Sketch - Playtime Express (Patreon)

Concept sketch for the "Playtime Express", the iconic indoor playplace for Jolly's Toy Store and the most frequent spot for both children and adults to find their way into Jolly Junction. 

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The signature feature of every Jolly's Toy Store. Designs and layouts vary between stores, but otherwise every Playtime Express play area is themed around locomotives and features a fiberglass Jolly statue. A "Jolly Cafe" was originally planned to accompany the Playtime Express, where customers could purchase readily-made food and snacks such as popcorn, pretzels, cookies, juice, and the "Jolly Dog", but due to budget restraints was never constructed (although a Jolly Cafe playset is included in the official Jolly's Toy Store merchandise line). In spite of this, several online forums and Reddit threads dedicated to topics of nostalgia contain posts remarking on the Playtime Express and its "distinct smell of candy, mustard, and popcorn butter".

Customer feedback regarding the Playtime Express have been largely positive, as it allows parents to leave their children in a safe place to play while they shop. Most criticisms stem from hygiene concerns caused by children leaving messes behind in the play area, although several reports claim that parents found their children running out of the play area frightened and upset, claiming they had "gotten lost" inside the Playtime Express for hours or even days at a time, despite them last being seen only minutes earlier. Others have claimed to have left their children at the Playtime Express only to find them asleep in another area of the store far away from the play area, including the "employee's only" storeroom. When questioned, the wayward children claimed they were just "tired from playing with Jolly Giraffe all day". Adults who have had similar incidents in their childhood have little recollection of what exactly occurred between being dropped off and being found later.

Since its opening in 1955, hundreds of adults have gone missing with their last known whereabouts being Jolly's Toy Store, but all investigations  have found no causation between the store and the disappearances. J.G. Inc. has made no comment on this phenomenon.