Started in an effort to lengthen the life of today’s disposable toys, Tokyo’s two toy hospitals — Consumers Center in Meguro-ku and Isetan Department Store — fix everything from busted electronics to plushies that had the stuffing beaten out of them. The volunteer “doctors” are not toy experts as much as they are professional tinkerers who enjoy solving problems, and we think it’s nice they help fix what might otherwise be trashed (for fickle kids, though, we wonder how quickly Tickle-Me-Elmo becomes Sick-of-me-Elmo). Believe it or not, there are also loads of toy hospitals in the United Kingdom (one hospital in Britain has a nearly year-long waiting list) and toy doctors take up residence in the U.S. as well. We’re not even going to think about toy health insurance plans — what kind of crazy-high deductible would there be for Wii Tennis? {Thanks, Lenora, for reminding me about this! Photo from Japan For Sustainability}