Boy Maps Out Rapid Route to Treasure of Toys

A 14-year-old Delaware boy who used a hand-drawn map of a Woodland Hills store to find “where the good things are” scooped up $12,202.59 worth of toys Tuesday in a five-minute dash down shopping aisles.

Wes Snyder was allowed to keep the games, electric train set and other toys he grabbed after being randomly picked as top winner of a national children’s television contest.

The ninth-grader said he spent four hours Monday walking through the warehouse-size Toys R Us store to map the route of his 300-second foot race.

“I go to the computer aisle first and cross over through the games here and then cut over to the remote-control stuff,” he explained, fingering the carefully sketched store map. “Then I hit the batteries over there. And I’m done.”

Family List

On the back of the map was a list of things his family had requested. “Dad wants a Mickey Mouse watch, my brother wants GI Joe stuff and my mom wants a computer,” he said.

At the signal to start running, Wes followed his map exactly. His first selection was a computer, followed quickly by an assortment of games and programs to go with it. He quickly filled one shopping cart and went back for another.

As the minutes ticked by, he swept through model trains, baseball equipment, board games and bicycles and scooters. He was out of breath when he reached the radio-controlled model cars, where he filled a new cart.

With 30 seconds to go, his brother, Dwayne, 12, also was breathless. “The GI Joe! Wes, don’t forget the GI Joe!” the younger boy pleaded.

Wes checked his map for the GI Joe display and ran over and grabbed the biggest box. Dwayne beamed.

When it was over, Wes had collected everything on his list except the watch for his father.

“I can buy you one, Dad,” he gasped, trying to catch his breath. “I’m tired. The time zones got me.”

Wes Snyder Sr., whose family flew from Middletown, Del., Monday morning for the toy spree, told his son not to worry.

“The thing I’m worried about is how this will go on my 1988 tax return,” said Snyder, a builder. “We’ll give some of this away to charity. You can only use so many Alf dolls, anyway.”

A more immediate problem was selection of a birthday gift for the kid who now has everything, who turns 15 on Sunday. “Maybe a tax-deferment plan,” someone suggested.

Nickelodeon Contest

Officials of the Nickelodeon cable TV network said the winner of a similar contest last year managed to grab about $8,000 worth of toys at a North Carolina store.

They said about 700,000 children entered this year’s drawing. The grand prize toy sweep included round-trip air fare, hotel accommodations, $500 spending money and limousine transportation for the Snyder family. Officials said the Woodland Hills store was picked because it is a large outlet and they wanted to give this year’s winner a trip to California.

“I’d love to have five minutes to do something like this,” said Wesley Eure, a Nickelodeon show host who lives in Burbank. “But in a place like Circuit City.”

After the toy run, which was staged before the store opened for business, Wes presented a remote-control model car to limousine driver Larry Gregg of Panorama City. Gregg had accompanied the boy on Monday’s four-hour scouting mission.

“If this kid was from Encino or Tarzana, he wouldn’t even talk to you,” Gregg said. “He’s a winner.”