectibles. Vendors were given larger booths and there were wider aisles which were most appreciated.

Some of the dealers included Rambo’s Attic who brought a treasure trove of 1980s and ‘90s toys – from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to G.I. Joe, it was amazing. F&M hobbies which is a full line hobby shop located in Flanders, NJ hosted a radio controlled race track. For this show they brought Traxxas 4-Tec on road cars. RC racing was in attendance. Wedoca provided Japanese arcade cabinets and retro consoles for the show, with a focus on ‘90s arcade games that include fighters, puzzles, beat’em ups, and shooters. Everything they brought to the show was free to play because Veteri wants ToyConNJ to be a family friendly event with a lot of value for attendees. Allie’s and my good friend Brook Haramija who runs Brook’s Nook was set up with a plethora of plush and hot collectible toys for both kids and adults. Haramija’s display of Fugglers, Labubus, Squishables, Squishmallows, Warmies, and fidget toys was very impressive. Snuggly Shark Collectibles had an impressive display of Funko Pops, sodas, Mystery Minis, wrestling action figures, Marvel Legends, Lego Sets, DVDs/Blu-rays, and American Girl Dolls. Monkeypantscomics had a large selection of wrestling figures and pictures for sale and the dealer told me he was a standup comic too which I thought was very cool. One of the most interesting dealers I met was at the Phoenix Diecast Restorations Custom Sales booth. I was given a lesson on the value of and the most rare vintage diecast cars and I learned a lot.

As for guests, this year’s show featured wrestling greats Tito Santana and Tatanka along with ISPW Women’s Champion Vicious Vicki Venuto. On Saturday fans had the chance to meet Jimmy Hart and Doink the Clown. To go along with this, Dropkick Figs brought a large selection of wrestling action figures, which featured vintage favorites to the latest releases.

Collector Archive Services – who provides preservation, archiving, display, grading, authentication, and other services for toys, video games, sports memorabilia, and trading card packs and boxes – was at the show. They discussed their various services and showed how they work with collectors to protect their collections. Heritage Auctions was a sponsor of the show and they accepted consignments and answered questions about their services.

As Allie and I walked into the dealer’s room with her brother Ben and his partner John it took a minute for us to decide where to begin exploring a jam-packed dealer’s room. Believe me when I say we knew it was going to take a while to go through the room. This is because there was literally thousands of current and vintage hard to find toys, comics, movie memorabilia, model kits, playsets, character toys, small antiques, DVDs, posters, military, action figures, sports and non-sport cards, dolls, trains, advertising, vintage Disney, gumball and vending items, dime store, books and magazines, autographs, cap guns, die-cast, records, stamps and coins, toy soldiers, Transformers, Barbie, G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Lego, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, PEZ, tin toys, battery op, board games, monster collectibles, original art, and more.

It didn’t take long for me to run into old friends at the show. I caught up with my longtime buddy Stuart Greenberg and his son Max, and I checked out a couple of aisles with longtime friend Andrew Heller.

In terms of food, there were plenty of options without leaving the venue. Once again the show had a food truck festival with a variety of options and there was an area inside the venue to sit and enjoy a meal. A very short drive from the venue was a large number of places to eat for people who wanted to party after the show.

The show offered two special VIP packages. The standard one gave attendees early access to both days of the show and in addition there was a choice of one exclusive figure which was either a Plunderlings Drench or a Battletoads Zitz (Nintendo Edition) figure. Then there was a VIP plus package that gave early access for both days as well as a LegionsCon 2024 exclusive Cosmic Legions set. A special VIP unlimited access badge was available which included priority access plus a swag bag of toys and other goodies. Veterans got a special reduced rate entrance fee, and kids 10 and younger were free.

Dates for the fall 2025 edition of the con have not yet been announced but it will be in September at the Morristown National Guard Armory located at 430 Western Avenue in Morristown, NJ. More information is available at veteriproductions.com and on the ToyConNJ Facebook page.

Check out more photos from ToyConNJ also in our Spotlight section.