The Timeless Toy Emporium
Action Toys Celebrates Four Decades in Business
Billings, Montana
Photography by Stu Hoefle
November Issue - 2025
As the west end of Billings continues devouring farm ground and open spaces with commerce, pavement and apartment buildings, Action Toys serves as a reminder that not all progress requires the erasure of the past.
Managed by Lisa Pippin, the business is tucked away in a country setting at the south end of Shiloh Rd, on a remnant of what was once her grandfather’s farm. An inviting covered front porch has drawn toy lovers to the 4,000 square-foot barn-red store for the last 27 years.
Inside, every toy imaginable to the agriculture industry is on display. Tractors, combines, trucks and trailers share the shelves with cows, horses, pigs and sheep. In choices even farm implement stores would envy; John Deere, New Holland, Case, even Big Bud toy models are represented.
But it’s not just limited to agriculture enthusiasts. Books, puzzles and stuffed toys; construction equipment, fire engines; rodeo livestock and cowboys adorn the shelves as well.
Over 3500 varieties of toys are on display in sizes from pedal tractors to 1/87th scale models attracting customers from preschoolers to seasoned collectors. If Action Toys doesn’t carry it, it probably isn’t worth having!
“Our toys are meant to be played with, that’s how we started almost forty years ago, and that’s how we still are,” said Lisa. “We believe in kids using their imagination.”
Lisa’s mother, Donna Pippin conceived the idea of opening a toy store after an unsuccessful search for toy tractors.
“Mom reached out to the manufacturer of a couple of tractors that she’d bought for my brother,” Lisa said. “At the time he was into collecting small tractors and K-Mart only had about five styles.”
Donna subscribed to the toy manufacturer’s newsletter which was promoted on the back of the packaging of one of the tractors. The newsletter showcased their entire toy line, which was significant. The company was Ertl Toys and when she reached out to them, it ignited a lifelong love the family has for collecting and selling toy farm equipment.
“Mom reasoned that if my brother was that excited about the toys, then possibly other kids would be too, so we found out what it would take to be a dealer, and she placed her first order for $500 worth of toys.”
At the time, Donna had a type-setting business in downtown Billings, so she converted unused space to house the toys. It grew from there, and twelve years later the family made the decision to move it to its present-day location.
Concerned that sales might drop because of their location, the opposite seemed to happen. Tucked beneath towering cottonwood trees, the building is still visible from Interstate 90, plus it is easily accessible for ranchers to pull in; even with trailers hooked up to their trucks. Sales soared.
“When we launched our website in the early 2000’s, we had seven people working for us. It was the height of mail ordering, before online ordering and direct sales from manufacturers took off. That was the thriving point of our business,” Lisa said. “At one time we had three people just taking orders. We now have a shopping cart on our website.”
Lisa runs the shop with one other employee. Though her parents, are in their 80’s, her father, Gary, still comes in every day for a few hours and Donna is always available when extra help is needed.
“Dad likes to visit with the customers and he’s Bob the Box Builder,” she laughed, explaining that because their toys are so irregular in shape, many of them need specially built boxes to ship them to buyers.
“There are very few toys here that are the same size,” she said. “In the old days, we were charged by weight, now we’re charged by the size of the box.”
“A lot has changed over the years,” Gary said. “But when customers come in here, they’re taken back to a simpler time. We have collectors from all over that love to come in and visit about what they have and why they collect them.”
The huge increase in shipping costs has led to a resurgence of in-store shopping.
“At one time over 75% of our sales were online,” Lisa said. “That’s shifted back down to about 40%. There’s something about picking up a toy, looking at the details, checking the quality and seeing the size and color that a photo on a website can’t compete with,” she said.
Many of Action Toys’ customers are generational. Donna smiled as she recalled grandparents bringing their grandchildren in for toys, then years later that generation is bringing their own kids in to shop.
“Many of those customers are looking for the toys of their youth,” she explained. “Erector sets and tinker toys are making a comeback.”
Collectors love to come into the toy store. Along one wall is one of the family’s private collection with over 700 tractors represented. Throughout the store, more collections are displayed; miniatures behind glass cases, riding tractors high above the showroom floor and in shelves along the perimeter of the entire store.
“We have over 4000 in our private collection,” Donna said. “If a toy is too hard to reach, it’s probably because it’s not for sale.”
As the store amps up for the holiday season, Lisa expects sales to be strong. “Our strong suit is our selection and quality,” she said. “Some days I’m still learning. I think I know what the customers are going to buy and it will surprise me when they go for something else. But every time we see a kid with a smile on their face because of the selection they made, it’s a great day.”
