About

OUR STORY

Thank you for visiting!

The Idea

The idea for Coolest Toys On Earth® was sparked in year 2000. While attending college, a good friend of Elliot's accidently dropped a manhole cover (aka sewer lid) on Elliot’s foot one evening. The accident left Elliot on crutches, hobbling across campus to class each day. This turn of events caused being on time to class a challenge, especially since the crutches left his armpits raw and sore. After three days, Elliot knew that he needed to come up with a better alternative to get to math class so he could maintain his C average. (Side note: All of us can be successful no matter how good at math we were - you just have to find something you love).

Elliot came across a superior product that started the beginning of his vision; a gas powered Go-Ped scooter. Not only was it a much better alternative to crutches, but far less expensive than a golf cart … and so much more fun! Elliot purchased the Go-Ped scooter, without hesitation, and was once again getting around campus quickly, and more importantly, getting to math class on time! It was quite a spectacle to see Elliot zipping around campus on his new scooter standing on one leg with his bad foot raised in the air. The gas-powered Go-Ped scooter was an instant hit on the Big Ten campus. Everyone wanted one!

Opening the first store

Years later, after graduating college and selling scooters on the side, Elliot opened a brick and mortar store May 15, 2005. In trying to figure out what to name it, he thought back to how he would visit his friends to showoff one of his new gadgets that he loved collecting - and he would always ask his friends, "Isn't that the coolest toy on earth?" The name stuck, and Coolest Toys On Earth® was born. The store opened very humbly with a wagon full of Slinkies, a rack of boomerangs, half a dozen Go-Ped scooters, a levitating spinning top, and Elliot’s childhood toy collection that he dug out of the attic. In order to afford the rent, he worked a sales job for his dad from 8am to 5pm, worked at the store from 6pm to midnight, and ate cheesellows (cheese, lettuce, and onion sandwiches) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for that first year. (Side note: Sometimes we have to sacrifice to achieve our vision.)

Coolest Toys On Earth® was a hit from the beginning! Every cent was reinvested in the business - even after August 2005 when it really began to take off with the help of loyal toy enthusiasts. Friends from 2005 and 2006 remember the lines out the door during December, the TI-82 calculator to figure out the bill (since a computer could not be afforded), and the bandages that Elliot and Dan (first employee) had to wear because their hands were rubbed till they were bleeding from the 3ply carbon receipt paper.

Our Mission

In addition to providing our friends with the Coolest Toys On Earth®, our mission has always been to maintain an atmosphere that invites your imagination to come alive, your laughter to roll, while creating awesome memories for your own family and friends. Today, Coolest Toys On Earth® is run by Elliot Werner, with the help of some hand picked dedicated employees that live up to our mission. If you are in the eastern Cincinnati area, be sure to stop by what we call our "laboratory store" where we test new toys. We guarantee a shopping experience you will never forget!

Just as the store started small, the website is following suit. You'll find we have a hand-picked ever-growing selection of toys online, ideas for how to play with these contraptions, and reasons to get excited - so that maybe you, like so many others in Cincinnati have learned, that it is always a good time to visit Coolest Toys on Earth to see what is the latest thing we have been playing with.